136 The Scottish Naturalist. 



Dumfries, took as the subject of his remarks the action of water, alike in form- 

 ing sedimentary deposits and in weathering and destroying them, illustrating 

 the subject from what is known of the effects produced by rivers and lakes of 

 the'present era. He thereafter touched on the action of glaciers and of the 

 atmosphere, both at rest and in action. 



HUNTLY FIELD CLUB. 



Professor James Trail, of Aberdeen, on November 9th, gave an account of 

 the life-historyjof some of the fungi more destructive to field crops in Aberdeen- 

 shire, and of the methods that have been suggested to lessen the injuries sus- 

 tained from them. 



INVERNESS SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY AND FIELD CLUB. 



The opening meeting was held on Tuesday, November 13th, when Mr. J. 

 Fraser, C.E., the retiring president, read a paper on the stone circles of the 

 neighbourhood. Of these there are 25 mapped in the valley of Srathnairn 

 alone, and between the Strath and the River Ness there are at least 12 more. 

 The subject excited a keen discussion subsequent to the paper. The financial 

 position of the Society was reported satisfactory. The syllabus for the ensuing 

 winter includes the following subjects : — "Travelled Boulders of Lochaber, " 

 by C. Livingstone ; "Old Iron- works at Loch Maree," by J. H. Dixon, sup- 

 plemented by J. E. Marr ; " Plants of Palestine," by A. Ross. 



THE ABERDEEN NATURAI, HISTORY SOCIETY 

 Held its first meeting for the winter session on Tuesday, 20th November. 

 The reports of the Secretary and Treasurer showed the Society to be in a 

 healthy condition. After the election of office-bearers for the year, Professor 

 Trail directed the attention of the members to the groups of plants (Fungi and 

 Lichens), and of animals that have not yet been properly wrought out in the 

 vicinity of Aberdeen, and urged the desirability of efforts being made to supply 

 these blanks in the knowledge of the local flora and fauna, more especially 

 in view of the meeting of the British Association in Aberdeen in 1885. Three 

 excursions in connection with the Society were made during the summer (to 

 Banchory and the Slack of Birnie, to Loch Kinnord, and to the Loch of 

 Stiathbeg, near Peterhead). An account of the excursious was deferred till a 

 subsequent meeting. 



KIRKCALDY NATURALISTS' SOCIETY. 



The syllabus for the present winter gives promise of an interesting session. 



It is as follows : — "Insectivorous Plants," by J. D. MacFarlane, D. Sc. ;. 



"Stone Implements," by A. Mathewson, C.M.S.A. ; "Some Points in the 



Chemistry of Plants and Animals," by F. W. Young, F.C.S. ; " Leaves : their 



Development, Structure, and Functions," by A. H. Gibson ; "Morphology of 



Plants and Animals," by Pat. Geddes, F.R.S.E. ; "Ancient Husbandry," by 



Chas. Howie. 



PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 



The syllabus of the Society is as follows : — "On the Occurrence in Perthshire- 

 of Bones of the Red-deer in a Sub-fossil Condition," and " Some Results of the 

 Challenger Expedition," by Dr. F. B. White ; " Dimorphism in Gall-makers,, 

 and in their Galls," by Prof. J. W. H. Trail ; " The Life-history of a Garden 

 Snail," by II. Coates ; "The Flora of Perthshire," by Dr. F. B. White; 

 "How an Insect Flies," by S. T. Ellison ; " Remarks on Fruit Culture, and 

 he Hindrances to its more General Adoption," by Dr. Robertson. 



