Retrospective Criticism. 201 



matter whatever a man's occupation in life be, let him cultivate his intel- 

 lectual faculties ; and he will find that, in proportion to their cultivation, will 

 his way be extended. If he had referred to past ages, and the slow progress 

 society had made, to learn the probable result of knowledge, we must first 

 ascertain the actual result of ignorance ; prove the danger of the one, and we 

 will establish the utility of the other. He did not mean to establish the fact, 

 that all the books which were daily issued from the press had a tendency to 

 lessen the misery, or promote the happiness, of the human race ; on the con- 

 trary, many of them were more calculated to deprave the mind, and thereby 

 increase misery. But it is an indisputable fact, that there is a general demand for 

 intellectual food, and that a wholesome supply has proportionally increased. 



Art. VI. Retrospective Criticism. 



Pl s NUS Pinsapo Bois. — I have read with very great interest the communi- 

 cations of Mr. Lawson and M. Vilmorin (p. 109. and 111.), respecting the new 

 pine observed in the neighbourhood of Ronda, which, it appears, is some- 

 thing of ^ v bies pectinata. I felt the more interested in it, because I was aware, 

 before I left Spain, that there was a pine, differing from the others, in the neigh- 

 bourhood; and itis announced in my work, vol. ii. p. 239. I was indebted for 

 my information to an Andalusian lady, whose family had property near the 

 locality where it was pointed out, and she promised to procure me cones, 

 &c. ; but the unfortunate circumstances of the country since that period have 

 prevented it, and, as usual, we are indebted to foreigners for the information 

 which a day's delightful excursion from Gibraltar would have enabled any 

 one to obtain. The name of " Pinsapo," I think, is provincial, and not 

 Castilian, or regular Spanish, but it is excellent in itself. Before we add 

 another species to our long catalogue, let us examine carefully, whether it be 

 not, as I have little doubt it is, identical with the A. cephalonica, with which it 

 perfectly agrees in latitude and elevation of site. My reason for supposing 

 it to be a Pinus was, that the site in some degree corresponded with that of 

 the Sierra de Cuenca, the upper zone of which is composed of P. sylvestris. 

 The information respecting this interesting species was obtained just as I was 

 leaving Spain, and had no opportunity of ascertaining its exactness. Not long 

 before this I set out on a route from Malaga to Gibraltar, by the mountains, 

 which would have carried me through the locality ; unfortunately one of my 

 horses died at Antequera, and I was obliged to return to Malaga, when the 

 lateness of the season prevented me again undertaking it. — S.E. Cook. Carlton, 

 March 10. 1839. 



The passage to which Captain Cook refers, we conclude to be the latter 

 part of the following paragraph : — 



" The Serrania de Ronda terminates the southern section of the forests. In 

 the barrancos and river courses is P. Pinaster, which is used at Marbella 

 for smelting the iron ore. Mixed with it, but lower down, is P. halepensis; 

 and to the western side, I believe, P. Pinea. High up, on the most elevated 

 ridges of the Serrania, is a species I have not been able to classify, and know 

 only by the vague descriptions of the natives, obtained too late to enable me 

 to visit the places. It grows on St. Cristobal, and the Sierra de la Nieve ; 

 and is not improbably, from the description, P. sylvestris." (Sketches in Spain, 

 vol. ii. p. 239.) 



Yicea Pinsapo seems nearly allied to the silver fir, though the seedlings are, 

 perhaps, rather longer in the leaves. If decidedly distinct, it will be an inte- 

 resting addition to the arboricultural treasures of Spain, as well as a proof of 

 the negligence manifested by botanists, in overlooking, or rather underlook- 

 ing, the most noble and useful portion of the vegetable creation ; while they 

 hesitate not to] devote the most scrupulous attention, in endeavouring to 

 multiply species of the humble genera which compose the turf under their 

 feet. — W. G. Edinburgh, Jan. 19. 1839. 



Vol. XV.— No. 109. p 



