102 Reports from Botanical Section. 



The President read extracts from a letter from Dr. R. C. Alexander, 

 dated Naples, 21st June, 1845, describing the botany of the south of 

 Italy and Sicily. 



The next communication was an account of a trip by Dr. Balfour and 

 his pupils to Ardentinny and Loch Eck, on the 28th June. The party 

 examined the woods and rocks in Glen Finnart, and proceeded towards 

 tho shores of Loch Eck, skirting them as far as Benmore, and thence 

 walking to Kilmun. The chief plants noticed were Hymenophyllum Wil- 

 soni, Osmunda regalis, Jungermannia minutissima, Sphaerophoron com- 

 pressum (in fine fruit), Rubus saxatilis, Saxifraga aizoides and stellaris, 

 Gymnadenia albida, Carex stricta, fulva, and remota, Polygonum Bistorta, 

 Sedum anglicum, Silene maritima (on the sandy shores of Loch Eck), 

 Bromus commutatus, Caruni verticillatum. In the woods of Glen Finnart 

 fourteen species of Ferns were gathered. 



Bute was visited on the 4th of July. Between Rothesay and Mount 

 Stuart, the party picked Pinguicula Lusifcanica, Saxifraga aizoides, Ha- 

 benaria chlorantha and bifolia, Anagallis tenella, Osmunda regalis, &c. 

 The party visited the garden at Mount Stuart, where many delicate 

 plants thrive in the open air. Betwixt Kingarth and Scalpsie Bay, they 

 gathered Hypericum elodes, Utricularia minor, Carex vesicaria, Cotyledon 

 umbilicus, Sinapis monensis, and many other good plants. 



On Thursday, July 10, Dr. Balfour and his party visited Arran, and 

 examined the hilly districts of the island, especially Goatfell and Cior 

 More, whence they proceeded to Loch Ranza. From this they returned 

 by the Cock of Arran and Corrie to Brodick. One of the most interesting 

 plants noticed was Pyrus pinnatifida, which was obtained in considerable 

 quantity on the banks of a mountain stream, which terminates at Loch 

 Ranza. 



This closed the meetings of the Section till session 1845-46. 



December 23, 1845. 



Dr. Balfour, Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh, 

 having come to town to attend the opening meeting of the session, was 

 unanimously called to the chair. 



The Curator (Dr. Bottinger) directed attention to the necessity of pro- 

 curing an additional press for the Herbarium; also, a copy of Endlicher's 

 Genera Plantarum, and Steudel's Nomenclature, to assist in arranging 

 foreign plants. 



Mr. Lyon presented to the section Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Plants. 

 — Thanks voted. 



Dr. Balfour, as President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, pre- 

 sented to the section a copy of the Transactions of that Society. — Thanks 

 voted. 



