154 TOURIST’S GUIDE TO THE FLORA OF THE ALPS. 
The Tourist’s Guide to the Flora of the Alps. By Prof. K. W. v. 
ALLA-TORRE. Translated and ae by AtFRED sag ae 
M.A. London: Sonnenschein mo, pp. Vill. 392. 
AUTHOR, — saz publisher es ula d to render ‘his 
little work in every way attractive. Printed in clear type on thin 
paper, and hcunas in red leather, in pocket-book form, it weighs less 
than five ounces, and is thus really suited for the pocket—which is 
not always the case oh pocket-floras. The descriptions are short, 
but clear—indeed the book is in every way so good that we hope 
it will soon run through the present edition, and that a second 
issue will supply ce rae deficiencies which are at present noticeable. 
For unfortunately it i complete. The author tells us he has 
excluded ‘‘only the pecan and most = aes and 
the — “has added a few which he would expect to find in a © 
Flora of this kind”; but the ances containing & names of 
those ‘ oer described in this work” is sadly too extensive. It 
seems to us that plants which are common pre ubiquitous are just 
the ones which would first strike the eye and excite curiosity ; and 
as many of these are not British, eae would be the first which the 
English traveller would wish to identify. He would, we fear, be’ 
likely to fall see one of two eeu either to twist the deserip- 
tions in the < so as to suit the plant before him (and we all know 
how easy it is oe be misled by book- ocda grees or to discard the 
little volume as useless for his purpose. The transatlantic botanist, 
to whom, when visiting Europe, a work as this might 
invaluable, will be in a still worse predicament, as many of our 
common British plants will be unfamiliar to him. 
We hope, therefore, that a second edition will soon be called for, 
in which these omissions will be supplied. The convenient size 0 
the volume is one of its greatest attractions; but an extra ounce 2 
weight and a slightly increased bulk will not seriously detract 
om this. t the same time, the somewhat numerous misprints 
le” and ‘radile 
“ Leaves with hn es (p. 120) is a puzzling 
generic characte er; and “ terpinnate”’ does not strike us as an 
improvement on the sabhans Py of the wor 
be to be of ¢ any use $6 y either, the t sy ae should be ene 
associated, which we do not is the case. Nor can we see wha 
rus Nissolia is likely to gain by x eroming among and closely 
g grass: surely it is more that the plant would be 
copped with: the sey fecan serie it can sarily be distinguished, 
