THE EXCURSIONS will be led by Mr. Chris. A. Cheetham, who writes 
as follows : — The old-world town of Dent offers much of interest to the 
archaeologist in its houses, traditions and customs. On Saturday we shall 
take the river side footpaths upstream from Dent bridge ; for a mile and a 
half the river traverses a flat strath, where it has been confined to its bed 
by high banks. In some places streams have been carried on high banks 
to join the river. The whole effort must have entailed a great deal of 
labour, but the fertile land gained in this way has been well repaid, and 
to-day cattle from Dentdale fetch the best prices and have the highest 
reputation for healthiness in the county in spite of the somewhat primitive 
type of shippon to be found here. Our County veterinary officials have 
noticed this anomaly. It will be interesting to see how the meadow plants 
behave on this fertile land. The river and its banks here carry the flora and 
fauna of an upland valley. Further along the stream runs in a limestone 
gorge, and the cliffs bear mosses and plants of a different type. At times 
the river sinks under ground except at flood times, and these dry beds 
should interest the zoologists. 
Flinters Ghyll will repay a scramble up the stream the next morning, and 
after lunch the road here and on to the Crag will give the moorland 
plants and animals. On these moors there are some boggy mosses, and at 
a little tarn the black headed gulls often nest. On Monday the path down- 
stream will be taken to the bridge where the Sedbergh road crosses the river. 
On the river side the bryologists should try and rediscover G. Stabler’s Ash 
tree, on which grows Habrodon Notarisii. 
We shall then walk on to Helmside Ghyll, crossing the Dent fault on 
the way. This is a deep steep-sided cleft in the older Limestone of Silurian 
age. Here the geologists will find much to interest them, as there are 
several igneous dykes traversing this Coniston limestone. 
Bryologists will be interested in seeing if any mosses have picked out 
these igneous rocks or the altered rock in contact with them. One of our 
small feather mosses, Eurhynchium Teesdalei. grows on the limestone here. 
The slippery steep sides may provide a foothold for plants not seen in other 
parts of the area. The limestone and other Silurian rocks above are fossili- 
ferous. We have very few places in the county on this type of limestone, 
and the fauna and flora of this ghyll seem to have been neglected. 
LICHENS. — Mr. W. E. L. Wattam writes : — This class of plants is 
well represented. Among the species recorded are Collema furvum Ach., 
Cetraria islandica Ach., Alectoria jubata Nyl., Physcia obscura Nyl., P. 
Ciliaris DC., Lecanora subfusca Nyl., Pertusaria lactea Nyl., Gyrophora 
polyphylla Hook, G. cylindrica Ach., Lecidia lithophila Ach., Rhizocavpon 
geographicum DC., Gr aphis scvipta Ach., Dermatocarpon lachneum A. L. Sm., 
and Melanotheca gelatinosa Nyl. Record references are Mr. Albert Wilson’s 
notes in The Naturalist, 1922, p. 398, and 1924, pp. 49-50, and my own notes 
in the same journal for 1921, pp. 276-7, and Y.N.U. Circular No. 143. 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION.— The Field Meeting of the Plant Galls 
Committee and other Committees of this Section coincides with this Meeting 
at Dent and a good attendance is desired ; further details will be announced 
in The Naturalist. 
A GENERAL MEETING will be held at Headquarters at 6 p.m. on 
Monday evening for the election of Members and other general business. 
(xi) [P.T.O. 
