203 



True it must be admitted that the flora of Jan Mayen is far 

 from rich, but \ve must bear in mind that, in the first place, the 

 climate here is very unfavourable , secondly, that the distance be- 

 tween this lonely island and the nearest adjacent land is far greater 

 than is the case witli the Færoes, and also that doubtless many 

 more migratory hirds pass over the Færoes than over Jan Mayen, 

 the latter does not always lie in the line of the migrating hirds, as 

 this varies according to the position of the ice-limit^ Therefore I 

 conclude that if the flora of Jan Mayen has been conveyed to the 

 island across the sea either by the agency of wind or hirds then 

 the flora of the Færoes — though far richer — may also 

 have been carried thither across the sea. Lastly I shall call 

 attention to the following remark by Warming (1. c. p. 213): »Thus 

 I consider it to be far from impossible for piants to migrate from 

 Iceland to Greenland by means of ice, wind, ocean currents and 

 hirds (remember Jan Mayen !) and if it be argued that this occurs 

 so very, very rarely in nature, I shall content myself with saying: 

 we have time enough and to spare«. 



These lines must suffice with regard to this matter in general; 

 with regard to the immigration of the freshwater algæ in particular, 

 I cannot help being of opinion that they may easily have been 

 carried thither especially by the agency of the wind and 

 hirds. More so, as the latter are able to cover the distance, viz. 

 between the British Isles and the Færoes in a couple of hours and 

 most of the resting-cells of the freshwater algæ are able to survive 

 such a short period of desiccation. As to its having been main- 

 tained (cfr. Ostenfeld 1. c. p. 117) that migratory birds not only 

 journey on an empty stomach, but their beaks, feet and feathers 

 are also almost always clean when they journey, I beg to remark 

 that a thorough microscopical examination of the plumage of a 

 larger number of birds has hardly ever been accomplished and 

 this is necessary in order to be able to detect the spores and 

 resting-cells of the algæ. 



Here as elsewhere the freshwater algæ seldom play any promi- 

 nent part with regard to forming the character of the landscape; 

 and more conspicuous formations are not generally met with. There 



and Kruuse have found besides cryptogams — not j'et determined — 11 new species 

 of phanerogams, so that according to Kruuse the pteridophyta and phanerogams 

 taken collectively now amount to 41 species. 



^ Cfr. Palmen: iUeber die Zugstrassen der Vogel«. Leipzig 1876. 



