166 Dr. W. Seller on some Plants ohtuined days, Mr. Goodsir hoped to obtain a complete collection of the animals, plants and minerals existing upon them. The expedition has now proceeded into the inhospitable icy regions of the north, and Ave must not expect to receive any further accounts of it until it has either succeeded in making its way into the Pacific Ocean, or having found that to be impossible, is on its retm-n to England. In either case there can be no doubt that much a aluable scientific information will be obtained. XVII. — Observations on some Plants obtained from the shores of Davis' Straits. By William Seller, M.I)., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh*. A FEW weeks since, Mr. Sutherland, a student of medicine, who made a voyage last summer to Davis^ Straits as medical officer of a whale ship, presented me with some plants gathered on the coasts and dried as he best cou.ld without any of the usual bota-nical conveniences. There are in all about twenty-five species, and a few of them are plants which cannot fail to interest the botanist. All of them were gathered within or close upon the Arctic Circle, on the coasts of Davis' Straits and Baffin's Bay, adjacent to the usual com'se of whale-fishing vessels, so that, were it deemed desirable, it would be easy, by holding out a little en-couragement, to induce some of the many young men who go out annually in the same capacity with Mr. Sutherland to bring home collections of this description. It is impossible to believe that the variations of species under the opposite circumstances of different regions, as respects soil, situation and climate, do not take place in obedience to fixed ge-neral laws. Yet our knowledge on this head at present consists almost exclusively of what may be called unreduced particular observations on certain species ; too few to found upon. It may be that such laws prevail, yet lie beyond our reach. If such be the case, the only resource is to make up our minds to sacrifice brevity in regard to species observed to vary, and to practise de-tailed description of all their varieties. And fortunately, while this method serves as a considerable corrective of the evil in the meantime, it is the only plan, by following out which we can hope to arrive at the general laws of variation, if these be attain-able. ^Vhen a species is known to be polymorphous, we might, in the meantime, advisably lay aside the ordinary circumscribed * Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 12th of June and 10th of July, 1845.
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