1857.] REVIEWS. 245 



Allow me to say a word upon the advantages to be gained by 

 artists in the study of botany. At present we find in most of 

 their paintings incorrect representations of plants ; but we may 

 hope for correction if they will only read Mr. Irvine's book. 



There was a notice in the ' Phytologist ' of a great mistake re- 

 specting Mr. Ruskin's favourite flower in a Pre-Raphaelite paint- 

 ing, and I should like to see our modern painters show us that 

 they know how to represent a plant according to nature, and not 

 place the flower of one plant on the stalk of another. It is not 

 agreeable to see the flowers of the Foxglove [Digitalis purpurea) 

 placed on a stalk of the Alisma Plantago (Water- Plantain) . 



S. B. 



Cultivated Ferns; or, a Catalogue of Exotic and Indigenous 

 Ferns cultivated in British Gardens, with Characters of the 

 Genera, Principal Synonyms, etc. By John Smith, A.L.S., 

 etc. etc., and Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew. 

 London: William Pamplin. 1857. 



The literature of Ferns has just received an important addi- 

 tion by the publication of the above-named work. The hard- 

 earned and widely- extended reputation of its author is an ample 

 guarantee for its excellence. The number of genera described in 

 this scientific Catalogue is 124, and the number of species is pro- 

 bably somewhere about 800 ; and all these are cultivated or have 

 been cultivated in British gardens. 



The author's object in drawing up this Catalogue we will take 

 the liberty of stating in his own words, viz. : — '' Ferns having of 

 late years, by their elegance and beauty, become great favourites 

 in our gardens and conservatories, numerous works calculated to 

 facilitate their study have issued from the press, and advertise-, 

 ments of new ones constantly meet our eye. Gratifying as this 

 fact undoubtedly is, as proving the popular interest the subject 

 has acquired, it has however been attended with the great disad- 

 vantage of having led to a maze of conflicting views and an almost 

 endless mass of synonyms; for as the leading authors differ in 

 their systems of classification and nonienclature, few Ferns pos- 

 sess less than two names, many have more, some even exceed- 

 ing twenty. Such being the case, amateurs and cultivators com- 

 plain — and surely with good reason — of the difficulty experienced 



