PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. Ill 
so overpowered with the plethora of riches in plant life that he found 
all around him, that, fearing for the safety of the treasures he had 
collected, he was obliged to retreat to the lowlands. Then the 
equipment of the members was equally varied. One enthusiastic 
cleric (to whom any form of plant life—flower, lichen, or moss— 
seemed equally acceptable) carried two vasculums; one gallant 
member, who heretofore had contented himself with a basket, was 
furnished with a vasculum whose gigantic size struck awe into the 
soul of every beholder; while yet another, whose object was explora¬ 
tion rather than the acquisition of specimens, marched free from any 
impedimenta. 
The first day was devoted to the exploration of Craig-na-Caillich 
and adjacent hills. In the annals of Scottish alpine botany Craig-na- 
Caillich is a classical hill. In Lightfoot’s Flora Scotica it is frequently 
mentioned, no doubt because Stuart, the minister of Killin, to whom 
Lightfoot expresses himself indebted for so much, frequently visited 
it. It is probable, therefore, that on it many of our alpine plants 
were first gathered in Scotland. It has always seemed to me curious 
that, while Stuart explored so many of the hills near Killin, he seems 
scarcely, if ever, to have gone to Ben Lawers, the richest of all our 
hills, and not so far away as some of the hills that appear to have 
been favourites of his. Indeed, the mention of Ben Lawers as a 
locality is not frequent till near the end of the eighteenth century. 
The rarest plant noticed on this day was the lovely and very rare 
Gentiana nivalis , with flowers of the most intense blue, at the well- 
known locality for it on Catjaghiaman. 
The next day was spent, in driving mist and rain, on Ben Lawers 
—a day of darkness and cold, but not unprofitable so far as plants 
were concerned. On the summit of Ben Lawers, in a spot of barren 
desolation, with scarcely another plant to keep it company, dwells 
the little Saxifraga cernua , in its only British locality. Unlike many 
other of the Ben Lawers rarities, it does not seem to be diminishing 
very much in quantity, though, unless botanists are very careful, it 
may be easily exterminated. Many other Ben Lawers plants are, 
I am sorry to say, becoming very rare. 
Larig-an-Lochan and the Cam Creag range of hills formed the 
field of another day’s labours. One of the chief rarities of the Larig 
is Woodsia hyperborea . Unfortunately, too many fern collectors 
know of this locality, and hence the plant has been reported as ex¬ 
tinct there; but those who know where to look for it, can always, 
and probably will always be able to, find it. I need not say that we 
were very careful not to make it rarer. 
Amongst a number of interesting plants got on this day, two 
species may be specially mentioned. One is a willow, Salix 
lanata , whose headquarters in Britain are Glen Callater and Caen- 
lochan. In Perthshire a single bush of it was long ago reported 
to grow on one of the Glenlochay hills, but of late years special 
search for this bush has been unsuccessful, and I was beginning 
to make up my mind that it must be omitted from the Perth¬ 
shire list. The discovery, however, on this day of two or three 
bushes on the Cam Creag hills permits us to retain this very interest- 
