35. SAXIFRAGACEiE. 411 



Dr. Dickie finds it descending the course of the river Dee, 

 even to Aberdeen. Mr. Howard stated (B. G.) that he had 

 received a specimen fi'om Derbyshire ; and Blackstone is 

 quoted as an authority for its existence on Beeston Castle, 

 which is out of all credence. But a second Cheshire lo- 

 cality, " on a liigh hill in Wirsall Town, near Malpas," 

 would seem more probable, were it not made doubtful by 

 being coupled with the evident error of Beeston Castle. 

 For the present, therefore, the provinces of Trent and 

 Mersey are excluded fiom the admitted area ; though suf- 

 ficiently probable to encom'age research in their higher and 

 wilder tracts. 



/■/^//^.y'.^^/ 426. Saxifraga oppositifolia, Linn. 



Area ***^**7**10*12 ^13^* 15 16 17 18. 



South limit in Merionethshire and Yorkshire. 



North limit in Shetland, Orkney, Sutherland. 



Estimate of provinces 7. Estimate of counties 15. 



Latitude 52 — 61. Highland type of distribution. 



A. A. regions. Superagi-aiian — Superarctic zones. 



Descends to the coast level, in West Highlands. 



Ascends to 1300 yards, or upwards, in East Highlands. 



Range of riiean annual temperature 48 — 34. 



Native. Rupestral. Frequent on the Highland moun- 

 tains ; very scarce in England and Wales. Possibly the 

 county census would be nearer to 20 than 15, if we had 

 fuU lists for all the counties. It would be incompatible 

 with my prescribed limits in this work, were I to enumerate 

 counties, and to explain the grounds on which the census 

 is estimated, for each successive species ; but this being 

 one of the instances where I feel uncertain of the choice 

 between two steps in the scale, I will make it also an ex- 



