1859.] REVIEWS. 27 



so, — that our Roses were a score before the advent of Mr. Ben- 

 tham's workj and our Blackberries nearer threescore than thirty. 

 It has often been said, and written too, that it would not be 

 very difficult to carve another odd score or so out of the indivi- 

 duals of the Bramble genus. They are somewhat like reviewers, 

 a troublesome set. 



From an article on ' Omphalos,' (the final one?) it does not ap- 

 pear that we have made much progress in demonstrating the 

 pre-existence of fossils, or, in other words, their indefinite anti- 

 quity ; or how many myriads of years, or periods, or epochs, have 

 run their course since the trilobites were involved in some cata- 

 clysm which occurred before the earth and the waters were made 

 a suitable abode for the saurians. 



We learn from this number of the Beview that there is a new 

 Myrtle, raised from seeds which came from Mr. Phillips, of King 

 George's Sound. If this be what we ordinarily call Nootka 

 Sound, the Myrtle may be supposed to have attained as great 

 a range in America as in Europe. The winter temperature of 

 King George's Sound is considerably lower than that of the Isle 

 of Wight. It is the only known species of the genus which 

 will bear such a temperature as that of the Columbian regions, 

 now more famous for gold than for Myrtles or shrubs, that will 

 bear greater alternations of temperature than this beautiful genus 

 can endure. Pliny informs us that it was an exotic at Rome, 

 and that its native country is southern Europe, viz. Greece. It 

 grew into large trees in Italy. It thrives prodigiously in the Isle 

 of Wight. 



The Natural History of Pliny, translated, with notes, etc., by the 

 late Dr. Bostock, and H. T. Riley, Esq. London: Henry 

 G. Bohn. Vols. V. and VI. 



The lovers of the curiosities and antiquities of Natural History 

 will thank Mr. Bohn for a very convenient and cheap edition of 

 the above-named work. 



Pliny's Natural History is the great repository of all that was 

 generally known about the plants, animals, and minerals of his time. 

 It is, besides this, a record of all that was believed about these 

 objects, and this was a great deal more than was known. We 



