296 : REVIEWS. 
their great merit and the scarcity of such books, never reached a 
second edition. During the last twenty-five years we have had 
at least twice as many original works on the British Plants, and 
these have been frequently reprinted. This is conclusive evi- 
dence that the science of botany is exciting more attention than 
it did at the beginning of the present century. 
Catalogue of the Vasculares, or Phenogamous Plants, of Great 
Britain, arranged according to the Natural System ; with the 
Synonyms of De Candolle, Smith, Hooker, Reichenbach, and 
Lindley: with an Index. Wm. Pamplin: London. 
This is a very useful catalogue for reference and for arrange- 
ment of specimens; and, though not intended to supersede 
the catalogue published with the sanction of the Botanical So- 
ciety of London, it is in some respects more useful than the 
Society’s popular enumeration. It contains many synonyms 
and most of the varieties, and has an alphabetical-index to the 
orders and genera. Another distinguishing feature of this list 
is its cheapness. For the price, see advertisement on the cover 
of our present number. We notice Siylbum for Silybum, and we 
are unable to find Senecio Jacobea and Carex incurva. The plan 
is better than the execution. 

The Home Companion: a Monthly and Weekly Journal of In- 
struction and Amusement. October. Published by W. S. 
Orr & Co. 
This popular and instructive periodical for last October con- 
taims an article on the preparation and arrangement of a Hortus 
Siccus (which means a collection of dried plants), a term now 
nearly, if not quite, obsolete among botanists. It is a matter of 
small import whether such a collection be called a herbarium or 
a hortus siccus, but that such an article should appear in a popu- - 
lar miscellany is significant ; it is a proof that botany is advan- 
cing, or at least it is a proof that plants are becoming objects 
worth collecting and mounting, not merely for scientific pur- 
poses, but as ornamental objects. 
