FLORA OF DUMFRIES. 59 
gravel, and sand. ‘There is moreover a large amount of moss 
land, only a small portion of which is under cultivation. The 
celebrated Lochar Moss, which constitutes the base of an exten- 
sive valley, rests, I believe, on sand. Canoes and other remnants 
of ancient shipping have been occasionally dug up, and there are 
other reasons for believing that the valley now crossed by this 
Moss once formed an estuary or embouchure of a river. The 
remains of various ancient animals have also repeatedly been 
found, im some instances converted imto adipocere,—a substance 
so named from its resemblance to bog tallow or butter. By a 
little expenditure of engineering skill, this huge morass might 
be drained and converted into a fertile valley ; but the proprietors 
—of whom there are not a few—have never been able to agree 
as to the details. 
The bottom of the basin is intersected by the Nith, on the 
banks of which and in the centre of the basin lies the town of 
Dumfries. The country immediately round the town is well 
protected from winds, especially from the north and east. 
The climate of Dumfries is very moist, and is usually felt ener- 
vating by strangers, and is found to predispose to various pul- 
monary and intestinal disorders. 
This great moisture of the atmosphere is sufficiently indicated 
by the abundance and luxuriance of cryptogamic vegetation in 
the district, which is very rich in lichens, mosses, ferns, and 
fungi. The trees are frequently heavy with Ramalinas, Evernias, 
and other lichens, the walls are loaded with mosses, and the 
roadsides are profusely ornamented with ferns. I had no oppor- 
tunity of studying the algze of the district. 
Of wood plants, the rare Gagea lutea grows in thousands in a 
wood on the roadside near the Grove, along with fine specimens 
of Lathrea squamaria. On underground portions of the stem, 
and on the roots of the common Broom, in the wood at the 
Craigs, the Orobanche major grows to a great height, and in con- 
siderable abundance—many specimens reaching upwards of two 
or two and half feet ; in such circumstances it is a strong, tall, 
stately plant. In the same shady wood the graceful Melica uni- 
flora is abundant. 
On all the roadsides Jasione montana is in great profusion. 
Viola odorata grows on the side of a loaning leading from the 
Glencaple road to the New Quay. Poterium Sanguisorba grows 
