544; Mackai/s Flora Hihernica. 



thread-edged, scabrous leaves, pallid flowers, and stemless habit." 

 Its flowers are over by the middle of August. " These yuccas 

 would surely be excellent plants for gardens on the sea cost ; and 

 yet one never sees them there." [Bot. Reg.^ vol. xxii. ; Sept.) 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. Flora Hihernica i comprising the Flowering Plants, Ferns, 

 CharacecB, Mtisci, Hepaticce, Lichens, and Alga of Ireland ; ar- 

 ranged according to the Natural System ; xvith a Synopsis of the 

 Genera according to the Linncean System. By James Townsend 

 Mackay, M.R.I. A,, Associate of the Linnaean Society, &c. &c. 

 8vo, pp.279. IQs. Dublin, 1836. 



This work, which has been long expected, has at length ap- 

 peai-ed ; and, from the long attention paid to the botany of Ire- 

 land by the author, we are sure it will be received with a hearty 

 welcome by the public. It is a gratifying proof of the progress 

 of botanical science in Britain, that Mr. Mackay has considered 

 it advisable to arrange the species he desci'ibes according to the 

 Natural System ; and of Mr. Mackay's own acquirements in this 

 system, that he has acquitted himself so well in doing so. His 

 work may be considered the only good Irish flora that exists, 

 as will appear by the Introduction, which we conclude by 

 quoting : — 



" It has been matter of complaint, that the history of the natural produc- 

 tions of Ireland has hitherto been neglected ; but, when all circumstances are 

 considered, it will appear that the censure is one of too great severity. We 

 have no means of ascertaining to what extent a knowledge of plants was pos- 

 sessed in ancient times by the Celtic inhabitants of the country ; but, when we 

 are told that the Irish language is rich in names of plants, and also that the 

 names of the letters of the Irish alphabet are taken from vegetable productions, 

 it will be admitted, that, even in periods of remote antiquity, the study of 

 plants was not altogether neglected : nor is this at all surprising, since it is 

 well known that the surface of Ireland formerly presented a very different as- 

 pect with regard to vegetation than its present features would lead us to sus- 

 pect. Formerly Ireland might have been considered as one vast forest; a 

 circumstance to which it was, perhaps, indebted for what, we are informed, was 

 one of its most ancient names (Imiis Fiodh, or Woody Island). The former 

 existence of extensive forests is not a matter of vague tradition ; it is attested 

 by the remains of pines, oaks, yews, &c., which are found in all our bogs in 

 prodigious quantity, and by the undoubted fact that many of these forests ex- 

 isted until a comparatively recent period ; and some of them are described by 

 Dr. Boates, who wrote in 1652, as then existing. These forests were de- 

 stroyed, partly to facilitate military operations ; and subsequently, in more 

 tranquil times, avast quantity of timber was consumed for the smelting of iron. 

 The remembrance of the wooded state of Ireland will be indelibly preserved 

 in the names of many towns and districts throughout the country, proving that 

 an abundance of trees formed a very characteristic feature of its scenery ; nor 

 is a knowledge of this circumstance calculated merely to gratify the curiosity 

 of the antiquarian, but it is interesting to the zoologist and botanist, inasmuch 

 as it renders probable the disappearance of several species of indigenous plants 



