154 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



feelings, and silence becomes the truest exponent of our admira- 

 tion and of the thoughts that elbow each other through the mind. 

 During the past two years I have had an opportunity of being 

 at least twice ashore on the Craig, and my object in visiting it 

 w^as partly to have a look at close quarters at the source from 

 whence come the famous curling-stones, and partly to ascertain 

 w^hat kinds of Entomostraca and other crustacean species were to 

 be found on its shores, or in the springs or pools of water that I 

 had heard of as occurring on the island, but no special effort was 

 made on these occasions to examine generally either the fauna 

 or the flora. Moreover, the only part of the rock that has been 

 visited by us hitherto is the south end, from Stranny Point on the 

 west to the Lighthouse on the east. The last time I was ashore 

 this year was on the Queen's Birthday. A strong wind had been 

 blowing all the previous night, and our little vessel, the s.s. 

 " Garland," had been obliged to seek shelter under the lee of the 

 Craig ; but towards afternoon the wind abated considerably, and, 

 as the sky was clear, the weather at the south end, where we were 

 sheltered from the wind, was warm and pleasant. Taking advan- 

 tage of such a favourable opportunity, and accompanied by the 

 genial skipper of the "Garland," I paid a short visit to the island. 

 On shore, insects of various kinds were taking advantage of the 

 pleasant sunshine to fulfil their life w^ork, and one of the more 

 common among them was the beetle known as the Seven-spotted 

 Lady-bird [Coccinella se2)te77ipunctata, Linn.). Silpha thoracica^ 

 Linn., and a few other beetles were also observed, but were much 

 scarcer than the lady-bird. The small white butterfly was flitting 

 about among the rank vegetation, -and under some of the stones 

 that were turned over in searching for Slow-worms a few Centi- 

 pedes and Millepedes were noticed. Land mollusks, which are 

 probably not very common on Ailsa Craig, were also occasionally 

 observed during our visit, and comprised such forms as Helix 

 nemoralisj Linn., Hyalinia allia7'ia, Miller, Pupa cylindracea, Da 

 Costa, and Clausilia rmgosa, Draparnaud, but the weather con- 

 ditions, though pleasant, were not very favourable for shell-hunting, 

 and in my experience it is not unusual to find that a locality which 

 at one time may appear to be unproductive will at another time, 

 when more favourable conditions prevail, be thronged with living 

 creatures. 



