1857.] ANEMONE PULSATILLA. 243 



chalky from Wiltshire through the midland counties, extending 

 in a north-east direction as far as Norfolk. I acknowledge I 

 was in error in inferring therefrom the probability of the plant 

 in question not being fomid ojf the loiver chalk, inasmuch as the 

 stations assigned for it in Gloucestershire and Yorkshire are far 

 removed from any chalk hills whatever, and admit that it should 

 rather be characterized as a " lime-loving species " than as re- 

 stricted to any one formation ; still it is a significant fact, that of 

 all the counties in which it occurs, but two have this lower chalk 

 formation running through them, and that in these two excep- 

 tions we have still calcareous soil ; how is it, then, that the upper 

 chalk, which constitutes the wide area of the North and South 

 Downs, does not produce a plant so partial to calcareous soil ? 

 And does it not, after all, depend upon some chemical, or I 

 should rather say mineralogical, quality in the last-named strata, 

 which is adverse to its growth ? 



I am by no means certain that the Anemone has not been 

 found on the upper chalk, as well as the lower, in some of the 

 midland counties j and it is this very point to which I wished to 

 direct the attention of those readers of the ' Phytologist ' who 

 have the opportunity of making personal observations, for it is 

 only by such means that we can hope to arrive at correct data on 

 which to build a theory of so comprehensive a nature. To those 

 who do not trouble themselves much about the difference be- 

 tween upper and lower chalk, it may perhaps be worth while ob- 

 serving that the main point of difference consists in the absence 

 of flints in the latter, and in its more unctuous, almost argilla- 

 ceous character ; — at the point of union, it is true, they almost 

 imperceptibly pass into each other ; but any farmer of common 

 intelligence will be able to tell at once the difference between the 

 two, and which makes the best lime. After all, whether it turns 

 out that the Anemone is indued with such fastidious tastes as to 

 be so singularly particular in selecting its habitation, or other- 

 wise, the inquiry is not devoid of interest, and may lead to other 

 observations which will throw further light on the laws which 

 seem to regulate the distribution of plants. 



The Astragalus I am not now prepared to claim as belonging 

 to any particular formation : there is abundant evidence to prove 

 that such is not the case. 



