290 



NATURE 



\_Aug. 12, 1875 



commonly known as the "Antarctic Expedition," took 

 place in 1839, and the four following years. Dr. 

 Hooker, under the title of " Assistant Surgeon " to 

 the E7'ebus, was the Naturalist of the Expedition, 

 and assisted by Messrs. M'Cormack and Robertson, the 

 medical officers of the vessels, made an extensive collec- 

 tion of specimens in every department of zoology and 

 l)otany. The botanical specimens were sent to Kew ; the 

 zoological to the British Museum. Dr. Hooker under- 

 took the working out and publication of the former, and 

 Dr. Gray of the latter. At the recommendation of the 

 Admiralty the Government granted the sum of 2,000/. 

 for the illustration of the work, half of which was assigned 

 to the botanical and half to the zoological portion. Dr. 

 Hooker's labours resulted in the two large quarto volumes 

 which form the well-known "Botany of the Antarctic 

 Expedition," and remain to the present day the standard 

 authority upon the plants of the southern hemisphere. 

 Very different were the results achieved by the thousand 

 pounds bestowed upon the zoological portion of the work. 

 After the publication of eighteen numbers, the various 

 sections assigned to the different naturalists were left, one 

 and all, incomplete, and have thus remained until the 

 present day. Whether this untoward result was occa- 

 sioned by the fault of the editor or of the publisher, or 

 by misunderstandings between the two, has never been 

 divulged to the public, nor does it now much concern us 

 to inquire. Whichever may have been the case, the 

 result was equally discreditable to the parties concerned. 

 It is with pleasure, however, we see that the scandal exists 

 no longer. An enterprising publisher has bought up the 

 '' remainder " of the plates of the unfinished work, and 

 made arrangements for its completion. Whether it was 

 justifiable on the part of the vendor to sell what had 

 been produced, by public money may be open to some 

 doubt, but the purchaser, Mr. Janssen, is at all events 

 entitled to the credit of having done all he could to bring 

 this long neglected work to a satisfactory conclusion. 

 The six numbers of the "Zoology of the Erebus and 

 Terror" now before us, conclude the different sections, 

 and enable the subscribers after twenty years of patient 

 expectation to send their copies to the binders. On 

 turning over the pages of the lately issued numbers, we 

 find many admirably executed plates among them, and 

 much valuable contribution to Zoological science. Dr. 

 Giinther's synopsis of the Australian Lizards is of special 

 interest, and will, we are sure, prove most acceptable to 

 the vforking naturalists of the Australian Colonies. As 

 regards some of the illustrations of the birds, we may 

 remark that the colouring is not very well executed — notice 

 especially the figures of the King and Emperor Penguins. 

 This is the more the pity, as the figures themselves are 

 the productions of Mr, Wolf's artistic pencil. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Flora of Eastbourne. Being an Introduction to the 

 Flowering Plants, Ferns, &c., of the Cuckmere District, 

 East Sussex, with a Map, by F. C, S. Roper, F.L.S., 

 &c,. President of the Eastbourne Natural History 

 Society, 8vo, pp, 165, (London, Van Voorst.) 



This is an admirable little book of its kind, the greatest 

 care and conscientiousness having evidently been exercised 



in its compilation. *rhe plan adopted by the author was 

 to include only such species as he had actually gathered 

 himself, or of which he had seen authentic specimens, 

 hence a considerable number of species which we know, 

 from personal observation, to grow within the limits of 

 the Cuckmere district are omitted, or only given in an ap- 

 pendix. However, Mr, Roper will doubtless soon publish 

 a supplement, and the basis upon which he has started is 

 far preferable to the indiscriminate admission of every- 

 thing from sources of uncertain value. Another cause for 

 the absence of certain species is the quite recent extension 

 of the field of operations to coincide with the Cuckmere 

 drainage district of Mr. Hemsley's projected flora of the 

 whole county. This forms an irregular triangle, having 

 its apex on the ridge of the weald at Cross-in-hand, and 

 its base running along the coast from the Signal House, 

 east of Seaford, to St. Leonards. Its area is about 150 

 square miles, and it comprises a great variety of soils and 

 situations, but there is very little boggy land, consequently 

 a paucity of bog plants. Mr. Roper's list numbers 700 

 species, which further explorations will probably augment 

 by about one hundred. It is surprising that such plants 

 as Papaver dubiuni, Arenaria trinervis, Rubus discolor, 

 Campanula rotundifolia, Qphrys muscifera, Jtmcus 

 mariiimus, Airaflexuosa, Broimis giganteus, &c,, should 

 have escaped observation ; but such is the case, and they 

 are not included in the Flora. Among the more inte- 

 resting plants of this part of Sussex, and not found else- 

 where in the county, we may mention Phyteuma spicattini, 

 Pyrola juinor, Btipleurtim aristatum, Seseli Libanotis, 

 Sibthorpia europcea, and Bartsia viscosa. The Pyrola 

 was recently discovered in Sussex for the first time by 

 Mr. Roper, so the botanist should never despair of finding 

 something new. The F'lora of Eastbourne has appeared 

 just at the right time for visitors to Eastbourne this 

 season, who will find it a valuable guide, and all the more 

 welcome, perhaps, [because there is a chance of adding 

 to the number of species it includes. We should add 

 that, like most local floras of recent publication, it 

 simply treats of the distribution of the plants, but 

 the book before us differs from most others in its co- 

 pious references to other works, which will be useful to 

 amateurs who may have occasion to consult descriptions 

 or plates. 



We may here mention that we have received a circular 

 from the Lewes and East Sussex Natural History Society 

 respecting a projected Fauna and Flora of East Sussex, 

 which will be forwarded to any person interested in the 

 work on application to the Secretary, Mr. J. H, A, Jenner, 

 Lewes. 



Repertorium der Natiirwissenschaften. Monatliche Ueber- 

 sicht der neuesten Arbeiten auf dem Gebiete der Natur- 

 wissenschaften, Herausgegeben von der Redaction des 

 Naturforscher. (January to June 1875, Nos, i to 6, 

 Berhn.) 



This is a useful supplementary publication to Der Natur- 

 forscher. It consists of sixteen columns (the columns are 

 numbered and not the pages) in quarto form. The 

 number for May is made up of twenty-four columns, and 

 gives the titles of more than 600 papers, which are pub- 

 lished in upwards of eighty separate works. The periodi- 

 cals thus indexed are the Monatsberichte (Berlin), Coinptes 

 Rendus (Paris), Botanische Zeitung (Leipzig), Flora 

 (Regensburg), Hedwigia (Dresden), Proceedings of the 

 Royal Society (London), American Journal of Sciences 

 and Arts (New Haven), Geographical Magazine {"London), 

 Messenger of Mathematics, Astronomische Nachrichten 

 (Kiel), &c. Though there are several publications we 

 miss, both English and foreign, it will be seen that a good 

 beginning is here made, andjthat there is a prospect in time 

 of students being fairly informed of what is being done in 

 science in this country and elsewhere in a compact publi- 

 cation issued at a reasonable rate. 



