1 6 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



would, no doubt, have rewarded the search. A short ramble into the 

 forest, accomplished during the brief twilight of one of the least oppres- 

 sive of our evenings, supplied me with magnificent specimens of Ileli- 

 anthemum guttatum (spotted rock rose), which is recorded in Power's 

 "Flora of the County of Cork" to have been found at Three-Castle- 

 Head, in the barony of West Carbery, and is said to have been collected 

 in the islands of Anglesea, Man, and jersey ; but which is, doubtless, in 

 every case, a wanderer from more southern habitats, and must be es- 

 teemed one of the rarest of British plants. Cistus salvifolius and Erica 

 arborea, the latter (not in flower) forming shrubs of 10 or 12 feet high, 

 were also plentiful. 



Insect life was in great profusion, and during the hottest period 

 of the day the garden of our hotel was visited by hundreds of the 

 humming-bird moth, and other Lepidoptera by no means frequent in our 

 colder latitudes. 



The marshes near Arcachon are numerous, and would, doubtless, 

 prove prolific of DiatomaceaB and other microscopic forms, both of vege- 

 table and animal life. The only gathering which I made contained 

 several interesting species ; but I forbear in this paper to mention my 

 collections in this department, having already communicated the detailed 

 results of my journey as regards the Diatomaceae to the editors of the 

 "Annals of Natural History." 



On the 30th of June we proceeded by railway to Bayonne, and, 

 passing through this old and curious town, sought cooler quarters at 

 Biaritz, on the rocky shores of the Bay of Biscay, a village rapidly rising 

 into the importance of a town, and well deserving the patronage it re- 

 ceives from all ranks of the French people. Its situation is charming, and 

 its rocks — the only rocks on the west coast of France for many hundreds 

 of miles — are bold and imposing, and full of interest to the scientific 

 visitor. In many places they consist of a conglomerated mass of JVum- 

 mulites, whose forms stand out from the water- worn surface, and attract 

 the notice and wonder of the least geological observer. 



The hotel accommodation at Biaritz is excellent, and (when the new 

 and handsome chateau of the Empress is not occupied by its illustrious 

 owners, and the town crowded by their suite) is amply sufficient for the 

 traveller's wants. We remained nearly a week at Biaritz, enjoying the 

 refreshing breezes of its noble bay, and admiring the abandon of its 

 numerous bathers, exploring its rocky pools, and rifling its flowery 

 fields, and only tore ourselves away from its numerous attractions in 

 obedience to a sense of duty which forbade us to linger amidst its softer 

 pleasures, while the sterner attractions of the Pyrenees, the goal of our 

 pilgrimage, lay within our view, and invited us to a wider, though more 

 laborious field of observation and research. The coast at Biaritz yielded 

 me a few interesting Nullipores, and Algae of the smaller sorts, and the 

 fields around added to my herbarium Erica vagam, the richly perfumed 

 Daphne Cneorum, Lithospermum purpuro-cceruleum, Ly thrum Thymifolia, 

 and L. Hyssopifolia, with other less uncommon plants. 



