Professor Henslow's Catalogue of British Plants. 395 



ralized ; in the latter, the amount of suspicion touching human 

 agency in their introduction, would be the proper criterion. The 

 whole question is still quite open to discussion, and we hope that 

 the example, set by Professor Henslow, will stimulate others to pur- 

 sue the same subject. 



We cannot devote the space necessary to give many examples of 

 our author's vieAvs, but the selection of a few genera will render the 

 plan sufficiently intelligible. The genus Fumaria has six varieties 

 and species, all of them being marked as belonging to the " possibly 

 introduced" class. F . officinalis and parviflora are given as admit- 

 ted species ; capreolata and Vaillantii are held to be questionable 

 species ; media and leucantha are considered to be varieties ; the for- 

 mer being distinguished as one admitted to be a species by De Can- 

 dolle. In the genus Papaver, we find P. nudicaule considered as a 

 species that ought to be altogether expunged from our Floras ; som- 

 niferum is marked as a species certainly introduced, the other four, — 

 hybridum, argemone, dnbium, rhceas, rank as possibly introduced 

 species ; the maritime form of Argemone being named as a variety 

 of that species. Tormentilla reptans is sunk into a variety of T. offi- 

 cinalis, which latter is properly referred to the genus Potentilla. 

 Oenanthe apiifolia, in like manner, is joined to 0. crocata : Veronica 

 agrestis, polila, and Buxbaumii are all admitted species ; the latter 

 being considered as certainly introduced. Potamogeton oblongus is 

 rejected ; lucens and helerophyllus are united as two varieties, under 

 the name of proteus ; rufescens and lanceolatus are questionable 

 species. 



The author gives a numerical table of British species, &c. so far 

 as his Catalogue extends, that is, to the Algae inclusively. Of the 

 Acotyledones, 1406 species, or 1583 species and varieties together, 

 are enumerated. The Phanerogams: are thus stated : 



Species, or with Varieties. 

 Indigenous (including the possibly introduced,) 1382 - 1650 



Naturalized, - - 57 - 62 



To be expunged ? - - - 56 - 58 



Total, 1495 1770 



It is deserving of notice, that the author of the Catalogue has al- 

 together discarded the use of capital letters in writing specific names, 

 while in the last edition of the British Flora, the use of capitals in 

 this way has been considerably extended, by adding them to all ad- 

 jectives expressing the names of countries, as Gallica, Anglica, Sec. 

 The omission of capitals gives a neater and less crowded appearance 



