"A. G.," Cambridge, Massachusetts, says: "Gardeners' Monthly, page 322. There is no Tropaeolum Canariensis, and the contradiction of terms between 'Canariensis,' which in English is ' of the Canaries,' and the statement that it is 'a native of New Grenada and Peru ' is direct. I wonder you did not see it.

"I can venture to say with confidence that the Spruce on White-Top and on Roan is not 'Abies alba,' as you say, on page 339, but is A. nigra.

" I hope your readers will be edified by the lucid answer given on page 342, near top of second column.

"Line 9 from bottom - 'A 'shrewd guess' is thought to be a good or happy guess. Is that what you mean? I don't think they are shrewd."

[Corrections and suggestions are always welcome. It may be well to say that a very large number of our correspondents forget that the magazine has to go to press nearly a month before the date of issue, and that an immense amount of correspondence comes in a few days before the month, and great efforts have to be made to attend to the wants of all, rather than have them lie over another month. Considering the immense field covered by the Gardeners' Monthly, and the rapid and brief manner in which much of this correspondence must be treated, the editor is proud that so few errors occur.

In regard to the Tropaeolum, though a native of the American continent, it was first received into English gardens from the Canary Islands, where it was grown under the name of Canary-bird flower. Among horticulturists it received on this account the name of T. Canadensis, under which it is still so well known to this day, that if its proper botanical name had been employed, few of our readers would have known what we were speaking of. However, if we are to speak botani-cally, we might tell our readers that some botanists do not regard it as Tropaeolum at all, but would have us call it "Chymocarpus," and there is a difference of opinion as to its specific name, some calling it T. aduncum, T. Smithii, or T. peregrinum.

Those who were not "edified" by the very brief way in which we felt compelled to treat a very abstruse subject, may consult at greater length Herbert Spencer's Biology. Spencer is one of "some botanists" to whom we referred.

We were certainly wrong in using the word "shrewd" in connection with Grant Allen's speculations; "plausible guesses" would have been better. - Ed. G. M.]