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gets do not show that they have been built up of concentric coa 

 ings round a nucleus, but that they possess a well marked internal 

 crystalline structure and that they usually enclose foreign sub- 

 stances, also that a similar crystalline structure is shown by gold 

 which has been fused; I do not, however, think that native gold 

 has necessarily been in a fused condition, on the contrary I think 

 it has been deposited from solution and usually within veins or 

 pockets in rocks, although if it had been deposited round nuclei, 

 it might still have possessed the crystalline structure which has 

 been described and figured in this paper." 



9. Mora of JBranz Josef Archipelago ; by Harry Fisher. — In 

 the Geographical Journal for December, 1896, pp. 560-563, I 

 made some remarks on the above. Since the publication of that 

 account I have had opportunities of studying this flora, and of 

 comparing the results with those of almost every other known 

 arctic region. A full account will shortly be presented to the 

 Linnean Society. Mr. Armitage has told you that southwesterly 

 winds are almost unknown in Franz Josef Land. I believe this 

 will account, to some extent, for the flora being more scanty and 

 stunted on the whole than that of almost all the other arctic 

 regions. The summer temperatures are lower than elsewhere. 

 There is no doubt that the presence of the Gulf Stream on the west 

 and northwest coasts of Spitsbergen will account for the luxuriance 

 of the flora up to Brandewjne bay, whereas the east coast of 

 North-East Land resembles Franz Josef Land. The Gulf Stream, 

 however, will not account for the comparative richness of the 

 flora of Melville Island, of Grinnell Land, and of Port Foulke, 

 the last named being on the Greenland side of Smith Sound ; 

 these are separated by channels of inconsiderable width from the 

 mainland. To the north of Port Foulke is the Great Humboldt 

 glacier, which has been considered to form a barrier to the north- 

 ward progress of the flora on the west side of Greenland. We 

 know next to nothing of the plant-life on the lands to the north 

 of Peary Channel ; but I expect an extension of the Grinnell Land 

 flora will be found there, and probably an arctic Siberian type 

 also. The most northern land in Asia, Cape Chelyuskin, has a 

 smaller flora even than Franz Josef Archipelago (and most of the 

 plants are as dwarf), notwithstanding that it is on the mainland 

 of a vast continent. This can only be accounted for by suppos- 

 ing it to have been submerged until comparatively recent times ; 

 but the flora of arctic Siberia is generally poor in species. 



There is one zoological fact of interest to the botanist. Young 

 snowy owls visit Franz Josef Archipelago every summer ; two of 

 these handsome birds were killed on Cape Flora, and I found pel- 

 lets and feathers of this species on all the capes which we visited. 

 Several birds were seen besides the two which we killed. Does 

 not their presence indicate the existence of the lemming, and 

 therefore the willow, in recent times ? 



It is difficult to understand why some of the plants maintain 

 au existence under such unfavorable conditions as the present, 



