146 BibliograpMcal Notice. 



mammals, it is of some consequence whether Uromys occurs 

 there or not. 



Although I did not collect the two specimens in question on 

 the Aru Islands mjself, I have no doubt that the locality is 

 correct, because I discovered a closely allied species on New 

 Guinea in May 1873, near Rubi, the south point of Geelvink 

 Bay (therefore not very far from the Aru Islands) — which I 

 call Uromys papuanus. 



The habitats of the three now known species of Uromys^ 

 which are very closely allied to each other, are therefore the 

 following : — 



1. Uromys macropus (Gray) : North Australia, Caps York. 



2. aruensis, Gray : Aru Islands. 



3. papuanus, Meyer : New Guinea, Rubi. 



Royal Natural-History Museum, 

 Dresden, January 23, 1876. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 



Medicinal Plants ; being Descriptions with Original Figures of the 

 Principal Plants employed in Medicine, and an Account of their 

 Properties and Uses. By R. Bentley, F.L.S., and H. Tkimen, 

 M.B., F.L.S. London : J. & A. ChurchiU, 1876. (Four parts 

 issued.) 



This work will supply a want which has been felt for a long time, 

 as there is no recent trustworthy book in the English language on 

 the important subject with which it deals ; and now that Fliickiger and 

 Hanbury's admirable 'Pbarmacographia' is published, an illustrated 

 handbook of the plants used in medicine seems more needed than 

 ever. The present work is issued in monthly parts, and contains 

 original coloured plates (natural size), with botanical descriptions 

 and an account of the geographical distribution and officinal pro- 

 perties, of the plants that yield the drugs in common use. In 

 making the selection the British Pharmacopoeia has been taken as 

 a foundation ; and to the species there included have been added a 

 number of others used medicinally in India and the United States. 

 Altogether the selection made includes between 250 and 300 species. 

 Four parts of the work are already out, with eight or, if the plate 

 be double, seven plants in each. No regular botanical order has 

 been followed ; but the plates are numbered so that they may be 

 bound in botanical sequence, according to the natural system, when 

 the book is finished. Of common European officinal plants we have 

 flax, rue, white and black mustard, the juniper, the common poppy, 

 and foxglove ; amongst cultivated fruits, the olive, orange, quince. 



