18671882] ROUND ISLAND II 



course, also coming from Mauritius. Speaking of Mauritius Letter 386 

 reminds me that I was so much pleased the day before 

 yesterday by reading a review of a book on the geology of 

 St. Helena, by an officer who knew nothing of my hurried 

 observations, but confirms nearly all that I have said on 

 the general structure of the island, and on its marvellous 

 denudation. The geology of that island was like a novel. 



To A. Blytt 1 Letter 387 



Down, March 28th, 1876. 



The following refers to Blytt's Essay on the Immigration of the Nor- 

 wegian Flora during Alternating Rainy and Dry Periods, Christiania, 

 1876. 



I thank you sincerely for your kindness in having sent 

 me your work on the Immigration of the Norwegian Flora, 

 which has interested me in the highest degree. Your view, 

 supported as it is by various facts, appears to me the most 

 important contribution towards understanding the present 

 distribution of plants, which has appeared since Forbes' essay 

 on the effects of the Glacial Period. 



To Aug. Forel. Letter 388 



Down, June iQth, 1876. 



I hope you will allow me to suggest an observation, 

 should any opportunity occur, on a point which has interested 

 me for many years viz., how do the coleoptera which inhabit 

 the nests of ants colonise a new nest ? 2 Mr. Wallace, in 

 reference to the presence of such coleoptera in Madeira, 

 suggests that their ova may be attached to the winged 

 female ants, and that these are occasionally blown across 

 the ocean to the island. It would be very interesting to 



1 Axel Gudbrand Blytt (1843-98), the son of the well-known systematist 

 M. N. Blytt. He was attached to the Christiania Herbarium in 1865, 

 and in 1880 became Professor of Botany in the University. His best-known 

 work is the essay referred to above, but he was also known for purely 

 systematic work in Botany as well as for meteorological and geological 

 contributions to science. The above facts are taken from C. Holtermann's 

 obituary notice in the Berichte der Deutschen Bot. Gesell., Vol. XVI 1. 5 

 1899. 



2 Auguste Forel, the distinguished author of Les Fourmis de la Suisse, 

 Zurich, 1874, and of a long series of well-known papers. 



