REVIEWS. 95 



— how far this may he obviated remains to he shown. As a surface for 

 printing, felt answers in one respect most admirably — the substance is 

 so firm that it does not shift its position, and the successive blocks de- 

 posit their colours with extreme regularity and precision ; from the 

 close texture of the material, however, the colours do not penetrate 

 deeply into the substance of the cloth, and hence, if subjected to hard 

 wear, the coloured portion is rubbed off, and the appearance of the 

 article is spoilt. By a method yet to be perfected, felt may be made to 

 supersede the thick cloths, (Kerseys), used for overcoats, and by this 

 method a much finer face could be given to the material, than to the 

 present woven goods. 



Felt is largely employed as a non-conductor for covering steam- 

 boilers, &c, and thus preventing loss of heat by radiation ; it might, 

 also, I imagine, be used with advantage under slate, in roofing houses, 

 by which the upper rooms' would be rendered cooler in summer, and 

 warmer in winter. 



fUraB. 



A Plain and Easy Account of British Fungi. By M. C. Cooke. 

 London : Robert Hardwicke. 



Mr. Cooke has done the public good service in bringing forward this 

 subject in a popular form, in a well-written and fully illustrated book 

 of 160 pages. Not only have we twenty-four coloured lithograph plates 

 after his own drawings, and numerous wood-cut illustrations, but a great 

 deal of useful, general information, supplemented by so much scientific 

 description as seems to be requisite to identify the different species of 

 esculent fungi. There has been hitherto no complete list or useful 

 guide to the cryptograms ; as Mr. Cooke truly remarks : — " That part of 

 our scientific literature which is devoted to them is remarkably scanty ; 

 and the young student, or the operative botanist, whose means are 

 limited, enquires in vain for assistance in gaining even a slight know- 

 ledge of a very interesting section of our Flora." This little hand-book 

 is just the work required for ordinary and general reference, not too 

 scientific to place it beyond the reach of the many, and full of valuable 

 and curious details as to the edible character of this widely-diffused 

 family of plants, of which hundredweights, admirably adapted for food, 

 are wasted, and yet furnishing to those seeking information a synopsis 

 of classification based upon the researches of some of the most eminent 

 mycologists of the age. 



"As articles of food," Mr. Cooke justly remarks, " fungi are cer- 

 tainly deserving of more attention than they have hitherto received 

 from the majority of our countrymen. People widely separated by 



