Botany and Zoology. 



437 



Tulasne contends for the alliance with the former, relying on the general 

 symmetry of the flowers, the perigynous insertion, and the opposite 

 leaves. Dr. Hooker, following Lindley, apparently with more reason, 

 adopts the other view; — assigning higher importance to the albuminous 

 seeds and small embryo, and relying on "the principle long ago laid down 

 by Mr. Brown, that the most perfect species of a group ought to be kept 

 in view in determining the affinities of the whole ; and therefore, laying 

 great stress upon the genus Hortonia, which is hermaphrodite and peta- 

 liferous, and which, when founded, was very naturally referred to the 

 Schizandrece by Dr. Wight. The plates of this memoir, mostly designed 

 by the author's accomplished brother, are truly admirable. a. g. 



7. Chloris Andina : Essai cTune Flore de la Region Alpine des Cor- 

 dilleres de VAmerique du Sud ; par H. A. Weddell, M.D., etc. Paris : 

 livr. 1-4, 4to, tab. 1-26. — This belongs to the botanical part of the pub- 

 lications of the Expedition of Count Castelnau, — an expedition made 

 from Rio de Janeiro to Lima and then from Lima to Para. Dr. Wed- 

 dell, who accompanied the expedition, restricts his labors, in the first 

 instance, to the flora of the Andes within the alpine region. Following 

 the order sketched by his late preceptor, the lamented Adrien de Jussieu, 

 he begins with the Composite. These four fascicles are devoted to that 

 vast family, and one or two more will evidently be required for its com- 

 pletion. The manner in which a botanist handles such a family as the 

 Compositce, affords a fair test of his calibre ; and thus far Dr. Weddell 

 comes fully up to the high expectations which have been formed of him. 

 We admire the boldness and general soundness of his views in respect to 

 the classification of Compositce and the limitation of the genera. The 

 plates are by Riocreux, one of the best of living botanical draughtsmen. 



A. Gr. 



8. Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States: Second Edi- 

 tion ; including Virginia, Kentucky, and all East of the Mississippi : 

 arranged according to the Natural System • by Asa Gray, Fisher Pro- 

 fessor of Natural History in Harvard University. New York : 1856. 

 George P. Putnam & Co. — The cultivators of " the amiable science," in 

 the Northern, Middle and Eastern States of our great confederacy, are 

 deeply indebted to Professor Gray, for this second and more comprehen- 

 sive edition of his excellent Manual. It is just such a Vade mecum as 

 the herborizers and young Botanists, of the region indicated, have long 

 needed and earnestly desired. The student is not only sure to find in it, 

 an exact description of all the known plants belonging to the " cooler- 

 temperate vegetation" of the Union, but he finds them arranged in ac- 

 cordance with the principles of the most approved Natural Method, — sys- 

 tematically exhibiting the essential characters, and structural affinities, of 

 the multiform Groups and Families. An artificial Key to the Natural 

 Orders is also prefixed, by which the generic name of each plant and 

 its place in the system may be readily ascertained. 



It is always a real comfort, as well as a positive encouragement to the 

 practical herborizer, to know that he possesses a work in which he may cer- 

 tainly find a reliable account of every indigenous and naturalized plant 

 within the designated geographical limits ; and with such an aid at com- 

 mand no young person properly instructed, or animated by the spirit 



