166 Mr. C. C. Babington on the British Rubi. 
less constituting truly distinct species, are included. Hence the 
great diversity in the mode of applying these names. 
All students of this very difficult genus are extremely indebted 
toWeithe and Nees v. Esenbeck for the publication of thew splendid 
work the ‘ Rubi Germanici,’ without which it would have been 
scarcely possible to attain that knowledge of Brambles which we ~ 
now possess ; and all will agree, that for extending our acquaint- 
ance with British Rubi no name justly stands so high as that of 
Borrer, to whom we owe the elaborate account of these plants 
contained in Hooker’s ‘ British Flora’ (ed. 2 and 3), and the de- 
scriptions of many species in the eminently beautiful but far too 
httle known ‘ Supplement to English Botany.’ Dr. Lindley, in 
his ‘ Synopsis of the British Flora’ (ed. 1), gave the specific cha- 
racters of twenty-three species, mostly translated avowedly from 
the work of Weihe and Nees, but including several supposed to 
be undescribed. He states that he had attained his knowledge 
of them from plants growing in the garden of the Horticultural 
Society, and that he was “ satisfied that thei distinctions are 
- permanent and important.” In his ‘ Flora of Shropshire’? Mr. 
Leighton has collected together the opimions of the above-men- 
tioned botanists, and also of Nees v. Esenbeck, by sending a per- 
fect set of specimens to each of them, accompanied by corre- 
sponding numbers. He has also deseribed the plants with great 
accuracy, and thus placed students as nearly as possible in the 
same situation as himself. Without attempting to enumerate all 
those who are now studying Rudi, I eannot pass unnoticed the very 
valuable papers by Dr. T. Bell Salter in the ‘ Phytologist ’ and 
‘Annals of Natural History,’ by which he has shown himself to 
be peculiarly qualified to become the illustrator of this genus. 
I had hoped that he would have undertaken such a review of it 
as that upon which I have now ventured ; this his professional 
duties prevent. I must take the present opportunity of acknow- 
ledging myself to be very greatly indebted to him, both for the 
gift of specimens and also for the communication of much valu- 
able information. 
To Mr. E. Lees, a gentleman who has long paid attention to 
these plants, I am indebted for a very extensive series of speci- 
mens. Many other botanists have liberally assisted me in a si- 
milar manner; I would more especially mention the Rey. A. 
Bloxam and Mr. H. O. Stephens. 
In the following pages I have endeavoured to apply those cha- 
racters to the discrimination of the British species which have 
been found to be the most permanent by the best British and 
continental authorities, and would more especially refer the stu- 
dent to the following works in addition to those already noticed : 
the ‘ Flora Silesie’ of Wimmer and Grabowski (Breslaw, 1827) ; 
