1/2 An Account of the Excursions (1909). [Sess. 



touched mechanically transferring the stimulus to the irritable 

 pulvini, which respond in movement. 



In the stamens of Barberry, Opuntia, and Centaurea seis- 

 monic irritability is localised in a particular area of the organ. 

 The epidermal cells over this area are furnished with special 

 papillae, — " touch - papillae " of Haberlandt, — which facilitate 

 the reception of the stimulus by the protoplasm of the cells. 



In conclusion, what strikes one as noteworthy on a con- 

 sideration of the subject of plant sense-organs is not that 

 plants possess such organs at all, but that so remarkably high 

 a degree of sensitiveness should be correlated with what are, 

 when compared with the elaborate organs in animals, such 

 extremely simple mechanisms. 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXCURSIONS {1909). 

 By The President. 



The first field excursion this season was to Newcraighall pit 

 of the Mddrie and Benhar Coal Company. Mr Clark, an 

 official of the Company, conducted the party down the pit 

 and explained the working arrangements below ; while Mr 

 Day gave an account of the geology of the district. A 

 fortnight later there was a joint Geological excursion with 

 the Dunfermline ^Naturalists' Society to North Queensferry. 

 Mr Day described the Dolerite quarries, and pointed out the 

 jointing and weathering, &c., of these rocks. The new rail- 

 way cutting at Limpetness was afterwards visited, and the 

 sandstone, shale, and volcanic tuff there exposed were ex- 

 amined. A search was made in the quarries for minerals, 

 and several good specimens were secured. Another Geological 

 excursion was to the Comiston sand-pit, where Mr Day pointed 

 out the section of the stratified drift, and the large boulder, 

 consisting of a cake of Andesite lava, resting on the drift. 

 The grounds of Mortonhall and the Roman camp there were 

 afterwards visited. (Illustrations of the stratified drift and of 

 the remarkable glacier boulder are given opposite on Plate XIV.) 

 A driving excursion took place the following Saturday to 



