October 4, 1900] 



NATURE 



547 



THE BOTANY OF CAPTAIN COOK'S 

 FIRST VOYAGE. 

 Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook's Voyage 

 Round the World in H.M.S. '•'•Endeavour" in 1768-71. 

 By the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Daniel 

 Solander, with Determinations by James Britten. 

 Part I. : Australian Plants. loi Plates, with descriptive 

 letterpress. (London : Printed by order of the Trustees 

 of the British Museum. All Booksellers. 1900.) 

 " OETTER late than never" may be said of the book 

 -L' the title of which is given above. It is a curious 

 fact that the scientific results of several of the most 

 important and most costly voyages of discovery, both 

 English and foreign, have either not been published at 

 all, or only in part, and in a fragmentary manner. Cook's 

 first voyage is, perhaps, the most notable example of un- 

 finished works of this kind in the history of British 

 exploration. This is the more to be deplored, because 

 collecting and methodical investigation were carried out 

 on a scale previously unknown, and an immense sum was 

 subsequently expended by Sir Joseph Banks in preparing 

 the botanical results for publication. This is not the place 

 to enter into the causes of the cessation of this part of the 

 work ; but it was not the only part that was long be- 

 lated. It was not till 1893 that Captain Cook's own 

 "Journal " was published, edited by Sir William Wharton ; 

 and three years later appeared Banks's "Journal" of that 

 memorable voyage, edited by Sir Joseph Hooker. 

 Although I have said " better late than never," it is 

 obvious that the illustrations now in course of being issued 

 have been, to some extent, forestalled, and the letterpress 

 is historically interesting, rather than a contribution to 

 science. According to the prospectus the complete work 

 will comprise 800 plates ; these will include a series illus- 

 trating the botanical collections of Cook's second voyage, 

 when the Forsters, father and son, were the naturalists. 

 Sydney Parkinson was the botanical artist on the first 

 voyage, but he and the two other artists all died on 

 the voyage, and their work was left in an unfinished 

 condition. So much has been written about the plates 

 now being issued and the desirability of their publi- 

 cation, that something superior to what they really 

 are was probably expected by most people. Indeed 

 it is difficult to suppress a feeling of disappointment. 

 Compared with the botanical illustrations of other 

 expeditions of discovery of a little later date, they 

 are hard and unattractive, and floral dissections are 

 almost entirely wanting. They lose, too, in effect, as 

 they are transfers and not direct impressions of the 

 original engravings on copper. The majority of the 

 plates were engraved from drawings by F. P. Nodder, 

 prepared from Parkinson's sketches and the dried speci- 

 mens, and only the former name appears on the plates. 

 Our remarks on this point, however, should be regarded 

 in the light of explanation rather than criticism, because 

 after all we must not forget that their publication has 

 been delayed more than a century. Of course, it is 

 highly regrettable that they were not published at the 

 time, so that they might have been more fully utilised in 

 the many publications that have appeared during the 

 last century and a quarter on Australasian and Pacific 

 Islands botany. A fact of great importance is that a 

 comparatively small number of the plants here depicted 

 had previously been figured. Mr. Britten has most con- 

 NO. 1 6 14, VOL. 62] 



scientiously reproduced Solander's descriptions and 

 remarks, even to the extent of palpable errors. Thus the 

 locality Endeavour River is given throughout as En- 

 deavour's River, and "petioli ^-uncialia," instead of 

 unciales. But perhaps this course is more satisfactory 

 than any attempt at improving the original ; and errors 

 of the latter kind may be due to slips of the transcriber. 

 The keenest reader may overlook false terminations in 

 Latin descriptions, and the most ready writer is apt to 

 make them. 



On the other hand, our thanks are due to Mr. Britten 

 for much valuable information, and the correction of 

 many current errors. Doubtless when the time comes 

 for the " Introduction," some account will be given of the 

 countries or districts explored, and the botanical results 

 summarised. 



With regard to nomenclature, it is fortunate that, 

 although the rule of priority has been strictly followed, 

 there are few suppressions of familiar names ; but that is 

 because there were few opportunities. Of course, the 

 familiar names appear, but only as synonyms. Mr. 

 Britten is an uncompromising disciple of the school of 

 reformers, and he has been permitted to exercise his 

 will in this national publication. Thus lonidium becomes 

 Calceolaria; and the calceolarias that everybody is 

 familiar with have Fagelia for their generic name. 

 Cosmia takes the place of Calandrinia; Damapana 

 that of Smithiaj and Caulinia that of Kennedy a. The 

 complications that such changes cause are almost inter- 

 minable, as the revival of one name may affect half-a- 

 dozen other well-established generic appellations. But 

 this is not the place to discuss the question. Botanists 

 will be thankful to the Trustees of the British Museum 

 for this valuable addition to their pictorial books, which is 

 at the same time a monument to some of the scientific 

 pioneers in British exploration. 



W. Dotting Hemsley. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Fancy Water-Fowl. By F. Finn. Pp. 45. Illustrated. 



(London : Feathered World Office, 1900.) 

 Mr. Finn, especially to Indian readers, is such a well- 

 known writer on popular ornithology in more than 

 one journal that the reproduction of a series of his 

 articles in book-form can scarcely fail to be welcoined 

 by a wide circle. And in selecting ornamental, or " fancy," 

 water-fowl as a subject, he has hit upon one which appeals 

 to a large number of bird lovers, if for no other reason 

 than the facility with which these handsome birds can 

 be reared and kept in confinement, even when the 

 available space is limited. 



The author has confined himself, on the advice of a 

 lady friend, to well-known species, and in the selection 

 he has made he is, on the whole, to be congratulated. 

 We should, however, have liked to see mention made of 

 the so-called Coscoroba Swan of South America, on 

 account of its very peculiar organisation, although we are 

 well aware that, chiefly owing to its delicate constitution, 

 it is seldom seen in European collections. 



Both the illustrations and the text have been repro- 

 duced in their original guise from the Feathered World. 

 With regard to the page plates there is considerable indi- 

 vidual variation in their degrees of excellence, the figure 

 of the Spotted-bill Duck, forming the frontispiece, being 

 decidedly superior to that of Rosy-billed Pochards which 

 comes later, the last-mentioned being somewhat coarse 



