- 
22 Rev. T. Salwey on the Cryptogamic Flora of Guernsey. 
be added respecting the comparative development and progress 
of the two plants at other seasons. a: 
Two other smaller lochs in the same vicinity were not observed 
to present any appearance of the productions in question. 
In connection with the subject of this short notice, it may be 
stated, that during a visit to Ben Muich Dhu in 1846, the appear- 
ance presented by a patch of snow at 3500 feet of elevation, at- 
tracted attention. It seemed as if sprinkled over with soot; a 
quantity of the black matter was collected, and found to consist 
in part of the following Diatomacee : Eunotia triodon, Navicula 
viridula?, N. curvula?, and Meridion circulare, and along with 
them Protococcus nivalis in very small proportion; the remain- 
der consisted of inorganic matter, the nature of which was not 
ascertained. 
IIll.—Stirpes Cryptogame Sarnienses ; or Contributions towards 
the Cryptogamic Flera of Guernsey. By the Rev. T. Satwey, 
Oswestry *. | 
So much has been done by Mr. Babington in his ‘ Primitize 
Flore Sarnice’ for the illustration of the phenogamous flora of 
the Channel Islands, that perhaps a brief notice of the erypto- 
gamic botany of one of the islands of this group may be accept- 
able to some of the Members cf the Botanical Society. Guernsey 
does not appear to be very prolific in cryptogamic plants—a va- - 
riety of causes tend to produce this result—the open nature of 
the country ; the great paucity of wood; the general dryness of 
the soil from the circumstance of all the rocks being of the pri- 
mitive formation; and the very great proportion of the land 
being under the cultivation either of the spade or plough; all 
these circumstances are inimical to the growth and perfect deve- 
lopment of cryptogamic plants. There are no woods in the 
island, and the soil even of the orchards is in general under the 
culture of the spade. It is at once evident therefore that the 
great variety of Agarics, Boleti, and the iunumerable other Fungi 
which are found so abundantly in the extensive woods and rich 
pastures of England, have no corresponding habitats here in 
which to grow. The same reason limits the number of Musci, 
Hepatice and Jungermannie, whilst from the few brooks and 
ponds which are found in the island it is equally hopeless to ex- 
pect a great number of freshwater Algee. Even the lichens do 
not exhibit that luxuriance of growth which we find in the deep 
woods and glens of the Cambrian mountains. Thus the com- 
mon Parmelia saxatilis is seldom found here in fruit, and the few 
* Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Noy. 9th, 1848. 
