A NEW BRITISH BOTANY.
Now ready, in One Vol., 680 pages, price 12s. HANDBOOK OF THE BRITISH FLORA; A Description of the Flowering Plants and Ferns Indigenous to, or Naturalized in, the British Isles. FOR THE USE OF BEGINNERS AND AMATEURS. By GEORGE BENTHAM, F.L.S.
From the 'Athenæum.' " The countrymen of John Ray and Robert Brown can boast of hundreds who, if they have not been creators of the science of Botany as those two can claim to be, have largely contributed to its present position. Amongst these Mr. George Bentham holds uo second place. He is also weU known to thinkers for his work on Logic. It is, therefore, Mith pleasure that we receive from his hands a book intended to assist in the work of teaching botanj' to the young, and those who have no teachers. On the subject of the plants of Great Britain, we have works from the magnificent ' English Flora' of Smith and Sowerby, down to the curt and accurate ' Manual' of Babington. But for popular use they may be all objected to, either on the ground of their expense or their technical character. Mr. Bentham's aim has been to produce a cheap, untechnical volume, containing descriptions of all British plants, with an easy method of finding out their names. In this, we think, he has succeeded."
Professor Asa Gray.
" One of the best of systematic botanists— oJ| the soundest judgment and the largest experience, both in European and exotic botany — has deemed it no unfit employment of a portion of bis valuable time to prepare a volume by which beginners, having no previous acquaintance with the science, may learn to know, most advantageously and readily, the wild flowers and plants of his native land. The result is a genuine popular Flora, and a clear proof that the plants of a limited country may be described, by one who understands them thoroughly, in comparatively simple language, without any sacrifice of scientific accuracy or of scientific interest. No really good work of this kind was ever made by a compiler; and no one who has not essayed the task, can comprehend bow thorougldy faithful writing for beginners brings one's knowledge to the proof.
"The short sections upon classification and the examination and determination of plants, are full of practical wisdom,"
PRESENTATION OF A ROYAL MEDAL TO MR. BENTHAM. The following is an Extract from the Address of the President at the last Anniversary of the Royal Society. "The remarkable accuracy which distinguishes all Mr. Bentham's scientific researches, the logical pre- cision that characterizes his wi-itings, and the sound generalizations which his systematic works exhibit may be in a great measure traced to the influence of his uncle, the late celebrated legal theorist, Jeremy Bentham, who directed much of his early studies, and under whose auspices he pubhshed one of his earbest works, * Outlines of a Kew System of Logic' His mind was further imbued in youth with a love of Natural History, and especially Botany, and this taste was cultivated and nourished by a study of the works of the elder De Candolle. Fortunately for the cause of Botany in England, Mr. Bentham has de- voted liimself abnost exclusively to that science; and to his excellent powers of observation, close reason- ing, concise writing, and indefatigable perseverance our country owes the distinction of ranking amongst its naturalists one so pre-eminent for his valuable labours in systematic botany. Amongst Mr. Bentham's numerous writings, those hold the first rank which are devoted to the three great Natural Orders, Legu- minosce, Lahiatce, and ScrophidarlucecB. These Orders demanded a vast amount of analytic study, for they are amongst the largest and most widely-distributed of the vegetable kingdom, and had been thrown into great confusion by earlier writers. They have been the subject of many treatises by Mr. Bentham, and especiaUy of two extensive works, the contents of which have lately been embodied in the ' Systenm Vegetabilium ' of the De Candolles. On their first appearance these works secured for their author a Euro- pean reputation, and will always rank high as models of skfll and classification. It would occupy too much time to specify the very uumeroiis monographs and papers which Mr. Bentham has connnunieated to various scientific societies and periodicals in this country and on the Continent, and especially to the Linuean Transactions and Journal. That ' On the Principles of Generic Nomenclature' may be noted as an example of his power of treating an apparently simple, but reaUy abstract and diflicult su(>ject in a manner at once philosophical and practical. Mr. Bentham's most recent ivork, that on British Plants, is the first on the indigenous Flora of our Islands in which every species has heen curefuUy analyzed and described from spe- cimens procured from all parts of the globe ; it is distinguished for its scientific accuracy, advanced general views, and extreme simplicity — a combination of qualities which can result only from an ej-tensire senes of exact observations, judiciously arranged and logically expressed. The President then addressed Mr. Bentham as follows : — The early vohunes of the 'Philosophical Transactions' contain numerous papers relating to botany and the other sciences which are usually comprehended under the general designation of Natural Histoiy. As these sciences, but especially botany, became more and more extended, it was thought desi- rable that another Institution should be called into existence, which might share with the Royal Society the privilege of promoting the cultivation of them, and of communicating to the tvorld from time to time the progress which has been made in this department of knowledge ; and such was the origin of the Linnean Society in the year 1788. The Royal Society, however, does not on tiiat account leel the less interested in this class of scientific investigations. It is accordingly with great satisfaction that the Council have awarded to you one of the Royal Medals, and that in the name of the Society I now place it in your hands, in testi- mony of their high appreciation of your researches, and of the respect which they have for you as a fellow-labourer in the field of science."— Proceedings of the Royal Society. LOVELL REEVE, 5, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN".
