Transactions. 57 



Exhibits.— ^By the Chairman, a Collection of Australian Ferns ; 

 by Mr A damson, on behalf of Mr Welsh, Waterloo Place, an 

 Imitation Slipper, made of gutta-percha, which was found four 

 years ago at Blackshawbank, where it had been washed ashore 

 fiiU of tobacco, having evidently been used for smuggling pur- 

 poses ; also a very curious Key which had been made and used 

 for many years by the late Mr Duff, of Cluden, he being the same 

 Mr Duff who invented the double screw thread in 1830 ; also a 

 Punch Bowl, which had been in the Duff family for 110 years, 

 and which during that time had been used at several baptisms, 

 ordinations, &c., in the parish. Mr Adamson also exhibited a 

 piece of Sandstone from Lochai-briggs, showing the footprints of 

 one of the extinct Labyrinthodon. 



Scandinavians in Dumfriesshire. — Mr T. Brown, teacher, read 

 a paper on this subject. In acknowledging a vote of thanks, he 

 said he had given some attention to the monumental remains of 

 the Norsemen in the district, and had come to the conclusion that 

 the runes on the Cross at Ruthwell were not Scandinavian, but 

 appeared to be rather of Saxon origin ; he quoted Mr Kemble, 

 who first threw out this idea, and who also said " That the 

 inscription dated somewhere about 680," which was long before 

 we had any trace of the Scandinavians either in England or 

 Scotland. 



Local Names of Plants. — Mr F. R. Coles, Tongland, then read 

 a paper entitled " Local Names of Plants." The paper dealt with 

 the mistaken idea, only too prevalent among those interested in 

 Botany, that the scientific name, usually the Latin one, had slight 

 importance or might even be dispensed with. The author, using 

 the term "local" in its widest sense, as including all names, 

 German, French, Scotch, or English, in distinction from the Latin 

 name by which a plant was alone recognised by all who worked 

 towards a scientific end, illustrated his argument by copious refer- 

 ences to the names of common plants on the Continent and in 

 Britain, the result showing that not only was one plant known by 

 half-a-dozen different names in these countries, but that half-a- 

 dozen different and entii-ely dissimilar plants were often called by 

 one and the same name — to avoid which puzzling confusion a 

 little labour well bestowed in learning the nomenclature of Science 

 would work wonders, and in the end be a real gain to the 

 student. 



