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Bae Manatee ce: 
1897 | CURRENT LITERATURE 211 
upon the discovery of this remarkable plant. It is said that ‘when he first 
realized the extraordinary character of the plant he had found, his sen- 
Sations were so overwhelming that he could do nothing but kneel down on 
the burning soil and gaze at it, half in fear lest a touch should prove it a fig- 
ment of the imagination.” 
It is estimated that he reached London with more than 5000 species of 
plants. The bibliography of the collection shows 28 titles under the name of 
Welwitsch, and 61 titles under other names. At his death Dr. Welwitsch 
directed that the study set of his plants should be offered to the British 
Museum for purchase. The Portuguese en however, claimed all 
of the collections, and demanded their delive This was resisted by 
Mr. Carruthers, then in charge of the botanical dathaaviene of the Museum, 
and Mr. Justen, of the firm of Dulau & Co. A suit in chancery was the 
result, and after long delays a compromise was reached in 1875, by which the 
Portuguese government was declared entitled to the collection upon condi- 
tion that they should give to the British Museum the best set, next after the 
study set, which was returned to Lisbon. Mr. W. P. Hiern was engaged to 
sort and separate the specimens, and this afterwards led to his being engaged 
to prepare a catalogue of this remarkable collection for publication. At this 
late day, therefore, the first part of this catalogue has appeared.” It contains 
a preface by Mr. George Murray, explaining the ownership of the collection 
and the conditions of publication; a sketch of the life and labors of Dr. Wel- 
witsch ; and an account of the dicotyledons through Rhizophoracee. It is 
the intention to complete the dicotyledons in Part II, and to include the 
remaining groups in a third and concluding part 
It is useless to go into the details of baie containing such a mass of 
descriptions and notes. New genera and species abound, and the full notes 
give a very adequate notion of the relation of species, genera, and families 
to the vegetation as a whole. It is to be hoped that this puncedinetes impor- | 
tant publication will be carried to a speedy and successful conclusion. 
ns 
je 
THE SS attention to instruction in ee physiology, even to ele- 
ourses therein, is showing itself in the production of means for _ 
Rise cake courses. It is not long since the series of wall charts by 
Frank and Tschirch appeared. They served a useful purpose for small lec- 
_ ture rooms, but were altogether too smal] for m rooms = ined Cees seman aga size. | 
_ Another series, es, composed of 15 plates, has ji ry 
Himes, WILLIAM. ee the African ‘ones collected by Dr. saa ; 
Friedrich Welwitsch in 1853-61. Dicotyledons, pee te ie a oe mags 
= Pine by ner fhe Tres [rsh Mise). 
