32 TOUR TN SCOTLAND. [February, 



common character were growing cheek-by-jowl with the lofty and 

 rare occupants of these awful precipices^ just as is sometimes 

 noticed in every-day life, or on certain occasions, Mr. Snob pre- 

 sumes to ' rub shoulders ' with Mr. Swell, and even assumes to be 

 on familiar terms with him. 



We observed the Tussilago of our clay fields sheltering with 

 her ample leaves the large, puye white blossoms of Our Lady^s 

 Cushion {Saxifraga hypnoides) , and the common Wild Angelica 

 {A. sylvestrisy shooting up its tall stem, and overhanging the 

 beautiful velvety masses of Silene acaulis/ The great Cow Par- 

 snip or Hog-weed, the rank and common plant of our meadows 

 and hedges, was associated on these rocks with the elegant silvery 

 foliage of the Alpine Lady's Mantle. We were very much gra- 

 tified by finding upon these rocky heights Adoxa moschatellina, 

 a plant which had hitherto in our reminiscences been associated 

 with the beautiful rural scenes of England. Here it was flourish- 

 ing in as great perfection as we had ever seen it in the months of 

 March and April under hedges and copses in Surrey and Essex. 



But the most charming occupants of these awfully wild cliffs 

 are Veronica saxatilis and Myosotis suaveolens {M, alpestris). 

 The intense and lovely colour of these floral beauties cannot be 

 described. We had seen them in cultivation; but ^^quantse 

 mutatse ab istis V — "how degenerated V Some enthusiasts say 

 that it "is well worth a long day's journey to get but a look at 

 the large, brilliant blue," but very delicate flowers, of the Alpine 

 Veronica. This season it was pretty plentiful. It does not dry 

 satisfactorily, and consequently makes but a poor object in the 

 herbarium. The Myosotis is quite as pleasant to look at. It 

 has also a larger mass of flowers, and is generally more plentiful. 

 Its home is on the mould that scantily covers the tops of the 

 rocks. The Veronica creeps along on the slanting sides or on 

 the debris which everywhere abounds. The Alpine Mouse-ear 

 {Myosotis) dries very well, and would make no contemptible 

 figure in a lady's album. 



The tufts of Silene acaulis, with its green cushions of matted 

 leaves spread over the face of the rock, and its brilliant pink blos- 

 soms, form about as charming an object as can well be imagined. 

 V Saxifraga oppositifolia hangs in larger festoon-like patches on 

 and over the rocks, but at our visit the flowers were nearly all 

 gone, and the fruit had succeeded. In this state they have lost 



