Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/471

 BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 439 "Edelweiss in the rockery"; and the general air of lavishness about the Report makes us wish that our institutions in England had as ample funds at their disposition as are evidently forthcoming in connection with the Shaw School of Botany. We note that the Gardens are in one respect in advance of Kew, as they possess a Handbook, which is largely sold to the public. Dr. Trelease also contributes a Catalogue of the valuable " Pre-Linnean Library" presented to the Gardens by Dr. Sturtevant in 1892. The Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information issued in connection with the Royal Gardens, Kew, is not, as we had concluded, defunct. A number bearing on its front the fictitious date "March and April, 1896," appeared at the end of August. It is mainly made up of somewhat belated extracts from Foreign Office Reports, and odds and ends of official correspondence, but contains also an interesting paper on " Myrrh and Bdellium," to which, although written in the first person, no author's name is appended. No new species are described in this issue, so the inaccuracy in dating is less mischievous than in former numbers. The cover still enumerates Mr. Jackson's Index among " works in preparation at the Royal Gardens, Kew"; but we regret to see that the long-delayed continuation of the Flora of Tropical Africa finds no place in the list. Mr. Hiern is making steady progress with his enumeration of the Welwitsch collections. The work is in print as far as Legu- minosce. It will contain a considerable proportion of new species, and a large number of observations from Welwitsch's full and careful MS. notes, a copy of which, it will be remembered, ac- companies the magnificent set of his plants in the British Museum. The catalogue will form an important contribution to our knowledge of West African botany. Herr Rudolph Schlechter, whose contributions to our know- ledge of South African plants are well known to our readers, is making good use of his time during the expedition in which he is now engaged. Writing from Cape Town on May 9th, he announces that he has already collected about 1200 species ; a trip to Elim in the Bredasdorp district afforded a very interesting collection, con- taining a large proportion of novelties. Even in the well-worked south-western districts, Herr Schlechter considers that his novelties average about ten per cent. Writing from the camp at Attyo, on his way to Namaqualand, he speaks of other novelties, and adds : "At present I have to make my way through a very bare region, where they have not had any rains for about four years. It is terrible to see the results of this drought. My cattle are suffering and getting thinner every day, but in about three days' time I shall be where they have had good rains. The plants in this dry region are few in number, but very interesting, and mostly, of course, of a succulent nature. As I hear the rains have only fallen in the southern part of Namaqualand, I may not be able to get as far north as I had hoped ; but as it is a part which has been very little explored, it should yield a good proportion of novelties."