4 
It is to be doubted whether either the elder or the younger 
Micuavx visited the neighborhood of the great cataract, and it is 
certain that the enterprising spirit of Pursa brought him no nearer 
than the site of the present city of Elmira. Nurrant, who 
botanized near the Falls sometime previous to the year 1818, men- 
tions but one plant, Utricularia cornuta, as found by him in their 
vicinity. Torrey doubtless visited the region — possibly was 
familiar with it—yet, in his Flora of the State of New York, 
published in the year 1848, of the 1,511 species of plants, which he 
described, only fifteen are attributed to Niagara, and none of these, 
upon his own authority. In the Flora of North America, of 
Torrey and Gray, published in 1838-1842, Niagara is mentioned 
as a station only five times. 
The labors of later botanists have been far more useful.in the 
preparation of the list. The MS. journals of the Hon. Grorce W. 
Cuinton, while engaged in his arduous labors upon the botany of 
Buffalo and its vicinity, have proved of the greatest value; and the 
“ Flore Canadienne” of ABBE PROVANCHER and the “Catalogue of 
Canadian Plants” of Proressorn Macovn, the learned and indefati- 
gable botanist of the Canadian Geological Survey, and the 
“Oanadian Filicinee,” the joint work of Proresson Macoun and 
Dr. Buraess, of London, Ontario, have been of important service. 
Wherever use has been made of these or of other authorities due 
acknowledgment of the obligation appears in the list. | 
The geology of Niagara Falls, as related to the flora, demands 
at this place some brief attention. On either side of the river, at 
a distance not very constant, glacial clays appear. At Clifton they 
form a considerable elevation. With them, in places, also appear 
the usual gravel drift of the same period. These make up the 
soil of the adjacent country. But, as Hall and Lyell long ago 
pointed out, the evidence is complete that the river once stood at a 
very considerable height above its present rocky boundaries, At 
Chippewa, in Prospect park and at other places, the gravel deposits 
of the river, made whilst it was occupying its higher level, are still 
to be seen. But before the river formed its present bed in the 
gorge below the cataract, it cut through and carried away some 
portion of its former deposit, leaving, as it subsided, a terrace, on 
either side, still easily traced. This gravel deposit, once extending 
continuously across the present river, covered all of what 1s now 
Goat Island. It is characterized by a great abundance of fresh- 
