28 RECORDS OF EXCURSIONS IN AYRSHIRE. 



of granite resting on Silurian strata are unmistakable signs of the 

 once widespread and powerful nature of the forces which brought 

 them there. An illustration — Plate I. — is given of a glaciated 

 rock surface, near the north end of the loch. About a mile to 

 the west of the loch, near its northern end, there is a large 

 rocking-stone of granite which can easily be made to move with 

 one hand. 



In the loch there are, of course, deposits of subsequent forma- 

 tion to those of the glacial period, one of the most interesting 

 being a bed of diatomaceous earth (very rich in the frustules of 

 diatoms and in sponge spicules), which occurs in the loch under a 

 thin bed of peat, but can easily be got at in dry weather. The 

 species in this bed might be worth working out by some of the 

 members of this Society. Samples of the deposit can easily be 

 obtained on the west side of the loch two or three hundred yards 

 from the sluices. 



The deep, narrow gorge of Glen Ness, cut out of the same 

 kind of rock as is the loch-basin, is in great measure post-glacial, 

 and presents us with a bit of excavatory work the River Doon has 

 performed since the frozen water was melted from the district. 



Amongst the antiquities noted during the excursion were the 

 canoes preserved in a pond at the head of Glen Ness. They 

 were fished out of Loch Doon after the level of the loch was 

 lowered, and in one of them a war club, a battle axe, and some 

 large animal teeth were got. The Picts or Roman Road, which 

 ran from Ayr to Kirkcudbright, passes along the ridge which 

 separates Loch Doon from Loch Muck. Before the party left 

 Dalmellington a look was taken at the ancient Moat Hill, which 

 was repaired a number of years ago and is kept in good order. 



A small party paid a visit to the valley of the Girvan, on 19th 

 May, 1887, de-training at Dailly. No detailed report of the 

 excursion is available, but Mr. John Paterson gives the following 

 recollections ,: — 



Approaching Craighead Limestone Quarry the wall rue (As- 

 plenium Ruta-murarid) and hart's tongue (Scolopendrium vulgare) 

 were found abundantly on a wall by the roadside. 



The park at Bargany presented a fine appearance, owing to the 

 tender greens of the trees coming into leaf. A considerable 

 walnut tree was seen but not measured. 



