10 H. G. SIMMONS. [SEC. ARCT. EXP. FRAM 
precipitation is very small indeed, probably not much above 100 mm. 
in most parts, perhaps somewhat greater in the southern part, where 
the open “north water’ is always to be found some miles from the 
coast, perhaps also locally here and there along the Kennedy and Rob- 
son Channels. The same circumstances consequently prevail here as 
throughout the Arctic Islands. I shall not enter here upon the influence 
of temperature and snow covering. 
Historical Review of the Botanical Explorations. 
After this short sketch of the physical geography of the region in 
question, I have to discuss, in some detail, the material for the know- 
ledge of the flora of North-Western Greenland, contained in the jour- 
nals and other publications from the above-mentioned expeditions. I very 
much regret not to have had the collections of the different american 
expeditions for inspection. That those who have determined the plants 
have made mistakes on many points cannot be doubted, and in several 
cases, most probably, the collections from different localities, or even 
from far avay districts in Greenland, have been confounded, either by 
the collectors themselves or afterwards, thus causing a confusion which 
makes it hardly possible to use the statements at all; for instance, about 
the botanical harvest of Kane and Hayes. The collections of the eng- 
lish expeditions I have had an opportunity of revising at the Natural 
History Museum of London and at the Herbarium of the Royal Gar- 
dens, Kew, but still here there is much evidence lacking also, as the 
localities are, in many cases, not mentioned in the labels; it is also 
impossible to see under what different species the specimen may have 
originally been placed. In some cases, not a single specimen bears out 
the statements for instance of Hart or Ontver. 
The first record of plants from our area, is to be found in the jour- 
nal of Joun Ross’s voyage in 1818. The list of plants in his work is 
unfortunately of very little value, as not only are no special localities 
mentioned, but even the plants, collected in Danish and N. W. Green- 
land as well as in Possession Bay in Baffins Land, are not kept sepa- 
rate. A few notes, however, are found in the running text of Ross’s 
journal, and of these I have tried to make use, as far as possible, in 
the following treatment of each species, 
The next explorer who collected plants in N. W. Greenland was 
Dr. Perer C. SurHertanp who, as a member of the Franklin Search 
