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TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS, 65 
the former containing plants resembling those of Cornwall and Devonshire, and the 
French coast at Normandy; the latter having plants resembling those of Portugal 
and of the Asturian division of Spain. 
The mountains of the south and west of Ireland, although some of them 
attain an elevation of upwards of 3000 feet, were not found to exhibit an alpine or 
Scandinavian flora like the mountains of Scotland. The few alpine species seen 
were chiefly Silene acaulis, Draba incana, Dryas octopetala, Saxifraga nivalis 
and stellaris, Saussurea alpina and Polystichum Lonchitis. Some of these appear 
at much lower elevations than they do in the mountainous districts of Scotland. 
The flora resembles in many respects that of the western coasts and islands of 
Scotland. This is shown by the prevalence of such plants as Cotyledon Umbilicus, 
Osmunda regalis, Hypericum elodes, Pinguicula lusitanica, Eufragia viscosa, Ulex 
nanus, Anthemis nobilis, Hymenophyllum Tunbridyense and H. Wilsoni. But in ad- 
dition to these, there are many peculiar species. The prevalence of Sawifraga 
umbrosa, with its varieties serratifolia and punctata, as well as Saxifraga Geum, S. 
elegans, S. hirsuta, S. hirta, and S. affinis, tend to give a marked character to the 
flora of the south-west ; and in the Connemara district, Erica mediterranea, E. Mac- 
kaiana and EL. ciliaris, along with Dabecia polifolia and Eriocaulon septangulare, 
give a remarkabie character to that flora. 
The Cork flora has been fully given in a work published by Dr. Harvey at the 
time when the British Association met in that town. Dr. Balfour’s party noticed on 
the sides of the Glanmire river, as well as at Aghada, a species of Hypericum, pro- 
bably Hypericum anglicum of Fries, which had not previously been recorded in Ire- 
land. The plant abounds in that part of the county of Cork, and appears to be ina 
wild state. At all events, if it has been introduced, it has become completely natu- 
ralized. On the roadside near Monkstown, Cork, there was observed profusion of 
Petasites fragrans, apparently wild. In Killarney, the prevalence of Trichomanes 
radicans, Lastrea Thelypteris and Lastrea fenisecii, was remarked, as well as Pin- 
guicula grandiflora, Arbutus Unedo, and Orobanche Hedere, 
In the large island of Arran there was seen abundance of Adiantum Capillus Ve- 
neris, Spiranthes autumnalis, Sesleria cerulea, Alsine verna, and a peculiar form of 
Saxifraga hypnoides. On the limestone of that island were found many plants 
which are common in the trap districts of Scotland. 
ee ee 
On the Distribution of the Marine Alge on the British and Irish Coasts, with 
reference to the Influence of the Gulf-stream. By Professor Dicxiz, M.D. 
_ There are forms of marine Algz generally admitted to be characteristic of our 
northern coasts, and others of the southern. The present remarks have reference 
to those generally deemed of southern type; that is, those usually more or less 
abundant in low latitudes, and on the other hand absent from high latitudes. Such 
species, natives of our coasts, may be classed under three heads :—first, those con- 
fined to the southern parts of Great Britain and Ireland; second, species of more 
extensive range, since they extend to the north of Ireland and south-west of Scot- 
land; third, those found abundantly in the south of England, and ranging along the 
western coasts of both islands, as far as Orkney and Shetland; and the species com- 
prehended under these three heads, and amounting to at least twenty, are, so far as 
known at present, absent from a certain part of the east coast of Scotland, A con- 
siderable proportion of them reappear in Shetland and Orkney. The marine vege- 
tation in those northern islands in some respects resembles that of the north of 
Ireland, though there is a difference between them of from four to five degrees of 
latitude. The marine vegetation of some of the north-eastern counties of Scotland, 
intermediate in latitude, is of more boreal character. 
The drifting of tropical fruits, &c. to the western and northern parts of Britain 
and Ireland, is a proof of the course and presence of the Gulf-stream ; the develop- 
ment of southern forms of Algz at the extreme northern parts is a proof of the 
same, and an indication of its influence in reference to temperature. Are we to 
consider their absence from certain parts of the east coast of North Britain as 
owing to a lower sea temperature than in localities where they exist? The portion 
of the coast in question is precisely that which, from the generally understood 
1852. 
