2«U7.to' >S, ^(off ■ THE NATURAL HISTORY REVIEW. /£ Ut>f. THE NATURAL HISTORY REVIEW: % (liisrferlg Jwmtal, INCLUDING THE TRANSACTIONS THE BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, CORK CUVIERIAN SOCIETY, DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, DUBLIN UNIVERSITY ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, AND THE LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION OF KILKENNY, AUTHOEIZED BY THE COUNCILS OF THESE SOCIETIES. FOR THE SESSIONS 1853-1854. VOL.. J HODGES AND SMITH, GRAFTON-STREET. LONDON: SAMUEL H1GHLEY, 32, FLEET-ST.; S1MPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. EDINBURGH : JOHNSTONE AND HUNTER. 1854. PRICE RIGHT SHILLINGS. DUBLIN : purdon, brothers, steam-press printers, 23, bachelor's-walk. INDEX. A Familiar History of Birds. By E. Stanley, D.D., F.R.S. A Flora and Fauna within Living Animals. By J. Leidy, M.D A History of British Ferns. By E. Newman A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro. By A. R. Wallace Botanical Letters to a Friend. By Dr. F. Unger . Class-book of Botany. By J. H. Balfour, M.D. . Geodephaga Britannica. By J. F. Dawson, LL.B. Himalayan Journals. By J. D. Hooker, M.D. Insecta Britannica. By H. T. Stainton Insecta Maderensia. By T. V. Wollaston, M.A. . Journal of the Geological Society of Dublin My School and Schoolmasters. By H. Miller, LL.D. Nereis Boreali Americana. By W. H. Harvey, M.D. Norway and its Glaciers. By J. D. Forbes, F.R.S. Palm Trees of the Amazon, and their uses. By A. R. Wallace Popular Physical Geology. By J. B. Jukes, M.A., F.R.S. Rambles of a Naturalist on the Devonshire Coast. By P. H. Gosse Terra Lindisfarnensis. By G. Johnston, M.D. The Aquarium. By P. H. Gosse The Entomologist's Companion. By H. T. Stainton The Ferns of Great Britain. By J. E. Sowerby The Micrographic Dictionary The Natural History of the Birds of Ireland. By J. J. Watters The Phytologist and Zoologist The Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club The Sea-side Book. By W. H. Harvey, M.D. Western Himalaya and Tibet. By T. Thompson, M.D. PAGE. 114 5 114 117 127 209 105 57 185 203 201 121 12 41 63 55 46 193 112 202 126 8 19 113 213 199 INDKX. Srnai publications. 11 11 »l »1 )1 11 11 11 Annates des Sciences, Tom. XX., Nos. 1, 2, and 3 . „ „ „ Nos. 4 and 5 „ „ IV. series, Tom. I., Nos. 2 and 3 The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 73, January ; 74, Feb. „ „ „ 75, March „ „ „ 76, April „ 77, May 78, June 79, July 80, August 81, September The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, No. 6, January „ „ „ 7, April » n n 8, July The Zoologist, Nos. 135, January ; 136, February ; 137, March „ 138, April ; 139, May ; 140, June 141, July „ 142, August; 143, September . The Phytologist, No. 152, January „ 153, February ; 154, March . „ 155, April „ 156, May ; 157, June 158, July Hooker's Journal of Botany, Nos. 60, January; 61, February „ „ 62, March „ „ 63, April ; 64, May „ „ 65, June „ „ 66^ July ; 67, August ; 68, September The Naturalist, Nos. 35, January ; 36, February ; 37, March „ 38, April „ 39, May „ 40, June „ 41, July; 42, August „ 43, September Journal of Industrial Progress, No. 1, January ,, „ 2, February ; 3, March » „ 4, April ; 5, May ; 6, June it „ 7, July ; 8, August ; 9, September PACJE. 64 128 214 65 66 128 130 214 215 216 218 66 131 219 68 132 219 220 68 69 133 221 222 70 71 134 223 224 72 134 135 136 225 226 71 72 136 226 INDEX. vii $»top at 3mttm. Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, October 26, Nov. 16, 1853 „ „ „ November 30, 1853 ,, „ „ December 14, December 21,1853 . „ „ „ January 25, February 1 March 8, March 22, 1854 April 5, April 12, 1854 June 21, 1854 Cork Cuvierian Society, April 5, 1854 . Dublin Natural History Society, December 9, 1853 „ ,, January 13, 1854 , „ „ February 10, 1854 „ „ March 10, 1854 . „ „ April 7, 1854 „ „ May 12, 1854 „ „ June 16, 1854 Dublin University Zoological Association, October 22, 1853 „ „ „ November 5, 1853 November 19, 1853 December 3, 1853 December 17, 1853 January 21, 1854 „ „ „ February 11, 1854 „ „ „ March 4, 1854 „ „ „ March 25, April 15, May 6, 1854 May 27, 1854 „ „ ,, June 17, 1854 Entomological Society of London (from the " Zoologist''), December 5, 1853 Literary and Scientific Institution of Kilkenny, December 9, 1853 „ „ „ February 15, 1854 „ „ „ March 31, 1854 . „ „ „ April 28, 1854 . „ „ „ May 26, 1854 . » J> 5J M ?» >» )1 >1 PAGE. 20 21 INDEX. Mm of lajm rai at % ftfond ftatmfl*. PAGE. Professor Allman, M.D., M.R.I.A., F.R.S., &c. . . .26 Dr. Andrews . . 