REVIEWS. 
[Nature and Art, November 1, 1866. 
1S2 
dramatist, and translator of Homer, might have 
written such lines as these ; their language may 
not be correct to the letter, hut their spirit is the 
very spirit of the age, when poets actually felt the 
presence of the nine Muses, quickening the atmo- 
sphere, and stirring the sap in the bay-trees. They 
are appended to fifty stanzas on the characters of 
Shakespeare, and are entitled, ‘ ; His Prayse.” 
“ Fayre Wisdome’s Bridegroome, married to her yong, 
That dry’d the inke, wherewith he wrote, with sand 
Shedde from the lioure-glasse of admiring Time. 
REV I 
Ferns: British and Foreign. Their History, Organography, 
Classification, and Enumeration. With a Treatise on 
their Cultivation, &c. By John Smith, A.L.S. (London : 
Robert Hardwicke, Piccadilly.) 
Mb. Smith’s work is as exhaustive as its title is com- 
prehensive, and cannot fail to be a most acceptable boon to 
all those who interest themselves in the history or cultiva- 
tion of the charming and interesting family of plants under 
consideration. The ample opportunities enjoyed by the 
author whilst curator of the Royal Botanic G-ardens, Kew, 
coupled with a faculty for close and accurate observation, 
have well fitted him for the laborious undertaking which he 
has performed so well. The numerous descriptive cuts ai-e 
clear and well executed, whilst an index framed expressly 
to relieve the mind of the student of the difficulty too often 
caused by synonymes is given. The adventurous plant- 
hunters, the pioneers in the noble science of botany, are not 
forgotten, although it is much to be feared that many of 
their graves beneath the feathery palm and plume-like fern . 
they loved so well are too often allowed to become forgotten 
spots. Few are there who so boldly venture forth penetrat- 
ing the fever and ague-stricken morass, the wild mountain 
ravine, and the dense jungles of the Tropics so courageously 
as the wandering plant-collector; and few lands are there, 
from the frozen north to the Torrid Zone, where he has not 
levied tribute and gathei-ed floral treasures. The results of 
the united labours of such adventurous men, when carefully 
analysed and embodied, form the basis on which such 
books as Mr. Smith’s are founded, and we cordially advise 
all lovers of ferns or their culture to read that which he 
has written. 
Guide for Travellers. In the Plain and on the Mountain. 
By Chables Boneb. (London : Robert Hardwicke, 
Piccadilly.) 
A little work replete with useful suggestions and 
practical hints on mountaineering. As long as rugged 
crags, fissured glaciers, snow-capped peaks, and giddy ledges 
exist, so long will adventurous travellers be found amongst 
them. An uncontrollable desire appears to exist in the 
breast of almost every male member of the human family to 
scramble up something or somewhere. From the truant 
school-boy who denudes his waistcoat of buttons, destroys 
his trousers, and scrubs out the toes of his boots in pursuit 
of the eggs of jackdaws and starlings, artfully concealed in 
the ivy-covered nooks of some insecure old ruin, to the va- 
cation tourist, travelling nobleman, or wandering hunter 
naturalist, the same instinct prevails. The author now 
before us is evidently an accomplished cragsman and cliff 
climber, delighting to perch bird-like on points of rock, and 
treating a goat-path a few hundreds of feet up the mountain 
much as if it were the “ Queen’s highway.” Still there are 
passages in Mr. Boner’s book which serve to show how 
slight the tenure is on which life is held amongst the 
solitudes, “ the home of the chamois.” We give one of 
them in the words of the author : — 
“ Some rocks are very brittle, and cake off as easily as 
His birth alone had -stamp’d the nation great 
Where he was nurtured ; for indeed he was 
Humanitie’s bright essence. None e’er lived 
Compeere to him, or will ; for he made all 
His owne, that is. Echo moneth he lay within 
His mother’s wombe, a severall Muse did beare 
Her sweetest companie ; thus was he framed 
To such nice sympathyes ; and on the daie 
He first did stretche his dimpling finger tow’rd 
Earth’s waving flow’res, Apollo left his throne 
To visit him and kisse his smiling brow 
In seale of promise. That yere laurells bloom’d 
Before their time in this our Britain’s isle.” 
E WS. 
mortar from a wall : such are very dangerous, because so 
deceptive and unreliable. They give way at onife, on the 
least pressure. You see some small projections on which to 
plant your toe or the side of your foot, and so enable you 
to climb higher, when as soon as your whole weight is 
brought to bear on it, a flake of stone comes away beneath 
your tread.” “ Before relying on some bit of rock, try it ; for 
if it give way just as you are stepping upward, you cannot 
tell how serious may be the result. You may also have 
occasion to lay hold of some projecting crag to steady 
yourself in passing a difficult place. Such a great piece of 
rock is, you think, firm enough ; and as to its giving way, 
there need be no fear about that ; but, despite its large pro- 
portions and seeming stability, it is as treacherous as the 
smaller points, which, like needles, scratch your fingers in 
touching them. At the very moment when you most want 
the steadying support, it will loosen in your grasp, and 
come tumbling down over the rocks. Fortunate for yon if 
it do not strike you in falling, and carry you rolling along 
with it. Never trust limestone rocks.” For our own parts, 
we most faithfully promise Mr. Boner that we never will. 
We are informed also, that, “ sometimes rocks are flat 
and smooth like large slabs of stone. When sloping, it is 
difficult to walk on them, and the nails in your shoes add 
to this difficulty. Take off your shoes and walk across in 
your socks, and all danger vanishes at once : you go as 
easily and safely as across your room.” 
Mr. Boner’s little volume is embellished with several very 
well executed cuts, which serve to show the best modes 
of surmounting the difficulties described. The hints there 
given are the result of long and practical experience. We 
therefore confidently recommend a perusal of it to all those 
about to grasp the “ Alpen-stock,” and shoulder the 
li Rucksack.” 
Me. Chableswobth’s tkanspabent-coveeed Col- 
lection-Boxes. 
We have just received from Mr. Edward Cliarlesworth, 
Secretary of the British Natural History Society, Whitting- 
ton Club, Arundel Street, Strand, two admirably-arranged 
cases of specimens, — one containing- shells of the Channel 
Islands, and the other fossils illustrating the “ Crag Forma- 
tion.” In their arrangement, advantage has been taken of 
Mr. Charlesworth’s transparent-covered boxes, which, as 
depositories for minerals, shells, insects, or objects of 
antiquity, are perfection itself. Each box being floored, so 
to speak with soft wadding, the specimens travel with the 
greatest safety, and can be readily examined without re- 
moving the cover. In an educational point of view, collections 
such as these are of the greatest value, as every specimen 
is plainly and correctly marked, and serves as a faithful and 
reliable guide in the classification and arrangement of such 
collections as the student or collector may be making. The 
cases before us (also transparent), each containing twenty- 
five examples, are, Mr. Charlesworth informs us, furnished 
by the Society for 18s., a price at which we feel students 
and lovers of natural history will be glad to find they can 
purchase them. 
