168 TRANSACTIONS AND PEOCEEDINGS OF THE [sess. lxiii. 



Future explorers of Hope Island will find other plants, 

 especially at the S.E. point mentioned by Mr. Bruce, and 

 among them they may expect to see Ccrastium ahpimim, 

 Dryas odopdala, and licinuncidus nivalis. 



I have to thank Mr. Bruce for placing in my hands all 

 the plants which he collected at Vardo, Kolguev, Novaya 

 Zemlya, Franz-Josef Land, Spit/bergen, Amsterdam Island, 

 Hope Island, and Bear Island. 



In conclusion, I have been particularly struck with the 

 prevailing characters of Arctic plants, as shown in Mr. 

 Bruce's collections ; the plants are all dwarfed, most have 

 assumed a tufted habit of growth, while many are still 

 more protected by a dense covering of hairs, all of which 

 characters may be directly traceable to the peculiar con- 

 ditions under which the plants live : it is the phenomenon 

 of adaptation to the environment. 



Ox The Ferns, Mosses, and Lichens of Eerrick. By 

 Rev. G. M'Conachie. Communicated by the President. 



(Read 9th February 1.S99.) 



The Parish of lierrick is truly a land of hills and 

 howes. There is not in it, I believe, a moderately level 

 cultiv^ated field. The up and down nature of the ground 

 is favouraljle to the growth of different kinds of plants. 



In the north-east corner there is the granite hill, the 

 broad-based Bengairn (1200 ft.). To the west of it, 

 and divided from it by the Burn of Collin, is the Suie 

 ridge (700-900 ft.), where the rock is greywacke. These 

 are clad with heather. The others are covered with grass. 

 They are — the Newlaw ridge (about GOO ft.), running west 

 from Dundrennan to the borders of Kirkcudbi'ight parish ; 

 the Well Hill on the seashore, with bold sandstone cliffs; 

 to the east of it (three miles) are the Barloco Heights 

 (475 ft.), and still farther eastward is Airds Point 

 (200 ft.). 



The principal stream is the Abbey Burn. It rises on 

 the Suie, and after a somewhat circuitous course at first, 

 flows from Dundrennan in a strai(>ht course southwards to 



