38 A Bryological Excursion to Ben Lawers. [Sess. 
day before led. I think there was something about this peat- 
moss worthy of notice. It was composed almost entirely of 
one species of moss—namely, Grimmia (Racomitrium) lanug- 
inosum. Some bits of it we took out of the moss were from 
18 to 24 inches long. Although there is plenty of the same 
moss growing there now, there is none approaching that length, 
showing that long ago it was more luxuriant than at present. 
Certainly, to form such a peat-moss it must have been more 
abundant than it is now. At the top of this moss we reach 
the loch, or rather lochs, for there are two—the first, or lower 
one, small, not more than an acre in extent, the other covering 
several acres. I shall notice these again. Here we found fine 
specimens of Polytrichum strictum in fruit—which is rare 
—Campylopus flexuosus, va7. major, and several others. We 
now separated again, each hunting for himself: two hours 
later we met high up on the crags and compared notes. We 
had gathered several rare mosses—Hypnum revolvens, var. 
Cossoni; H. stellatum, var. protensum ; H. incurvatum, Ortho- 
thecium rufescens, Hylocomium rugosum, Pseudoleskea atrovi- 
rens, Pterogonium gracile, Pterigynandrum filiforme, and many 
rare Grimmias, Bartramias, &. We saw also a_ beautiful 
patch of Myosotis alpestris, growing very near the top of the 
crags, 3600 feet or more in height, exposed to every blast, yet 
a perfect cushion of intense blue. Round about were hundreds 
of circular cushion-like patches of Silene acaulis, shading from 
pure white to very dark red, some nearly crimson. Thalictrum 
alpinum, Rhodiola rosea, Cerastium alpinum, Armeria alpina, 
Lychnis alpina, and Antennaria dioica were also to be seen; 
and one solitary plant in flower of Saxifraga nivalis was found 
here. Saxifraga oppositifolia, S. aizoides, S. hypnoides, S. 
ceespitosa, and 8. stellaris were common. Of ferns, there were 
Polystichum Lonchitis, Asplenium viride, A. Trichomanes, A. 
Adiantum-nigrum, Polypodium Dryopteris, a small patch of 
Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, and a few roots of others which I 
cannot name until they put up their fronds. 
A descent of about 300 feet of almost perpendicular crags 
brought us to the loch again. Our vasculums were by this 
time filled with plants, and our pockets stuffed, while in 
addition Mr Scott had a bundle in his handkerchief. More 
specimens we could not carry, and as the calls of hunger were 
beginning to make themselves felt, we now (about 4 P.M.) 
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