234
his valuable reflections on Geographical Botany (1867–1868); and, lastly, his catalogue of Japanese plants collected in the herbary of Leyden (1870). The number of species enumerated in the latter work is less than that in the table which concludes the Prolusio, because the author was confined within the limits of the herbary, while, in the table of the Prolusio, he registered, to the number of 2,000, all the species the descriptions of which were known to him.
While Miquel was thus acquainting the world with the botanical wealth accumulated in the Dutch museums, M. Maximowicz, who traversed Japan from 1861–1864, and formed collections larger by themselves than those of all his predecessors united, M. Maximowicz, I repeat, commenced to describe in the Mélanges biologiques, and in the Mémoires de L’Académie des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, all the novelties found by him, and which now amount to one hundred and fifty species. If, to this figure, the product of my own researches during a stay in Japan of upwards of seven years, be added, it will easily be understood that the publication of a new catalogue of plants will not be useless, although the date of that of Miquel would only be four years anterior to it.
This new exposition of the wealth of the flora of Japan is now in course of publication, and I beg to offer you in advance a communication upon the novelties which it will contain.
I shall say nothing of the species mentioned in the first part of this work which appeared some months back; but shall limit myself to give the species which my later acquaintance with them prevented my including at that time.
I shall make this enumeration in the order of the families as it is given in the Genera Plantarum of Bentham and Hooker, and which we have adopted in our Enumeratio plantarum in Japoniâ crescentium.
Ranunculaceæ. To the species already named by us, I can now add,
Thalictrum majus, Jacq.;—Atragene macrosepala,
