Nov. 25, iSSoJ 



NATURE 



75 



It is interesting to have an area so far west in the 

 island so thoroughly worked out, and certainly one of the 

 most instructive points in connection with the matter is 

 to note which British plants fail to reach and become 

 very rare within the area. Ta';ing the species according 

 to their types of distribution as classified by Mr. Watson 

 in the fourth volume of his " Cybele Britannica," and 

 adopting the more stringent scale of species-limitation 

 which he there follows, we find that out of 1,425 British 

 species 764 grow in the neighbourhood of Plymouth. 

 The 120 species of Watson's highland or extreme northern 

 type and the 49 local or doubtful species are not repre- 

 sented here at all. Of the eighty-one species of his 

 Scottish type we get only 5, and out of the 37 species of 

 his intermediate type only 3 enter into the Plymouth area. 

 So that the boreal element of the British flora, 23S species, 

 is represented at Plymouth only by 8 species, such plants' 

 as Rubus saxatilis, Gnaplialiiim dioicuni, Polypodium 

 Phegopteris, Polypodiinn Dryoptcris, and Lycopodium 

 Selago lurking in very small quantity in the recesses of 

 Dartmoor. Of Watson's 70 Atlantic or specially western 

 species Plymouth has 36 ; of Watson's 127 Germanic or 

 specially eastern species Plymouth has only 16; of the 

 532 species spread almost universally through Britain 

 Plymouth has 4S4. Perhaps the most noteworthy point 

 of all is that of Watson's 409 plants of the English type 

 of distribution, plants spread widely through England, 

 but running out in a northern direction north of the 

 Humber and in the Scotch Lowlands, Plymouth gets 

 only 220, or little more than half Amongst the absentees 

 in widely-spread English plants, for instance, are the 

 common Forget-me-not {Myosotis palustris), the Mistletoe, 

 Genista tinctoria, Veronica Anagallis, Clyccria aquatica 

 and Scirpus lacustris; and amongst the great rarities 

 the common harebell {Campanula rot undif olid), the 

 cowslip, the common butter-bur, Hieracium boreale and 

 vulgatuni, and some of the common south-country weeds, 

 like Solaniini nigrum and Mcrciirialis annua, which 

 round about London are exceedingly plentiful. In 

 the critical genera of British plants Plymouth is rich in 

 rubi and roses, very poor in willows and hieracia. 

 Amongst the rarities of the neighbourhood are Poly- 

 carpon tetraphyllum, Erynium campcstrc, Pyrus Briggsii, 

 a curious pear with fruit like that of a small crab-apple' 

 Physospcrmum cornubicnsc, and two species oi Hypericum, 

 ba^ticum, and linariifolium, and it produces some curious 

 hybrid epilobia and rumices. 



The area is divided into five districts, founded on 

 river-drainage, two of which are in Cornwall and three in 

 Devonshire ; and under these the special localities of the 

 species are carefully traced out, the abundance in which 

 each occurs being particularised, and the claims of each 

 to be regarded as wild being in all doubtful cases care- 

 fully investigated. 



As stated in the title, the book includes a map and 

 short sketches of the climatology and geology of the 

 district, and of the progress of botanical investigation 

 within its bounds from the days of Lobel and Parkin- 

 son down to the present day. We can recommend it 

 with confidence to all our readers who are interested in 

 geographical botany as one of the most complete, con- 

 scientious, and interesting works of its kind that have 

 ever appeared. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Peruvian Antiquities: The Necropolis of Ancon in 

 Peru. A Series of Illustrations of the Civilisation 

 and Industry of the Empire of the Incas. Bein?^ 

 the Results of Excavations made on the Spot By 

 W Reiss and A. Stiibel. (London: Asher and Co., 



I So I.) 



A FIRST instalment now lies before us of this magnificent 

 undertakmg, which, if fully realised, bids fair to'^rival in 

 scientific interest and typographical splendour Lord 

 Kmgsborough's great work on Mexican Antiquities. 

 Reserving a full notice for a later stage of the project, 

 It will suffice here briefly to indicate its main features' 

 and direct attention to its paramount importance for anti- 

 quarian and ethnological studies. The authors, who 

 have lately returned from South America laden with 

 archaeological treasures of all kinds, have been encour- 

 aged by the munificence of the directors of the Berlin 

 Royal Museum to place the results of many years' dili- 

 gent research at the disposal of the public. Under the 

 general heading of " Peruvian Antiquities " the publishers 

 Messrs. Asher and Co., of Beriin and London, propose to 

 issue simultaneously in English and German a series 

 of folio volumes illustrating the whole field of the 

 ancient Quichua-Aymara culture, such as it existed at 

 the time of the Spanish invasion. The publication will 

 spread over a number of years, each volume appear- 

 ing in separate parts varying in number according to 

 the nature of the subject. Each part will contain 

 a number of chromolithographic engravings with corre- 

 sponding pages of explanatory text. These illustrations, 

 which of course are the great feature of the work, will 

 be produced in the most finished style of modern typo- 

 graphic art, and will consist of perfect facsimiles either in 

 natural or reduced size of every conceivable object asso- 

 ciated with the ancient civilisation of the Incas. The 

 series begins with a volume devoted entirely to the 

 "Necropolis of Ancon," now an obscure watering 

 place and fishing village on the Peruvian coast, a little 

 north of Lima, but in pre-Spanish times evidently the 

 centre of a thickly-peopled district that had long been 

 occupied by a settled population. The "'finds ''made in 

 the mummy graves of this burial-place are of extraordinary 

 archsological interest, illustrating in the most vivid 

 manner every aspect of the social and domestic life of 

 the ancient Peruvians. The volume is to be completed 

 during the course of the ensuing two years in ten 

 uniform parts, as above described, and to' judge from 

 Part I., which has just appeared, it is likely to prove of 

 the utmost value to the antiquary and ethnologist. But 

 our remarks on all details must be postponed till this 

 volume is completed. The English text has been en- 

 trusted to Mr. A. H. Keane, whose special knowledge 

 of the subject must ensure accuracy in the descriptive 

 and explanatory part of the work. 



Expose* Historique concernant le Cours des Machines, 

 dans VEnseignement de I'Ecole Polytcchnique. '•t, dd' 

 (Paris : Gauthier-Villars, i88o.) 

 The council for the improvement of the course of study 

 at the Polytechnic School has for some time had under 

 consideration a revision of the Programme d' Instruction 

 of the two years' course, and at different times, for instance 

 in 1S65, steps have been taken with a view to their im- 

 provement, but, according to this pamphlet, difterent 

 circumstances, especially in 1870, havo deferred the 

 realisation of such schemes. Upon such a wide subject 

 our author does not venture, but he confines himself 

 merely to that part which relates to the Cours de 

 Machines. \\'e are indebted for this very interesting 

 and full historical sketch of the matter from the very 

 foundation of the school to the veteran geometer, M. 

 Chasles. 



