1862*3 EXTINCT SPECIES. 34l 



very wide ; here it occupies a larger breadth than usual, and the 

 pretty Grape Hyacinth is clustered or cosily nestled on small 

 grassy spots surrounded with fragments of the ancient Roman 

 masonry. i'foTT fc^jr »>. „r>^ir,]r. 



Another curious reason is given, p. 399, relative to the nati- 

 vity of Cysiopteris I'cgia or C. alpma — or, if you please, learned 

 reader, consult ' Index Filicum/ After informing the lovers of 

 Ferns, and all else whom it may concern, that the plant was ob- 

 served there nearly a century ago (not quite, only about eighty- 

 five years), Mr. T. ]\Ioore says, " The plant is at the present 

 time, unfortunately, nearly destroyed by repairs, though it ex- 

 ists in more than one station in the neighbourhood." Under 

 these circumstances {inter alia), the destruction of its habitation 

 by repairs, and its finding several other stations, it cannot be 

 considered a native British plant ! Generous critics ! 



Polystichimi lobatvm used to be the commonest of all the 

 British Ferns in the lanes about Abridge,, Lamborn, Chigwell 

 Row, and other parts of the Forest near the Roding. Some of the 

 ancient members of the fraternity will thank the authors for giving 

 a name and a locality to a species which was received without 

 suspicion half a century ago, long ere P. angulare came into 

 prominence as a genuine species; but recently it has been dis- 

 carded. i!i,i;!j-lj;(( JO 'Hjjiilr; JiS9jd§/l? 



Query, is not Lolium tenue a native of Essex?. ,1 ,i ,1 ,. .r.„. 1. 



) Page 226. Note on the two forms of Bar tsia Odontites, one 

 with a fastigiate (erect, bushy habit), the other with widely 

 sjjreading branches (spreading horizontally) ; the former found, 

 but not exclusively, in cornfields, the latter by waysides. This is 

 presumed to be the typical plant. 



It would be very edifying to some non-critical readers to learn 

 what are the characters of a typical species ! The one, has erect, 

 close branches, and grows in cornfields; the other has spreading 

 branches, and grows by waysides. How do these learned men 

 know that , this ig the typic^.!, species?, iWhyis^vpt the other t)ne 

 a typical species? Why is not each a typical species? How 

 have the authors learned that there are not two typical species, 

 one with divaricate, and the other iwi^hifestigi^te brauclics ; one 

 having its home in cornfields, where the situation might cause 

 it to assume a closer habit, and the other by waysides and wastes, 

 where it has more room to expand? Que is said to be a spring 



