274) 'Foreign Notices. — Iceland^ S)-c., Russia. 



is wanted very much, with the exception of some plants of the double 

 white and single red, and of these we have very little more than a couple 

 of dozen in the whole country. Most of the New Holland plants are 

 unknown. A plant of the Epiicris grandiflora is, I am told, in the botanic 

 garden. I saw, in the month of July, a beautiful show of carnations of M. 

 Holboll's, not inferior to Mr. Hogg's of Paddington. This gentleman has, 

 for a number of years, cultivated carnations and auriculas in his leisure 

 hours to a very superior degree of perfection. 



Not a single ripe pine-apple has been on the table yet this year, but M. 

 Lindegaard will have some ripe fruit in the middle of this month. 1 am, 

 dear Sir, &c. — J. F. Petersen. Copenhagen, Scftemher 3. 1827. 



ICELAND, GREENLAND, AND LAPLAND. 



A Puhlic Library has been formed at RcyJcewicJc^in Iceland, ?i\\A Professor 

 Rafn, Sec. Soc. Northern Antiq. at Copenhagen, is collecting gifts of books 

 for it. In England, these gifts are to be sent to Messrs. J. and A. Arch, 

 Booksellers, Cornhill. We have sent what has been published of our Ala- 

 gazine of Natural History ; and, we doubt not, some of our readers who are 

 authors, will adopt a similar mode of expressing their approbation and sym- 

 pathy. 



Vegetation in Greenland. — iJubus Chamsemorus never comes to matur- 

 ity in Greenland, and all attempts of Saabye to raise potatoes in 68° 40' 

 could produce none larger than peas. Eyede, likewise, states that the largest 

 trees found in Greenland were some birches in 60° and 61°, which had 

 risen to the height of two or three fathoms, and were somewhat thicker 

 than a man's leg or arm ; whereas the height of the firs at Alten in Lap- 

 land, close upon 70°, are 70 or 80 ft. in height, and some probably even 

 more. The horticultural experiments that have been made since my leaving 

 Hammerfest have succeeded also beyond expectation, and the size which 

 many of the vegetables have attained in a place a full degree north of Alten, 

 and where the inhabitants have hitherto supposed nothing could be pro- 

 duced, is a strong proof that the climate is not so bad as has been hitheito 

 imagined. {Capell Brooke's Winter in Lapland and Siueden, p. 206.) 



Vegetation of the North Cape. — Barley and rye are cultivated at Alten, 

 but no agriculture is carried farther north. The Scotch pine reaches Tal- 

 vig in 70° ; and the Moltboer C-R'abus Chamaemorus) flourishes to the very 

 verge of the North Cape, in 71° lo' \5", where the winter night is ten 

 weeks in length. {Capell Broo]ie''s Lapland, p. 205.) 



The different Plants eaten by the Rein-deer are enumerated in Capell 

 Brooke's Lapland, and amount to thirty-one species, exclusive of the JLichen 

 rangiferinus, and other lichens, which constitute nearly the sole sustenance 

 of the animal during the winter. The list alluded to will be found of some xise 

 in any future attempt to acclimatise the rein-deer in England, though it is 

 probable the difference of climate will be found a greater obstacle than 

 the diffei'ence of food. 



RUSSIA. 



Chinese Wheat. — This variety has been sown in the south of Russia, since 

 1810; the thickness of its spikes, the size of its grains, and the quality of its 

 flour, have recommended it in preference to the variety commonly culti- 

 vated in that region. {Jour. d'Agric. de Moscou, 1824.) 



A Tunnel under the Vistula, at Warsaiv, has been projected. This mode 

 of communication will be of the utmost utility, especially at the times of the 

 breaking up of the frost, when all intercourse is interrupted. The architect 

 is a foreigner, and has engaged to complete the work in the space of three 

 years. i^Paris Paper.) 



