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THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. viL 



not confined to the mountain plants but equally conspicuous on 

 the trees, rocks and old palings everywhere. Lichens seem tO' 

 delight in a situation having a northerly aspect. Though no 

 rule can be laid down, still this is so often observable that it be- 

 comes quite possible to in a general way judge of the direction of 

 one's path. Frequently on some old palings, the more northerly 

 side is quite encrusted with various species which on the oppo- 

 site side are almost wanting, and here as elsewhere on the barks 

 of trees, they will often be seen thickly grouped together on the 

 northerly exposure and gradually becoming less prevalent on 

 either side as the southern exposure is approached. Now^, it is 

 well known that the last forms of vegetation met with on the 

 highest peaks of the Himalayas or which greet the traveller in 

 Arctic lands are Lichens, and it would seem as if here, in a tem- 

 perate climate, these little plants evince a longing for the cold 

 and exposure which suits so w^ell the species in the polar zones. 



Another feature connected with Lichens is their economic 

 value as sources of dyes, though this has lost much of its impor- 

 tance during recent years by the discovery of aniline dyes. The 

 old Orchella Weeds of commerce which yield beautiful purple 

 tints have not yet been found on the American coast of the At- 

 lantic ,nor thus far have I found more than one species in Canada 

 — FanneUa Borreri^ Turn, which yields to ammonia a purple 

 dye. This is a very common Lichen of wide-spread range on 

 this continent and noticeable here on Owl's Head alike on rocks 

 and on the beech trees. But there are otiier dye Lichens also 

 here. Some of those crisp, blackish species, resembling bits of 

 old cast away leather, attached by their centres to the sides of the 

 rocks, yield beautiful red tints, as also does T/ielo.schistes jxn-ief i- 

 nuSj Fr.. one of those very common but pretty yellow species 

 everywdiere observable alike on rock and tree and paling. 



At 2000 ft. above the sea, the beech is still sometimes seen and 

 even the bass-wood climbs as high. But climbing over the large 

 angular blocks w^hich, chaos-like, lie piled around the north-east 

 eru side, an almost bare peak is reached, protruding as it were above 

 the e-reen of the foliaore below. Here we are at a height of 2600 ft 

 above the ocean level, and, strange as it may seem, nearly one 

 thousand feet above the level of the central parts of the continent^ 

 The botanist must be an enthusiast who is so taken up with his 

 favourite science that he cannot spare a moment for what from 

 this summit is presented — one of the grandest panoramic views- 



