78 
PROCEEDINGS OE THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
botanist otherwise quite ignorant of the botanical or topo¬ 
graphical features of Perthshire much information on 
these subjects. In the lower part of the river he would be 
able to see at once that he was not far from the sea. As 
he approached Perth the various plants by which he had 
recognised his maritime position would be found gradu- 
- ally to disappear, while others—not being natives, but 
the outcasts of gardens and cultivated ground—would 
indicate to him that the country bordering on the river 
was rich in gardens. A little above Perth, his botanical 
knowledge would suggest to him that the river came from 
a district containing mountains of a considerable height, as 
he would note here and there specimens of alpine plants 
that had been brought down by the stream and taken root 
in favourable situations, while at the same time he would 
find indications that further up the river were more 
gardens and cultivated ground. Nor would an observant 
zoologist or geologist tread the river banks in vain. To 
them also these overflow with facts full of instruction to 
those trained to read them aright. 
The river at Logierait may be taken as a fair sample 
of what the Tay is in its upper reaches. Without 
particularizing localities, the river banks in this part of 
the course of the Tay may be described as presenting in 
succession four chief kinds of ground, varying somewhat 
in their local characteristics. It must be remembered 
that we are dealing only with the banks proper, i.e., the 
ground between the fields and the water. In the first 
place, we find wide stretches of shingle, more or less 
overflowed by the river when in flood, and then sometimes 
forming islands. The lower and newer parts of these 
consist of water-worn stones only, but in the higher and 
older portions sand and humus is mingled with the stones, 
and a scanty vegetation begins to appear. And this vege¬ 
tation is full of suggestive instruction to the thinking 
botanist, for here he may see not only how one class of 
plants prepares the ground for another, which eventually 
supplants the first, to be in turn supplanted; but he may 
form an idea of the manner in which the whole country 
was peopled with plants at the close of the last glacial 
epoch. In the second place, we find wide flat grassy 
haughs, formed probably by the accumulation of soil on 
the top of the shingles, and more or less overgrown with 
vegetation of a more bushy or arboreal nature. Thirdly, 
steep banks bordered by the fields on one side and by a 
rapid current on the other; and, fourthly, steeper and 
higher banks, sometimes breaking into rocks, and generally 
densely wooded. 
This, then, was the nature of the ground traversed 
and that it was sufficiently rich in vegetation may 
be learnt from the fact that—even at this compara¬ 
tively early season—nearly two hundred kinds of flowering 
plants and ferns were noted. Of these a few may be 
mentioned:—Globe Flower (Trollius europceus); Colum¬ 
bine ( Aquilegia vulgaris), often an escape, but sometimes 
found native; Blue Lupin (Lupinus perennis), a North 
American plant now beginning to become naturalised on 
the banks of some of the rivers of Northern Scotland; 
Alpine Lady’s Mantle ( Alckemilla alpina); Potentilla pro- 
cwribens, Saxifraga aizoides, Galium borealc , Veronica 
montana, Cowslip (Primula officinalis) in countless 
numbers. Though so common here, yet the cowslip is a 
scarce plant in many parts of Scotland. Oxyria reni- 
forrnis. Polygonum viviparum, Moonwort (Botrychium 
lunaria), Ecpiisetum pratense, &c. The rarest plant of the 
day was the whorled-leaved Solomon’s Seal (Polygonaturn 
verticillatum), a plant found in only four or five places in 
Britain. In the locality where it was seen on Saturday it 
was discovered some years ago by an Associate of the 
Society, Mr Charles M'Intosh, Inver. 
Owing to the clouded sky, the zoologists of the party 
found less to do than the botanists. The ornithologists 
were interested in watching the behaviour of the numerous 
oyster-catchers (Hcematopus ostralegus) which inhabit 
this part of the Tay, and whose wild cries resounded far 
and near, mingled with those of the lapwing (Vanellus 
cristatus) and sandpiper (Totanus hypoleucus), while now 
again from the woods came the melodious note of the 
cuckoo. Numerous sand-martins (Cotile riparia) flitted 
over the river, and an occasional grey wagtail (Motacilla 
melanope) flew across the stream. 
The entomologists found occupation in beating the 
juniper bushes for the caterpillars of the somewhat rare 
Thera juniperata, while to their nets fell specimens of 
Emmelesia albulata, Eupcecilia ciliella, Grapholitha uli- 
cetana, Botys fuscalis, and other insects. 
July 1st. 
2. To Doune and Blairdrummond Moss. 
On this occasion the Society went further afield than 
usual, and, leaving the basin of the Tay, explored part 
of the basin of the Forth, which, though in Perthshire, 
is yet in other respects beyond the district to which 
the main work of the Society is restricted. The place 
selected for examination was Blairdrummond Moss, so 
well known in connection with the “reclaiming” opera- 
