DihUographi'cnl Notices. 187 



lifiH (fiH in other placcH) attcm])i(;(l a phraHoolo<i;y which Mr. H. C. 

 WhIkoii nhtioHf, made liis own ; tho maHtor hnn \)i\mv,(] away, his 

 wouhl-lK) pupil lacks the jjowct ihoup;h not th(<, will to oxj^rcss it. 

 l{o!i(l(TH will noto at its firHt ])!if^o an innovation, whoro ho usca a 

 word not often seen in modern Knfj;liHh bookw, i. e. "Foreword." 



A maj) Hhowing the diHtiictH adojiU^l, aw well as other matters, 

 li.iH here (a,H, unfortunately is the case with other Floras) too much 

 crowded into it; the (!X])enpc of a second map would p(Thaps have 

 been too much, still it is a ])ity. For working purposes the botanical 

 districts alone should bo shown and all the ot^lior matters relegated 

 to a second map. 



The Climatology is treated fully in sixty-ono pages ; the conditions 

 prevailing in a district where the hills ascend to 2414 feet altitude 

 must naturally i)rcscnt many features of interest, ajid these the 

 author has worked out fully, though sometimes arriving at conclu- 

 sions hnrdly compatible with the facts. We are not yet in a posi- 

 tion to dogmatize too much on many of these points. »Somo of the 

 tables given are well wort.h cnreful study. 



With regard to cold and tlie action of frost on various soils, tlio 

 writer of this thinks a fact has been lost sight of with reH])eet to its 

 l)Ower of destroying vegetation, i. e. the rending power if. possesses 

 when freezing the soil. In sandy soil covered by snow for three 

 \vinters to about an equal degree, plants of the (Channel Isles sur- 

 vived gr(>at cold ; in the next winter, with hardly any snow, thoy 

 were killed wherever the soil was finnurcd with frost ; but close by, 

 with sliglit. protection from other plants, they survived; on exami- 

 nation being made the roots wore found to be torn asunder whero- 

 ever the fissures were — hence their death. 



A chnptcjr on Lithology, of twenty pages, treats of the " Rock 

 types" as differentiated by M. J. Thurman. Mr. Baker, who first 

 a[ti)liod the arguments of M. Thurman to our Flora, has been fol- 

 lowed by the author, with, of course, local differences. 



Respecting dry and calcareous soils, it may be noted that where 

 the Upper Clnilk joins the pebble-beds of the Thanet Hands in 

 Surrey tt])parently the same conditions prevail as to heat and mois- 

 ture ; on both water ra])i(lly drains away, and t,he mechanical 

 coherence or the chemical constituents must make the dilTerencG 

 in the vegetation. The Horseshoe Vetch exactly marks the demar- 

 cation of the chalk ; although seeds must be blown on the pebble- 

 bods, yet not n, i)lant of it can be fouiul on them. Verhascuni li/ch- 

 »*/</*• grows (or grew) in abundance on chalk by the roadside ; on 

 the same roadside not a single ])lant has ever been seen by the 

 writer on the pebble-beds, yet the physical conditions are such that 

 seeds nrnst be carried by rains &c. on to them. 



i^)llowing the Lithology is the "Bibliography, 1548-1885," a 

 "riiin of tlu! Flora," and the Flora propter, the Bhanerogams and 

 higher Cryptogams with 412 pages, followed by the rest of the 

 Cryptogams in 25:} pages. " Addcnda-Omissa " and indexes com- 

 plete the book. 



A good many "British" jdanls seem to find their north (native) 



