120 EXCURSIONS IN STIRLINGSHIRE. 



chasm showed that in the narrower portions weathering had not 

 been so active as in the wider. Here it was seen that projection 

 and hollow were as sharply defined as when the original separation 

 took place. The country in view from the hill is exceedingly 

 beautiful. The Stockie Moor, Loch Lomond, studded with its 

 green isles, and the bold Highland summits, with Ben Lomond 

 towering in the foreground, afford a variety sufficient to please the 

 most exacting eye. Among the plants seen were tubrous vetchling 

 {Latkyrus macrorrhizus), the mossy saxifrage {Saxifraga hypnoides), 

 the red whortleberry {Vaccinium Vitis-Idcea), the parsley-fern 

 {Cryptogramme crispa), the Scottish filmy fern {Hymenophyllum 

 Wilsoni), and the moonwort {Botrychium Lunarid). The entomo- 

 logists devoted themselves almost entirely to Tipulidse, commonly 

 known as " Daddy Long-legs." Among those netted on the 

 Drymen Road were Dicranomyia chorea, Mg., Tipula hortensis, 

 Mg., and T. obsoleia, Mg. On the heather at the Whangie T. 

 pruinosa, W., was flying in great abundance. Very few moths 

 were seen, the most noteworthy being Melanippe tristata, L., and 

 Cidaria suffumata, W.V. A specimen of the rather interesting 

 beetle, Rhagium bifasciatum, F., flew into the second brake as it 

 was passing Baljaffrey Wood, and the moors were alive with 

 various species of click-beetles. 



A joint excursion with the Natural History Society of Glasgow, 

 on 1 2th September, 1896, had for its objective the Craigallian 

 estate. Not much can be said about the scientific features of the 

 excursion, as, owing to the season having been an early one, most 

 of the plants and shrubs were past flowering. Along the approach 

 to the Craigallian plantation, and in the fields adjoining, many 

 plants of the little trailing St. John's wort {Hypericum humifusum) 

 were observed, while along the margin of the wood on both sides of 

 the road skull-cap {Scutellaria galericulata) was abundant. In 

 the marshy ground by the side of the loch the grass of Parnassus 

 {Parnassia pahistris) and the devil's-bit scabious {Scabiosa succisa) 

 were plentiful and in full flower. The remarkable size and 

 abundance of the fruit on the shrubs and trees were particularly 

 noticeable. Many bushes of the sloe {Primus spinosa) were 

 literally loaded with large and beautifully glaucous plums. No 

 member of the party had ever seen such a rich crop of fruit on 

 this shrub. 



