935 



greatest importance in these very orders. In the two first orders, 

 indeed, specimens should always show whether the plant has a creep- 

 ing or a tufted root ; yet some of these, which are beautifully pressed, 

 are quite useless, from being without roots, and some even without 

 leaves. I hope, however, that this may be remedied, by destroying 

 all the imperfect specimens, except in the case of very scarce plants. 



J. T. Syme. 

 London, April, 1853. 



Notices of New Books, Sj-c. 



' A Catalogve of the Flowering Plants and Ferns growing in the 

 Neighhourhood of Aberdeen. By P. H. Macgii-livray, A.M.' 

 Aberdeen : Wilson. London : Whittaker. 1853. 



Mli. local Floras are acceptable to the botanist, in proportion to the 

 information they convey. Thus, a simple list of names is of infinitely 

 less service than when each name is accompanied by some account 

 of the circumstances under which the species to which it refers is 

 found. In this respect, we think the information afforded by the pre- 

 sent Flora is rather scanty. We could have willingly dispensed with 

 some of the information given, and should have been pleased to have 

 received other information which is withheld. Thus, we are informed 

 that Ranunculus aquatilis occurs in " ponds, ditches, and rivers," and 

 R. hederaceus in " ditches." We doubt not these assertions ; but we 

 should have liked some additional information on the supposed new 

 and kindred species, all notice of which is omitted. Again, in the 

 ferns, we scarcely feel satisfied with the old-fashioned mode of lumping 

 species. How-ever, in this and all similar cases, we think the more 

 courteous way is to give the author's own " envoi ; " and here is Mr. 

 Macgillivray's 



" Preface. — The only published accounts we have of the botanical 

 productions of the neighbourhood of Aberdeen are contained in Dr. 

 Murray's ' Northern Flora,' of which, however, owing to the untimely 

 death of its talented author, but one part made its appearance ; and 

 in a small work by Dr. Dickie, giving a list of the Flowering Plants 

 and Ferns found within fifteen miles of Aberdeen. So many years 



