lxxxviii PROCEEDINGS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
The first official excursion was, as usual, held on the Queen's 
Birthday; for an account of it I am indebted to Mr R. Dow, as I 
was unable to attend it myself. Since it was too early in the season 
for much botanising, the excursion was devoted chiefly to a study of 
the geological phenomena of the district visited, which was the lower 
part of Glen Turret. Guided by Mr. M‘Nair, who had come specially 
all the way from Glasgow for the purpose, the party went some distance 
up the Barvick Burn, which cuts through huge masses of intrusive 
porphyritic rocks. Leaving the Barvick, the party crossed the bridge 
which separates it from the Turret, of which it is a tributary. On the 
descent into the Turret valley a fine section of the Old Red Sandstone 
was examined. The beds rise almost perpendicularly, being on the 
line of the Great Fault which crosses Scotland from Stonehaven to 
the Clyde. Further up the Turret the Highland Schists were met with. 
No special plants were noticed, but the great luxuriance with which 
Luzula maxima grows on both banks of the stream attracted attention. 
With regard to this plant, which is not uncommon and often abund¬ 
ant in suitable places throughout Scotland, it is curious that Lightfoot 
in “ Flora Scotica ” mentions two localities only, one near Edinburgh, 
the other at Killin. It is not for a moment credible that we have 
here an instance of what some plants fas, e.g., Veronica persica) shove, 
namely, a wonderful increase in the range of distribution. It is in¬ 
teresting only as an example of how a common and conspicuous plant 
can be overlooked. 
The next excursion was on 7th June, and was the first occasion of 
several on which the new Glenfarg railway was utilised for botanical 
purposes. Starting from Glenfarg Station (or Damhead) we made 
our way to Loch Whir, a small lakelet on the Ochils to the west of 
Damhead. On the way thither great beds of the pretty Viola lutea 
attracted attention and admiration. Loch Whir itself was disappoint¬ 
ing. It is almost choked up with the common Carex rostrata , but 
also contains a few patches of the local Carex filiformis . On the 
outcropping rocks in its neighbourhood Sagma subulata was common, 
as it is in many places throughout these hills where the rock comes 
to the surface. Leaving the Loch, we ascended a hill called on the 
Ordnance Map Cairn Geddes, but I have not been able to find out the 
origin of this name. The top of the hill is covered with irregular 
heaps of stones. We then turned westwards and descended through 
gorgeous masses of yellow whin (which, rising out of the brown 
heather, made a fine spectacle) to a little marsh which was found to 
be rather prolific. The most interesting flowering plants it contained 
were two local sedges, Carex disticha and Carex teretiuscula , but the 
chief find was a rare and beautiful moss— Hypnnm nitetis —not, I 
think, previously found in Perthshire. The honour of detecting it 
belongs to Mr. Meldrum. Near this spot also the nest and eggs of 
the Golden Plover were observed. A stretch of a mile or two 
across the hills brought us to the Kelty Burn—a tributary of the May. 
Descending this burn several noticeable plants were seen; Carex dis¬ 
ticha was more abundant than we have seen it elsewhere in the 
county; Arena pratensis occurred, and both Cratcegus Oxyacantha 
and Ulmus montana either in a wild or self-sown condition. Salix 
