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He also sends a simple water bath with a movable rim, allowing a 

 larger or smaller aperture as desired ; price 4d., or by post 6d. 



We regret the delay in noticing Mr. Crombie's Monograph of 

 Lichens found in Britain. Prof. Th. Fries, who had hoped to under- 

 take it, has been prevented from doing so by pressure of official and 

 other duties. He writes : — " The work seems to have been executed 

 with much carefulness and diligence, and deserves putting forth as 

 very meritorious. My having views different from those of the 

 author on certain questions about principles does not prevent me 

 from pronouncing this opinion." 



Messbs. Blackie & Son have undertaken the publication of an 

 English translation, by Prof. P. W. Oliver, of Prof. Kerner's 

 Pflanzenleben. The work is to be issued in sixteen monthly parts 

 (price 2s. 6d., net), the first of which is before us. Whether, as the 

 somewhat effusive advertisement has it, this is "one of the greatest 

 works in Botany ever issued from the press" may perhaps be 

 doubted ; but it is an admirable history of plant-life in its various 

 aspects, rendered more attractive by excellent original woodcuts, 

 about a thousand in number, and sixteen coloured plates. We 

 hope to say more about the book later on ; meanwhile it is safe to 

 predict for it in its handsome English dress the large sale which it 

 deserves. It is, we think, a little to be regretted that another 

 title could not have been found : that at present employed — The 

 Natural History of Plants—in already occupied by the English 

 translation of Prof. Baillon's Histoire des Plantes, and moreover 

 hardly corresponds with the original. 



The first fascicle of Messrs. E. P. and W. B. Linton's Set of 

 British Willows has been published. The specimens are very 

 carefully selected, and well dried, and the fascicle contains twenty- 

 five numbers, which are, however, mostly cultivated examples of 

 our well-known and commoner species and hybrids rather than 

 critical or obscure plants. We have, for instance, 8. pentandra, 

 8. fra./ilis, S. alha, S. viminalis, s. aurita, S. Caprea, &c, included 

 in the series. Amongst the more interesting sheets we may notice 

 No. 5, 8. purpurea var. Woolgariana Borrer, with catkins less stout 

 than those figured in English Botany, but with the oblanceolate 

 leaves, and other characters, so different from type 8. purpurea. 

 No. 6 is S. purpurea x repens (S. Doniana Sm.), rather more 

 glabrous than usual. No. 14 is 8. cinerea x phylicifoUa (S. laurina 

 Sm.). Nos. 16 & 17 are S. aurita x cinerea (8. lutescem Kerner), 

 No. 16 being the usual form, but No. 17 is a peculiar plant, sug- 

 gesting an intermingling of S. Caprea. It is explained by the 

 authors as due to the presence of a soft-haired 8. aurita occurring 

 in the neighbourhood of its habitat. A very pretty hybrid is No. 18, 

 S. aurita x Myrsinites, and No. 25 is 8. Grahami Borrer MS., 

 which has been cultivated at Bournemouth from cuttings received 

 from Balmuto. 



The concluding part of the useful Manual of Orchidaceous Plants, 

 issued by the Messrs. Veitch, has recently appeared. We hope to 

 notice it later. 



