738 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



often confused with Wa Wa-Shan, was ascended, and here the explorer 

 was rewarded by the feast of colour which the Rhododendrons provided. 

 To quote Mr. Wilson again : " The gorgeous beauty of their flowers 

 defies description. They were there in thousands and hundreds 

 of thousands. Bushes of all sizes, many 30 feet high and more in 

 diameter, all clad with a wealth of blossoms that almost hid the foliage." 



In the second volume is given a brief but valuable summarized 

 account of the flora of Western China, which Mr. Wilson describes as 

 the richest temperate flora in the world. He himself collected some 

 65,000 specimens, representing about 5,000 distinct species, in that 

 region. The Chinese flora is apparently closer akin to that of the 

 eastern United States than to that of the Asiatic continent, a fact 

 first observed by the late Dr. Asa Gray, and in this connexion the 

 comparative study of the forest flora of eastern North America 

 and China which Prof. Sargent contributes in his introduction to 

 Mr. Wilson's book will be read with interest. 



Other chapters deal with the timber trees of Western China, the 

 field and garden crops, and the more important economic products 

 and minerals. Hitherto the information on these subjects has been 

 scattered and often faulty, so that the economic botanist and merchant 

 will find in this section a valuable work of reference. 



On his last journey Mr. Wilson was accompanied by Mr. W. P. 

 Zappey, who made a zoological collection that is now in the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Mr. Wilson's own 

 observations on the fauna of Western China, coupled with the infor- 

 mation obtained through association with Mr. Zappey, have enabled 

 him to give a valuable account of the game birds and game animals 

 that are native to Western China, and in the chapters devoted to thes 

 subjects the sportsman will find much of interest. The volumes are 

 illustrated by excellent photographs, which, with a few exceptions, 

 were taken by Mr. Wilson himself. He, however, attributes much 

 of his success as a photographer to the assistance of Mr. S. J. Wallis, 

 of Kew, who developed all his negatives and obtained from them the 

 best possible results. 



Mr. Wilson is first of all a botanist, but he has also the observing 

 eye of the experienced traveller, and, as will have been gathered from 

 the foregoing remarks, his book treats of many subjects and will on 

 this account appeal to many classes of readers. Perhaps the most 

 numerous class will comprise those who cultivate Chinese plants and 

 who wish to know something of the country where they are native 

 and of the conditions under which they grow naturally and also of 

 the arduous journeys which their introduction to cultivation involved. 

 To this class of reader Mr. Wilson's volumes will prove of absorbing 

 interest and a storehouse of valuable information. 



The work is provided with a good index and with a valuable 

 map, the latter adapted by Mr. B. V. Darbishire from the War Office 

 map of Eastern Ssu-ch'uan. 



