230 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Besides, it is not mentioned in " Clydesdale Flora," and it is also 

 absent from the list of " Casuals" in the " Fauna and Flora of the 

 West of Scotland." I found it plentiful on the walls of the old 

 castle of the MacLeans of Coll. We have thus an extreme 

 westerly station for an east country plant — a point which those 

 having some knowledge of the causes of the distribution of plants 

 may be able to explain. 



I will conclude my notes by referring to a few ferns, many 

 of the commoner species of which were observed on the island. 

 Some fine plants of Asplenium marinum were found on rocks a 

 little to the south of Major Stewart's house, and this fern is likely 

 to occur on other parts of the coast. Osmunda regalis — the Royal 

 fern — was frequent on the side of the loch, behind the overseer's 

 house, and also on a small island in a loch about midway between 

 Aranagour and Acha. I heard also of its occurrence in other parts 

 of Coll. Botrychium lunaria I found on some grassy banks a little 

 west of the school-house. One very rare plant said to be found in Coll 

 — but of whose existence there I did not learn till I came home, 

 which caused me not a little regret — was Eriocaulon septangulare. 

 There are only two counties given for it in the " London Catalogue," 

 and in " Withering's British Flora " Coll and Skye are given as 

 stations. However, it is perhaps best that something worth 

 looking for is left, in case I should be able to renew my visit. 



I have now gone over a few of the more interesting plants found 

 during a two day's ramble over the Island of Coll, and there is no 

 doubt, I think, that the list could be largely increased by a more 

 extended search. I may add, that Maj or Stewart, the proprietor of the 

 greater part of the island, and his overseer, were most obliging, both 

 as to affording the fullest liberty to ramble over the island, or in giv- 

 ing what information they possessed regarding its history, &c. The 

 old castle I have spoken of might alone form an interesting subject 

 for a paper, but perhaps what I have said may induce some 

 member with more leisure and ability to visit Coll, and to 

 place before the Society a more thorough record of its natural 

 history and antiquities than I have been able to do. 



II. — Notes on Spiricdis retroversus from Gairloch, Ross-shire. 



By John Grieve, M.A., M.D. 



Mr. Duncan's yacht "Varina" anchored in Gairloch, Ross-shire, 

 on the evening of July 16th, 1879. It was rather dull and grey, 



