Retrospective Criticism. 709 



the true B. elegans beiiig a plant which, we believe, has not yet been intro- 

 duced." (^Bot. Reg., November.) 

 CCLI. 'Lilidcece. 



3016. LTLIUM 8iOS Mdrtagon. 



3 s^palis pKirimis double-flowered tfAor3jn.au P Gardens ... O co 



4 s^palis albis white-sepaled $ A or SJ jn.au W Germany ... O co Maund.bot.gar. 126 



" The Dutch, who excel in the cultivation of all sorts of bulbs, have not 

 been idle in regard to the iilium Martagon. They have raised seedlin"' 

 va,rieties of various shades of colour, some single and some double, but 

 still none possessing any peculiar attractions; which may account for very 

 few being met with in English gardens." {Maund's Bot. Gard., November.) 



1018. FRITILLA^RIA. 



S-t49a minor Led. smaller tf A or 1| my P.spot Altai mountains 1830. O p.l Bot. mag. 3580 

 F. meleagroldes Patriii in Schult Syst. Veg. 7. 39.5. As No. 8449. in Hort. Brit, is on Fischer's, 

 not Patrin's, authority, we cannot tell whetlier F. minor Led. be the same as that or not. 



Like every kind of Fritillaria, F. minor is ornamental, interesting, and 

 desirable. As its flowers are smaller than those of some kinds, it is less 

 showy than they. In the specimen figured, the stem is terminated by three 

 pendulous flowers. F. minor was obtained by D. Falconar, Esq., of Car- 

 lowrie, near Edinburgh, from Mr. Goldie, who brought it from Russia. 

 Professor Ledebour discovered it in pastures of the Altai Mountains. 

 (Bot. Mag., November.) 



Art. IV. Retrospective Criticism, 



./. W. L.'s Notes on Dr. Lindley's Lectures, (p. 436.) — A selfish desire 

 .or fame may at times operate upon some of the correspondents of the 

 Gardener's Magazine, but selfishness, in its worst form, cannot be laid 

 to their charge. The very existence of a publication, composed chiefly of 

 communications from men of the same profession, freely giving an account 

 of the results of their experiments, &c., for the purpose of instructing or 

 warning their brethren, affords us a beautiful practical developement of 

 that great moral truth, that man does not and ought not to live for him- 

 self; that he is merely a member of the community of mankind ; and, 

 consequently, that the interests and happiness of that community are 

 intimately blended and inseparably connected with his own. Hoping that 

 these are something like the sentiments of my brother gardeners, and 

 trusting to your indulgence, I beg leave to make a few remarks upon the 

 influence of light and air on vegetation, suggested chiefly by reading 

 J. W. L.'s notes on Dr. Lindley's valuable lecture upon climate, (p. 436.) 



With regard to light, there is one very important truth asserted, " that 

 too much and too little light arealike injurious to plants." I feel convinced 

 of the powerful agency of light, acting as a stimulus to the exertion of the 

 vital principle in vegetable bodies, and of the great importance of atmo- 

 spheric air, and admit, at the same time, that the want of air, and the 

 presence of too much light, are as injurious as they are represented to be ; 

 but, nevertheless, my present impression is, that these results are not pro- 

 duced exactly by the causes assigned, but that it is stretching the point too 

 far to say that plants die in the one case for " want of food," and in (he 

 other from " feeding too fast." (See Notes, p. 437.) 



That carbonic acid gas is inhaled from the atmosphere during the day, 

 and, being decomposed by the agency of light, becomes partly assimilated 

 to the plant, I do not deny : for although the application of carbonic acid 

 gas is prejudicial to plants vegetating in the shade, it, at least, is not in- 

 jurious when they are exposed to the influence of light. Having filled a 

 fine glass bottle with carbonic acid gas, and put in it some plants in a 

 vegetating state, and [irevented all access of atmospheric air, I exposed 



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