NATUR^VL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 23 



plants across to pile them up on the western sliore. It is probable 

 that this Laureucia is pre-eminently a Loch Eyan plant, growing 

 in great abundance in the upper part; and though generally dis- 

 tributed on other shores, appears to be very rare on the Clyde. 



On the small boulders, at half-tide level, Porphyra vulgaris and 

 P. laciniata were very abundant, with tufts of EnteromorpTm ramulosa, 

 Lynghya majiiscula, and Edocarpus silkulosus. Among the red 

 plants floated in were Ceramium ruhrum, CalUthamnion corymbosum, 

 Ddesseria alata, and Polysiphonia violacea. On some stones and 

 oyster shells Gracillaria confervokks, and Chorda filim were growing. 

 Great quantities of Furcellaria fasiigiata were strewn on the 

 beach, and presenting so many different forms, both in the young 

 and full grown state, that we examined it carefully, in the hope of 

 finding Polyides rotundus, but without success. These plants were 

 frequently infested with Sphacelaria nodosa; those of the same size 

 exhibited considerable difference in the thickness of the stem and 

 branches — the stout stems of some contrasting remarkably with 

 the slender forms of others. Along with these, the gale had washed 

 ashore masses of Chorda fihm, Fuci, and Zostera. The latter formed 

 extensive meadows at the head of the loch, affording a rich harvest 

 to the farmers, who were busily removing it from the beach. 



The Scaur, which runs for a mile into the loch at Kirkcolm, 

 forms an extensive bay on its southern shore, and here the Zostera 

 was also piled up, while on the northern, or seaward side, the ordi- 

 nary Fuel, and other algse were washed ashore, so that either side 

 of this spit presented quite a different aspect. In one spot, a 

 great quantity of the little bladders of F. vesiculosus lay in a heap, 

 just as if they had been hand-picked. 



F. nodosus not being very common, Polysiphonia fasiigiata was 

 equally rare. 



The absence of the common Laminaria saccharina was also strik- 

 ing — so far as we remember, not one plant having been observed. 

 Gigartina mammillosa, Desmarestia aculeata, and Chondrus crispus — 

 the latter large, and finely divided — were not uncommon. 



On the pier at Stranraer, an old friend, previously found on the 

 piles of several of the Clyde piers, Edocarpus crinitus occurred ; it 

 was also got on the pier at Stairhaven, in the Bay of Luce. 



At the head of the loch great masses of Phyllophom nihens were 

 washed ashore, and it was afterwards found growing abundantly 

 on the oyster shells. 



