The Scottish Naturalist. 149 



published descriptions and wonderfully good figures of a large num- 

 ber of plants, does not, so far as I can remember, give a single Scottish 

 locality, notwithstanding that he was a native of Aberdeen, and Pro- 

 fessor of Botany at Oxford. 



The earliest name that I am able to cite as having done a little to 

 localize a few of our plants is Dr. James Cargill, who died at Aberdeen, 

 in 1614. He published nothing himself; but he was a correspon- 

 dent of Gesner, Lobel, and Caspar Bauhin. The latter was Professor 

 of Botany and Anatomy at Basil, which chairs were erected for him in 

 1589 ; and Cargill was one of his pupils. In his Prodromus, he men- 

 tions a few Alga3 sent by Dr. Cargill prior to the year 1603. These 

 are : Alaria esculenta, Laminaria digitata, Bhodymen-ia pahnata, all of 

 which are still abundant on our coasts ; but he also sent, with descrip- 

 tion, what was at that time called Fucus maritimus Gallopavonis, a 

 species which does not appear to have been found on our coasts since. 

 It seems now to be confined to the S. and W. of England. This is 

 the Fadina Pavonia of modern writers. Lightfoot gives it without any 

 note of doubt, while Hooker and Harvey think there must have been 

 some mistake ; though they cannot imagine what species could have 

 been mistaken for it. Neither can I ; and further, I am not disposed 

 to think that any mistake was made. According to the testimony of 

 his contemporaries Cargill was not the sort of man to make careless 

 mistakes, such as this would have been. Lobel in his "Adversaria" 

 (London Ed. of 1605, at p. 485), under Lancastriensis Asphodelus 

 luteus (i.e., Narthecium ossifragum) writes thus : " Aliquot mensibus 

 elapsis Nortuegico luteo Asphodelo parem et similem ex Scotia hue 

 Londinum ad me misit peretissimus vir Jacobus Cargillus, doct. 

 medicus, philosophus, anatomicus et botanicus insignis." Other 

 similar statements concerning him might be quoted. I infer that the 

 plant, possibly never abundant on our coasts, has disappeared since 

 his time. It would be easy to cite parallel instances of land plants 

 having disappeared. 1 may be allowed to quote one example, viz., 

 Glaucium luteum, which grew on the coast, a little south of Aberdeen, 

 120 years ago. It had disappeared 70 years since; and I don't 

 think it is now to be found north of the Forth. As still better 

 adapted to my purpose I shall mention the case of two marine plants. 

 Harvey in Phyc. Brit., vol. hi., figures and describes Sphacelaria 

 racemosa Grev., which he states was found in the Firth of Forth, 

 opposite Carolina Park, by Sir John Richardson, before he started on 

 his first Arctic voyage. Only a solitary tuft was gathered and it has 

 not been found there since. In the same work, under Grijfithsia 

 equisetifolia Ag., the following statement occurs : " First described 



