286 



special thanks of the Society (whose office-bearers, together with the 

 Professor of Botany, are the regularly appointed custodiers of the Uni- 

 versity Herbarium) were voted to Captain King for this valuable dona- 

 tion of plants, and also to Mr. Brown for his care of them, and the 

 trouble he had taken in their transmission," and that a copy be sent 

 to each of the gentlemen named, and to the ' Phytologist.' 

 The following communications were read : — 



1. List of the rarer Lichens found in the neighbourhood of Oswes- 

 try and Ludlow, with occasional observations, by the Rev. T. Salwey. 

 This list will shortly appear in the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History.' 



2. Dr. Seller read part of a paper entitled " Observations on some 

 Plants obtained from the shores of Davis' Straits," With these plants 

 Dr. Seller was presented by Mr. Sutherland, a student of medicine, 

 who, last summer, had been a medical officer in a whaler. There are 

 about twenty-five species in all, and some of them are of considerable 

 interest to the botanist. Among them are Cochlearias, a Draba, a 

 Lychnis and some other Caryophyllacete, Potentillas, Epilobiums, 

 Saxifrages, an Arnica, a Ledum, a Pyrola, a Pedicularis, a Statice, a 

 Polygonum, Empetrum, some Salices and Eriophorums. All of them 

 were gathered within or close upon the Arctic circle on the shores of 

 Davis' Straits, adjacent to the usual course of whale-fishing vessels, 

 and such collections might often be obtained by holding out a slight 

 inducement to some of the many young men who go out annually in 

 the same capacity with Mr. Sutherland. 



The advantage of encouraging such collections in arctic latitudes, 

 would be an improved knowledge of the nature of the variations to 

 which certain species are liable under different circumstances of soil, 

 situation and climate. Without such a knowledge, the definitions of 

 these species are likely to continue local instead of universal, that is, 

 applicable to certain localities only, and such as render it difficult 

 and often impossible to recognise them in new situations without 

 other assistance, while the want of the same knowledge is a fruitful 

 source of the unnecessary multiplication of species. Sir William 

 Hooker had some excellent observations on the extreme variations 

 which some species, known in the temperate parts of Europe, undergo 

 in the arctic regions, and Wahlenberg had spoken strongly of the 

 errors introduced when the study of a species is confined to one lo- 

 cality or latitude. Some of the plants in this small collection afforded 

 a striking illustration of the justness of their sentiments. 



These variations must take place in obedience to fixed general laws. 



