Rcvitnvs and Book Notices. 1 1 1 



Heme bay, and Whitstable being- flooded. At Harwich the tide 

 was stated to be the highest known, overflowing- the principal 

 streets. Damaged foreshores and flooded houses were reported 

 at Clacton, Walton-on-Naze, Kings Lynn and Lowestoft, where 

 two more houses were washed down at Pakefield. At Boston 

 the tide was 3 ft. above an ordinary spring tide, and in many 

 places rose within a few inches of the top of the sea banks, and 

 overflowed the main road. 



On the Yorkshire coast, aboat 1000 acres of land near 

 Kilnsea were overflowed, and considerable damage done all 

 along the Holderness Cliff's ; at Hornsea, damage estimated at 

 _£,20oo was done to the promedade, and ;^5oo at the Marine 

 Hotel protection works. 



Up the Humber, near Goole, the river overtopped the banks, 

 and flooded several hundred of acres. A breach in the banks 

 occurred near Rawcliflfe Bridge, flooding the main road to 

 Thorne, and several farmsteads. 



The following are the heights of the tide abo\e ordnance 



datum : — 



Feet. 

 Hull ... ... ... 15.42 



Grimsby ... ... ... 14.75 



Ferriby Sluice ... ... 17.00 



London ... ... ... 16.83 



Boston ... ... ... 16.12 



Alien Flora of Great Britain. By S. T. Dunn, B.A., F.L.S. 



West Newman & Co. 1905. 



This little volume will be welcomed by many students of our flora as a 

 useful summar)' of the many facts concerning the origfin and distribution of 

 alien plants. It is well printed, very light, full of interesting details on the 

 species concerned, and forms a useful addition to our floras. The author's 

 appointment to a post in Hong Kong caused a hasty production of the work, 

 and it is admitted to lack the finishing touches and wide outlook of the 

 subject which it would otherwise have received. A German friend turning 

 over its pages remarked, " Are these all the ' Aliens ' you have in Britain ? 

 I thought you were overrun with them ! " Certainly one would have 

 expected a longer list, and w-e notice a number of omissions of North of 

 England records. The author has acted wisely in including as aliens many 

 of tho.se species (of Labiateje, «&c.) which are too commonly classed as 

 ' natives,' and it is well attention should be directed to a consideration of 

 their true place in our flora. He dismisses in a few words attempts to 

 classify the.se plants in this respect, but .serious students require that this 

 should be done, and it is hoped that in a future edition special attention will 

 be paid to it. As we show on another page, something has been done in 

 this way, and we believe one of the most interesting chapters in botany 

 awaits the hand of one who will piece together the threads of the story of the 

 origin and dispersion of aliens, for their study not only reveals to us some of 

 the early stages of agriculture and civilisation, but furnishes interesting 

 evidence of the very complex inter-relations of modern commerce. 



1906 April I. 



