Jan. 1906. ] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 241 
MEETING OF THE SOCIETY, 
January 10, 1907. 
J. Rurwerrorp Hit, President, in the Chair. 
The following communications were read :— 
REPORT OF THE ScoTTisH ALPINE BOTANICAL CLUB 
Excursion, 1907. By Mr. ALEXANDER COWAN. 
The members left Princes Street Station, Edinburgh, on 
Wednesday the 8th August by the 5 p.m. train to Greenock, 
and crossed by the night steamer to Dublin, travelling thence 
next morning by the 9.15 train for Recess, Connemara, where 
the Railway Hotel was made the headquarters for the first 
portion of the excursion. The object of this was to visit the 
district where Hrica Stwarti and Hrica Mackaiana var. flore 
pleno (Crawford’s variety) were discovered, and if possible 
to find these plants again, it being a considerable number 
of years since the Club visited this district. 
The country between Dublin and Galway is for the most 
part flat and uninteresting, and the train, which is called an 
express, only stopped at the principal towns. At Galway 
the party had to change into the slow train for Clifden, 
which stopped at every station, and gave the members a 
good opportunity of seeing the Irish peasantry, numbers of 
whom travelled between the local stations. 
The party were much struck by the extreme poverty of 
these natives of Connemara, their appearance being in every 
way in keeping with the barrenness of the land in which 
they live, and while some of them are picturesquely dressed, 
others have much more the appearance of scarecrows than of 
human beings. Some of the garments appeared to be nothing 
else but patchwork, sewn together in numerous cases with 
string; others, while not patched, were in every conceivable 
state of raggedness. These garments were almost entirely 
made of Irish frieze, and in every case appeared saturated 
with peat reek, which could be easily smelt at several 
