680 



Notices of New Books, 8fc. 



* The Botany of the Voyage of H. M.S. Herald. By Berthold See- 

 MANN, Naturalist to the Expedition. Part 2. Flora of the Isthmus 

 of Panama. London : Reeve. 1852.' 



We seem scarcely to have completed our notice of the first fascicu- 

 lus of this important work when a second is laid on our table, not 

 merely equalling, but exceeding, its predecessor in interest. Leaving 

 the uncongenial regions of the north, and the thin layers of vegetable- 

 born and vegetable-bearing soil spread over rock-like masses of 

 etei'nal, unmelting ice, we must now accompany our energetic and 

 indefatigable traveller to those central and sunny regions of America 

 which are now engrossing so large a share of the attention, the specu- 

 lation, the hopes, the fears, the enterpise, and the capital of the civi- 

 lized world ; where, three hundred and fifty years ago, Columbus 

 found abundance of gold, pine-apples growing by the sides of the 

 road, and palm-trees producing the most delicious wines ; where Nu- 

 nez de Balboa first beheld and knelt before the vast Pacific ; and where 

 Francisco Pizarro planned and accomplished the conquest of the 

 richest realm then known in the world. During portions of the years 

 1846, 1847, 1848, and 1849 Mr. Seemann investigated the botany of 

 Veraguas, Panama, and Darien, visiting the entire line of coast on the 

 Pacific side of the Isthmus, and traversing districts where foot of bo- 

 tanist had never previously trodden. We can imagine nothing more 

 delightful than the feelings of a young and enthusiastic man under 

 such circumstances ; nothing more exciting or more satisfying than 

 gazing, day after day, on the vegetable glories of those all but un- 

 known realms. No traveller was ever better fitted for his task than 

 Mr. Seemann. He looks at his favourite science of phytology with 

 all the ardour of a devoted lover. Nothing can exceed the assiduity 

 of his attentions, or the careful manner in which he has bestowed them. 

 He has considered his subject in all its bearings. His summaries of 

 the botanical products of the country, whether statistical, economical, 

 or ornamental, are replete with instruction, and bespeak the possession 

 of one of those comprehensive minds which can appreciate at once, and 

 correctly, all the features of the scene before him. Instead of those 

 dry, and shall we say unprofitable, details which have too often filled 

 the pages of works designed as records of the discoveries made under 

 government patronage, and at government expense, we have here a 



