04 Field Meetings. 



scientist interested in geologn' or botany and for the sight -seer ; 

 but unfortunately it was spoiled by persistent rain. Despite the 

 elements, a party of over a dozen travelled to Moffat, only to find 

 that weather conditions were even worse than those which they 

 had left ; and Mr J. T. Johnstone, who met them on arrival, advised 

 that on such a day the tramp to Loch Skene was out of the ques- 

 tion. A visit was paid to the Proudfoot Institute, and the party 

 were shewn over this well equipped and well kept establishment 

 by the courteous clubmaster. It includes an excellent library, a 

 large reading-room, draughts room, baths, a hall in which carpet 

 bowls are ordinarily played and in which also lectures are delivered 

 and concerts given ; and a temperance refreshment bar. The In- 

 stitute is the most visible embodiment of the philanthropy of the 

 late Mr Proudfoot of Craigieburn, who left a fortune of £22,000 

 made in South Africa to the magistrates of Moffat in trust for the 

 woi'king men of the place. They purchased the Working Men's 

 Institute, a building which had previously been raised by subscrip- 

 tion for the general good — and of which the foundation stone 

 was laid by the novelist, Dr George Macdonald — added the hall 

 in the rear, and altered the building to adapt it to its wider pur- 

 pose. A bust of the founder (the work of Mr J. G. M'Lellan 

 Arnott, Dumfries) is placed over the entrance. After a leisurely 

 inspection of the Institute, the party broke up into several groups. 

 Half-a-dozen determined to drive as far as the Grey Mare's Tail, 

 and had the pleasure of seeing the famous fall in its streug-th after 

 the rains. Others proceeded to see a dyke of greenstone rock in 

 the neighbourhood of Moffat; and some returned by an early 

 train. 



