1T4 Anniversary Address. 



Mr. Mitchell, one of the members ; but not a single plant 

 could be seen by the party ; and it is to be regretted, that 

 this noble fern appears to be entirely extirpated in this pic- 

 turesque locality. The ruthless manner in which plant- 

 fanciers, and even some botanists pounce upon rare plants, 

 especially ferns, tends to destroy some of our choicest floral 

 treasures. From this cause, the Asplenium septentrionale is 

 becoming scarce on Kyloe Craggs ; indeed most of the acces- 

 sible specimens have been carried off; fortunately, however, 

 several plants remain in the higher cliffs of this basaltic range. 

 Botanists imbued with proper feeling, rather than enrich their 

 Herbariums at the risk of extirpating rare plants, will leave 

 them ' to bloom on their ain native braes.' 



The party saw the waterfall to advantage, for the burn, 

 swollen with the late rains, poured over the cliff, in an un- 

 broken sheet, into the Linn below. After viewing the mys- 

 terious written rock they wended their way back to Ford, but 

 failed to notice any plants or animals, but what are common. 

 The Rev. J. Baird, however, on his way to the meeting dis- 

 covered Silene noctiflora, in great abundance, in the sandy 

 fields through which the road passes between the Red Scaur 

 Bridge and the Fentons. 



A larger party, under the guidance of the Rev. Delaval 

 Knight, proceeded to Ford Church and Castle and thence to 

 Etal. 



After leaving Etal Castle, the party were ferried across 

 the Till and strolled onward to Brankston, enjoying the fine- 

 ness of the day and beguiling the time by keen, though 

 friendly, discussions on Darwin's new work on the origin of 

 species, on the succession of rocks along the borders, on the 

 primaeval relics of man, and on the wonderful history of the 

 formation of coal. The tenor of our thoughts was changed 

 on our arrival at Brankston, where we were hospitably enter- 

 tained by the Rev. Robert Jones, from whom we received full 

 and accurate information respecting the site of the battle of 

 Flodden. Mr. Jones now became our guide. For a short 

 time we turned aside to see the little church of Brankston, a 

 greater portion of which was not long ago rebuilt. Most of 



