2 The Scottish Naturalist. 



Sang having resigned the offices of honorary secretary and 

 treasurer, the thanks of the Union were awarded to him for his 

 services so heartily given during the past years ; and it was re- 

 solved to ask Dr. Buchanan White to accept the duties. 



Professor Heddle, St. Andrews, thereafter discussed the com- 

 position of Agates, which are the product of silica dissolved in 

 water, and subsequently precipitated from the solution. He 

 described and illustrated the agents and processes to which their 

 formation was due, basing his remarks on his own very extensive 

 observations, continued during a period of forty years in various 

 countries. 



The President read a long and exhaustive paper by Mr. W. 

 Chamberlain, Birmingham, on " Noil- Volant Birds," in which 

 he treated of their distribution, past and present, and of the pro- 

 bable causes of their wings being functionless, the most probable 

 cause, in his opinion, being loss of power due to disuse from not 

 having occasion, in oceanic islands, to escape dangers by flight. 



Mr. Forrester, Kirkcaldy, read a paper upon a " Haematite 

 Iron-ore found in the neighbourhood of Kirkcaldy." 

 Other papers presented were— " The Teaching of Natural 

 Science in Public Schools," by Mr. W. S. Blackstock ; an 

 *' Introduction to the Moss-flora of Fife and Kin- 

 ross," by Mr. Charles Howie; "Additional Notes on the 

 Ornithology of the East of Scotland ; by Col. Drummond- 

 Hay ; the " Report for 1888 on the Fungi of the East 

 of Scotland," by Prof. J. W. H. Trail; and " Notes on the 

 Botany of the District around Alford," by Mr. William 

 Wilson. The three latter papers were published in this magazine 

 last October ; and those of Mr. Forrester and Mr. Blackstock 

 will be found elsewhere in our present issue. 



At 6 p.m., the members of the Union were entertained to 

 dinner, in the Hospital Hall, by the Largo Field Naturalists' 

 Society. After a pleasant dinner, the company had a ramble in 

 the grounds of Largo House. 



On Friday an excursion was enjoyed by about fifty ladies and 

 gentlemen. Taking carriages at Lundin Links Station, they 

 visited the standing stones of Lundin and Old Lundin Tower, 

 formerly the residence of the proprietor of the estate, but now 

 used by Mr. Gilmour as a shooting-box. It is situated amidst 

 beautiful surroundings, and commands a wide view of fertile 



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