44 
REVIEWS OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
pleads a desire to afford the opportunity of collecting as many species as possible 
in each direction, in order to save time and trouble; and also to provide against 
those changes which often cause the entire eradication of plants from particular 
localities. 
Mr. Cowell has followed the nomenclature of Sir J. E. Smith, in the English 
Flora , which he selects in preference to that of Dr. Lindley in his tc excellent 
Synopsis of the British Flora” because he considers that the Linn^an system, 
from its simplicity, affords greater facilities to the young botanist, for whose work 
Mr. Cowell’s Flora is principally intended; “ while, at the same time, the 
superiority of the natural system, to the more advanced student, is readily 
conceded. The Linnsean system has been justly called the grammar of the 
science, and the Jussieuan, its literature. The addition of the synonyms of 
Lindley’s Sgnopsis will, it is hoped, render the work available to those who may 
prefer his arrangement.” Mr. Cowell’s views, respecting “artificial” and 
“ natural” systems, perfectly coincide with our own. 
The addition of the medicinal properties, &c., will, it is to be hoped, have the 
effect of interesting the amateur botanist and the student; but the more advanced 
practitioner would prefer the omission of all such details, as tending to increase 
the size and price of the book. 
Lists of Kentish insects, and land- and fresh-water molluscs are added, but 
these lay no claim to completeness. 
The names of between two and three hundred subscribers are prefixed, and 
the book is dedicated to the Right Hon. Lady Harris. 
Memoirs of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, for the Years 1831—7. 
Vol. VII, Edinburgh: A. and C. Black; Longman and Co., London. 1838. 
This volume contains two essays for which were awarded prizes by the 
Wernerian Society. The first is “On the Geology of the Lothians,” by Mr. 
R. J. H. Cunningham ; the second, “ On the Fishes of the District of the Forth,” 
by Dr. Parnell, The papers are illustrated by several figures, plain and 
coloured, and are replete with original research and judicious remarks. They 
will be read, we venture to affirm, with almost unmingled satisfaction by the 
geologist and ichthyologist. 
The remainder of the volume is occupied with the proceedings of the Wernerian 
Society from Dec. 1831 to April 1838. This important Institution commands 
an inconsiderable share of the attention of British naturalists. 
