220 



BOOK NOTICES. 



must be allowed as to the species now left out of the catalogue altogether. We 

 missed at the first glance the increasingly common aliens of our cornfields and 

 wastes near mills — Silene dichotoma, Amsinckia lycopsoides, Luzula albida, and 

 others ; but, broadly speaking, the comparative fulness of the lists is one of the 

 catalogue's not too numerous merits. 



The sequence of the orders and genera is that of the ' Genera Plantarum ' — a 

 noble work but inaccessible to ninety-nine out of a hundred botanists. The 

 ' authorities ' attached to the specific names are in many instances incorrect, 

 ' Linn.' standing in place of Hudson, in the cases of Trifolium medium, T. ochro- 

 leucon, Mentha rotundifolia, M. hirsuta, and Scutellaria minor; whilst ' Gouan ' 

 (1765) wrongly appears for 'Huds.' under Alopecunts bulbosus. On the other 

 hand, Hypericum elodes quoted as of 'Huds.' should be of Grufberg (following 

 Pryor's researches as found in the Journal of Botany, p. 75, N. S., vol. 10, 1881), 

 and Mentha longifolia Huds. must replace M. sylvestris L. ; and Agrostis palushis 

 Huds. stand as the type of the Marsh Fiorin, instead of A. alba Linn. Were it 

 not that Hudson himself withdrew (in his 2nd Ed.) several of the names he had 

 given in the first edition, upon ascertaining their identity with others previously 

 given, Geranium pe7-enne Huds. would have to be retained in place of G. pyrena- 

 icum (rightly quoted in the catalogue as of ' Burm. fil,' N. L. Burman, whose 4to 

 'Spec. Bot. de Ger.' was issued in 1759); and Alopecurus myosutoides be read 

 instead of the familiar A. agrestis L. The catalogue before us appears to have 

 adopted some of Hudson's earlier names, though evidently not directly from Pryor's 

 paper, for we have Slum erectum taking the place of the Linnean S. angustifolium, 

 Avena pubescens Huds., etc.; although, whilst we are glad to see under Epipactis 

 an indication of the specific distinctness of 'E. media Fr.,' as regards two other 

 forms with which it has been confused — we are surprised that^ such a grave error 

 should have been committed as to sink the name violacea Boreau. in ' piirpurata 

 Smith.' Pryor pointed out that Smith's plant had nothing to do with it, as it was 

 founded ' on a deformation in an immature state.' 



Again, if strict ' observance of the law of priority, as the only possible way of 

 obtaining finality ' lead, as in this catalogue, to replacing Ranuncuhis hirsutus by 

 R. sardous Cr. (spelled without a capital in the original) ; Ficaria verna Huds. by 

 Ran. Jic aria. L. ; Sinapis arvensis L. by ' Brassica sinapis Visiani ' ; Helianthemum 

 vulgare Gaert. by H. Chamcecistus Mill.; Arenaria rubella Hook, by A. sulcata 

 Schlect. ; Tilia grandifolia Ehrh. by T. platyphyllos Scop.; T. parvifolia Ehrh. by 

 T. cordata Mill.; Lotus uliginosus Schkuhr by L. pilosus Beeke; Physospermum 

 coniubiense DC. by P. commutatum Spreng. ; Pimpinella magna L. by P. major 

 Huds. ; Torilis infesta Spreng. by Caucalis arvensis Huds. ; Calluna vulgaris Hull, 

 by C. Erica DC. ; Statice bahusiensis Fr. by S. rariflora Drej. ; Linaria minor Desf. 

 by L. viscida Moench. ; Calamintha Acinos Clairv. by C. arvensis Lam. ; Polygonum 

 Raii Bab. by P. Roberti Lois. ; Riwiex pratensis by R. acutus Linn. ; Smilacina 

 bifolia by Maianthemum Convallaria Web.; Gagea lutea Ker. by G. fascicularis 

 Salisb. ; Cladium Mariscus by C. germanicum Schrad.; Blysmus compressus by 

 Scirpus Caricis Retz. ; Carex amptdlacea by C. rostrata Stokes. ; Phleu??i Boehmeri 

 by P. phalaroides Koeler. ; Digitaria htimifusa Pers. by Panicu?n glabrum Gaud. ; 

 Knappia agrostidca by Mibora verna Adanson ; Calamagrostis stricta Nutt. by 

 Deyeuxia neglecta Kunth. ; Cynodon Dactylon Pers. by Fibichia umbellata Koch. ; 

 Festuca pratensis by ' F. fallax Th.' with a species ' F. dumetonmi Linn.' of which 

 we are not ashamed to confess we do not know the familiar British counterpart or 

 synonym — if there is one ; Polypodium Phegopteris by Phegopteris polypodioides 

 Fee., which are the most prominent and likely to prove (to average intellects) the 

 most puzzling of the alterations in this new edition ; if, we repeat, priority warrants 

 the changes mentioned, consistency also calls for others which are not made. 

 Arabis sagittata DC. (No. 88) should be A. hirsuta Scopoli (a.D. 1760) as in 

 Nyman's Conspectus ; and Oxycoccus pahistris Pers. must stand in the place of 

 Vaccinium oxycoccos L. ; Statice reticulata Sm. should be S. bellidifolia Gouan 

 (1765), but even if reticulata were retained, Linnaeus, not Smith, is the authority; 

 and we think Hypericum dubium Leers, is preferable to the old aggregate Linnean 

 term quadranguhim, which only represented it inclusively. - H. quadratum Stokes 

 rightly takes precedence of the Friesian tetrapterum. Salix holosericea Willd., 

 again, should replace (1292) S. ferruginea Anders. Stokes, too, should be the 



Naturalist, 



