88 Field Meetings. 



that a ball corresponcling to Meg's " meikle mou'" was excavated 

 at the Castle at a comparatively recent date, and that this and 

 the other balls at Edinburgh are apparently of Galloway granite. 

 After a short Business Meeting, the p^irty returned to Castle- 

 Douglas, and left for Dumfries with the 4.47 train. 



The following is a list of the plants found : — Ranunculus Flam- 

 mula, JR. Lingua (rai'e), I^pnphcea alba, Niq^har LiUea, Nastur- 

 tium palustre (rare), Alis77ia j)lanta(/o, A. ranunculoides, Potamo- 

 geton hetero-phyllus, P. perfoliatus, P. Crispus, at Carlingwark 

 Loch. Galium Veruvi, G. saxatile, G. mollugo, G. palxistre, G. 

 uliginosum, Hypericum perforatum, H. huviifiosum., H. 2>ulchrum, 

 Antirrhinum majus, Agrimonia Fupatoria (not common), Genista 

 tinctoria (rare), Sherardia arvensis, Ly thrum salicaria, Stachys 

 Betonica (rare), >S'. jmlustris, Teucrium Scorodonia, on the way to 

 Threave Castle. Lobelia Dortmanna (rare), Menyanthes trifoliata, 

 Potamogeton natans, Helosciadium inundatum, Carum verticilla- 

 tum, and Juncus obtusijlorus (very rare), in wet places and the 

 river Dee near the Castle. 



CoRSOCK. — \st September, 1883. 



The fifth and last excursion of the summer season took place to 

 Corsock, when a party of twenty-two ladies and gentlemen set out 

 in two waggonettes at ten o'clock. Though the. morning was dry 

 and sunny, there were yet indications of impending rain, in a 

 lowering barometer and the glistering state of the atmosphere ; 

 and before the day was far advanced showers began to fall, and 

 continued at intervals to do so. This interfered with the work of 

 botanical exploration. The woods and meadows were too wet, and 

 the showers too frequent, for the botanists to venture far a-field. 

 But in other respects the outing proved to be a most enjoyable 

 one. Some pretty hits of little-frequented country were seen as 

 the party drove along, and one or two places of interest were 

 visited. 



At the village of Crocketford — the Nine-Mile Bar, as it used 

 to be called — a halt was made, and some information obtained 

 res[)ecting that curious sect of religious fanatics, the Buchanites, 

 who founded the village, and died and were buried there, though 



