434 



NA TURE 



[April I, 1875 



Dryas octopettla. 6. Saxifrageas : Chrysosplcniiim alter- 

 nifoUum, Saxifra^a oppositifoha, nivalis, cernua, ccespi- 

 tosa, hirculits, aicoidcs, and four other species not found 

 in Britain. 7. Composite : four species, including the 

 dandelion. 8. Campanulace^e : Campanula uni/lora. 

 g. Ericaceffi : the little shrub mentioned above. 10. 

 Gentianacea: : Gentiana icnclla, discovered by the Rev. 

 Mr. Eaton in 1 872. 11. Boraginacea; : Mertcnsia inaritima. 

 12. Polemoniacese : one species of Polcmoniuin. 13. Scro- 

 phulariaceai : Pcdicularis hirsula. 14. Empetraceffi : the 

 Empetruin alluded to. 15. Polygonea; : two British species, 

 Polygonum viviparum, and Oxyria reniformis ; and Ka- 

 nigiaislandica, which is of annual duration. 16. Salicinea: r 

 the two species of willow given above. The remaining 

 families — (17) Juncacea:, (18) Cyperacea:, and (19) Gra- 

 minea; — make up the rest, the latter being by far the most 

 numerous, and embracing several British genera and 

 species. 



In abroad sense, the Arctic vegetation closely resembles 

 the flora of the higher Alps, but there is less brilliancy and 

 variety of colour in the flowers, yellow and white largely 

 predominating. The plants assume a dense tufted habit 

 of growth, and increase mainly by lateral branches, which 

 take root and in their turn produce offsets. It is possible 

 some or all of them ripen seeds in certain favourable 

 seasons, but the almost total absence of annual plants, 

 and the habit of growth of the perennials, seem to indi- 

 cate that this very seldom happens. An attentive study 

 of the distribution of Arctic flowering plants would lead 

 us to believe that few new species remain to be discovered ; 

 and probably in the lower cryptogams also, few absolutely 

 new forms will be found, though doubtless many known 

 species occur that have not yet been collected. Therefore 

 there is some justness in the complaints of geologists 

 because no geologist has been appointed to the Arctic 

 Expedition, whereas a botanist has been appointed. We 

 may reproduce here the substance of an interesting note 

 on the most northerly species of flowering plants known, 

 which was communicated to this journal (vol. viii. p. 487) 

 by Dr. J. D. Hooker. The four foUowmg plants, col- 

 lected by Dr. Bessel in 82° N . lat., probably on the east 

 side of Smith's Sound, represent the extreme northern 

 limits of phanerogamic vegetation so far as at present 

 known : Draba alpiiui, Cerastium alpiniun, Taraxacum 

 dens-konis\ax.,?xidLPoa alpiiia. With the exception of 

 the first, these are also indigenous in Britain. We have 

 one more observition to make. Although there is what 

 botanists term an Antarctic flora, not a single flowering 

 plant has been found within the Antarctic circle, and only 

 a very limited number of the lower cryptogams. 



NOTES 



The late Sir Charles Lyell has not been forgetful of the 

 interests of science in his will. He gives to the Geological 

 Society of London the die executed by Mr. Leonard W) on, of a 

 medal to be cast in bronze, to be given annually and called the 

 Lyell Medal, to be regarded as a mark of honorary distinction 

 and as an expression on the part of the governing body of the 

 Society that the medallist (who may be of any country or either 

 sex) has deserved well of the science. H6 further gives to the said 

 Society the sum of 2,000/., the annual interest arismg therefrom to 

 be appropriated and applied in the following manner : — Not less 

 than one-third of the annual interest to accompany the medal, the 

 remaining interest to be given in one or more portions at the 

 discretion of the Council for the encouragement of geolngy, or of 

 any of the allied sciences by which they shall consider geology to 

 have been most materially advanced, cither for travtllinf ex- 

 penses or for a memoir or paper published or in progress, and 

 without reference to the sex or nationality of the author or the 

 language in which it may be written. The Council of the Society 



are to be the sole judges of the merits of the memoirs or papers 

 for which they miy vote the medal and fund from time to time. 



Lord Lindsay, writing from Florence to the Mayor of 

 Wig 111, of which place his lordship is representative, states that 

 in order to recover from the severe effect of the Mauritius fever, 

 caught while observing the recent transit, he is obliged to stay in 

 Italy to recruit. He hopes, however, to be able to return to 

 England by the time Parliament resumes its sittings. 



Prof. H. E. ^Armstrong, of the London Institution, well 

 known for his researches in organic chemistry, and Mr. W. N. 

 Hartley, Demonstrator of Chemistry in King's College, are 

 candidates for the Jacksonian Professorship of Experimental 

 Philosophy in the University of Cambridge. It will be interest- 

 ing to watch what course the Cambridge authorities will take 

 with regard to the appointment to the vacant chair. 



Mr. E. J. Nanson, B.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cam- 

 bridge, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Royal Indian 

 Engineering College, Cooper's Hill, has been selected by Prof. 

 Adams to succeed the late Prof. W. P. Wilson in the chair of 

 Mathematics at the University of Melbourne. Mr. Nanson was 

 Second Wrangler and Second Smith's Prizeman in 1873. 



The French National Assembly have unanimously voted the 

 funds for the creation of a third Chair of Chemistry in the 

 Faculty of Sciences of Paris. The new chair is to be devoted 

 to Organic Chemistry, which, owing to the arrangements with 

 regard to the other two chairs, has hitherto been somewhat 

 neglected. 



A CORRESPONDENT Sends us the following query on the 

 subject of Arctic Meteorology with reference to the forthcoming 

 Arctic Expedition : — " I have noted from time to time in the 

 pages of Nature the various items of information respecting 

 the outfit for the Arctic Expedition, but have failed to ascertain 

 what, if any, preparations are being made for the observation of 

 meteorological phenomena. We know little or nothing about 

 the amount of aqueous deposition in the Arctic regions. Are 

 not the vessels supplied with rain-gauges ? Surely there will be 

 many opportunities of recording the quantity of rainfall or snow- 

 fall, during several months at different stations, or even the 

 hoiirly rate of deposition at the time of storms. Anemometers, 

 too, might be employed to register the velocity or pressure of 

 wind. " 



In reply to Mr. Fisher's query (Nature, vol. xi. p. 364) as 

 to a satisfactory method of killing Hoplop/iora decumana, a cor- 

 respondent recommends the following method : — First stupify 

 the insect by dropping it into some benzole, or similar fluid, and 

 then pierce it with a needle that has been dipped into a solution 

 of corrosive sublimate. 



Among the list of Friday evening lecturers at the Royal 

 Institution noted in last week's Nature, we should have given 

 the name of Prof. Tyndall, F.R.S., whose subject, howev.r, has 

 not yet been announced. 



In the notice of Mr. Hart's list of the flowering plants and 

 ferns of the Arran Islands, Galway Bay (vol. xi. p, 395), we 

 inadvertently gave Dabtocia poUfalia as one of the West 

 European or Atlantic types characterising this flora. This is a 

 bog plant found in Connemara and Mayo, but it does not occur 

 in the Arran Islands, nor are there suitable localities for it, 

 neither is it included by Mr. Hart. 



At the next congress of French meteorologists, which is to be 

 held at Paris in a few days, M . Leverrier will propose to experi- 

 ment on a large scale for the purpose of testing tlie efficacy of 

 smoke in preventing young plants from being damaged by the 

 frosty mornings so common in April, 



I 



