642 



now lost ; but I remember some time after it was gathered coming ia 

 the conclusion that it was probably only C. Lutetiana with more coi-- 

 date leaves, more membranous sepals, and more delicate texture than 

 usual. The list was drawn up at a time when I was acquainted with 

 no other botanist, and had no adequate sense of the importance of 

 extreme accuracy and certainty in publishing information. Hence 

 the list is a very unsatisfactory one. The records of Linaria repens, 

 Nepeta Cataria, and perhaps Cochlearia anglica were absolute blun- 

 ders. I should now likewise exclude, except as naturalized, Koniga 

 maritima, Reseda fruticulosa, Erodium moschatum, Phalaris canarien- 

 sis, and Medicago falcata. I certainly saw either the last-named 

 plant (see Cyb. Brit. iii. 406) or M. sylveslris, which was not then 

 distinguished from it in England, but gathered no specimen. The 

 plant looked wild enough ; but its genuine nativity is very question- 

 able, except on the drift-sand of the high ground of E. Anglia. I 

 have since been at Weston, but not at the precise spot. Eryngium 

 campestre I still believe to be truly native there ; but the lower gi'ound 

 near the sea has many introduced plants ; and it is said that seeds 

 have been intentionally sown within the last year or two. 



As my name occurs several times in the * Cybele,' in connexion 

 with critical plants, perhaps I may be forgiven for saying that the use 

 of a particular specific name does not necessarily imply any belief as 

 to the distinctness of species. Any one who is more anxious to form 

 a true than a rapid judgment must take, for a time at least, the no- 

 menclature of some recognized authority on trust. 



F. J. A. HoRT. 



Trinity College, Cambridge, 

 July 21, 1852. 



Notices of New Books, See. 



' Cybele Britannica. Vol. HI. By Hewett Cottrell Watson. 

 London : Longman and Co. 1852.' 



We have rarely, perhaps never, met with a preface or introduction 

 to a scientific work so truthfully explanatory as Mr. Watson's " Ex- 

 planations Introductory to the Third Volume of the ' Cybele Britan- 

 nica.' " We are therefore glad to avail ourselves of the critic's 

 privelege of quoting largely from the author's published exposition of 

 his own objects and intentions. 



