31-t PKOCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



to Diatrype lanciformis, p. 436, and to Massaria Argus, at p. 844, it is an 

 instance where Tulasne's advice might be of service. In this extensive 

 Order, containing more than 30 genera and nearly 500 species, no attain- 

 able information had need be neglected, nor anything introdnced that may 

 tend to embarrass. Of the labonrs of other writers in this section of the 

 fungi, copions use has been made, references to such papers as those of 

 Mr. Currey in the Linnean Transactions are invaluable in a tribe where 

 such distinctive characters may be found in the size and forms of the spo- 

 ridia, and where access to authentic specimens is so difficult of attainment, 

 very few herbaria in this country probably possessing the ' Scleroraycetes 

 Suecise' of Fries. With all this amount of matter, and the numerous 

 illustrations and copious index, contained in the two volumes before us, 

 the price to subsciibers is only IDs. 6rf., an amount very inadequate to 

 cover the time and labour necessarily bestowed upon them, nor at all 

 commensurate with the intrinsic value of the work. No one desirous of 

 undertaking the study of mycology need now be deterred by the cost of 

 books, or the dithculty of mastering the great divisions of the subject, 

 the illustrations being quite sufficient to convey a general notion to the 

 mere tyro. It is to be hoped that Mr. Cooke's work will find a place in 

 every botanical library, and meet with the general appreciation among 

 scientific men that it so richly deserves. 



C. E. B. 



^Iroacijings of Societies. 



BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 SCIENCE.— EDINBURGH, 1871. 



(^Concluded from page 284.) 



"On the Flora of Greenland," by Dr. Robert Brown. This paper con- 

 sisted of (1.) A statement of the collection of Greenland plants from 

 which our knowledge of the flora is derived, such as the collections of 

 Vahl, Rink, Holboil, Obick (catalogued by Lange), his own collections 

 in 1861 and 1867, the collections of the surgeons of whalers, etc. 

 (2.) The results therefrom derived. The whole number of the Pha- 

 nerogamia and Ferns is about 324 species and marked varieties. From 

 a study of its flora from all available sources, he could only confirm 

 and extend Dr. Hooker's conclusions from a study of the whole Arctic 

 phyto-geography. It had many peculiarities, namely, the identity of 

 the Greenland and Lapponian floras, the paucity of species, etc. Enter- 

 ing upon a consideration of Mr. Darwin's view, he considered that 

 his doctrine of the Scandinavian flora being driven into all latitudes 

 during the glacial period was abundantly confirmed. Discussing the 

 subject of the transporting agents employed in disseminating Green- 

 land plants, Dr. Brown considered that icebergs had but a small share 

 in this work, for even allowing that they conveyed a considerable 

 quantity of seeds in moraine, this moraine was in almost every case 

 capsized into the sea and never reached the land. Migratory land birds 

 had nuich more to do with it, and the winds no doubt carried the spores 

 of Cryptogamia as well as the heavier seeds of Phanerogamia long dis- 

 tances. Speaking of the decrease of the species according to latitude, it 



