684 REPOKT— 1902. 



A careful analysis of the distribution of plants in Ireland reveals the existence 

 of several fairly well defined types. There is a marked tendency to a ' Central ' or 

 * Marginal ' distribution, the result of the configuration of the country, the Central 

 group being largely composed of lowland, calcicole, and aquatic or paludal species ; 

 the Marginal of calcifuge, upland, and dry-soil plants. Well-marked northern and 

 southern, eastern and western groups also exist, the boundaries between them 

 consisting of lines running not exactly east and west, or north and south, but 

 rather north-north-eastward from Cork to Londonderry and east-north-eastward 

 from Qalway Bay to Duudalk Bay. For these si.x types of distribution the author 

 proposes the names Central, Marginal, Ultonian, Mumoniau, Lageniau, Con- 

 nacian, the last four being taken from the old names of the four provinces of Ire- 

 land, in each of which one of the groups attains its maximum. The characters of 

 each plant-group, and its relations to the climatological and physiographic features 

 of the country were pointed out. 



4. On some Features of the Cork River-valleys. By J. Porter. 



The author discusses the special features which are presented by the drainage 

 system of Cork county, including the abrupt change of course which transfers 

 each of the trunk rivers of the east from one longitudinal strath to a more 

 southerly one, and the more or less straight and meridional character of the 

 cross-courses. The paper connects the abrupt changes from one main strath to 

 another with glacial interference ; while it assigns to faulting and the rapid flow 

 of the pre-Glacial streams conjointly the determining part in bringing about the 

 meridional character of the cross-courses and many of the tributary glens. 



5. The Peat-bogs of Ireland. By Professor T. Johnson, D.Sc. 



The author gave an account, illustrated by a large map prepared by the 

 Intelligence and Statistical Branch of the recently created Department of Agri- 

 culture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, of the distribution of the bogs of 

 Ireland, which cover 1,861 square miles, or nearly 6 per cent, of the surface, 

 chiefly in counties Donegal, Mayo, and Galway, and in the central plain, as the 

 Bog of Allen. Their average depth is 25 feet. An account was given of the 

 character of the different layers of a bog as seen in a vertical section, and an ex- 

 planation suggested of the origin of a bog-slide. Specimens of the bog-flora, of the 

 different kinds of peat, and of the economic products derivable from turf or peat, lent 

 from the Botanical Collections of the National Museum in Dublin, were exhibited. 



6. The Island of Sakhalin and its Inhabitants. By C. H. Hawes, B.A. 



The Siberian island of Sakhalin has hitherto remained unexplored by English- 

 men. Having overcome the difficulties of approach, I was suspected of being a 

 military spy on landing. 



The remoteness of the island is emphasised by the fact that communications 

 are absolutely cut oft' during half the winter, and for the other half are dependent 

 on native dog-sledges driven across the frozen Strait of Tartary. 



A brief historical sketch of the discovery of the island tells of the first known 

 expedition, made by the Japanese in 1613, followed by the Dutch captain, Vries, 

 in 1643. La PiSrouse visited Sakhalin in 1787, an English captain, Broughton, 

 in 1796, and Kruzenstem during the years 1803-1806; but none of these suc- 

 ceeded in navigating the Strait, or as it was then called, the Gulf, of Tartary, 

 Finally, in 1849, the long- thought peninsula was demonstrated to be an island 

 by Captain Nevelsky. Native legends are still current which tell of a neck of 

 land connecting the mainland, and these find possible support in the fauna and 

 flora. 



A backbone of mountains, culminating in Mount Itschara, nearly 5,000 feet 



