232 The Scottish Naturalist. 



to all friends able to help to aid in securing for the Museum a complete set of 

 the rarer mammals and birds of Perthshire. He was aho retiring President ; 

 and in his valedictory address he took as his subject the present state of the 

 collections, and their chief desiderata, required in order to render them 

 thoroughly representative of the fauna, flora, and geology of the valley of 

 the Tay. 



April yd. — Donations were reported to the collections. Thereafter Mr. 

 Ellison read a paper on "How an Insect Flies," entering somewhat ex- 

 haustively into the subject. 



May 1st. — After the usual intimation of further donations to the Museum 

 had been made, Dr. White exhibited catkins of a willow (salix fragilis) bear- 

 ing male flowers, with a few female flowers scattered among them towards the 

 base of each catkin. Some of the catkins showed a tendency to bifurcate. 

 Dr. Robertson, Errol, then read a paper on "Fruit Culture, and some of 

 the Hindrances to its more General Cultivation." 



The excursions of the Society lor 1884 are to be eleven in number, as. 

 follows : — May 10th (half-day) to Craighall ; May 22nd, Kincardine Glen ; 

 May 31st, Aberfeldy, Castle Menzies, and Weem ; June 14th (half-day), 

 Abercairny ; June 28th, Ben Chonzie ; July 12th (half-day), Invermay ; July 

 26th (half-day), Birnam ; August 9th, Banks of the Tay between Caputh and 

 Cargill ; August 28th, Errol to Cairney Pier ; September 6th (half-day), 

 Necessity Brae ; Sept. 20th (half-day), Invergowrie. 



STIRLING NATURAL HISTORY AND ARCHJIOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY.— This Society for a few years past has published an annual 

 account of its proceedings, along with the papers that have been read at the 

 meetings ; and we have been favoured with that for 1882-3, recently published. 

 From it we are glad to see that the Society seems to be in a prosperous con- 

 dition, and bids fair to do good work, though it may be suggested to the con- 

 sideration of the Council whether some of the papers may not be given in 

 abstract, so that the Society's strength may be directed rather to publishing 

 real additions to what is already known of the fauna, flora, and archaeology of 

 the midland counties of Scotland. All that have had experience in the 

 management of such Societies soon realise that not a kw of the papers read are 

 hardly deserving of permanent preservation, though serving at the time a good 

 office in exciting the interest of the members in the subjects that fall under the 

 attention of the Society. 



The ramre of subiects noticed in the volume is a wide one, including various 

 archaeological notes of local interest. The papers of such general interest as 

 to deserve special notice from us are the following : — Mr. Croall, the Pre- 

 sident, in his address indicates the progress that has been made during the 

 year in local biology. The excursions had not proved quite so successful as 

 during the previous year. It was agreed, among other changes in the rules, 

 that the Society shall "form and take the custody of specimens, and form a 

 reference library.'''' "Shell Middens and other Interesting- Remains at 

 Tents Moor, Fife," by Rev. R. Paul, gives an account of the shells and other- 

 remains found in these mounds. The shells consist exclusively of four species 

 — the cockle, the mussel, the periwinkle, and the common whelk. In the 

 middens themselves neither pottery nor flint implements were found, though 

 the latter are abundantly scattered over the moor. " Notes on Local Plants," 

 by Mr. G. M'Dougall, is rather misleading, as those mentioned are, many of 

 them, not found nearer than Ben Lawers apparently ; while those from near 

 Stirling are almost all certainly plants that have escaped from cultivation. 

 "Notes on Recent Shells" notes the occurrence at Forglen, near Bridge of 

 Allan, of beds of shells of ten or twelve species, such as are still living on our 

 sea-coasts. In an account of the excursions of the Society, independently and. 

 in conjunction with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Geological Societies, the 

 more interesting plants met with are noted ; and at the end of the volume is a 

 short li>L of additions to the flora of Stirling recorded during the year. These 

 are Ilonckenya pcploides, Erodium mos< hal/im, Ononis arvensis, Alcheniilla, 

 conjuncla, Peucedanum Ostruthium, Cardiacs crispus, Campanula rapimcu- 

 loides, Veronica Buxbaumii, Borago officinalis^ Glaux marilima, Plantago 



