CONODONTS IN ARKXIG-I.LANDEILO KOKMATIONS. 235 



and a non-halophytio flora. There is no doubt that much good 

 work could be done for cecology by a chemical analysis of the 

 rocks. Even the number of species might possibly be reduced if 

 we had this ; for we know that certain plants having been 

 changed to distinctly different soils, have varied so much as to be 

 raised to specific rank. For instance, Adiantuni nigrum on the 

 serpentine outcrop in Glen Lochay becomes the form Serpentini. 

 Asplenium viride also changes, possibly owing to this rock 

 containing silicate of magnesium. Then we have also Cochlearia 

 micacea, an alpine form raised to specific rank because varying 

 when found on mica schist ; also Erophila irifiata, found on the 

 phylite schist, its variation possibly owing to these rocks con- 

 taining a large percentage of alumina. 



I have always believed that lime plays a very important part 

 in plant life, in fact, in my opinion, it is just as important as it 

 is in animal life, and the more oecological information I acquire, 

 the more confirmed am I in this conviction. There are plants 

 that grow well on pure silica, and plants that do well on pure 

 limestone, but the fact still remains that the varied conditions as 

 to water, heat, light, and atmospheric pressure govern the 

 distribution. 



On the Occuppence of Conodonts in the Apenig^-Llandeilo 

 Fopmations of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. 



By John Smith. 



[Read 25th October, 1904.] 



After the splendid work done by Prof. Lapworth and the 

 officers of the Geological Survey, Messrs. Peach, Home, and 

 Macconochie, in the Southern Uplands, the very thought of 

 adding a single new organism to the already large lists pre- 

 pared by these gentlemen might seem to be presumptuous, and 

 in the summer and autumn of 1903, when I took a look round 

 amongst the hills, it was not with the intention of collecting 