137 W. Andrews, M.R.I.A. 25, 26 , 76, 156, 229, 230 Dr. Ball, M.R.I.A., &c. 91, 98, 237 Dr. Boole . 229 Dr. Carte . 161 W. Carte . 92 Dr. Dickie, Professor Quec n's College . 20 Dr. C. Farran 149, 236 W. J. Ffennell 30, 139 A. Furlong . 34 Rev. J. Graves . 38 Rev. J. Greene 165, 238 A. H. Haliday . 244 A. R. Hogan . 32, 88, 93, 98 Rev. A. Irvine . 244 Dr. Keating . . 174 Dr. J. R. Kinahan 23, 77, 81 , 87, 142, 150, 235 J%H. Lamprey . 91 J. W. Lea . 30 R. H. Meade . . . 160 Rev. J. Mease . 247 Professor M'Coy . 73 W. Millen . 138 R. J. Montgomery . 148 J. J. Murphy . . 137 R. Patterson . - 74,138 J. S. Porter . . 21 J. G. Robertson 102, 169, 174 G. Sanders . 79 R. H. S. Smith . 163 A. OT>. Taylor 73, 227 E. Waller . 84 S. Waring . 176 J. 0. Westwood . 32 R. P. Williams, M.R.I.A. 148, 157 E. P. Wright . . 95 R. Young . 20 THE NATURAL HISTORY REVIEW, Jjkfcafe, Rambles of a Naturalist on the Devonshire Coast. By Philip Henry Gosse, F.L.S., &c. London : John Van Voorst. Price 21s. More than half a century has elapsed since Gilbert White was laid in the quiet little churchyard at Selborne, where a slight heave of the turf still marks the resting-place of the naturalist and the philosopher, and the remark of the learned Warden of Merton College, respecting his " Natural History of Selborne," " that the time will come when very few who buy books will be without it" has been amply verified. Few have read it without feeling a deep sympathy with the pursuits of its pure-minded and gentle author ; and, as might have been expected, its frequent publication has exercised a strong influence on the minds of those who wish to discover the good and beautiful in all that meet and surround them. With the lapse of years a great change has taken place in the estimation in which the naturalist is held ; his pursuits are no longer looked on as eccentric or visionary, but he finds himself surrounded by "a galaxy of congenial spirits, engaged in the same or congenerous studies, and, so far from having to bear up against the ridicule which, at no late period, might have been the lot of his predecessors, he will find, at least, a tacit acquiescence in the becomingness of his studies, and a forbearance from all censure that might fray the most sensitive." This change of feeling has operated most favour- ably in drawing forth a crowd of observers — men who keenly feel all the beauties of nature and love to describe them, who invest the objects of their study with an individuality calculated to interest even the most indifferent. We would not wish even to appear to undervalue the labours of the sys- tematic naturalist. We entertain a very high estimate of the powers of // VOL. I. B 2 REVIEWS. mind and the close application required by those who study to separate genus from genus, and species from species, to arrange the too often dis- jointed and chaotic mass presented to them by the mere observer ; but we confess our sympathies are with those who prefer to make acquaintance with the living and not the dead — who draw their descriptions, not from the distorted caricatures which disgrace our museums, but who love to woo nature in her wildest retreats, and who present portraits which bear stamped upon them the impress of the originals. To this class of observers belongs the author of the " Rambles of a Naturalist on the Devonshire Coast" Mr. Gosse has long since won a high name as an acute observer, and his reputation as a most agreeable writer is already so well established, that a work from his pen need only be announced to be gladly welcomed by a large circle of admirers ; and the present will ably support the pre- vious character of its talented author. It contains much curious informa- tion respecting the lower forms of animal life, derived from close observa- tion, and the investigations recorded in its pages are of the highest interest to the naturalist, particularly those connected with the development and embryology of the zoophytes, and the varied forms and curious properties of the Thread-capsules in the Polypes and Medusae. Many of these are accompanied by illustrations, of which the volume contains twenty-eight, twelve of which are printed in colours, and very accurately depict some of the rarer organisms described in its pages. Among the animals figured is one of more than ordinary elegance of form, which Mr. Gosse, believing to be undescribed, named Johnstonella-Catharina, in honour of Mrs. Johnston, whose skilful pencil has so