814 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
over different strata, we find (often within a few len): several 
different wpe telling us what stratum we have left or r 
er the accurate description of the rock-bed, and ae list of 
the eer it can grow,’’ says the au thor, pesae the all-important 
question of the frequency of each species flourishing on its soil, and 
of the symbols by which their quantity, greater or ‘less, may be in- 
dicated.” On page i is given the following ‘‘ Frequency Table,” 
Mis a caution against applying a standard of frequency which may 
true of all soils a together, but is not true of any given soil:— 
oe eg v.c. = Very common Ist 
Flourishing Spe (e = Common and 
- Species Sabir hie = Fairly common 3rd | Frequency 
= Rather rare 4th Position. 
rites | R. = Rare 5th 
pos ns Species v.R. = Very rare 6th 
— ' foam { ket. | = Approaching extinction 
BE. = Extinct 
Erratic Certain t. = Local 
Species Uncertain s. = Sporadic 
‘‘A few points vier be carefully noted at once regarding this 
table. Species are to be numerically compared one with 
another at any give spot or on any rock-bed soil. In the bulk (for 
all the localities and ¢ stances in which they can possibly 
grow) they must be sain but only to ascertain what is the V.-C., 
C., &c., standard for each species. O. soil which grows them, 
the number of specimens of Quercus Robur, Cnicus Yo. and 
ellis nape differs most widely, and yet each may , Ox 
&e., e case may be. The Somnrariscn for any even spot or 
rock- = is not between the numbers of one species with the 
numbers of another species—that would be simply aimless Meee leading 
wake e—but between the frequency of any species on the at the 
spot ~~. consideration, with the frequency of the same snail 
the same soil elsewhere, or on other soils which have been fully 
studied.” 
Two soils on for sae © Lower Lias Clay and Oxford Clay) may 
matters: ya on i ge secondly, 
on ee presence or ibaa of lime, sand, &c.; and, thirdly, on 
fertilit 
Lastly, the importance of locality is pointed out, for, on the same 
soil, we may have meadow, pasture, moorland, woo and, he dge- 
banks, road-sides, streams, ditches, &c., and all these at Aifforent 
altitudes, ‘‘ Rach of these spots,” says the author, “‘ has to rked 
a separate locality, if the botanist wants his notes to cad aie the 
actual circumstances of living nature, and not merely to be a frag- 
mentary and saris ean ysis.” 
Mr. Woodruffe-Peacock tells us that he has studied the soils, 
frequency, and locality of plants for tally twenty years, and has 
