Address of the President. 19 



I have not received the account of any private excursions 

 this year, such as I alluded to last. But one of our members, 

 Mr Maxwell of Munches, has commenced the clearing out of 

 an old castle upon his estate, Buittle Castle, once the strong- 

 hold of Edward Baliol. A -vvell has been examined and 

 emptied, and considerable excavations have been made, which 

 will gradually expose the plan of the ruins. No pottery or 

 metal instruments of much interest, nor any ash pit or 

 kitchen midden has yet been come upon ; but the bones and 

 remains of the same small ox we have already seen so com- 

 mon in the old residences, whether land or loch, was one of 

 the most common. There were found also bones of pig, and 

 roebuck, and, in the well, a portion of the antlers of red deer. 



I believe nothing actually new has been discovered by the 

 Society during the past season in zoology, botany, or fossil 

 remains, but fresh habitats have been added, and the know- 

 ledge of our range is gradually filling up. Our work in a 

 great measure has been in another direction, — The fashion- 

 able subjects of the past year. It is scarcely fair to give 

 them that title, but nevertheless certain subjects get into a 

 more than ordinary interest and reputation, are talked of by 

 every one, and for a time are pursued with extraordinary and 

 far more than usual zeal. These were, the exploration of 

 bone caves, and the histoiy of lake habitations. They both 

 bore upon the subjects which I have especially alluded to in 

 my previous addresses to this Society, " The age of man in 

 this world and the animals which lived contemporaneously 

 with him." In regard to the first, our members who attended 

 the meeting of the British Association at Birmingham could 

 not avoid seeing the great interest this subject called forth. 

 A large sum was voted for the exploration of various caves, 

 both abroad and at home. In Malta, Dr. Leith Adams, 

 surgeon in 22d Regiment for some time quartered there, 

 made very important discoveries, and a second grant was 

 made to continue these. This is an instance of a gentleman 

 in active service employing all his leisure time in the pursuit 

 of science. It has been the same wherever he was emplojed. 



