422 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



near Henfield, in 1827 — its first discovery in Britain — but I cannot 

 find that botanists have seen it in the county in recent years. 



Nitella flexiUs Agardh. IV. Chailey Common ! 1900 ; T. H. 

 *V. Pond at Catsfield, 1895 ; E. S. S. 



SOME KIRKCUDBRIGHT MOSSES. 

 By W. p. Hamilton. 



The following is a list of mosses gathered during a fortnight's 

 stay at Kippford in June, 1900, many of them within a radius of 

 about a couple of miles of that place, but some from Hestan Island 

 and Screel. 



Although the village is all under the name of Kippford for 

 postal purposes, it is generally spoken of by the fishermen and 

 others as The Scar, or The Scaur ; that name, however, being 

 strictly applicable to only the southern end. Pleasantly situated 

 on the east side of the estuary of the River Urr, about five miles 

 south of Dalbeattie, and, fortunately for people of some tastes, 

 possessing a not very extensive accommodation for visitors, it is an 

 interesting place for the botanist. On the other side of some small 

 hills to the north-east and east there lies a string of lochs known 

 locally as Dufl*'s Loch, Ironhash, and Lochend, well worth atten- 

 tion. This tract of country is formed partly of granite and partly 

 of Upper Silurian strata. The granite near Kippford is a part of 

 the great plutouic mass which extends continuously from Criffel to 

 Dalbeattie and onwards to Beugairn, one of the prominent hills to 

 the south-west in the direction of the town of Kirkcudbright. The 

 boundary line is visible on the east side of the estuary of the Urr, 

 about a mile south of Kippford, and it can be followed in an E.N.E. 

 direction by the village of Lochend to Sandhill's Bay. The granite 

 lies to the north and the Silurian strata to the south of this line. 

 The latter consists of flagstones, shales, and greywackes, altered by 

 contact with the granite, and pierced by numerous veins of micro- 

 granite, porphyrite, and other igneous materials representing the 

 apophysis of that mass. 



Hestan Island, the " Ben Rathan " of Crockett's Raiders, lies 

 in the Solway Firth, distant three miles in a bee-line, or about four 

 miles' sail ; it is composed of Upper Silurian, like that above 

 described. The hill of Screel lies to the north of the granite mass 

 of Bengairn, and is composed also of Upper Silurian strata. It 

 forms a striking landmark as seen from the village, and, although 

 under 1200 ft. in height, yet, on account of its rising from so near 

 the sea-level, it affords a very stiff' climb. 



I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. John Home for the 

 geological notes ; to Mr. J. E. Bagnall and Mr. J. A. Wheldon for 

 looking at some of the mosses ; and to Mr. E. C. Horrell for naming 

 or confirming the Sphagna. 



