300 Transactions of the [Sess. 



different modes of calculating theii- velocity — the lecturer describ- 

 ing an anemometer designed and constructed by himself for this 

 purpose. The lecture was illustrated by specimens of the several 

 instruments described, as well as by a series of wall-diagrams. 



X.— VERONICAS IJV THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF EDINBURGH. 

 By Mr MARK KING, 



[ReadJan. 22, 1886.) 



In one of those charming little books on Natural History by John 

 Burroughs, that genial and enthusiastic American naturalist thus 

 speaks of the Veronicas or Speedwells, which soon arrested his 

 attention on his first visit to this country, " The prettiest of all 

 humble roadside flowers I saw," he says, " was the little blue Speed- 

 well. I was seldom out of sight of it anywhere in my walks till 

 near the end of June ; while its little bands and assemblages of 

 deep-blue flowers in the grass by the roadside, turning a host of 

 infantile faces up to the sun, often made me pause and admire." ^ 

 And truly none of our early summer flowers are more worthy of 

 observation. The Speedwell is pre-eminently a poet's flower, and 

 there are many beautiful and tempting allusions to it in our poeti- 

 cal literature. But I would pass by all these for the present, desir- 

 ing rather to give a few descriptive hints which may be of use to 

 some of our younger members, or to those only beginning the study 

 of British plants, in enabling them to identify the various commoner 

 species, which may nearly all, without much trouble, be met with in 

 short excursions round our own city. Veronicas, amongst other 

 plants, have occupied my attention for many years, and they have 

 been to me an ever-increasing source of delight. If I can enlist 

 any to begin their field-work with them, I would fain believe that 

 an interest will thus be evoked which will not stop short until the 

 whole of Flora's domain has been investigated, 



Veronicas diifer in habit — some being weak and trailing, while 

 others are firm and erect ; and their habitats are likewise various — 

 some loving the marsh or the river-bank, while others flourish in 

 the ploughed field, or the shady wood, or by the dusty roadside. 

 Yet a Veronica need never be mistaken for any other British plant, 

 from the characteristics of possessing two stamens and having a 

 rotate corolla. These constant features are a sufficient guide to 



1 'Fresh Fields' — " A Glance at British Wild Flowers." By John Bur- 

 roughs. 



