342 The Scottish Naturalist. 



party arrived in no long time at the historical ruins of Dunnottar — ruins that 

 excite the admiration of even the most prosaic in the magnificence of their site 

 and in their extent, and appeal far more powerfully to the imagination of 

 every one acquainted with their connection with the history of Scotland, from 

 the days of Wallace onwards through many a stormy century of struggles for 

 existence and for liberty. The sufferings of the martyrs for conscience sake, 

 and the constancy to their convictions of these earnest men, came vividly 

 before the mind's-eye of those who stood within the miserable dungeon into 

 which forty-two prisoners were lowered through a hole, and in which they 

 were confined. It is difficult, however, to realise how life could be sustained 

 when one looks at the only inlets for air, and at the filthy floor, with its oozing 

 pool of water, and thinks of what it must have been, crowded with so many 

 persons that there could scarcely have been even standing-room for all. The 

 chapel, the kitchen, the bakery and brewhouse, the reception rooms, the 

 officers' room, the wells, and all the other buildings of interest were in turn 

 visited. A considerable part of the armoury has of late years fallen ; and the 

 action of the weather has so worn many of the softer stones of which the walls 

 are built that probably no very long time will be sufficient to bring about the 

 fall of large portions of the ruins. The black henbane {Hyoscyamus niger) 

 formerly grew about the ruins in some abundance ; but a search failed to disclose 

 it on this day. A few plants of the wallflower and of the clustered bell-flower 

 {Campanula glomerate), and profusion of the Burnet saxifrage {Pimfiimlla, 

 saxifraga) were observed growing upon the ruins. 



Having completed their survey of Dunnottar, the party proceeded to the 

 beach, noticing with interest the conglomerate of which the rock is composed. 

 The wonderful hardness of the matrix in which the pebbles are embedded is 

 very remarkable, but still more remarkable is the fact that many of the pebbles 

 have been crushed or broken, apparently under great pressure, and the frag- 

 ments, after having slid a little way over one another, have been recemented. 

 A heavy shower fell between one and two o'clock in the afternoon ; but, fortu- 

 nately for the excursionists, shelter was at hand in one of the caves near the 

 castle. 



The rocks in the bay to the north of Dunnottar were visited after the shower 

 ceased, and as the tide was low, seaweed-collecting was actively proceeded 

 with. The rock pools were full of a considerable variety of formSj most of 

 them frequent along our rocky coasts, but a good many of considerable interest. 

 Among those gathered were several kinds of Fucus, the curious Himanthalia 

 lorea with its frond much like a Scotch cap attached by the tassel to rocks, and 

 bearing fixed to its middle, long, thong-like, reproductive organs, often nearly 

 covered with parasitic Elachistae, the rounded yellowish masses of Leathesia 

 tuberiformis, from the size of a pea to that of a walnut, and like soft cartilage 

 in consistence. There were many graceful green or red species, e.g. , Cladophora 

 glaucescens, recently added to the flora of the east of Scotland, Ceramium 

 rub mm, varying extremely in appearance, Dcsinareslia aculeata, and many 

 others. The following is a complete list of the species picked up in the course 

 of the afternoon by Dr. Crichton : 



Halidrys siliquosa, Fucus vesiculosus, F. serratus, F. canaliculars, F. 

 nodosus, Himanthalia loi-ea, Desmarestia aculeata, Lami)iaria digitata (washed 



