1897-98] 4 10 - 



thence to the lower slopes of Divis Mountain and to Crow Glen. 

 Leaving the Ballygomartin road and striking upwards past 

 Glencairn and Glendivis, the way was by the western branch 

 of the Forth River. The botanists of the party descended to 

 see a rare saxifrage which grows on the banks of the stream. 

 This is Saxifraga genm, a plant of Western Europe, which is 

 nowhere native in the British Isles, save in the extreme South- 

 West of Ireland. On this spot on the Forth River, however, it 

 grows spontaneously, and is said to have grown there for many 

 years. Its origin is doubtless some garden in the vicinity, but 

 if it holds its own in this locality it must ultimately be admitted 

 to a place in our flora as a naturalised plant. Proceeding 

 onward to the base of Divis the party struck off to the east, and 

 in a few minutes reached the narrow rocky gorge of Crow Glen, 

 known to botanists for its varied flora, and to local geologists 

 for its fine section of the secondary rocks. The series displayed 

 include the Keuper Marls, Lower Greensand, and Upper Chalk, 

 capped with the eruptive basalt that usually crowns the hills of 

 Antrim. A halt was made at a fine section of the yellow sand- 

 stone of the Hibernian greensand, and a search was made for 

 specimens of its fossil fauna. Worm tubes of more than one 

 species were found in the sandstone, and some indifferent 

 molluscan remains, but nothing of special interest. The 

 sterile stems of Equisetum pratense were recognised growing in 

 the glen, this being one of our rarest horsetails. Further to 

 the east the party were led to the ancient souterrain or artificial 

 cave, which was previously visited by the Club some years 

 since. It is much more accessible now, the accumulated 

 rubbish having been to some extent cleared away, displaying 

 the rough stone walls and roof of large stone slabs. Crow 

 Glen is one of the stations for the rare landshells, Helix 

 arbustorum and the beautiful little Acme lineata and its var. 

 alba. 



