44 REPORT—1849. 4 
5. Traces of fluorine, hitherto found in only few plants, were distinctly detected 
in all three ashes ; iodine only in specimens grown near the sea shore. 
The author then adverted to the geographical distribution of the sea-pink in Ger- 
many, and represented the above analyses as well-calculated to throw light on the 
causes which contribute to chain some plants to a particular well-defined geognostic 
formation, by showing that a soil deficient in soluble silica and alkaline chlorides, of 
which the sea-pink requires a considerable quantity, is unable to sustain the life of that 
plant. According to Schleiden, the sea-pink, found everywhere upon the arid sand- 
dunes of the northern coasts of England, is universally distributed over the sandy plains 
of northern Germany. In middle and southern Germany it is found only in a few 
places, and these are distinguished by their arid, sandy character; and curiously enough, 
we find that the Armeria maritima disdains the richest soils in its range of geagraphical 
distribution. Thus we find in northern Germany the granite, clay-slate and gypsum 
of the Hartz mountains, and the porphyry and muschelkalk of Thuringia, setting a 
limit to the 4rmeria maritima, and we meet with it only until we arrive at the Keuper 
sand plains in the neighbourhood of Niiremberg. In southern Germany it is found 
extending through the Palatinate, but neither on the Suabian Alps nor the whole 
alpine region is it found, and it appears at last again on the sandy plains of northern 
Italy. The fact that the sea-pink is not found in every sandy soil in Germany, sug- 
gests the idea that those inland localities where it occurs have been perhaps the 
bottoms of ancient lakes, and that the soil in these places will contain much salt. Jn 
England and Scotland the sea-pink is found universally on the sea-coasts, but with a 
few exceptions, we do not meet with it in inland situations. A remarkable excep- 
tion of this general rule of its geographical distribution in England is offered by the 
appearance of 4rmeria maritima on the summits of several mountains of the Scottish 
highlands. How does it happen that it does not occur in the lowlands and localities 
rouch nearer the sea? The author regretted to have been unable to procure the 
material for an analysis, which might probably have assisted him in throwing light 
on the subject; but expressed the hope to be enabled to examine the ash of specimens 
from the Highlands in the course of the current year, specimens having been pro- 
mised to him by Prof. Balfour of Edinburgh. In the meantime he communicated an 
analysis of dried specimens which he obtained from the herbarium of the Botanical 
Society of Edinburgh, but for obvious reasons le does not put much confidence in 
the accuracy of these analytical results. The analysis however indicated likewise a 
considerable amount of alkaline chlorides in the ash of Armeria maritima from the 
Scottish Highlands. 4rmeria maritima is not the only marine plant which presents 
this peculiarity; several others, for instance Plantago maritima, are found under 
similar circumstances. Having had no opportunity of examining the localities in 
the Highlands where these plants occur, the author declined to enter on the theory 
of this peculiar occurrence, further than to ascribe an important share to the salt, 
which in the spray of the sea is often carried to considerable heights into the air, and 
which, it is not unreasonable to suppose, has been deposited again by the rain, par- 
ticularly in those places which are exposed to regular sea-winds, in such quantities 
as to answer to the requirements of the sea-pink and other marine plants. He con- 
sequently recommended naturalists interested in the subject to ascertain whether 
those localities in Highland mountains, where these marine plants occur, are exposed 
to frequent sea-winds or not, and to pay general attention to the meteorological 
conditions of these places. 
In conclusion, the author stated that distinct traces of fluorine had been detected 
in the three different ashes of Armeria maritima, and likewise in the ash of Cochlearia 
officinalis. In the ashes of Dutch Kanaster tobacco no fluorine could be detected, but 
as tobacco leaves are soaked in water when prepared for Kanaster, it may be that the 
trace of fluoride of calcium, if present, has been dissolved out by the water, fluoride 
of calcium having been shown to be soluble in water, to some extent, by Dr. G. Wil- 
son of Edinburgh. 
The simultaneous presence of silica in the ashes of most plants renders the detec- 
tion of fluorine rather difficult, because the methods hitherto known for tracing the 
presence of fluorine in siliceous mixtures are impracticable, in all cases in which we 
have to deal with traces of fluorine and large quantities of silica. By following a 
plan recommended by Dr. G. Wilson, the author was enabled to prove distinctly the 

