318 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION K. 



Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus.' thirty-five parts, comprising 181 

 species, have, so far, been issued. 



Digressing for the moment. I would mention that British Guiana, with an 

 area equal to that of Great Britain, on the mainland of South America, is full of 

 interest, but its rich and abundant flora, extending from an extensive coast line 

 to the high lands of the interior, with the Kaieteur falls and the remarkable 

 Roraima Mountain rising to over 8,000 feet, is little known to the world at 

 large. There is, also, the fertile and easily accessible island of Trinidad, at 

 the mouth of the Orinoco, which has been a British Colony for more than a 

 hundred years. Although the necessary material is conveniently at hand in the 

 local herbaria, brought together with great care during the last thirty years, 

 neither of these portions of the Empire has, as yet, published a handy working 

 Hora from which their special botanical and economical resources might be 

 ascertained. In these days a systematic exploration of our tropical possessions 

 and the publication of the results in an accessible form should serve as the first 

 step in their fuller development. 



Of interest from another point of view is a new supplement of ' Indo.x 

 Kewensis ' now ready for the press. This invaluable work of reference was 

 originally prepared at the urgent request of Darwin, who undertook the cost of 

 producing it. The Bentham Trustees have lately issued a complete index to the 

 plates and names of plants that appear in the thirty volumes of ' Hooker's Icones 

 Plantarum.' 



Further, it is worthy of note that the Royal Horticultural Society is arranging, 

 with the help of Kew'and the British ]\Iuseum (Natural History), to undertake 

 to bring out a new edition of Pritzel's ' Iconum Botanicorum Index.' The 

 original work, indispensable to a botanical and horticultural library, contained 

 107,000 entries. It is estimated that, at least, an additional 125,000 references 

 will appear in the new edition. 



This may be an appropriate occasion to refer to the new branch of botany, 

 which has lately come into prominence as one of the results of the devotion to 

 nature study and the contemplation of the characteristic features of vegetation 

 as we find it distributed over the earth's surface. Ecology is capable of enor- 

 mously extending the outlook of botany, and it has so largely added to the 

 interest of field work that we may. wonder that the phenomenon of vegetation so 

 long displayed before our eyes had not suggested its sociological aspects long ago. 

 Ecology has its Society and Journal, and it bids fair to fully establish itself in 

 the household of botany. It is hoped it will mitigate some of the admitted 

 drawbacks of purely laboratory work and revive the old Natural History 

 spirit of former days. As pointed out by Thiselton-Dyer, it is to this spirit that 

 we owe the Darwinian theory which rested on every point on a copious ba«is of 

 fact and observation made in field and forest. 



In describing the principal forms of plant communities the first requisite 

 is to become familiar with the species and their distribution in relation to their 

 habitat. This neighbourhood is noteworthy for the opportunities it offers for the 

 studv of the natural vegetation of calcareous soils, of the heathlands of the 

 Basshot sands, as well as of an interesting series of aquatic and marsh plants. 

 The presence of many of the Southern elements of the British flora enurnerated 

 by Stapf is also of interest. Among these, to mention a few, are SimefJiis 

 hicolor, Lotus hispida. Glndinltis ilh/ricus, Lvfhvif/ia polusfris. Lobelia urens, 

 Erica ciliaris. and Pinc/uictila lusitanica. 



The phenomenal spread of a comparatively new marsh grass {Sparfina 

 Townsendii) along certain portions of the South Coast deserves careful stud.y. 

 It is supposed to be a hybrid between S. strictn and S. alterni folia. It is claimed 

 to be pre-eminent among halophytes on account of the extraordinary vigour with 

 which it spreads over mud flate and eventually forms meadows to be measured 

 bv thousands of acres in the neighbourhood of Southampton Water and Poole 

 Harbour. It is a question whether it mav not develop into a serious menace to 

 navigable waters. On the other hand, it may nrove capable of being utilised 

 in suitable localities as a reclaiming; agent. Its economic value in providing 

 material for paper-making or as food for cattle mav also receive attention. It 

 is unnecessary to enter into further details, as Professor Oliver, who has kept 

 this graes under observation for many years, hae kindly consented to give an 

 address summarising the results. 



