124 



Reiu'e70s diid Book Notices. 



the effect of the subsoil on vegetation; and it is greatly to 

 be regretted that the editor and his committee have not dis- 

 cussed this and similar problems. In fact, the absence o\' 

 a descriptive account of the district from the botanical point 

 of view constitutes the greatest blemish of, what is in many 

 respects, an excellent flora. The definitions given of 'denizen,' 

 ' colonist,' ' casual,' and ' alien ' reveal on the part of Liverpool 

 naturalists a painful apath\^ concerning- the work of the late 

 Mr. H. C. Watson. It is iterated with provoking- frequency 

 that certain species, e.g-. , Clematis, Pyriis Aria, Lyciuni, Galaii- 



Water-Lilies near Bromborough. 



tliiix, and Ldi'ix are denizens, but ' always planted ' or ' alwaxs 

 introduced.' Kven on the inaccurate definition of denizen 

 g-iven — ' a plant of non-British orig^in, whether naturalised 

 or not ' -the flora is bv no means consistent. After this 

 looseness, the editor has only himself to blame if his readers 

 are inclined to doubt whether Viola carpatica, recorded from 

 rail-banks and waste places about the mosses, is really, as he 

 states, a native, and if the student of plant distribution who 

 wishes to ascertain the geographical limits of species fails to 

 find the book of real help. It is a matter of surprise that in 



Naturalist, 



