£;86 [Pro*. B.N.F.C. 



4th August. 



GLENAVY. 

 The fifth meeting of the session was held at Glenavy 

 and the shore of Lough Neagh. A large party left Belfast, 

 and were joined by members from Lisburn, Antrim, &c. The 

 walk from Glenavy Railway Station to Lough Neagh — a dis- 

 tance of about two miles — was undertaken under the most 

 favourable conditions, and was highly appreciated by the party, 

 not only as an interesting country ramble, but also for the 

 excellent opportunities it afforded for the practical study of so 

 many of the subjects it is the special function of the naturalists 

 to investigate. Deviating from the country road, the party 

 entered Glenconway, and for some distance traced the banks of 

 Glenavy River. The latter was very much swollen by the 

 recent rains, and presented sheets of water that added very 

 much to the beauty of the varied scenery along its winding 

 course. Here the photographers made some records, and the 

 entomologists some captures, while the botanists were by no 

 means idle. 



The eastern margin of Lough Neagh, with its sandy borders, 

 possesses a varied and very interesting land flora. The aquatic 

 and subaquatic plants of its waters and neighbouring drains 

 add considerable interest, and constitute a region most attrac- 

 tive to the botanist. The River Glen yields a good many of 

 the silvern species. Here the melic grass (Melica uniflovd) was 

 found in profusion and very luxuriant. The yellow loosetrife 

 {Lysimachia vulgaris), one of the many pretty lacustrine plants, 

 was met with on the lake shore ; more like a garden species, it 

 was conspicuous by reason of its brilliant heads of yellow 

 flowers. In the lough and adjacent pools one of the rarer 

 pondweeds was found {Potomogeton heterophyllus) ; it was 

 very abundant, but out of flower. The unusual high water of 

 the lake prevented the collecting of charas. The cow wheat 

 {Melampyrum pratense) was found on the roadside going to the 

 lake. An otherwise unattractive roadside wall furnished the 



