1897.] n6n- MARINE FAUNA OF SPITSBERGEN. 785 



of Mosses in the neighbourhood oE Advent Bay, Ice Eiord, which 

 he very kindly allowed me to examine for microscopic organisms. 

 Contrary to what might have been anticipated perhaps, it was 

 found that these mosses harbourfd a very considerable fauna and 

 flora, and as very little information has hitherto been available 

 relating to the land-fauna of Spitsbergen, it has been thought 

 desirable to bring together in the present paper the notes made 

 during the examination, notwithstanding the fact that the differ- 

 ent groups of organisms have been very unequally studied. 



So far as concerns the essentially microscopic forms, we owe 

 the earliest contribution on the subject to Dr. A. von Goes, who 

 in 1862 published a short note (" Om Tardigrader, Anguillulse m.m. 

 fran Spetsbergen," Ofver. K. Vet.-Akad. Torh. 1862, p. 18), in 

 which he recorded the occurrence of 1 Tardigrade, -1 Xematoids, 

 2 Eotifers, and about 50 kinds of Diatoms, in mosses from 

 Spitsbergen. But we are mainly indebted for the little already 

 known to that indefatigable worker and prince of microscopists, 

 C. Gr. Ehrenberg, who, in 1874, published a paper on " Das 

 unsichtbar wirkende Leben der Xord-polarzone " (Die zweite 

 deutsehe Nord-polarfahrt in 1869-70, Band ii. Leipzig, pp. 437- 

 467, 4 Plates), in which it is recorded that daring the first German 

 Polar Expedition in 1867 some mosses and moss-like plants were 

 collected from Spitsbergen, and that these were found to contain, 

 when examined in 1869, nearly a score of species of microscopic 

 animals and plants, viz., 5 Diatoms, 2 (possibly 8) Rhizopods, 

 6 Infusorians, 2 Nematoids, 1 Eotifer (and the egg of another), 

 and 1 Mite. Further allusion will be made to some of these 

 uuder the different groups to which they belong. So far as 1 

 have been able to ascertain, nothing else has been published in 

 connection with the smaller non-mai-ine forms, but there exist 

 papers or at least notes on Acai-oids from Spitsbergen, by 

 T. Thorell (" Om Arachnider fran Spetsbergen och Beeren-Eiland," 

 Ofversigt at' Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akad. Forhaudlingar 1871, Stock- 

 holm, pp. 683-701), and by E. Trouessart (" Note sur les Acariens 

 recueillis au Spitzberg &c.," Nouvelles Archives des missions 

 scientifiques, v., Paris 1893, p. 2.55); on Entomostraca (A^yus 

 glacialis only) by Lilljeborg ; and on Insects by Malmgren, 

 Holmgren, and many others. 



The mosses brought home by Dr. Gregory represented fourteen 

 different collections, thirteen of which were simply enclosed in tin 

 boxes, whilst the remaining collection, which also contained algae, 

 was preserved in spirit. The mosses comprised many different 

 species, and Mr. W. E. Nicholson of Lewes, who very kindly 

 examined specimens of the commoner forms, was able to identify 

 the following : — Aulacomnium turgidum, Cijnodontium ivahlenbergii, 

 Hypnum trifarium, H. stellatum, H. uncinatiim, Polytnchum juniper- 

 inum and P. sexangulare. Strangely enough there was no Sphagnum, 

 and in fact Dr. Gregory tells me that this moss is comparatively 

 scarce and local in Spitsbergen. As regards condition, the mosses 

 were very varied, some being wet and clean, others drier and loaded 



