428 Canadian Record of Science. 



The Lapland flora is very rich, the Siberian excessively 

 poor in the same latitude. Before the glacial period a 

 homogeneous flora covered the Arctic regions. It was 

 driven south by the cold and at the return of a higher tem- 

 perature followed the retreating snows to the north, whence 

 it had originally migrated. During their homeward jour- 

 ney, many forms found congenial retreats in New Bruns- 

 wick, and they linger there still. The causes that have 

 secured this result are considered in the following aspects : — 



I. Geographical position and surface contour. The Pro- 

 vince is divided into three geographical sections, each of 

 which possesses characteristics fitting it for the abode of 

 Arctic plants. 



II. The Arctic current and its fogs cool the temperature 

 along the sea coast, causing cold rains and sea-breezes in 

 spring. The cold water and fogs of the Bay of Fundy are 

 favorable to the growth of Arctic plants. The average 

 temperature of the seasons along the coast, according to 

 the meteorological reports, shows a cold area. 



III. Division of the Arctic regions into five districts. 

 List of Arctic plants in New Brunswick in tabular form, 

 showing the Arctic district in which each occurs. 



In " A Beview of Canadian Botany from the First Settle- 

 ment of New France to the year 1800," by Professor D. P. 

 Penhallow, the author brings together the most important 

 facts relating to the general history of the early Canadian 

 botanists. It is shown that, during the long period from 

 the time of Jacques Cartier to the beginning of the present 

 century, the botanists who took any active part in develop- 

 ing the flora of Canada, were very few, and of these none 

 were native born. A just tribute is paid to the early mis- 

 sionaries, whose work in botany, though limited, was often 

 of a valuable- character. It was not until a comparatively 

 late period that explorers manifested, any special interest 

 in such work, so that prior to the advent of Peter Kalm 

 such progress as was made, depended wholly upon the 

 missionaries and a few resident officers or physicians, whose 

 names, like those of Sarrasin and G-aultier, find a permanent 

 place in the history of botanical progress. Several impor- 



