May 20, 1875] 



NATURE 



55 



cnUir subject and illustrates it from the observations and gatherings 

 of the day. During the winter meetings are held for the reading 

 of papers, many of which seem of considerable value. This 

 Society was formed for the practical study of science, and on the 

 ' ole this object appears to be well kept in view. 



■J iiE Cambridge Board of Natural Science Studies announce 

 that applications by members of the University desirous of avail- 

 ing themselves of the facilities for study at the Zoological Station 

 at Naples during the ensuing season, are to be sent to Mr. 

 I'oster, Trinity College, on or before the 20th of October. 



An appeal is made on behalf of the widow of the late Dr. 

 Beke : that lady, it seems, having been left in very straitened cir- 

 cumstances. It is proposed to utilise the Beke Testimonial Fund 

 for this purpose, and additional subscriptions are requested to 

 be paid to Messrs. Cox, Biddulph, and Co., Charing Cross, or 

 to Messrs. Robarts, Lubbock, and Co.. Lombard Street. 



We would draw the special attention of our readers to an 

 excellent new quarto work, abundantly and beautifully illustrated, 

 on ' ' The Marine Mammals of the North-western Coast of North 

 America, together with an account of the American Whale- 

 Fishery," by Capt. Charles M. Scammon, It is published at 

 San Francisco by J. H. Carmany and Co. The figures of 

 the characteristic attitudes of the different species of seals, as 

 well as of the whales, in their native element and otherwise, are 

 far superior to any we have ever seen, having all been evidently 

 taken from the life. The volume is dedicated to the memory of 

 Louis Agassiz, 



Pkof. Sitaler has published a memoir upon the "Antiquity 

 of the Caverns and Cavern Life of the Ohio Valley," in which 

 he endeavours to show the period at which the animal life, so 

 characteristic of Western caverns, received its first expression. 

 He sums up his researches in the following propositions : — i. 

 The extensive development of caverns in the Ohio Valley is 

 probably a comparatively recent phenomenon, not dating further 

 back than the latest Tertiary period. 2. It is doubtful whether 

 there has been any extensive development of cavern life in this 

 region before these caverns of the subcarboniferous limestone 

 began to be excavated. 3. The general character of this cavern 

 life points to the conclusion that it has been derived from the 

 present fauna. 4. The glacial period, though it did not extend 

 the ice-sheet over this cavern region, must have so profoundly 

 affected the climatal conditions that the external life could not 

 have held its place here in the shape we now find it, but must 

 have been replaced by some Arctic assemblage of species. 

 Under the circumstances, it is reasonable to suppose that most, 

 if not all, the species found in these caves have been introduced 

 since the glacial period. 5. We are also warranted by the facts 

 in supposing that there is a continued infusion of "new blood" 

 from the outer species taking place, some of the forms showing 

 the stages of a continual transition from the outer to the inner 

 form. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Campbell's Monkey {Cercopilhecus ca^ttpbellt) 

 from West Africa, presented by Capt. Damm ; a Lesser White- 

 nosed Monkey {Cercopithecus petatirista) from West Africa, pre- 

 sented by Mr. John Gordon ; a Sloth Bear {Mehirsus labiaUis) 

 from Ceylon, presented by Mr. W. D. Wright ; two Antarctic 

 Skuas {Lestris otiiarcticd) from the Kerguelen Islands, presented 

 by the Rev. A. Eaton ; a Proteus {Proteus anginnus) from the 

 Adelsberg Caves, presented by Capt. R. F. Burton ; a Persian 

 Gazelle (Gaxella suli^uiturosa), two Coatis (A^asua naska), bom 

 in the Gardens; two Wapiti Deer (Cervus canadensis) from 

 North America, an Ocelot {Felis pardalis) from South America, 

 a Hoflmanp's Sloth {Cholopus hoffmanm) from Panama, de- 

 posited. 



ARCTIC MARINE VEGETATION 



"M" O W that another expedition is about to sail for the Arctic 

 regions through Davis's Straits, it is thought that some 

 notice of the magnificent flora of the shores of Greenland may 

 prove interesting. An essay on this subject,* written in Swedish, 

 by Professor Agardh, the celebrated Swedish algologist, is now 

 before me, but as it is too long for insertion in these pages, 

 I will endeavour to condense as much of it as possible into an 

 abstract. 



