oxvi Proceedings. 



The rock of wliicli the hills round Strathpeflfer are composed is 

 a sandstone conglomerate. The forts are biiilt up roughly of 

 masses of this rock, to which after construction intense heat has 

 been applied so that the whole surface is run together and 

 vitrified. The suggestion is that the idea of so treating them 

 arose first fi'om the accidental effects of the beacon-fires which 

 were lighted on them; however that may be, the practice seemed 

 to prevail widely at some early period, probably about the 8th 

 century, during the conflicts between Picts and Scots, and about 

 twenty of these forts can still be traced across the country from 

 Fort Augustus to Dingwall and Banft'. The most conspicuous 

 and largest of these is Knock Farril close to Strathpeft'er. Mr. 

 Meunell exhibited and described several rare plants from the 

 neighbourhood of Strathpeffer, notably AJuga pyrainidalis, which 

 grows on the bare conglomerate face of Tor Achilty. The 

 beautiful little dwarf birch {Betula nana), an Arctic species, the 

 Alpine arbutus {Arctostaphyllos alpina), the bearberry {Arctosta- 

 jihyllos xna-iirsi), and the dwarf cornel (Corniis siucica), all from 

 Ben "\V)-vis. Mr. Mm'ton Holmes, also made some observations 

 on the preserving and mounting of Foraminifera, and exhibited 

 specimens showing that in some media the markings were 

 entirely obliterated, whilst in others they were clearly defined. 



November 13th. — Mr. J. W. Helps read a Paper (Trans., Art. 

 77) " On some Coal-tar Products." The Lectiurer gave a most 

 interesting and instructive description of the many preparations 

 obtained from Coal-tar, showing how an almost endless variety 

 of colour may be produced by substitution and change in the 

 relative position of its ultimate elements. He also told us that 

 although the colours were legion, still there was an instability 

 and difliculty in fixing them even by mordants. He also illus- 

 trated by diagrams the most approved means of extracting the 

 different products in an economical way, by means of one 

 apparatus, where, by regulating the temperature at fixed points, 

 each product was arrested at the temperature which caused its 

 formation. He also illustrated his Lecture by exhibiting a very 

 fine series of the colours derived from Coal-tar, as well as of 

 many of the other products to which he referred in his paper. 

 The paper appears at length in oiur Transactions. 



December 11th. — The President read " Some notes on the Com- 

 parative Anatomy of the Vertebrates." In this paper the 

 President endeavoured to show the anatomical distinctions 

 between the different divisions of the Vertebrates, pointing out 

 how a slight difference of conformation of certain bones in the 

 skeleton sometimes placed an animal in a relative situation one 

 would have thought incompatible with its social position. He 

 found when reading the paper he embraced too large a field to 

 make it as instructive as he could have desired. He also finds 



