86 FLEMING SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. [March, 



ferences existing between them. He also sliowed how mutually 

 dependent the one was on the other, and that it is to the mys- 

 terious principle called life that both owe their beauty and their 

 character. 



Mr. Valentine was then admitted a Member of the Society, 

 and Mr. W. Carruthers, F.E.P.S., now of the British Museum, 

 London, was elected an Honorary President. The Society then 

 adjourned. 



At the usual fortnightly meeting of this Society, held on Tues- 

 day, 7tli February, John Sadler, Esq., presiding, the following 

 communications were read : — 



1. "Notes on British Crustacea," by Alexander Kay, drawn 

 from personal observation, and illustrated by specimens collected, 

 during the last summer, on the Scottish shores. 



2. "Notes on the Autumnal Flora of Dumfries and the 

 Stewarty of Kirkcudbright,'^ by Thomas Brisbane, Esq., Dum- 

 fries, communicated by Robert Brown, F.R.P.S., Treasurer. 



The Flora of Dumfries has been studied, and by numerous 

 botanists, and some have published accounts of it. Sir W. Jar- 

 dine, Bart., gives a list of the rarer plants in the Statistical Ac- 

 count, and Dr. L. Lindsay has published a paper on the subject 

 in the 'Phytologist ' for 1855-6. Messrs. Gray and Cruickshank 

 have also published lists in the ' Phytologist ;' but by far the most 

 delightful sketch is given in "The Rambles among the Wild 

 Flowers," by Mr. John Sadler, one of our presidents. The paper 

 gave an account of several excursions made through the county 

 during the autumn of 1859. A number of interesting plants 

 were noticed, of which the following are the rarer ones : — Ra- 

 nunculus Lingua, Sagina nodosa, Lobelia Dortmanna, Serratuld 

 tindoria (common at Parton, where he also found a viviparous 

 Car ex), Cichorium Intybus, Sedum dasyphyllum, Hyoscyamus 

 niger, Allosorus crispus, Dipsacus fullonum (wild in front of Car- 

 laverock Castle and Blackshaw Merse. Cicuta virosa and Bidens 

 cernua, at LocharMoss, at Collin. Campanula rotundifolia (white 

 variety), Andromeda polifolia and Utricularia minor (Glasstown), 

 Gentiana campestris, Nymphaa alba, abundantly in the stream 

 of Lochar, and Nuphar lutea in Castledouglas Loch. Geranium 

 phaum (plentiful at the moat of Troqueer) . Sedum Telephium, 

 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (very rare) . Orobanche major (very 

 rare). The district is unusually rich in Lichens, Mosses, and 



