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



Cuilceagh Mountain, which rises to over 2,100 feet, is capped 

 with massive beds of sandstone, and the summit is a tolerably 

 level ridge of rock, extending for nearly three miles, bounded 

 by low and uneven cliffs. This mountain is called Quilca by 

 the older writers, and was of more importance form^erly. On 

 its summit the MacGuires were usually crowned kings of Fer- 

 managh, and its lower slopes yielded iron ore, which was 

 smelted and made into bar iron at Swanlinbar. The forests 

 which afforded the fuel are long since cut down, and the iron 

 manufacture has ceased in this district. The botany of the 

 district possesses some interesting features, though the number 

 of rare plants is less than might have been expected. One or 

 two are new to the Irish flora. A full list of the species met 

 with will shortly be published by the Royal Irish Academy. 



Mr. Stewart apologised for the desultory nature of his notes, 

 and said — "My justification is to be found in the practice of the 

 club. We are amateurs, having some acquaintance, more or 

 less, with the methods and system of nature. We don't make 

 profession of profound knowledge of science, nor do we wish to 

 become martyrs in her cause ; but, while plodding on our way 

 through life, we may make it all the more enjoyable by ob- 

 serving the exquisite arrangement of our surroundings ; and 

 we may occasionally be rewarded by adding a mite, however 

 small, to the general stock of the knowledge possessed by man- 

 kind." 



A number of members made comments on Mr. Stewart's 

 paper, after which Mr. Gray showed a specimen of waterworn 

 sandstone, which simulates remarkably the form of the human 

 leg and foot. This specimen was found in the boulder clay, 

 near Dundonald, and has been referred to in the local papers, 

 without investigation, as a wonderful human fossil. Such 

 curious resemblances are frequently met with, and are puzzling 

 to the inexperienced ; but it is scarcely necessary to remind the 

 members that petrifactions such as this are not found in any 

 geological formation, and that the specimen in question would 

 astonish the scientific world if it were anything more than an 

 accidental coincidence. 



