045 



case their publication followed that edition of the Manual which cor- 

 responds numerically with the volume of the Cybele. 



" Thus, the state of our knowledge in the elementary or descriptive 

 department of British botany, at the dates of each volume of this work, 

 may be ascertained from the corresponding edition of the Manual, 

 and from no other publication of the same class. The Manual con- 

 tinues to be decidedly the best descriptive Flora of Britain hitherto 

 published ; — a very good model having been copied in its plan and 

 general composition, — the best authorities in European botany hav- 

 ing been regularly and fully consulted, — and each successive edition 

 having been attentively revised. Moreover, it is the work of a bota- 

 nist who is much better acquainted with the plants of the British 

 islands, than was the Author or Editor of any other Flora of Britain 

 without exception." — Introductory Explanations, pp. 1 — 4. 



All that we can add of this valuable work may be expressed in a 



few words. We know of no publication, on any subject or in any 



language, on which more labour has been judiciously and continuously 



expended. Information concerning each species is brought up to the 



latest possible date ; and the quotations from the recently-published 



pages of this and other journals show that the author keeps pace with 



information, let it be diffused through whatever channel it may. This 



is the only way to obtain credit among those who are at work in the 



same science ; and select of Mr. Watson's works which you will, it is 



a matter of certainty that no better, no more precise, information 



exists at the date of its publication. 



K. 



Proceedings of Societies, Sfc. 



The Phytologist Club. 



One Hundred and TJiirty-Jlflh Sitting, — Saturday, July 24, 1852. 

 Mr. Newman, President, in the chair. 



Polypodium Phegopteris. 



The President exhibited remarkably fine fronds of this fern, found 

 near Balcombe, in Sussex, and wished particularly to invite the atten- 

 tion of the readers of the ' Phytologist ' to that rich and almost unex- 

 plored district. An interesting paper on the botany of Balcombe and 

 its vicinity would appear in the August number of the ' Phytologist.' 



