1087 



no statement in the editorial articles bo at variance with scientific 

 truth. 



' Terra Lindisfarnensis. The Natural History of the Eastern Bor- 

 ders. By George Johnston, M.D. Edin. ; LL.D. of Marischal 

 College, Aberdeen ; Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of 

 Edinburgh ; &c. Vol. I. The Botany. London : Van Voorst. 

 1853. Price lOs. U: 



This is a book which we take up with the most entire good will, 

 and which we have read with pleasure and instruction ; yet there are 

 a few particulars which, as conscientious critics, we must mention 

 with disapprobation : — 1st. The title may be intelligible, nay, even 

 expressive, to a resident at Berwick-upon-Tweed ; but in these south- 

 ern regions its meaning is near akin to a riddle. We will, therefore, 

 state, for the benefit of the uninitiated, that " the Eastern borders 

 comprehend the whole of Berwickshire, the liberties of Berwick, 

 North Durham, and the immediately adjacent parts of Northumber- 

 land and Durham." 'indly. We do not admire the illustrations, 

 although we learn that some of them are from a lady's pencil. The 

 pictorial ones are out of perspective, and the botanical ones are unbo- 

 tanical. The blossoms of the Hieracia, Plates II., III., and IV., con- 

 vey no idea even of the genus. The repetition of the woodcuts is 

 also contrary to custom. Srdly. We do not like the phraseology. It 

 is, perhaps, provincial ; but then, Dr. Johnston writes for the king- 

 dom at large, and not exclusively for the inhabitants of the Eastern 

 Borders ; and, supposing it were so, — supposing he addressed himself 

 solely to his neighbours, — it were but a poor compliment to those 

 neighbours to address them in bad or awkward English. In one para- 

 graph, the following phrases, or sentence s, occur : — " Too tenuous for 

 manhood ;" " minded head ;" '' incapahleness ;" " hinder the worthi- 

 est to examine ;" " Therefore, reader, do not go away repelled by the 

 seeming littleness of what you may herein read, make the subject of 

 thyself greater and worthier, for 1 would fain solicit thee to a pupil- 

 age that may teach you ;" &c., &c. The paragraph in which these 

 expressions occur is full of noble sentiments, indeed it is the best in 

 the book, and well deserves a little more trouble than has been 

 bestowed upon it. We have compressed the criticisms into the 

 fewest possible words, being desirous of hastening on to the more 

 agreeable task of praising ; and we assure our readers that we may 



