1878. ] Recent Literature. 743 
man’s ever-present comrade, and the narrow-dock. More attrac- 
tive plants are the wood-sorrel (Oralis stricta), with its yellow 
bells closing as the sun declines, and with its light and graceful 
leaves, so pleasantly acerb; several species of clover ( Trifolium) 
and ducern (Medicago); the Deptford-pink (Dianthus armenia), with 
its only star, and the celandine (Chelidonium). 
To those who cannot take long walks, and who yet are inter- 
ested in nature, we commend these weed gardens which are free 
to all. They will find a great number of families represented; a 
great many plans of growth illustrated ; many beautiful blossoms, 
quaint seed-vessels, graceful grasses, and delicious odors, to re- 
ward them. 
We do not pen these lines in order to save any weed of them 
all from destruction. The tares must be rooted out or what will 
become of the wheat? In fact, we are fully conscious that the 
very next time we see an impudent pig-weed overtopping our 
favorite marigolds, we will pluck it up root and branch. We 
merely desire to show that even the poor man may have his bo- 
tanic garden; that in the words of Lowell: 
“ A weed is nought but a flower in disguise, 
Which is seen through at once if love give a man eyes,” 
70. 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
formity of the equatorial climate in all parts of the globe. ‘ Over 
a large portion of the tropics,” he writes, “the same general fea- 
tures prevail, only modified by varying local conditions, whether 
we are at Singapore or Batavia, in the Moluccas, or New Guinea, 
1 Tropical Nature and other Essays. By ALFRED R. Wattace. London, MacMil- — 
lan & Co., 1878. 8vo. pp. 356- 
