3G4 
CHAPTER OP CRITICISM. 
Stygian flood). At p. 204 reference is made, in a report of the Geological 
Society, to a description of the coast of ‘‘ Norway,” which seemed a complete 
riddle to me, till mention of “ Caen free-stone ” made it obvious that Normandy 
was intended. But I dare say you have at your tongue’s end—“ Cease, rude 
Boreas, blustering railer,” so I shall ruffle you no longer on this point."^ 
On the Backwardness of the Spring of 1887. 
M«r. Beverley Morris, of Dublin, I see, has somewhat strangely questioned 
the backwardness of the spring of this year (pp. 221, 225), and, without any 
reference to meteorological details, has adduced the fact of certain plants flower¬ 
ing as early as usual. Having before alluded to this subject (p. 218), I feel 
obliged to remark upon what Mr. Morris has adduced. In the first place, the 
plants he has selected are, with the exception of Narcissus hiflorus^ primaveral. 
Nothing can, therefore, be drawn from them, as such plants with a warm aspect 
may flower in certain spots without the majority of their brethren, as every body 
knows who has met with a Primrose or Cowslip by the wood-side. But admit¬ 
ting that Mr. Morris means the general flowering of the plants he mentions, 
surely May 4 for Ranuncidus flcaria is very late, since it usually gilds the 
marshy meadows by the second week in April, and I have seen it in flower in 
February. I should also say that Caltha palustris generally flowers in Worces¬ 
tershire in the middle of April. But I will appeal to what every body notices— 
the trees and shrubs, and ask if they do not fully bear me out in the assertion 
that the present season has been nearly three weeks behind an ordinary one. 
The following memorandums are taken from my log-book, and let any one 
compare them with a record they may have made in former years, or leave them 
for reference to future. 
1837.— May 1. In vain we look for the Hawthorn or May in flower; it is 
not even in leaf, except very scantily here and there, and there is no real display 
of green leaves anywhere save on the Gooseberry bushes that stand lone epiplytic 
sentinels on the pollarded Willows. Almost every thing has been cut up by the 
long-continued bitter frosts and never-ending storms of sleet and snow, the 
Horse Chesnut has not yet unfolded its leaves, and the Blackthorn (Rrunus 
spinosa) is only this day coming into flower. Now on reference to Forster’s 
‘‘ Indications of the Seasons,” in the Encyclopcedia of Natural Phenomena^ we 
find it stated that “ the Blackthorn usually blooms about the middle of April.” 
We are rather glad Mr. Lees has alluded to the tj^ographical errors, as it enables us to clear 
ourselves of nearly the whole blame. Mistakes marked in the proofs are occasionally left uncor¬ 
rected, and in one or two instances letters creep into or fall out from the worked-off copy where all 
was right in the proofs. Such defects are, however, not numerous or important in our late Nos,, 
and a few will occur in every work.—’E d. 