ably depicted many of our native zoophytes. We regret to rob Mrs. Johnston of so graceful a compliment ; but the ani- mal figured has long been known as Tomopteris onisciformis, and a very able memoir has appeared of its structure, by Grube, in Muller's Archiv. for 1848. It is an animal very widely distributed, having been frequently captured in the Southern Pacific. The circumstances under which this work was penned render it pecu- liarly interesting ; it is a record of how an invalid passed his forced leisure — M A mirror of the thoughts and feelings which occupied the mind of the writer during a nine months' residence on the charming shores of North and South Devon ! Pursuing an occupation which always possesses new delight — the study of the curious forms, and still more curious instincts of animated beings." When obliged to leave London, by the recommendation of his medical attendants, the instincts of a true naturalist led Mr. Gosse to seek renewed health and strength " among the shells and nudibranches, the sea anemones and corallines of fair Devonshire." By the advice of a friend, the village REVIEWS. 3 of Marychurch was selected for his temporary residence, where, with his favourite text-books and microscope, our author soon prepared to make acquaintance with its coves and inlets, their dark pools and hollows, their sea-weeds and zoophytes. But we must give a description of a " Devon- shire Lane," as it appeared in the end of January, 1852 : — " No frosts had as yet sullied the verdure of the hedge banks, or nipped the shrubs in the sweet cottage gardens. Indeed, frost seems here almost unknown, if we may- judge by the myrtles, dressed in their glossy foliage of deepest green, reaching up to the eaves of the houses, and the fuchsias, not always of the most common varieties, whose thick, roughened trunks have evidently braved the open air through many winters. The high, sloping banks were everywhere fringed with the long, pendent fronds of the hartstongue fern, the broad, arrowy leaves of the wake-robin, glossy and black spotted, and great tufts of the fetid iris, a rare plant elsewhere, were springing up from all the ditches. Strange, warm, damp lanes, winding and turning about, ever opening into some other lane, that again presenting into another, and all ap- parently leading no where, with the little birds hopping fearlessly about the hedge- tops and trees overhead, the robin sweetly singing, the tiny gold crest peeping into crevices of the ivy, the yellowhammer and the chaffinch in their gay plumage twittering almost within reach of your hand ! And ever and anon we pass some thatched cottage in the sheltered bottom, its little garden in front trimly kept, and still bright with the blossoms of the chrysanthemums, the trailing roses over the porch, displaying a lingering flower or two, and the indispensable myrtle peeping in at the chamber lattice *****. Early violets were beginning to peep from their lowly retreats, and very soon we found them in plenty, and the delicate, pale, yellow primroses bespangled every bank." Such a description we would gladly linger over ; but, in justice to our readers, we must pass on to some more of those living pictures, lovely alike to the eye and heart, with which Mr. Gosse's pages overflow. It is not only when describing the lovely lane scenery that Mr. Gosse waxes elo- quent— there flows all through his book the same keen appreciation of the beautiful — the same power of, as it were, identifying his own feelings with those of his readers, and transporting them to the visions of beauty he loves to describe. Look, what a picture for the naturalist, this description of the Rock-pool, at Oddicombe, presents : — " It is a deep, oval, cup-like cavity, about a yard wide in the longest diameter, and of the same depth, hewn out, as it were, from the solid limestone, with as clean a surface as if a stone mason had been at work there. It is always full of water, and, except when a heavy sea is rolling in, of brilliant clearness. All round the margin are growing tufts of the common coralline, forming a whitish, bushy fringe, reaching from the edge to about six inches down ; a few plants of the bladder Fucus are scattered around and above the brim, and the arching fronds of the sweet Laminaria hang down nearly to the bottom, closely resembling, except in their deep, brown hue, the hartstongue fern, that so profusely adorns the sides of our green lanes. Below the coralline level are a few small, red sea- weeds, as