INTRODUCTION
parts of his article must have established a new record, for they mount into hundreds. Knowing that Muir had sent a duplicate set of his Arctic plant collection to Dr. Asa Gray for final scientific determination, the editor went to the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, in order to make the necessary corrections and verifications. Fortunately the writer found there not only the original plants, but also Muir's letters to Asa Gray. "I returned a week ago," wrote Muir under date of October 31, 1881, "from the polar region around Wrangell Land and Herald Island, and brought a few plants from there which I wish you would name as soon as convenient, as I have to write a report on the flora for the expedition. I had a fine icy time, and gathered a lot of exceedingly interesting facts concerning the formation of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and the configuration of the shores of Siberia and Alaska. Also concerning the forests that used to grow there, etc., which I hope some day to discuss with you."
The editor has made no attempt to reduce the genus and species names to modern synonymy. As in the case of Muir's A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, it has seemed best to offer the original determinations, making the necessary corrections by reference to the 'Index
