1 88 Notices of Books. [February, 
minating as is often represented, certain plants escaping un- 
touched. They are most greedy whilst still young, becoming 
sluggish when mature. If a swarm invades the fields before 
the middle of April, when the rainy season is not over, the plants 
that have been devoured almost down to the root revive with 
wonderful rapidity. If the swarms appear late, and attack the 
wheat or maize after it has flowered, the consequences are very 
serious. In combatting this evil the Moors would be greatly 
benefitted by the ingenious appliances lately devised for this 
purpose in the United States. 
Certain of the serpents are said to be venomous, the bite of 
one species — not named — being reputed fatal in two minutes ; 
but no case came under the observation of the travellers. In 
the Sous Valley, according to tradition, pythons of from 20 to 
30 feet in length still lurk — descended doubtless from that mon- 
ster which encountered the army of Regulus. Birds are not 
very numerous, but their fearlessness in presence of man is 
mentioned as an interesting facft. 
The flora of Morocco, like its fauna, is far from showing that 
admixture of semi-tropical and tropical forms which might have 
been expecfted. The view of Mr. Wallace — that the Great 
Desert forms the northern boundary of the Ethiopian region, 
whilst the Mediterranean coast organically speaking pertains to 
Europe — appears to hold good in a botanical as well as in a 
zoological point of view. The Straits of Gibraltar must, how- 
ever, have divided the two continents for a very considerable 
time, since, in spite of a general resemblance between the floras 
of Spain and of Morocco, each has a great number of distindT 
species. The conne( 5 ting-links between the vegetation of the 
latter country and that of the Canaries are unimportant. Still 
these islands contain some peculiar forms more closely allied to 
endemic Moroccan species than to those of any other country. 
They contain also a large class of plants not hitherto found in 
Morocco, but more closely allied to Mediterranean forms than to 
any others. Hence Sir J. D. Hooker is disposed to regard these 
Atlantic islands “ as a very distinct sub-region of the Mediter- 
ranean province. 
The flora of Morocco, and secondarily its fauna, like those of 
many other countries, has suffered from fire-raising. The herds- 
men, to obtain a fresh growth of grass for their cattle, set fire to 
the thickets, and in this manner the ancient forests of Mount 
Atlas have been gradually destroyed. A still worse enemy are 
the goats. Our authors most justly say — “The young plants 
while yet seedlings are cut off by the teeth of the goat, the great 
enemy of tree vegetation — an animal whose disastrous influence 
adfing indiredtly on the climate of wide regions entitles it to 
rank as on 2 of the worst enemies of the human race.” 
The fertility of Morocco, were the land intelligently cultivated, 
would be prodigious. Even now the Aguidal garden at the city 
