56 ARENARiA BALEARiCA. {February, 



like the Aremonia, has taken us by surprise. But the fact of its 

 occurrence on a tool-house and in a garden, though surprising, 

 is not to be ignored. It is a fact, and an interesting fact, 

 although it may be a puzzle to addle-headed plant-geographers. 

 It may be supposed to have been introduced among seeds, or it 

 may have reached these islands in packages, or it may have 

 reached us by swimming in currents, or have been transported 

 by birds, or been attached to the hairy skins of beasts, — all fa- 

 vourite and popular modes of plant-distribution. But who can 

 say with any certainty that the tool-house in the garden at Mon- 

 crieffe is the only place where it grows and where it may ulti- 

 mately be discovered ? The Aremonia has been already detected 

 in other localities in Perthshire, and in Lancashire also, if fame 

 is to be believed. It is surely not impossible for the Arenaria 

 to obtain a wider location than that of a small spot on a brick 

 wall ! Who can gainsay the possibility of this wider distribution ? 

 It may be discovered in other parts of Scotland, or in Ireland, 

 or even in England itself, the refuge of the destitute. There 

 is positive evidence that it has been found ; there can only be 

 negative evidence against the probability of its being found*' in 

 future. 



The candid critic starts a query, viz. : " Where did the pre- 

 viously-found specimen come from ?" Observe the style, curious 

 reader ! '^That which was sent to London in May, and recorded 

 in the June number of the ' Phytologist' as a plant new to Scot- 

 land?^' The answer to be given is plain and straightforward. 

 It came from the tool-house so often mentioned. There is no 

 mystery, nor concealment, nor affectation, about this point. 

 Everybody agrees here. Mr. Watson does not even affect to 

 doubt this part of the relation, but he subjoins a very significant 

 remark, viz. : " Very significantly, that first record is omitted 

 from the Index to the ' Phytologist' for 1859, p. 385, where Mr. 

 Sim's confession of the fruit-house locality for the species is re- 

 ferred to only." 



There is some truth in this part of Mr. Watson's statement. 

 The first notice, viz. that on p. 189, being only two lines and a 

 half, was overlooked when the Index was compiled, and this 

 omission is supplied in the Index to Vol. IV. for 1860. The 

 significancy of this fact was originally of small dimensions, and 

 it has gradually diminished, and has now totally disappeared. 



