REVIEWS. 
263 
mysteries of pond-life. This incompleteness is the more to he regretted as 
the greater part of the remainder seems to he very carefully prepared, the 
only chapter that shows striking indications of weakness being that on aquatic 
insects, in which no mention is made of several forms common in ponds. We 
may especially notice the curious larvae of Stratiomys and Fristalis as being 
entirely unmentioned, as also the Palpicorn water-beetles, including the great 
Hydrous , which was certainly worthy of a few words. We notice, further, that 
the larva of Acilius sulcatus is figured as if it was that of JDyticus ; and that 
the author’s notions of the aquatic Hemiptera are rather confused. The little 
book is well illustrated with woodcuts. It concludes with a chapter on col- 
lecting and examining specimens, and notwithstanding the defects which we 
have noticed above, it will undoubtedly prove a useful companion to the 
young naturalist in his first steps towards the knowledge of freshwater 
organisms. 
BRITISH MOSSES* 
M OSSES, perhaps, receive about as little attention from Botanists as 
any class of plants, and considering how many Botanists are mere 
collectors, and how admirably mosses lend themselves to the collector’s 
purposes, this is rather remarkable. Something may be due to the minute- 
ness of the size of many of the species, and something perhaps to difficulties 
inherent in the systematic treatment of these plants ; but we fancy the chief 
cause of the comparative neglect with which they are treated is to be sought 
in the want of a good illustrated English treatise upon them. The flowering 
plants and ferns are enthusiastically studied by many ; sea- weeds are not 
wholly neglected; the study of the fungi may almost be regarded as a 
prevalent fashion, and the lichens have their admirers ; but upon all these 
groups the British Botanist possesses more or less reliable guides in his own 
language. 
In the work of which the first part is now before us, Dr. Braithwaite 
aims at placing the British Mosses on the same vantage-ground as the more 
favoured classes of the Vegetable Kingdom ; and judging from the sample 
lately issued, he will succeed in his endeavours. In this first part, indeed, 
he has not got very far with his task — it relates solely to that curious order 
of mosses, the Andreaeacese, which differ from all other members of the class, 
and resemble the Jungemanniese, in the longitudinal splitting of their capsules, 
but show their closer affinity to the true mosses, in the general structure of 
the plants, the presence of a columella in the fruit, and the absence of elaters. 
Of these plants, which grow always upon rocks on high mountains, extending 
up to the borders of the perpetual snow, the author distinguishes five 
British species, which he describes fully, indicating and discussing their 
synonymy in detail, and illustrating their structural peculiarities by numerous 
figures drawn by himself, and forming two plates. 
The work, if carried on as it has been commenced, must attain con- 
* The British Moss-Flora. By R. Braithwaite, M.D., F.L.S. Part I. 
8vo. London: Published by the Author (at 303 Clapham Road). 1880. 
