190 
REVIEWS. 
sphere. Amongst all the collections brought together for this revi¬ 
sion, M. De Candolle discovers little novelty, and he therefore turns 
with eagerness to subsidiary questions* which their study offers for 
solution, and says,—“ Griven a large assemblage of analogous forms, 
I have endeavoured of these to constitute subordinate and allied 
groups, proving, as far as possible, the value of each. Having thus 
fixed a small number of truly natural groups, I shall be better able 
to comprehend their true nature and to divine their origin, which is 
my object.” 
1 ,—Grouping of Cupuliferous Plants. 
After enumerating the collections and their extent, upon which he 
has worked, M. De Candolle makes the following observation:—In oaks 
and their allies certain characters vary upon the same branch, and 
cannot, therefore, afford specific characters; and when the variations on 
the same branch are very marked, as the leaves being entire and 
toothed, or the base of the limb blunt and sharp, he takes note of the 
number of branches, amongst all the specimens, on which both char¬ 
acters existed. Thus, of 84 specimens of Q. coccifera , L., 13 had 
leaves—some entire and some toothed ; whilst, in all the rest, all the 
leaves were either entire or toothed. Unfortunately other characters 
were not so easily classed, because they varied more in degree —such 
is the case with the length of the leaf-stalks, the lobing, &c. of the 
leaves, and the swelling of the scales of the cup. 
The principal variations, observed by the author, in the organs on 
the same branch f of Cupuliferse occur in the length of the petiole, which 
varies between 1 and 3 ;—the form of the limb, from an elongated 
ellipse to ovoid and obovoid ;—the lobing or toothing of the leaf, which 
presents innumerable variations from entire to pinnatifid;—extremity 
of the leaf, from acute to blunt;—base of the leaf, sharp, blunt, or 
cordate;—pubescence of leaves; for although almost all have the 
young leaf pubescent beneath, in older states there may be persistent 
and caducous hairs on the same leaf;—bracts and male perianth, the 
bracts being very caducous afford no good characters in dried speci¬ 
mens ; —the perianth varies much in depth and amount of lobing; —* 
the number of stamens varies in different flowers, and has no determi¬ 
nate relation to the lobing of the perianth ;—anthers, mucronate and 
blunt, on the same catkin;—fruit-bearing peduncles, which attain their 
due length at the flowering period, and vary more on the same branch 
than do the petioles, differences of 1 to 3 being frequently surpassed ; 
•—number of fruits varies extremely on the same branch ;—the form 
* M. De Candolle observes, that the question of species, their limits, modifica¬ 
tions and origin has been neglected since the days of Linnseus. We cannot under¬ 
stand what is here meant; for not to mention Lamarck, and that very able but unsound 
work, the “ Vestiges of the Natural History of the Creation,” and the long train of 
treatises to which it gave birth, surely the works of St. Hilaire, Owen, Edward 
Forbes, Lyell, and numberless other men, show that these subjects have never 
been neglected. 
f It should be borne in mind, that this so called branch, is nothing more than a 
twig, rarely exceeding 10 inches long, preserved for the Herbarium. 
