382 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



of high northern ranges, and the flora shows clearly that it corre- 

 sponds. Among the characteristic plants found were Impatiens 

 oncidioides, Bucklandia 2^opulnea, the rare Polyosma imrviflora, 

 Pratia begonifoUa, Dilochia Cantleyi, and Goodyera gracilis. 143 

 species were collected by Mr. Kloss in February last, of which 

 14 were undescribed : of these the most noteworthy were what is 

 probably the biggest species of Oberonia, a remarkable species of 

 Blastus, and a new species of Balanophora. 



The Central Committee for the Survey and Study of British 

 Vegetation (British Vegetation Committee) have at present under 

 consideration a scheme for the formation of a British Ecological 

 Society in which the existing organization of the Committee 

 would be merged. The widespread and increasing interest in 

 Ecology that has lately been evident in this country has led to 

 an opinion that the time has now come for establishing an 

 organization which shall comprise and correlate so far as possible 

 the whole of the ecological work that is being done in these 

 islands. This was the original aim of the British Vegetation 

 Committee (founded in 1904) — an aim that has met with a very 

 large measure of success. The membership of the Committee 

 has been strictly confined to active workers in plant-ecology, and 

 its organization during the eight years of its existence has 

 probably been the best calculated to attain its objects. But the 

 recent rapid increase in the number of ecological workers has 

 led to such a considerable enlargement of the Committee that 

 its present organization, which includes a large number of 

 " Associate-Members," already tends to become unworkable, and 

 this tendency will certainly be accentuated w^ith every year of its 

 continued existence. It is felt that the organization of a Society 

 with a regularly published and carefully edited journal might 

 succeed in bringing the most scattered workers, many of 

 whom are still outside the ranks of the Committee, into 

 touch, and in keeping them informed of the progress of the 

 subject. Such a Society might also perform a similar function 

 for the many who are keenly interested in Ecology without 

 themselves being active workers in the field. A full prospectus 

 (from which the foregoing is an extract) of the proposed 

 scheme may be obtained from Dr. W. G. Smith, of Braidburn 

 Crescent, Edinburgh. 



The latest part (October) of the Proceedings of the Linnean 

 Society contains, besides the usual notices of meetings, obituaries, 

 etc., matter of special interest in a series of headed "abstracts." 

 The exact application of the term is not obvious. The first is a 

 very interesting paper by Mr. A. 0. Walker on " The Distribution 

 of Elodea canadensis in the British Isles in 1909"; this appears 

 to be given in full, and, the matter being of special interest to 

 British botanists, w^e may be allowed to express regret that it 

 should not have appeared in these pages, where it would have 

 reached a larger number of them. Although professedly relating 

 to 1909, the information given extends back to the earliest occur- 

 rence of the plant in Britain ; w^e find no reference to Buckingham- 



