I98 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
by him and still in common use. Many of them actually applied to 
the same plants— Anchusa, Anemone, Althaea, Antirrhinum, Arum, 
Asparagus, Adiantum, Daphne, Donax, Helix, Helleborus, Euonymus, 
Leucoium, Calamus, Cedrus, Cydonia, Crocus, Conium — to travel a 
little way down the alphabet. 
Sir William Thiselton-Dyer undertook the identification of the 
plants, and there is an excellent and most interesting' Index of such 
as can be determined. 
The author has endeavoured to give us the ideas of Theophrastus 
in readable plain English, and to make it as nearly as possible a literal 
translation of the original. He has succeeded so well that while there 
is no difficulty in grasping the meaning, the spirit and charm of a Greek 
construction lingers in most of the sentences. 
It is not perhaps a book to read straight through from cover to 
cover, but for all who care to know more about their plants than their 
monetary value and their exact shade of colour in a mass, there is a 
mine of pleasure ready to hand, and easily obtained by following up 
the references to one's favourites as given in the Index. 
" Plants Poisonous to Live Stock." By H. C. Long, B.Sc. vii + 
119 pp. 8vo. (University Press, Cambridge, 1917.) 6s. net. 
Mr. Long has compiled from various sources a very interesting 
and valuable account of the wild plants and plants commonly culti- 
vated in this country which are poisonous, or are suspected of being 
poisonous to man and animals. Many difficulties lie in the way of 
proof of poisonous properties, and even when this is forthcoming 
the isolation and identification of the poisonous principle is difficult, 
and has often not yet been accomplished with certainty. The present 
book must be regarded as a summary of what can be gathered from 
books, of which a long list is given at the end of the book. 
Not a few of the commonest plants are at times or in some circum- 
stances liable to cause trouble, the potato not being exempt, but not 
all are noted by the author. The roots, for instance, of the scarlet 
runner have been known to cause severe illness and probably death 
to horses which have eaten them ; and, as the author frequently 
goes beyond the title of his book and includes plants poisonous 
to mankind, he might also have included the leaves of rhubarb, 
which, as is well known, often cause illness when eaten, even after 
cooking. He might also, since he mentions the irritation caused 
by handling Narcissi to the workers in the flower-fields, have made 
some reference to the very long list of plants, native or cultivated, in 
this country which cause more or less severe skin irritation or eruptions. 
The book is very useful, but might thus have been made more 
complete. Tobacco, even, is omitted. 
The general arrangement of the plants follows the order of Bent ham 
and Hooker's Genera Plantarum j but it is strange to see the Castor-oil 
plant included among the Leguminosae. 
As usual with the books published by the Cambridge Univer- 
sity Press, the " get-up" of the book is excellent. 
