358 Miscellaneous . 



by certain noble dukes and sporting gentlemen. These districts re- 

 present the alpine vegetation of Britain, and it is in them that the 

 botanist finds illustrations of this region. It is there that we meet 



with such rare plants 



Luzula arcuata (characteristic of the Salix lanata. 

 summits of the highest hills in arenaria. 



Braemar). reticulata. 



Stellaria cerastoides. Sonchus alpinus (Mulgedium alpi- 

 Astragalus alpinus. num). 



Saxifraga caespitosa (Benaven, Brae- Oxytropiscampestris(GlenPhu,Clova, 

 mar, only known locality in Bri- only known British station), 



tain). Woodsia hyperborea. 



Saxifraga rivularis. Erigeron alpinum. 



Carex leporina. Gentiana nivalis. 



Vahlii. Juncus castaneus. 



rariflora. Alopecurus alpinus. 



rupestris. Phleum commutatum. 



aquatilis. Lychnis alpina (on a single hill in the 

 vaginata. Grampians, only British station). 



Grahami (Glen Phu, Clova, Besides a number of other rare spe- 

 only spot in Britain). cies. 



If then botanists are excluded from these districts, they are cut 

 off from the study of alpine plants ; and what renders the outrage to 

 science more glaring is the fact, that many of these are found no- 

 where else in Britain except on the Braemar and Grampian range, 

 and several are confined to single spots on these hills. 



Again, it is in these districts that the geologist finds the most 

 perfect illustrations of those theories which have enabled him in 

 modern times to explain the past revolutions on the surface of the 

 earth, and to trace the changes it has undergone from the most 

 distant ages. It is in Glen Tilt that Hutton, in 1785, discovered the 

 junction of the granite with mica- slate and limestone, whereby he 

 offered the first positive fact in opposition to the Wernerian doctrines. 

 This striking proof of the correctness of those views now admitted 

 by the scientific world, nature has placed in the property of the Duke 

 of Athol, and until lately it has been freely visited by naturalists 

 from every civilized land. But now, that nobleman not only threatens 

 to prosecute every gentleman anxious to confirm his notions by the 

 personal inspection of this natural formation, but offers them direct 

 molestation, on the plea that they are disturbing his deer. More 

 than one foreign professor of eminence has in consequence been 

 obliged to return to his country, with the belief that the present 

 Dukes of Scotland are even more uncivilized than their barbarous 

 ancestors. It is at least certain that they are ready to sacrifice 

 for the empty pleasures of the chase, not only the solid benefits 

 which the study of science and intellectual pursuits confer on man- 

 kind, but that courtesy and readiness to oblige, which, more than 

 rank, win for the noble and titled the regards of men. 



It is singular to reflect, that at a period when Government is en- 

 couraging scientific expeditions in Australia, Van Diemen's Land, the 

 Arctic Regions, and other districts at the limits of the empire, our 



