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kindly entertained the whole party, Mr. Ralston seems to be an 

 intelligent farmer, and has contributed to the improvement of the 

 agriculture of this district. He pointed out to us a field of from twenty 

 to thirty acres, beaiing an excellent crop of wheat. He has intro- 

 duced Cheviot sheep with profit, and in his dairy he has the Ayrshire 

 breed of cows, to the excellence of the produce of which, some of the 

 party can bear testimony. 



Returning by the shore to Ealabus, we did not observe any plants 

 of peculiar interest. On our return, we had the pleasure of meeting 

 Mr. Christison, who had been sent to this county by the Norwegian 

 government for the purpose of getting information as to agriculture. 

 Foreign governments, in the encouragement which they thus give to 

 science, set an excellent example to Britain. 



August 20th. — This day the botanical section proceeded first by 

 the shore and then across the island to Loch Gruinart, examining the 

 southern shore of the Loch, and going as far as Ardnave and the point 

 of the Nave. The rest of the party indulged their fishing propensities 

 by visiting the river Laggan. The day was showery, but upon the 

 whole favourable. 



In the salt-marshes near Islay House many common sea-plants were 

 found, as Salicornia herbacea, Glaux maritima, Aster Tripolium and 

 Poa maritima. In a ditch near Gruinart, Rumex Hydrolapathum or 

 great water-dock was picked, a species well distinguished by its lan- 

 ceolate acute leaves, tapering below into a petiole, which is flat above, 

 and by the enlarged ovato-triangular divisions of its perianth nearly 

 all with tubercles. It was formerly described by botanists as Rumex 

 aquations, a distinct species, with broader leaves, not tapering, and 

 non-tubercled fruit, hence called grainless dock. R. Hydrolapa- 

 thum is rare in Scotland, although it is found in many places in 

 England. Mr. Stewart Murray observed the plant in ditches near 

 Meikleoun, in Perthshire, and I have a specimen from the station, 

 picked by Mr. Gorrie. Hopkirk mentions the plant as growing near 

 Old Kilpatrick, on the Clyde, but I have not been able to see it 

 in that locality. I have gathered the plant abundantly near Oxford 

 and in other parts of England, but I never before picked it in Scotland. 



The shore on the south side of Loch Gruinart is partly gravelly 

 and partly sandy. The sand occurs near the Nave, and on the west 

 shore exposed to the Atlantic. The dunes of sand in this quarter 

 attain a great elevation, and are, as usual, kept together by gi'asses 

 and sedges. In lint fields near Gruinart, Camelina sativa was observ- 

 ed, and on the sandy shores Draba incana, Gentiana campestris and 



