658 REVIEWS. [December 



tree in question is older than the time of Charles I. This may 

 be true or it may not ; but the second conjecture would be more 

 feasible if there was any proof that John Tradescant the elder, or 

 the younger either, ever had a genuine Sorb-tree to spare from 

 their arboretum. This proof is not forthcoming; on the con- 

 trary, there is a negative proof, which casts some doubt on this 

 supposition; viz. that this tree is not in the catalogue of their 

 plants cultivated at Lambeth. The origin of the Wyre-Forest 

 example of the tree has still to be discovered. Adhuc sub judice 

 lis est. 



The Critic, a Weekly Journal of Literature, Ai-t, Science, and the 

 Drama. July 10, 1858. 



The readers of the ' Phytologist ' are requested to bear in mind 

 that although periodicals form the staple of our Reviews for this 

 month, yet there is no intention of reviewing any review. We 

 are glad to have the opportunity of commending to the notice of 

 our readers these works, which we have read ourselves with both 

 profit and pleasure. In the present instance we merely announce 

 that in the ' Critic ' of the date above stated, there are several 

 reviews of botanical works, only to be briefly noticed here. 



1. " Short Lectures on Plants, by Elizabeth Twining.^^ — Miss 

 Twining' s Lectures, twelve, were originally delivered to the adult 

 females, in an institution called the Working Men's College, and 

 they were so well received that the fair author has been induced 

 to give them a wider circulation through the press. As they 

 were originally prepared to suit the comprehension of working 

 people, it is likely that they would meet the requirements of those 

 who are endeavouring to introduce botany into village schools, 

 and who believe that the natural sciences are important and at- 

 tractive educational means. 



2. " The Wild Flowers of England, by the Rev. Robert Tyas." 

 — This is a serial publication, which has now reached its third 

 part. It is an illustrated work on the wild flowers of England, 

 and the descriptions are relieved by scraps and morsels of choice 

 poetry. 



3. " British Wild Flowers, by J. E. Sowerby," we have already 

 noticed a,t considerable length, and the writer of that article will 



