the Ash of Avmevia. mavit'mm. 271 



clay-slate, and gypsum of the Hartz Mountains, nor on the por- 

 phyry and Muschelkalk of Thuringia, and is only found again 

 when we arrive at the Keuper-sand plains on the further side of 

 the Maine in the neighbourhood of Nuremberg. It extends 

 further south through the Palatinate, till the Muschelkalk of the 

 Swabian Alps again sets a limit to it. 



Neither on the Swabian Alps nor in the whole Alpine region is 

 the sea-pink seen, but it appears at last again on the sandy soils 

 of Northern Italy. Schleiden in the above-mentioned work, after 

 having directed attention to some other plants, which are con- 

 fined to well-defined geognostic formations, asks the questions : 

 " How is it that these plants everywhere disdain the richest soils 

 in their range of geographical distribution, and are confined to 

 perfectly determinate geognostic formations? Must not the 

 lime, the salt, the silica, have a most distinct influence in the 

 matter ? " 



The above analytical results point out clearly that Armeria 

 maritima requires not only a considerable amount of silicic acid, 

 but also of alkaline chlorides for its healthy condition, and we 

 can now conceive easily why this plant will refuse to grow on a 

 soil which does not contain these substances in sufficient quan- 

 tities. The fact that the sea-pink is not found on every sandy 

 soil in Germany, would suggest the idea that those localities 

 where it occurs are rich in salt, and that some of the observed 

 places in all probability have been the beds of some ancient dried- 

 up sea. 



In England and Scotland Armeria maritima is found univer- 

 sally on the sea-shore, but, with a few exceptions, we do not find 

 it to extend to any distance in the inner regions of the island *. 

 As a most remarkable exception to this general rule of its geo- 

 graphical distribution in England, we find the appearance of 

 Armeria maritima on the summits of several inland mountains of 

 the Scottish Highlands. Now, how does it happen that we do 

 not meet with it in the Lowlands in localities much nearer to the 

 sea- shore ? I was anxious to ascertain whether the composition 

 of the ash of plants grown on Highland mountains showed any 

 marked difference, and am much indebted to Professor Balfour 

 for furnishing me with the material for analyses. The plants 

 were collected by Professor Balfour himself on the top of Little 

 Craigindal and other lofty mountains in the Braemar district. 

 The analyses of the ash furnished the following results : — 



* Dr. W. Francis informs me that Armeria maritima occurs in profusion 

 with Cochlearia officinalis at Nappa in Wensleydale, Yorkshire. 



