352 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



On 14th January 



Rev. Canon Macllwaine, D.D., President in the chair — a 

 paper, entitled " A Trip from Galway to Dingle," was read by Mr. 

 S. A. Stewart, Fellow Botanical Society, Edinburgh. 



In this paper the author gave an account of a trip during 

 the latter part of last July from Galway to Dingle. The first halt 

 was at the Burren of Clare, situated on the south side of Galway 

 Bay, which exhibits a singular geological structure. It is an 

 elevated country, whose strata consists of Carboniferous limestone, 

 the hills displaying in most cases series of rock terraces reaching 

 from the base to the summit. These terraces are commonly as 

 flat as our Post Office steps, and their height varies from one foot 

 to six or eight feet. The rocks are split up by innumerable joints, 

 with fissures from one or two inches to two feet wide, filled with a 

 rich soil derived from the decomposition of plants, and of the 

 limestone rock. It is in these fissures that the greater portion of 

 the vegetation of the hills is found, and they afford a rich crop to the 

 botanist, some of the rarest members of the Irish flora being found 

 in them. Mr. Stewart succeeded in finding the maidenhair fern (A. 

 capillus-veneris) growing luxuriantly on Blackhead. This is the 

 original locality from whence the maidenhair fern was brought to 

 Dublin for sale 150 years since. Extremely fine plants of the 

 scaly harts tongue fern ( Ceterach officinarufri) were also obtained, 

 and the rare orchid, Epipactis ovalis, was found in some plenty, 

 with many other scarce plants. The cliffs of Moher were also 

 visited. They rise perpendicularly to the height of 660 feet, and 

 are tenanted by innumerable sea-birds. The mountain pansy 

 ( Viola luted), the true giant of Hudson, was found plentifully on 

 the short pastures. At Tralee, where another halt was made, 

 Ranunculus Baudottii was found in brackish marshes near the 

 harbour. Three days were spent on the Dingle promontory, a 

 district which combines so many attractions — geological, botanical, 



