1863.] NOTES OF A BOTANICAL TOUR IN BANFFSHIRE. 471 



turned to these matters ; and our experience of their utility has 

 always induced us to recommend them strenuously, and to render 

 them all the material help and encouragement which our circum- 

 stances and avocations permitted. The infant society is hereby 

 assured that their proceedings will be observed with much in- 

 terest, and that the success of the undertaking will be most gra- 

 tifying. 



Of their success there can be no question, if they can only agree 

 to help each other, even although they do not all implicitly be- 

 lieve in Professor Babington, nor pin their botanical faith on the 

 sleeves of INIr. Bentham. As the ancients said, small states be- 

 come great by concord, while, on the other hand, selfishness and 

 animosities ruin the most powerful empires. 



By walking in the ways of peace and charity, by avoiding 

 c/igwe-isra, and seeking only the edification of each other, a small 

 association may accomplish great objects, may provide a continu- 

 ous supply of healthy mental pabulum for its members, and may 

 ultimately have the honour of enlarging considerably the do- 

 mains of science. 



We had almost forgotten to state that the president, M. C. 

 Cooke, offers as a prize for the best collection of British Mosses, 

 Berkeley's work on the same family. The secretary, T. Martin, 

 10, Great Turnstile, Lincoln's Iim Fields, W.C., will furnish 

 particulars both about the competition and the society. We wish 

 they may get a hundred competitors for this prize. We are pretty 

 confident that they will get many members to their society. 



NOTES OF A BOTANICAL TOUR IN BANFFSHIRE. 



(^Continued from page 444.) 



Tuesday morning broke in clouds, yet the day bade to be fair. 

 Wofully, however, were we disappointed. A guide for Loch 

 Avon was got, and provisions for two days were made ready by 

 Miss Smith. Our road lay through the hills, and along the banks 

 of the Ailnach. The distance between Tomintoul and Loch Avon 

 is said by some to be eighteen miles, but you must bear in mind 

 they are " Highland " miles. On a bank by the roadside, as you 

 descend to the bridge over the Avon at Delnabo, we meet with 

 Gnaphalium sylvaticum, one of the Cudweeds, " Everlastings," 



