The Future of our British Flora

IT may interest Mr. Shaw to know that the stations given by Lightfoot in his ``Flora Scotica, 1777,'' still exist (as far as I am aware, and I have visited by far the greater number of them) at the present day. Experience has led me to the conclusion that a plant however maltreated, does not become extinct unless the natural conditions are changed, as by the draining of a marsh, &c. I have over and over again found plants in stations where they were reported as ``extinct years ago.'' Perhaps if Mr. Shaw visits his station for the ``Lizard Orchis'' (is this Orchis hircina, L.? if so it is, I fancy, new to Scotch botanists) in the course of a year or two he may find it in as large quantity as ever. As regards the maltreatment of plants, I agree with what Mr. Shaw says respecting professors of botany. Each teacher of the science ought to teach his students that it is a crime to exterminate a plant, and that they can best learn botany from the observation of the common plants of their district; there is great room for improvement in this respect.