Notice of Dr. Hooker's Flora of New Zealand. 251 
study of its New Zealand phases alone, nor understand the latter with- 
out examining those of Australia, South Africa, and South America, 
forms of his race on the spot. We do not know why varieties should in 
h 
conclusive. To the amateur these questions are perhaps of very tri 
fling importance, but they are of great moment to the naturalist who 
re 
observation and judgment, and the resulting chaos of synonymy which 
has been accumulated by thoughtless aspirants to the questionable honor 
dy 
Sophical manner or spirit, or without due attention to all the modes of 
testing the validity of characters, afforded by the study of living and 
dried plants, by direct observation, and by experiment, there might be 
hopes of such a revelation; but such hopes are inconsistent with the 
sreat advances that have been made in systematic botany, which, hay- 
* The time however is happily past when it was considered an honor to be the 
the botani i art, D 
Herage| of a plant; nist who has the true interests of science at heart, 
“Y feels that the thrusting of an uncalled-for synonym into the nomenclature of 
rve ut that a wid 
Sclence is an ¢ ; : b 
xposure of his own ignorance an 8 censure, : 
Hom: knowledge and a riatse Uap of ind are required, to prove those dis- 
aad a forms to be identical, which any superficial observer can separate by words 
* 
* 
