50. GENT1ANACE.E. 171 



Forbes, as being characteristic of his South-eastern flora. 

 And yet, in truth, very few of its localities do occur within 

 the space assigned for that " flora" in his coloured map. 

 How is this contradiction to be accounted for ? Simply, 

 I believe, by the intimation already given on page 470 of 

 the former volume of this work ; namely, that Professor 

 Forbes's mode of learning and citing facts in British geo- 

 graphical botany, was, by turning over the pages of Babing- 

 ton's Manual, and guessing that the species distinguished 

 by the letter "E" (England, only) would be found restricted 

 to, or prevailing in, the South-east angle of England, unless 

 some contrary intimation was set forth in that Manual, as 

 is usually done in the instance of South-western species. 

 Such a peculiar mode of getting up evidence for a hasty 

 hypothesis, was almost certain to lead into egregious errors 

 and the betrayal of itself. Accordingly, the Gentiana 

 Pueumonanthe is not a solitary instance of mis-illustration, 

 but one that could be matched by various others of similar 

 character. ' Ex uno disce omnes'' may be replied to the 

 anonymous writer in the Gardener's Chronicle, who so 

 injudiciously endeavoured to shield Mr. Forbes, by mak- 

 ing a false representation of the charge conveyed in an 

 appendix to the former volume of the Cybele Britannica ; 

 a charge which remains still unanswered, and is unanswer- 

 able. No second mention of the matter might have been 

 made in this work, if Mr. Forbes could have kept such 

 friends from meddling, whether done ignorantly or men- 

 daciously, to his own further disadvantage. 



720. Gentiana nivalis, Linn. 



Area ^^^^^^^^^^^:^.-ji,^\b [16], 

 South limit in Perth, Forfar. 



