BOTANICAL, INDEX. 
57 
Melbourne, Australia,) 238 of which are devoted to a consideration of the organic 
constituents of over 800 plant and vegetable substances and their chemical analysis, 
while 08 pages are devoted to tables to render the subject still more complete. This 
work, together with the preceding one, are standard Medical Botanies, and as such 
will prove of great value to the profession, while their assistance to botanical inves- 
tigators is difficult to compute. 
The Illustrated Gardeners' Lexicon, (German,) published by Th. Rumpler, (Gen- 
eral Secretary of the German Gardeners’ Society) of Erfurt, Germany, is now in 
course of publication. It is issued in parts from the well known publishing house 
of Wiegardt, Hempel & Parey, Berlin, at one mark (twenty-four cents) each, and 
will be completed in thirty parts, containing, when complete, 1600 pages of closely 
printed matter, with 3,200 small but clear and distinct illustrations of plants, fruit, 
flowers, trees, shrubs, plans, models, portraits of prominent botanists, &e. The 
text will form a complete dictionary or encyclopedia to all botanical terms, a biog- 
raphy of all the prominent botanists both at home and abroad, also articles on hor- 
ticulture, architecture, entomology, propagating, in fact every thing pertaining to 
botany; while a scientific description of each plant will be most complete. 
From the same press Th. Rumpler issued, the first of the year, his Seventh Annual 
Garden Kalendar, y Almanac,) for the (leap) year, 1880, which is also a pocket manual 
of horticulture and botanical reference, designed especially for the gardener. It 
contains twenty-nine chapters or subjects, with a complete index, and is well bound 
in heavy card board, at two marks (forty-eight cents). 
William Parry, of the celebrated Pomona Nursery, Cinnaminson, N. J., has just 
issued a small pamphlet of twenty pages, nearly twelve of which are devoted to the 
subject of the Chinese Pear and their Hybrids, which are without doubt the coming 
stock of Pears for America, giving his “forty years experience in Pear growing, 
and telling how to avoid the blight and insure good crops.” It would be utterly 
useless for us to repeat that Mr. Parry is one of the most successful fruit growers in 
America, but as the Index is taken by many who have never given the subject 
any attention, perhaps the words may not be amiss. 
The Fruit Growers' Friend , (R. II. Haines, Sangerties-on-Hudson, N. Y., 30 cents,) 
is an interesting fruit growers’ manual or handy reference book of 3S octavo pages, 
devoted to practical experience and methods in growing all kinds of fruit, together 
with a description and history of each variety. The book also contains many choice 
lists of most desirable fruits for planting in different sections of the country, also 
direction for pruning, planting, preparing and shipping to market, and many other 
items of value to fruit growers. 
From our horticultural friends in the Dominion of Canada we are again placed 
under obligations by the receipt of the Annual Report of the Fruit Growers Association 
of the Province of Ontario, 61 pages, and the Annual Report of the Entomological Societ y 
of the Province of Ontario, 1879, 89 pages, (the two Reports bound together.) The 
Reports are very acceptable and exceedingly interesting as they help form the only 
information obtainable of the Northern limits of cultivated tabic fruits. No one in- 
terested in the subject can fail to appreciate the great benefits sure to be derived from 
the experience and observations of such carefui and intelligent workers as form the 
Fruit Growers Association of Ontario. The Entomological Report is second in im- 
portance to nothing we have had the pleasure of seeing in a long time, and with its 
excellent illustrations makes the fruit growers’ insect friends and enemies familiar at 
once. 
Twice each year we are favored with a copy of the semi-annual Transactions of the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which contains not only the record of the Society 
meetings, but many carefully prepared papers upon all subjects pertaining to Horti- 
culture. The society is one of the oldest in the country, if not the oldest, being in- 
corporated in 1829, and contains among their active members some of the very best 
Horticulturists of Massachusetts. These year books form an almost indispensable book 
of reference to a Horticultural library, and are very much prized both in Europe and 
America, for which reason they are exceedingly difficult to obtain. 
Dr. R. Schomburgh. Government botanist of South Australia, sends us his u An- 
nual Report on the Progress and Condition of the Botanic Garden and Government Planta- 
tions, (1879)." This is a work of great value to botanists in all partsof the world, as 
he devotes ten pages principally to a report of his experimental grounds; rive pages, 
with a large plate, to the Grape pest, Phylloxera Vastatrix ; and six pages to an enu- 
meration of plants added to the gardens during the year. England has been ex- 
tremely fortunate in securing so valuable a botanist to'develop a portion of her vast 
domain. 
Our list of Recent Publications would be incomplete without a notice of the pub- 
lications ot our new plant merchants, which are annually issued under the name of 
New Plant Catalogues. These publications are the annual records of a year’s collect- 
