330 Prof. Heer on the Fossil Flora of North Greenland. [Mar. 11, 



listed in his work, ' Flora Fossilis Arctica,' had led him to certain conclu- 

 sions, the verification of which, hy means of additional material, became 

 very important. 



Accordingly Mr. R. IX. Scott had applied to the British Association at 

 the Nottingham Meeting in 1866 for a grant of money towards the ex- 

 penses of an expedition to Greenland. A sum of money was voted to a 

 Committee, consisting of Dr. Hooker, Sir W. Trevelyan, Dr. E. Perceval 

 Wright, and Mr. E. Whymper, with Mr. Scott as Secretary. This grant 

 was subsequently most liberally augmented by the Government-Grant 

 Committee of the Royal Society. The condition laid down by both of 

 these bodies was that a complete series of specimens should be deposited in 

 the British Museum. 



Mr. Scott being unable to go to Greenland himself, Mr. "Whymper, who 

 had, previously to the nomination of the Committee, formed the plan of tra- 

 velling in Greenland, undertook to visit the shores of the Waigat, and to 

 carry out the wishes of the Committee, if his time would permit him ; and 

 grants of money were accordingly intrusted to him conditionally. Mr. 

 Whymper took with him Mr. Robert Brown, to assist in the collection of 

 the specimens ; and the party ultimately arrived in Greenland on the 16th 

 of June, 1867. 



Prof. Heer then gives extracts from Mr. Whymper' s Report, submitted 

 by the Committee to the British Association in August last, and also from 

 notes furnished to him by Mr. Brown. From these statements a con- 

 siderable amount of information as to the geology of the district is de- 

 rived. 



All the specimens which had been previously brought to Europe, with 

 the exception of a few brought by Dr. Lyall, had been found at a place 

 called Atanekerdluk, on the mainland of Greenland, in lat. 70° or there- 

 abouts. Dr. LyalPs specimens were found on Disco Island, at the oppo- 

 site side of the Waigat Strait from Atanekerdluk. Mr. Whymper accord- 

 ingly, having engaged a number of natives as labourers, went to Atane- 

 kerdluk in the first instance, reaching it on the 22nd of August. The party 

 remained at the spot for some days, and made a large collection of speci- 

 mens. The plant-beds are reported to be on a hill, at a height of nearly 

 1200 feet above the sea, and the deposit is limited in extent. Details of 

 the different beds observed are contained in the paper. 



Professor Heer observes that the statements of Messrs. Whymper and 

 Brown confirm the accounts of Olrik and Inglefield respecting the stratifi- 

 cation of the coal-deposits and plant-beds of Atanekerdluk. They show 

 that there is a considerable succession of sedimentary strata, pierced by 

 volcanic rocks which form the summits of the mountains. Fossil plants 

 occur in all the beds ; but the Siderite and Limonite contain them in the 

 greatest abundance and in the best state of preservation. In fact the 

 slabs from these beds . are quite covered with specimens, lying in every 

 direction. 



