183 



endeavoured to steer a middle course : the species admitted in former 

 editions are seldom reduced, unless where it was found that the cha- 

 racters were insufficient or vaiiable ; and as rarely has sanction been 

 given to those which have been split off from other species, by the 

 too-refined ingenuity of the German, Swiss, and modern Swedish bo- 

 tanists. If in one or two cases this neomania has been yielded to, it 

 has been more on account of the remonstrances of the Authors' friends 

 who had opportunities of examining the living plant, than from any 

 conviction of either the necessity or utility of so doing." — Introduc- 

 tion, p. ix. 



We cannot, of course, close our lengthened notice without being 

 allowed to indulge a little in the critical privilege of grumbling. We 

 are old-fashioned enough to wish to see the wholesome principle of 

 suum cuique trihnito in all literary and scientific matters carried out 

 to its fullest extent. We are not satisfied with merely knowing ivhat 

 a man has written upon any subject; we wish also to know ivliere his 

 observations are to be met with. For example, in the case of the 

 violets — we are glad to see free use made of the valuable remarks by 

 Mr. Watson and Mr. Purchas; but we should have been much better 

 satisfied had the locus in quo been appended to such quotations 

 — whether private communications, our own pages, or those of the 

 ' Botanical Gazette ' have been laid under contribution. And so of 

 other cases. This may seem a small matter, but we contend that 

 common courtesy, to say the least of it, demands such acknowledg- 

 ment, especially when it is conceded in other instances. 



Again — why is the stereotyped question " Root parasitic ?" perpe- 

 tuated in the case of Monotropa — or a doubt as to the parasitical 

 nature of the root of Lathra^a repeated, when in the former instance 

 the non-parasitic nature of the root has been most satisfactorily de- 

 monstrated, while Lathraea has been quite as clearly shown to be a 

 parasite } Mr. Babington in his Manual has candidly referred to the 

 admirable paper by Mr. Rylands (Phytol. i. 341), wherein that gentle- 

 man, by a course of patient microscopic investigation, has shown the 

 true nature of the roots of Monotropa ; and Mr. Bowman's excellent 

 memoir on Lathrsea in the ' Linnean Transactions,' has long been 

 known as a perfect model of persevering and conclusive research. 

 To the editors these two papers must be familiar ; and we should 

 have been much better pleased had they given their reasons for re- 

 jecting the evidence afforded, instead of coolly dismissing the sub- 

 ject, without even a passing observation conveying either praise or 

 censure. 



