1865.] Botany and Vegetable Physiology. 661 



importance in the magical proceedings is an earthy substance called 

 Bosli-ladan, which is sold in the churches. A fisher always carries a 

 certain quantity of this substance (however small) with him. The 

 magical ceremony is performed by hollowing out a piece of wood in a 

 cup-like manner, and putting in some bits of charcoal sprinkled over 

 with the Bosli-ladan. They then pass the cup over the nets while the 

 operator repeats some magical words in a low tone of voice, spitting 

 energetically from time to time. The ceremony is finished by certain 

 recommendations, after which the magician gives the assurance of 

 plenty of fish. The invocation of the magician is addressed to St. 

 Peter and St. Paul, who are requested to draw fish into the net of the 

 person to whom it belongs. 



M. Charles Martins has recently published an account of the 

 Vegetation of Spitzbergen compared with that of the Alps and 

 Pyrenees.* 



Spitzbergen, situated between 76° 30' and £0° 50' of latitude, may 

 be said to exhibit the extreme limit of our European Flora. It may 

 be said to furnish a representation of the Glacial epoch which has 

 preceded that in which we live. The climate of Spitzbergen is not so 

 cold as that of the northern parts of America situated in the same 

 latitude, such as the extremity of Baffin's Bay known by the name of 

 Smith's Sound. This modification of the climate is due to the action 

 of the Gulf stream. 



The following are the mean monthly temperatures of Spitzbergen 

 under latitude 78° : — 



January 



.-18-2 Cent. 



July . . 



2-8 Cent 



February 



.-17-1 



August . 



1-4 



March . 



.-15-6 



September . 



.- 2-5 



April . 



.- 9-9 



October 



.- 8-5 



May . 



.- 5-3 



November . 



.-14-5 



June . 



.- 0-3 



December . 



.-15-0 



The mean temperature of the year is —8-6 Cent. After entering 

 fully into the details of climate and temperature M. Martins notices 

 the physical and geological structure of the Islands, and then proceeds 

 to consider the Flora. The vegetation is scanty. It occurs on the dark 

 rocks on which the snow has melted. Lichens and Mosses are the 

 first plants which appear. Among the latter may be mentioned 

 Eremodon Wormskioldii, Brid. ; Polytrichum alpinum, L. ; and 

 Bryum julaceum, Schr. At the foot of the rocks inhabited by sea- 

 birds, whose guano fertilizes as well as warms the ground, we meet 

 with species of Ranunculus, Cochlearia, and Grasses, along with 

 Papaver nudicaule. Nowhere is a shrub or tree to be seen. The 

 last of these, the Birch, the mountain Ash, and the Scotch Fir, are 



* ' La Vegetation du Spitzberg comparee a celle des Alpes et des Pyrenees.' Par 

 Charles Martins, Professeur d'Histoire Naturelle de la Faculte de Medecine de 

 Montpellier, 1865. 



