Domestic Gardener's Manual. 59 



These different essays are chiefly composed of extracts from 

 the best writers, to which very pertinent illustrations are 

 added. When he differs from those who have preceded him, 

 he appears to have always sufficient reason on his side, and is 

 very happy in some of his criticisms. The author has bestowed 

 much attention on vegetable physiology, as being particularly 

 interesting to gardeners and botanists. He quotes the mar- 

 row of every thing heretofore written on the subject. His 

 remarks on the opinions of Knight, Dutrochet, &c., though 

 generally favourable, are nevertheless sifted with genuine 

 penetration : for, after lauding the last-named author, he 

 does not hesitate to express his doubts as to the fitness 

 of M. Dutrochet's instruments, and the soundness of his 

 doctrines. This speaks volumes in favour of our author, 

 who probably was not aware, at the moment he penned these 

 doubts, that Dutrochet had himself abandoned his theory of 

 the cause of motion of the sap as untenable. 



We cannot afford space to notice all that we consider ori- 

 ginal in this division of the work. There is one thing, how- 

 ever, which should not pass unnoticed ; namely, the excellent 

 distinction he makes between what he calls " the principle of 

 growth " and " the principle of fructification. He is driven 

 to make this distinction to account for the barrenness of a free- 

 growing tree, and the fruitfulness of a stinted one. He en- 

 deavours to give what he calls " the philosophy " of this ; 

 but here he is rather obscure. He accounts for the change of a 

 leaf-bud into a flower-bud, by supposing that " electric cur- 

 rents setting in to and through the pointed terminations of 

 those buds, and of their leafy appendages, stimulate and bring 

 them into a fruit-bearing condition ; " thus ascribing to elec- 

 tricity the power ofjorming the members, instead of consider- 

 ing it as he generally does, as an exciter only of vegetable 

 life : and this we are the more surprised at, after seeing him 

 quoting from Keith, that all vegetable organisation exists in 

 embryo before its developement ; and from Knight, that the 

 flowers of bulbs and tubers are completely formed long before 

 their appearance in the air, — a concession, by the by, we 

 little expected to see from the worthy President. On his 

 obscurity in this instance we wish to remark, in justice to the 

 author, that it is only his complaisant deference to celebrated 

 authorities that ever leads him astray from the right path of 

 science. 



Upon the whole, however, we are bound to say that the 

 book is a very able performance. The numerous extracts 

 are chosen with great ability and knowledge of the respective 

 subjects ; and, though those may be of secondary value, as 



