248 Alexander Goodman More. [i874 



attached a considerable importance to them, and several 

 of his letters to Professor Babington bear on the subject. 



DUBLIN, October i*jth, 1874. 



DEAR BABINGTON, I daresay that you have heard from Mr. 

 Balfour about our unsuccessful search for Erica ciliaris. But, at any 

 rate, there is no harm in telling you that Balfour came down to Round- 

 stone on purpose while I was staying there last August, and, with 

 Professor Dickson and the Rev. A. M. Norman (a very good Zoologist, 

 and also knows British plants, and has seen E. ciliaris growing in 

 Dorset), we searched for one whole long morning examining every bit 

 of ground that seemed likely, but could not find a trace of the heath ; 

 and Dr. Balfour could not even feel quite sure of any particular place 

 being the right one, so that it seems we are as far off as ever from 

 settling that disputed question. 



I found the Naias again, but only sparingly, and at the old place. 



Altogether I was three weeks in Roundstone, and several of the 

 people were speaking of your visit the year before. I think Allium 

 babingtonii is becoming scarcer than it used to be, for I did not see 

 any of it this time. After leaving Roundstone I spent three weeks at 

 Malvern with my people, who have been staying there most of the 

 summer. I did not go to Belfast,* preferring the rest and change of 

 country life. With very kind regards to Mrs. Babington, yours very 

 sincerely, 



A. G. MORE. 



P.S. The old specimens of Erica ciliaris in Trinity College are 

 labelled as from near Craigga-more. 



The failure to rediscover the heath does not appear to 

 have at all shaken Dr. Balfour's belief that his specimens 

 of Erica ciliaris had certainly been gathered somewhere 

 between Roundstone and Clifden in 1852, and differences of 

 opinion on this question, so important to Irish botanists, 

 will doubtless for a longtime prevail, unless the plant itself 

 should be re-discovered. But the conclusion which Mr. More 

 felt himself compelled to adopt was that Dr. Balfour's recol- 

 lection was at fault on this point, and that some mistake and 

 mislabelling of specimens must have occurred in 1852. He 

 seems to have been a good deal impressed with the 

 unlikely character of the ground (Ballinaboy, near Clifden) 

 which Professor Balfour selected in preference to Craigga- 

 more. In 1878, after twice again visiting Roundstone, he 



* To the British Association. 



