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Abstract

DR. BONAVIA'S philosophy is concerned with the evolution of vegetable organisms, and the gist of it is that all land-plants have descended from sea-weeds. He sees modifications and traces developments not obvious to ordinary observers, and he is prepared for derisive criticism. To quote from his preface:—“The fact is that, in this stage of existence, certain thoughts are often a great worry. One often cannot get rid of them. They turn up by day, they turn up by night, they turn up in the morning, and they haunt one at all times, and the only remedy for mitigating this worry of civilization is to commit them to paper. This done, there are several ways of disposing of your written thoughts. You can burn the papers they are written upon or otherwise destroy them, or you can leave them in a drawer as a legacy to your heirs ! If by neither of these processes can you entirely give yourself repose, then the most effective way of ridding yourself of the worry of such thoughts is to have them published (if any publisher will perform this kind office), and to see them adversely criticized if anyone will even take so much trouble.” Philosophical Notes on Botanical Subjects. By E. Bonavia With 160 Illustrations. 368 pages. (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1892.)