During the Swedish Expedition to Greenland in 1870, a 

 collection of Alga' was made on the Greenland coast, between 

 Disco Island and Sukkertoppen, some degrees to the southward. 

 These Algre were afterwards examined by Professor Agardh, and 

 in the essay above mentioned he gives us the result of his 

 examinations, and some exceedingly interesting observations 

 upon the characteristics of the marine flora of this Arctic district. 

 It is not only the more or less numerous species which give to 

 the marine vegetation in different zones a difi'erent characfer, 

 but it is the abundance or scarceness of Algis, their divarication 

 in a greater or less degree from the common form and aspect, 

 their great size, the multitude of individuals, and so on, which 

 give J very variable appearance to the seaweed-grown shores of 

 different seas. 



As in the northern region of the pine-tree, there are but few 

 species, while the masses of forest are formed of an immense 

 number of individuals which grow near together ; so with regard 

 to the northern marine flora, the principal portion of which is 

 found to possess a general character, consisting of a few similar 

 species, but, as before mentioned, of an imnaense number of 

 individuals. Nearest to high-water mark are the species of 

 Fuci ; below them are the Laminarix (Tangles, or seaweeds) ; 

 these crowd on every rock and stone, and to each of them is 

 attached its peculiar parasitic species. Occasionally, otlier 

 species, belongmg to the northern marine flora, stray into calm 

 bays, inclosed caverns, or are carried away by strong currents. 

 Compared with the weed-covered shores of Southern Europe, 

 the uniformity of aspect on these Arctic shores is very great, and 

 the number of species occurring there fewer than those of our 

 own coasts. The principal characteristic of the vegetation of 

 the colder seas is the gigantic size of the species of which it is 

 composed, and this is especially the case with regard to the 

 northern Algoe. Laminaria saccharina and L. di^itata, Himaii- 

 thalia, Alaria, Scytosiphonfilutii, &c., on our own coast, give but 

 a feeble indication of what the more Arctic regions in this respect 

 exhibit. When it is known that the Mediterranean and warmer 

 seas contain some few species which from their great size are 

 never found in Herbaria, one can understand how diflicult it 

 must be to find specimens suitable for Herbaria among the 

 Arctic species. Professor Agardh lays great stress upon the 

 importance of collecting specimens of these plants in all stages of 

 their growth, and points out the great similarity to each other of 

 young plants of different species, which makes it extremely 

 diflicult to discriminate the diflferent species in the young state. 

 The numerous examples, of all ages, brought home tjy the 

 Swedish expedition, and especially those laid down in salt, 

 could thus be examined in a fresh state, and enough of them 

 might be dissected for the more accurate determination of these 

 large-growing species. As Professor Agardh has referred here 

 to salting down the Algas, it may be as well to mention that in 

 another publication he has stated that the best way of pre- 

 serving Alga: is by the following process. In a cask or other 

 convenient vessel put a layer of salt, then a layer of Algrc ; then 

 another layer of salt, then another of Alga?, and so on until the 

 cask is full. Algas thus preserved are found to be almost as 

 fresh as when first taken out of the sea. 



If in the extreme north the phanerogamous flora is characterised 

 by dwarf forms, so do forms of an opposite character prevail in 

 the marine vegetation of the Arctic regions. To a certain degree 

 the aspect of the magnificent Arctic marine vegetation depends 

 upon the common large-growing Laminaria;, which constitute a 

 considerable and characteristic portion of it. Laminaria are 

 also found in the Southern Ocean, and there are even other large 

 Alga, as, for example, the S])ecies of Iridaa, in the North Pacific, 

 which have much larger dimensions in colder oceans than have 

 analogous species in the warmer seas. So, also, the great num- 

 ber of species of Laminaria in the Arctic seas is an indication 



* Bidrag till kanncdomen af Gronlands I..aminaricer oc!i Fucaceer af J 

 G. Agardh, inlemnadt till K. Vet. Akad. den 27 Sep. 1871. (Stockholm, 

 1872, P. A. Norstedt and S5ner.) 



