1895-96-] Notes on Last Summer's Excursions. 199 



Fulton, been placed at the disposal of the Society for that 

 purpose. Under the superintendence of our fellow-member, 

 Mr Thomas Scott, F.L.S., of the Fishery Board, the operations 

 of dredging and trawling were successfully carried on. Many 

 interesting specimens, especially of the Invertebrata, repre- 

 senting the Protozoa, sponges, echinodermata, worms, crusta- 

 ceans, and mollusca, as well as several vertebrates, were 

 secured. The party returned to Granton in the evening, 

 having spent a most enjoyable and instructive afternoon. 



XII. — Falkland. 



Falkland was the destination of our party on the occasion 

 of the twelfth excursion, which took place on the 13th July — 

 a number of the members of the Kirkcaldy Naturalists' Society 

 joining us at Falkland. At the Palace, in and around which 

 some of the most interesting events of past history centre, our 

 party was met by Major Wood, the resident Factor of the Mar- 

 quis of Bute, who most kindly conducted us over the building. 

 After examining the Palace and town, the party divided, some 

 going to Maspie Den, while others proceeded to Falkland 

 House under the guidance of Major Wood. Nothing of special 

 interest from a Natural History point of view was, so far as I 

 am aware, met with. 



XIII. — Davidson's Mains. 



On July 17 the Society had an excursion to Davidson's 

 Mains, under the guidance of Dr Sprague, then President. 

 The party numbered eighteen. The principal object of inves- 

 tigation was the marl-pit, where the President pointed out a 

 number of interesting objects, amongst the rarer being a 

 variety of the comfrey {Symphytum officinale var. patens), and 

 the water-soldier (Stratiotes aloides), a plant not indigenous in 

 Scotland, and introduced into the Davidson's Mains marl-pit, 

 I believe, by the late Dr Graham, Professor of Botany in the 

 University of Edinburgh, some fifty or sixty years ago. Many 

 other plants, both Phanerogams and Cryptogams, were found. 

 In a ditch running from the marl-pit, one of our members 

 obtained specimens of five or six different species of diatoms. 



