Ohituary Notices. 49 



of that noble band of distinguished men, few of whom, alas ! 

 are now amongst us. As year after year is thus thinning 

 our ranks, it is a comfort to know that so many yet remain 

 to seize the standards from the dying hands of such noble 

 champions of our science, and to bear them aloft with the 

 resolute purpose of handing them down unsullied to 

 the future generation. But, as in all societies, true 

 success is attained, not so much by the brilliant achieve- 

 ments of a few, as by the steady and persevering efforts of 

 the whole, I do trust that we may all be stirred up, each 

 in his special sphere, faithfully, conscientiously, energeti- 

 cally, and with the highest end ever in view, to prosecute 

 botanical science, ever bearing in mind the lesson which 

 the sad obituary list is designed to teach us, that the night 

 is coming to each of us wherein no man can work. 



On the Ch'oivth of the Neiu Zealand Flax Plant (Phormium 

 tenax) in the Orkney Islands. By Dr "W. Traill. 



(Read 11th December 1579). 



The acclimatisation of foreign plants in this country is 

 a subject of so much general interest, whether as regards 

 their economic value or as ornamental additions to our 

 gardens, that I have put together the following notes on 

 the result of a late attempt to introduce the Plwrmium 

 tenax, or New Zealand flax lily, into the Orkney Islands, 

 which islands, from their high latitude — 59^ north — enjoy 

 comparatively little heat in summer, though their winters 

 are remarkably mild, there being little snow and frost, 

 which is perhaps partly attributable to their insular posi- 

 tion, but is chiefly caused by the action of the Gulf Stream, 

 which makes its presence felt, not only by raising the 

 temperature of the sea T above that of the air in the 

 months of December and January, but by frequently casting 

 up seeds of tropical plants on the shores of the different 

 islands. During the severe gales of wind that often occur, 

 there is usually a good deal of salt in the atmosphere, 

 hence the extreme difiiculty of growing trees or even 



TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. XIV. D 



