Wild Flowers of the British Isles. Illustrated and Written by
H. Isabel Adams. Vol. II. (W. Heinemann. 30s. net.)—In this handsome volume Miss Adams carries on her great work. We would gladly give it a more extended and illustrative notice than circumstances permit. The portion of the subject dealt a ith comprises forty-five orders (XLII., Campanulaceae—LXXXVI., Araceae). Water-plants and trees remain to be treated. The most important of these orders are the heath, primrose, figwort, dead nettle, orchid, and lily. We say " important " because these are the best known and most widely dispersed. But, indeed, such a choice is not easily made, and it is quite possible that any one running over the list might fix upon other names. These six, however, occupy eighty-nine out of a total of one hundred and ninety pages. We may explain that the " figwort " includes with others the various• kinds of mullein, snapdragon, foxglove, toad- flax, eye-bright, speedwell (with twenty varieties), while in the "dead nettle" there are balm, horehound, germander, bugle, motherwort, marjoram, thyme, sage, and many others. The illustrations are very numerous and of great excellence. Miss Adams tells us quite rightly that the fritillary (one of the lily order) is "very abundant in Wiltshire," but she might have men- tioned what is probably its most famous habitat, the Thames-side meadow below Iffiey Lock.
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