SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



equatorial botany. It has been pointed out, for 

 example, that certain birds which spend the 

 summer and breeding season in the Arctic regions 

 traverse the whole of North America and cross 

 the equator to spend a second summer in La Plata. 

 The possibility of the transference of north tempe- 

 rate forms to south temperate latitudes by this 

 means is obvious. A possible transport from 

 Arctic to Antarctic lands is even suggested ; for 

 in Mr. Hudson's book, "The Naturalist in La 

 Plata," to which I am indebted for the above fact, 

 we find the interesting observation that certain 

 birds of the same species as those which come from 

 the Arctic come also to La Plata from the Ant- 

 arctic regions. Thus possibly certain individuals 

 actually pass from Arctic to Antarctic lands, 



Again, if northern plants were driven southwards 

 by the cold, and then made to ascend equatorial 

 mountains by the returning warmth, northern 

 animals should also have been compelled to do like- 

 wise. There seem, however, indications that this 

 was not the case. At least, this is so with Kiliman- 

 jaro, whose flora, as we have seen, resembles 

 that of Europe. Commenting recently on its 

 mammalian fauna, Mr. P. Sclater writes: "In 

 short, we find on Kilima-Njaro merely more or 

 less modified representatives of the inhabitants of 

 the surrounding districts. So far as this piece of 

 evidence goes, the wave of boreal life, impelled by 

 the Glacial period, did not, in Africa, advance so 

 far south as the equator "( e ). The evidence of 

 certain individual species again, as indicating 

 glaciation, is frequently overrated. This is so, for 

 example, with Betula nana. As a general rule, the 

 presence of Betula nana seems to be accepted as 

 evidence of glaciation, yet it can scarcely be said 

 to indicate necessarily Arctic conditions ; it is not 

 even exclusively an Alpine plant in Britain to-day. 

 On the west coast of Scotland, in the neighbour- 

 hood of the mouth of the Clyde, this plant nourishes 

 abundantly. Yet the climate of this district is 

 exceptionally mild, perhaps not much less so than 

 that of Devon. Further north, on the same coast, 

 the tender fuchsia flourishes, and stands the winter. 

 Similar remarks apply in a greater or less degree 

 to other species. 



The conclusion to which this examination of 

 certain facts in botanical distribution leads is 

 that they have been too hastily accepted as positive 

 evidence of glaciation. Thus the rare Arctic 

 plants of our higher summits may have reached 

 their present position by other means, as they 

 must have reached the Alps and Himalayas by 

 other means, possibly carriage by birds. Such 

 plants common to Britain and the Arctic regions 

 as are widespread and abundant are more likely 

 to have passed from the former to the latter. 



As regards northern temperate plants, Sir 

 ( 6 ) " Natural Science," April, 1893, p. 268. 



R. Ball's glacial summer of about 120 F. would 

 scarcely permit their migration to the foot of 

 equatorial mountains. And if, as Mr. Clement 

 Reid infers from geological evidence, the tempera- 

 ture of the Mediterranean region was only lowered 

 5 , we can scarcely suppose that the tropics were 

 sufficiently cooled to permit the existence of 

 temperate plants. Their presence on tropical 

 mountains, then, can scarcely be explained as the 

 result of glaciation, or taken as evidence of the 

 astronomical theory. 



Certain considerations indicate the possibility 

 that many of our native plants were able to survive 

 the Glacial epoch, and that our country did not 

 necessarily require to be replenished by a land 

 connection with the Continent. 



Finally, the evidence of certain individual plants 

 as indications of glaciation has been made of too 

 much importance, since they occur now under 

 climatal conditions which are very far from being 

 glacial. 



29, Queen's Terrace, Jcsmond,.Newcastle-on-Tyne. 



The New F.R.S. — The Council of the Royal 

 Society has recommended its usual fifteen candi- 

 dates for election this year. They are Henry 

 Frederick Baker, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of 

 St. John's College, Cambridge, whose qualifications 

 are mathematical ; Ernest William Brown, 

 Professor in Haverford College, also a mathema- 

 tician and student of celestial motion ; Alexander 

 Buchan, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S E., Secretary of the 

 Scottish Meteorological Society from i860 ; among 

 other work he issued the " Challenger " Reports on 

 Atmospheric Circulation, in 1889, and on Oceanic 

 Circulation, in 1895 ; Sidney Frederick Harmer, 

 M.A., Superintendent of the University Museum 

 of Zoology and Fellow of King's College, Cam- 

 bridge, — it will be remembered he is joint editor of 

 the " Cambridge Natural History " ; Arthur 

 Lister, F.L.S., Student of the Mycetozoa ; Lieut. - 

 General Charles Alexander McMahon, President 

 of the Geologists' Association and Vice-President of 

 the Geological Society of London, student of petro- 

 logy and geology ; "William Osler, M.D..F.R.C.P., 

 Professor of Medicine in the Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity, Baltimore, a scientific physician ; Hon. 

 Charles Algernon Parsons, M.A., inventor and 

 engineer, inventor of the compound steam turbine 

 for driving dynamos and marine vessels ; Thomas 

 Preston, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy, 

 University of Dublin, student of light and heat ; 

 Edward Waymouth Reid, M.B., B.A., Professor 

 of Physiology, University College, Dundee, student 

 of absorption and secretion and electromotive 

 phenomena; Alexander Scott, M.A., D.Sc, 

 F.R.S. E., F.C.S., student of exact determination 

 of atomic weights and of combining proportions 

 of volume ; Albert Charles Seward, M.A., 

 F.G.S., University Lecturer in Botany, Cambridge ; 

 William Ashwell Shenstone, F.I.C., Science 

 Master at Clifton College, successful science 

 teacher; William Martyn Taylor, Barrister-at- 

 Law, Fellow Trinity College, Cambridge, mathema- 

 tician ; James Wimshurst, Member of Consulta- 

 tive Staff, Board of Trade, improvements in 

 influence machines. 



