XIV PROCEEDINGS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
who would thereby acquire a right to interfere in our affairs, which 
would not only be extremely undesirable but very injurious. Instead, 
therefore, of bringing forward—perhaps ineffectually—any claim that 
we suppose ourselves to have, it will be much better to wait till private 
beneficence puts us in unhampered possession of the funds which we 
so much need for the increase of our Museum space and for an 
endowment in the support of the Museum. I may be pardoned if I 
here recapitulate some of the statements I made in former addresses 
on the subject of the Museum. These are briefly : that some of the 
departments of the Museum are so full that no more specimens can 
be exhibited, and that hence some desirable specimens have had for 
the present to be placed out of sight; that behind the Museum we 
have ample room for extension; that a building to meet all future 
requirements could be erected and, partly at least, furnished for about 
^1700; that the building could be put up and furnished so far as to 
relieve the strain on our present resources for about ^1000. 
That the money will be eventually obtained I am sanguine enough 
to expect. In the meantime, though we cannot exhibit all our 
specimens, we should not relax our endeavours to increase and make 
perfect our collections, and thus be prepared to make a good display 
when the happy day arrives when we shall have the necessary 
accommodation. 
While, as I have said, the past year has not been very eventful, 
yet some matters have occurred in it which deserve a few remarks. 
Amongst other things, the fact has been strikingly emphasised 
that a great deal yet remains to be done in elucidating the Natural 
History of Perthshire. I refer more especially to certain botanical 
discoveries, to which attention has been called at some of our late 
meetings. Now, the study of Botany is no new thing in Perthshire, as 
it was begun very nearly two centuries ago, since which time much 
labour has been expended in investigating the local Flora. It is true 
that the county presents a very wide area for exploration; but if there 
are any two parts of it that ought to be better known than others, 
they are the district round Perth and that which includes the more 
accessible of the Breadalbane hills. And yet the past year has shown 
that we cannot claim to have attained a complete knowledge of even 
their conspicuous plants. If this is the case in districts that have 
been well searched, we may expect that other discoveries will be 
made when the less explored tracts of the county come to be ex¬ 
amined, and this ought to be an incentive to our resident botanists 
to work with increased energy. In connection with this subject I 
may mention that there is some prospect that before very long the 
Flora of Perthshire will be published, although, in view of the dis¬ 
coveries that have been made during the past years, botanists will 
probably agree with me in thinking that there has been some gain in 
the delay that has occurred in the preparation of this work. 
Before quitting the subject of the local Flora, I desire to point 
out that there is one branch of it which has scarcely been attended 
to, and which would probably repay investigation. It is that of the 
local lowland Perthshire names of plants. Of these names we 
scarcely know anything, or at least not nearly so much as we ought 
