514 GLEANINGS IN WEST GALWAY. [AugUSt, 



Tribes had no great attractions for tlie botanist, I found, how- 

 ever, that some votaries of Thespis, who were going to exercise 

 their art at Chfden, had engaged all the seats on the car ; and I 

 was of necessity left behind. To make the best of my disappoint- 

 ment, T strolled towards some strange- looking, grey-coloured 

 knolls, lying to the north-west of the town, and not far from the 

 south-eastern shore of Lough Corrib. These I found to consist 

 of a compact granulated limestone, or, more properly, ^marble, 

 furnishing a capital material both for ornamental work and for 

 building. The supply is inexhaustible, as the Avhole country 

 round seems to be nothing but marble. This limestone lies for 

 the most part quite bare and barren ; but in its hollows, Avhere 

 soil has been collected, it has a rich native and artificial vege- 

 tation. I observed, plentifully. Geranium sanguineum, L., nearly 

 past flowering, and a variety of G. robertianmn, L., with white 

 flowers and very dark green leaves. Also Rosa villosa, L., and, 

 in damp spots, Hippuris vulgaris, L., Rubia peregrina, L., Galium 

 boreale, L., and Asperula cynanchica, L., were all plentiful. Eu- 

 phrasia gracilis, Fr., of the London Catalogue, was abundant, but 

 I understand that Mr. Babingtou refuses to admit its claim to 

 specific honours. It grows in company with the ordinary E. 

 officinalis, L., and may at least claim to be a well-marked variety. 

 Ceterach qfficinarum, Willd., grows luxuriantly in the chinks of 

 the marble rock. The only specimen which I collected was too 

 large for my paper, and had to be reduced in size to render it 

 available for the herbarium. Its pinnse were not simply rounded 

 but much sinuated. 



My next attempt to get to Clifden was more successful. 

 Between Galway and Oughterard I observed the Ceterach occa- 

 sionally growing on old walls. Beyond the latter place I was 

 able to collect a few plants of Pinguicula lusitanica, L. ; Peplis 

 Portula, L., I found in a small stream on the roadside ; Carduus 

 pratensis, Huds., appeared in several places ; Pastinaca saliva, L., 

 in cultivated grounds; and Cladium Mariscus, '"^Br.," in the 

 small lakes near Ballynahinch. The same evening, after reaching 

 Clifden, I had time for a short walk on the hill behind the 

 Orphan Nursery, and found Rosa Sabini, Woods, several Rubi, 

 among which was, so far as I could make out, R. imbricatus, 

 Hort. Carduus pratensis, Huds., was abundant; and Men- 

 ziesia polifolia, Juss., the prevailing plant of the district, was 



