117 



in Geology," is a very valuable contribution to the history of the 

 science ; and its value will increase with time. It throws a flood 

 of light on points of great perplexity for the student ; and Dr. 



first complete recognition of the claims of Sedgwick, from the pen 

 of one well qualified to write the history of that painful contro- 

 versy, and it is to be hoped that the time is not very remote when 

 geologists will generally refuse to recognize the unwarrantable 

 usurpations of Murchison. 



Some little repetition has arisen from printing the essays in 

 their original forms, but this could not be avoided, since the au- 

 thor wished to preserve a certain historic value which attaches to 

 the papers, and which would have been lost by a change of forms 



A conious index and table of contents add much to the useful- 



Check List op North American Ferns. 1 — This is a very 

 neatly gotten up 8vo pamphlet, printed on excellent paper on one 

 side of the sheet so as to admit of its being cut for herbarium 

 labels. The specimens are numbered with the same numerals, and 

 the nomenclature substantially agrees with that of Horace Mann's 

 catalogue. I submit a few criticisms on Mr. Robinson's work. 

 "3677 a Notholama Newberryi, Eaton, n. sp." The letter follow- 

 ing a duplicate should be b, the letter a being commonly under- 

 stood as applicable to the first occurrence of a number or name. 

 "D. C. Eaton is given as the authority to other species, the infer- 

 ence being that there are two Eatons, both fern authors, whereas 

 there is but one, the well known New Haven Professor. All her- 

 barium labels and catalogues also for that matter, should have the 

 reference as well as the author. If the original work be not ac- 

 cessible to the compiler then let the reference be to the work from 

 which he quotes. Such a course clears up doubts, prevents blun- 

 ders, and would here have been particularly useful in the cases of 

 Prof. Eaton's new species. No European author quotes "3763 

 Woodsia obtusa Torrey" (always Hooker), for the reason that his 

 catalogue, published in 1840, is unknown there, and is never quoted 

 in American floras. If Mr. Robinson had referred to the Synopsis 



