REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES 
71 
spurned, perhaps, as the best gifts too often are — the beach is 
deserted for the band-stand ! 
“ To hug the wealth ye cannot use, 
And lack the riches all may gain — 
O blind and wanting wit to choose, 
Who house the chaff and burn the grain ! 
And still doth life with starry towers 
Lure to the bright, divine ascent ! — 
Be yours the gifts ye would : be ours 
The things that are more excellent.” 
Eastbourne, 1903. A. E. R. 
REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES. 
A Preliminary List of the Alien Flora of Britain. By S. T. Dunn, B.A., F.L.S. 
West, Newman and Co. 
We are glad to see this foretaste of the work upon which we have heard Mr. 
Dunn to be engaged for some time past, and trust that his appointment as 
Superintendent of the Botanical Department in Hong Kong will not hinder the 
completion of his task. The present work is merely a catalogue of names, but 
it runs to 25 pp. Mr. Dunn takes, as botanists are aware, a wide view of the 
term “ alien,” including many species, such as Clematis Vitalba, Myosurus 
minimus , and Ranunculus repens, which are not usually so considered. In his pro- 
mised “ Flora ” he will have to give us a revised discussion of the categories 
under which Watson distributed such plants, such as “casuals,” “denizens,” &c. 
What is also much wanted is an accessible series of descriptions of those plants, 
which, though excluded from our British Floras, are constantly thrusting them- 
selves into our notice in cornfields, on ballast heaps, and elsewhere. We hope, 
therefore, that Mr. Dunn’s “Flora” will contain such descriptions. Meanwhile 
he appeals for additional observations on aliens, their degree of permanence, and 
mode of occurrence. 
Society for the Protection of Birds. Tzvelfth Annual Report, 1902, and Proceed- 
ings at the Annual Meeting, February 10 th, 1903. 
This is certainly a most encouraging and gratifying Report. If the working 
expenses appear high and the necessity for printing many pages of acknowledg- 
ments of shilling subscriptions is to be deplored, there is the countervailing 
fact of a substantial investment. Naturally the Wild Birds Protection Amend- 
ment Act, and the prohibition of the export of feathers by the Indian Govern- 
ment, the Nature-Study Exhibition, and the Bird and Tree School Festivals 
inaugurated by the Society, figure prominently in the account of an excellent 
year’s work. We hope the Society will receive substantial support for its 
Watchers’ Fund, the maintenance of which is absolutely essential to the preser- 
vation of our rarer British species. 
Sixteen Years with the Common Sparrow. By Joseph P. Nunn. Warren Bros., 
Royston, Herts. Price 6d. 
This is an interesting defence based upon personal observation ; but when the 
author tabulates 945 clutches comprising 4,089 eggs of this one species in his 
own cabinet, one feels that a sparrow might exclaim, “ Save me from my friends ! ” 
One-and-All Gardening, 1903. Edited by Edward Owen Greening. Agricultural 
and Horticultural Association. Price 2d. 
This is the eighth annual edition of this wonderful twopennyworth. Though 
not, perhaps, quite as well printed as some of its predecessors, its 200 pages, 
with an illustration of some beautiful plant or garden scene, or a portrait of some 
garden-lover, on almost every one of them, make its popularity secure. Practical 
papers on Sweet Peas and Fruit Culture jostle in the crowded contents against 
