2l8 



Reviews and Book Notices. 



we mig-ht mention a collection (exhibited in one of the temporary 

 •cases) of old Fire Insurance Plates. 



The Natural History side of the museum is well developed, 

 and the Curator has wisely not confined himself to classified 

 ofroups of stuffed animals and skeletons, etc., but has g^iven 

 illustrations of such principles as 'mimicry,' 'protective colour- 

 ing',' and so forth. Series exhibiting- the life-history of metabolous 

 insects, a freshwater aquarium, and a vivarium (for reptiles) are 

 other means successfully adopted for rousing and stimulating 

 the interest and curiosity of the visitor. 



On the whole, we can heartily congratulate the city on havingf 

 not only an excellent museum, but also that which is indis- 

 pensable for its interpretation — a clear and interesting- gfuide- 

 book. H. M. P. 



The Flora of the Parish of Halifax. By W. B. Crump, M.A., 

 and Charles Crossland, F.L.S. Demy 8vo., 392 pp. los. 6d. Halifax 

 Scientific Society. 



This flora is a most welcome addition to the botany of 

 Yorkshire. It is 16 years since Lees' ' Flora of West Yorkshire' 

 was pubHshed, and when we consider that much of this 

 was written long- before then, we are g-lad to see what new 

 light can be thrown on any part of the area. The flowering- 

 plants and ferns are dealt with by Mr. Crump and the lower 

 •cryptogams by Mr. Crossland. The parish is an extensive one, 

 ■containing- 129 square miles, and is to a great extent a natural 

 geographical division. As we are told, it is essentially a moor- 

 land plateau, descending eastwards from 1,500 feet to 500 feet 

 in 15 miles. The district lies on the Yoredale Rocks, Millstone 

 Grits, and Lower Coal Measures, so, with an alternating series 

 of Sandstones and Shales, the geology is simple from a botanical 

 point of view. Only a very small part of the parish descends 

 below 300 feet, and therefore offers exceptional opportunities for 

 studying problems of plant distribution in at any rate one of its 

 important phases. 



A third of the area is moorland, the rest chiefly reclaimed 

 moorland or woodland. In such an area we cannot expect a 

 very rich flora, and only about 400 species of native flowering 

 plants are recorded. 



The first chapter deals in a most interesting manner with 

 these features, and also with Climate and Rainfall. In the 

 second chapter the vegetation of the parish is described under 

 the head of 'Plant Distribution and Associations.' Here we 



Naturalist, 



