Ixii Proceedings of the Botanical Society 



natives as to tlicir actual observation, and while some inclined to 

 think the depth of water on the strand at high tide was not quite 

 so great as it used to be thirty or forty years ago, still all were not 

 entirely agreed, the fact being that no one had made accurate observa- 

 tions. However, we succeeded in obtaining evidence which quite 

 corroborates our view as to the change referred to, being in operation 

 in the immediate neighbourhood. 



Near the western entrance to the sound that divides Colonsay 

 from Oransay, and on which is situated the strand, there is what 

 is now the south-west point of Colonsay, and this promontory is 

 known by the name of Ardskinish, but this name properly refers 

 to the extreme point, its etymology being "Ard" high, and 

 " innis " island, and this exactly describes what this place was until 

 about seventy years ago, the outer point l^eing an island at high 

 water, and the low-lying tract between it and the mainland of 

 Colonsay a strand. 



An old man, resident at Kilchattan on Colonsay, told us that 

 until recently several men were living who could remember the point 

 as an island ; and he mentioned two, wlio are still alive, who he 

 believed would recollect it, and he could remember himself when 

 the neck of sand, dry at high water, was not above 20 feet in breadth, 

 and now at the narrowest point at high tide it will be the third of a 

 mile ; and from the accumulation of sand blown from the beach, 

 the land at some points, according to the Ordnance Survey Map, is 

 nearly 40 feet above the sea-level. 



We have thus a case where the operation of filling up a strand 

 by natural laws has taken place during the memory of men now 

 living. 



We are not aware that other observers have noticed these facts 

 before ; but it would be interesting if they have done so, to put them 

 on record, as the subject seems worthy of fuller investigatioiu 



III. On Temperatures from Fchruary 1st at the Royal Botanic 

 Garden, and Effects thereof on Vegetation. By Mr John 

 Sadler, Curator. 



MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS. 



1. Mr John Campbell, Ledaig, Argyllshire, sent plants in flower 

 from his garden gathered two days previouslj^ 



2. Professor Dickson showed a museum specimen of the embryo 

 of Caryocar nuciferum. 



