142 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
devoted the last years of his life, and which was to include, in a 
handy form, the results of his many years’ i pip pode into New 
Coalans botany, in addition to the researches of previous workers 
ex- 
tended its numbers from 24 to 89, Coprosoma from 24 to 40, and so 
in proportion. It was therefore in every way desirable that the 
history of New Zealand plants should be brought up to date, and 
. Kirk ni 
Unfortunately, however, Mr. Kirk’s death not only prevented 
the completion ork, but deprived us of the introductory 
matter on pegree a pe history, and the like, with which he had in- 
pace to prelace the volu We learn from the oddly worded and 
anonymous ‘‘ intr edutory notice”’ prefixed to the present instal- 
ment that ‘‘ the Government have in view ie ne conelly for making 
arrangements for she jomae e of the w ; but this does not 
ncourage us to hope for a very speedy ae sion. Unless such 
our African Floras prepared at ad are to the earlier ones published 
a quarter of a century or s 
he introduction ko aad the help afforded by the Trustees 
of the British Museum, who sent for the purposes of this Flora 
complete sets of the plants oe by Banks and Solander (with 
a transcript of Solander’s MS. Flore Nove Zelandie, which is not 
mentioned), and allowed a set of impressions to be taken from the 
copper plates prepares for Banks. These will be reproduced in a 
separate volume, ich, however, will not interfere with the com- 
plete series of Mie Haskens plates which the Trustees will shortly 
begin to publish. It is matter for regret that Mr. Kirk has quoted 
throughout the MS. names employed in the Flora, thus adding to 
synonymy a number of entirely useless names of which future 
y 
already in print than might be assumed from the Index Kewensis, in 
which no note is taka of those published in Gaertner’s De 
Fructibus. It is even less easy to understand why Mr. Kirk cited 
certain MS. names of his own as synonyms: we can only suppose 
that specimens have been distributed under these names which 
naturalized species. In ‘tive ericum, for pag in addition to the 
native H. gramineum and H. japonicum, H. humifusum, H. perforatwn, 
