i86s] " Deciding too hastily" 203 



plentifully, and as being reputed wild. Suspecting, never- 

 theless, that it was probably introduced, as in similar 

 stations near Dublin, he walked along the sand-hills from 

 Courtown to Kiltennel, and there found the Sea-Buck- 

 thorn growing far more vigorously than he had anticipated, 

 though accompanied, as he noted, here and there by syca- 

 mores, and in one place at least by clematis. He traced 

 it northwards for more than a mile, and at last, quite con- 

 verted from his attitude of suspicion, ventured on record- 

 ing the species as native : the note in which he did so 

 appearing in the same number of the "Journal of Botany "* 

 with the announcement of the discovery of Scirpus parvu- 

 lus. Conclusive evidence, however, soon reached him, 

 showing that the Hippophae had, as a matter of fact, been 

 freely planted in successive colonies for a number of years. 

 The record, therefore had to be withdrawn ; and, as his 

 second note in the " Journal of Botany " says, " the present 

 instance may serve as a caution against deciding too 

 hastily in favour of any plant being indigenous, even when 

 it presents every appearance of being perfectly wild." f 



In July he went on a dredging expedition for the 

 Museum, with Mr. W. Andrews, then Chairman of the 

 Royal Dublin Society's Natural History Committee. 

 Their operations were to be conducted off the Kerry coast, 

 from Dingle, where they arrived on the evening of Saturday, 

 July 25th, and remained a fortnight. Rough weather 

 prevailing the whole time, sadly interfered with the dredg- 

 ing, and they seldom got beyond the limits of the harbour. 

 As usual with him when on exploration, he carried a small 

 pocket-book for natural history notes. But the diary of a 

 dredging expedition is dry, and from no point of view very 

 interesting reading ; for even the scientific results are not 

 brought out, in the lower groups, till after later examina- 

 tion. The first day's work (in Dingle Harbour) yielded 

 some twenty species of fishes, as well as some rare crabs 

 and shrimps and ascidians. "Note the bright brassy 

 green colour of Deep-nosed Pipe-fish " is a characteristic 

 jotting. Then three days followed, which were quite too 

 rough for the water, and all that could be done was to 



* August, 1868. f "Journal of Botany," November, 1868. 



