66 Field Meetings. 



of the Viperous Lizard were also procured, and what was either a 

 variety of the Smooth Newt or a distinct species was caught in 

 a muddy pool near the summit. Many fine quartz crystals were 

 picked up ; but the only specimen of the rarer stones said to be 

 mixed with them was an agate, found by Mr Bruce of Slogarie. 

 The view-hunter had perhaps the " largest content" in recom- 

 pense for his arduous ascent. On all sides a magnificent sky- 

 bounded prospect extended wide before the eye of the enraptured 

 observer on the mountain top. Ailsa Craig was very distinctly 

 seen without the aid of a glass, and the Mull of Cantyre could be 

 descried in dim ovitluie ; but the Irish Coast, the Isle of Man, 

 and the Cumberland mountains were hid behind a haze. There is 

 a story told of a shepherd on Cairnsmore who boasted that he 

 could look into five kingdoms from it — the Kingdoms of Scotland, 

 England, and Ireland, the Kingdom of Man, and the Kingdom of 

 God. An interesting experiment was made on the top of the hill, 

 showing how the heleograph worked. According to prearrange- 

 ment a party at Ehonehouse — twenty mUes away — flashed a 

 mirror in the sun at one o'clock, and the gleams were distinctly 

 seen, notwithstanding that the sun was shining through a cloud- 

 screen at the time. Descending the hill, the party divided, one 

 section returning by the base, and the other walking over the knee 

 of Cairnsmore and Meikle Mactaggart, and round the spur of 

 Craig Ronald, to Loch Grannish, to ascertain whether the Black- 

 backed Gull stiU breeds there. They (the latter division) were 

 rowed over to the island, but were informed that although the 

 gulls still frequent the loch they have ceased to build there, their 

 nests having been wrecked by floods two years in succession. 

 The following is a list of the rarer plants found on Cairnsmore: 

 — Asplenium veride, Hymophyllum Wilsoni, Sedum rhodolia, 

 Saxifraga stellaris, and *S^. hypnoides. 



August, 1881. — It was arranged to hold this month's excursion 

 on Thursday the 4th, and visit Annan and district ; but owing to 

 the unfavourable weather it was abandoned. 



September, 1881. — The excursion for this month was likewise 

 abandoned. 



