OF SELBORNE. 251 



Dipsacus pilosus, small teasel, in the Short and Long 

 Lith; 



Lathy rus sylvestris, narrow-leaved, or wild lathyrus, 

 in the bushes at the foot of the Short Lith, near the path ; 



Ophrys spiralis, 1 ladies' traces, in the Long Lith, and 

 towards the south corner of the common ; 



Ophrys nidus avis* bird's nest ophrys, in the Long 

 Lith under the shady beeches among the dead leaves, in 

 Great Dorton among the bushes, and on the Hanger plenti- 

 fully; 



Serapias latifolia? helleborine, in the High Wood under 

 the shady beeches ; 



Daphne laureola, spurge laurel, in Selborne Hanger 

 and the High Wood ; 



Daphne mezereum, the mezereon, in Selborne Hanger 

 among the shrubs at the south-east end above the cottages ; 



Lycoperdon tuber,* truffles, in the Hanger and High 

 Wood ; 



Sambucus elulus, dwarf elder, wallwort, or danewort, 

 among the rubbish and ruined foundations of the Priory. 5 



1 Spiranthes autumnalis, Rich. 2 Neottia nidus-avis, Rich. 



3 Epipactis latifolia, All. 4 Tuber cestivum, Vitt. 



5 From this letter and the previous one it would appear that Gilbert 

 White paid comparatively but slight attention to the vegetable produc- 

 tions of the neighbourhood in which he resided. His strictures on 

 " mere systematic classification" were perhaps not uncalled-for at the 

 period when they were written, for the science of botany was then in a 

 very unsatisfactory state in this country, little else b*ung attempted 

 beyond an arrangement of our indigenous plants according to the sexual 

 system of Linnasus. It is to be regretted, however, that our author 

 thought it " needless work " to enumerate the plants found about 

 Selborne, for the possession of such a catalogue at the present day 

 would be of considerable interest and utility to those who are occupied 

 with an investigation of the laws affecting plant distribution. 



In regard to the botany of Selborne, Dr. Trimen informs us that 

 Gilbert White's scanty observations on the subject have been supple- 

 mented by the late Dr. Bell Salter, who published in the " Phy tologist " 

 (vol. i. p. 1132) a list of the flowering plants observed by him at 

 Selborne during three days' botanizing in the month of September, 1844, 

 and subsequently in the same periodical (vol. ii. pp. 97 and 131) he 

 gave an elaborate account of the Brambles (Rubi). Many notices of 