Rhodymenia palmata ; and the dark, purple Chondruscrispus growingin rich tufts, reflecting a steel-blue irridescence. But all the lower parts of the sides and bottom are almost quite free from sea-weeds, with the exception of a small Ulva or two, and a few encrusting patches of the coral- line not yet shot up into branches, but resembling smooth pink lichens. The smooth surface of the rock in these lower parts is quite clean, so that there is nothing to intercept the sight of the Actinia that project from the hollows, and spread out 4 REVIEWS. their broad circular disks like flat blossoms adhering to the face of the interior. There are many of these, all of the species A. bellis, and all of the dark chocolate variety, streaked with scarlet ; and they are fine in the ratio of the depth at which they live. One at the very bottom is fully three inches in diameter. " There is something exceedingly charming in such a natural vivarium as this. When I go down on my knees upon the rocky margin, and bring my face nearly close to the water, the whole interior is distinctly visible. The various forms and beau- tiful tints of the sea-weeds, especially the purple flush of the Chondrus, are well worthy of admiration ; and I can see the little shrimps and other Crustacea busily swimming from weed to weed, or pursuing their instinctive occupations among the fronds and branches — an ample forest to them. Tiny fishes of the Blenny genus are also hiding under the shadows of the tufts, and occasionally darting out with quivering tail ; and one or two brittle stars are deliberately crawling about, by means of their five long and flexible arms, in a manner that seems a ludicrous ca- ricature of a man climbing up by his hands and feet — only you must suppose an additional arm growing from the top of his head. The variety of their colours, and the singular, but always elegant patterns in which they are arranged, render these little star-fishes attractive." During his stay at Marychurch our author did not derive as much benefit from change of scene as had been hoped for, and at the latter end of April he determined to remove to the more bracing climate of the northern coast. Infirm health, we are informed, joined to the frequent prevalence of a heavy surf upon the shore, prevented so full a use of a three months' residence on the coast, as might have been wished ; and yet, how much was observed in that time — how much that hundreds of idle pleasure-seekers daily passed by without a thought. We hope the record may be of use to some who annually frequent our watering-places, and that on their next visit they may be induced to bring their eyes with them, and to use them. Ilfracombe was selected as Mr. Gosse's next head-quarters, the scenery of which appears to have greatly charmed him. Here his first search was after the Caryophyllia Smithii, which Mr. Ralfs had stated was to be found at Watermouth and Smallmouth, and which, after some difficulty, he was fortunate enough to find at an intermediate station. Some specimens were brought home and closely watched. We would gladly condense the ob- servations made upon this very interesting coral, but that we feel a muti- lated extract would be doing a great injustice to the subject. We will, however, mention one important part which they appear clearly to prove — " that the surface of the tentacles is delicately ciliated." This interesting peculiarity Mr. Gosse was led to conjecture from observing a current of water over the tentacles when examining them with a rather low microscopic power: this he then changed for a power of 140 diameters, the highest which the nature of the vessel in which the specimens were kept would admit of being used. With this, however, our author unmistakeably saw minute atoms slowly moving in the water, come into proximity to a tentacle, then imme- diately whirled along with rapidity in the direction of the point ; the same thing was seen on both sides of the tentacle, and, in fact, all over its sur- REVIEWS. | face, the direction being in all cases the same, from the base towards the point. The cilia themselves, however, could not be detected by the closest manipulation. We hope that his observations on this point will be quickly followed up by other microscopists, and that we will soon have to report that the cilia themselves have been detected. Other extracts from this most fascinating book we would gladly give, but that we feel how difficult it is to select where all is beautiful. The ardent lover of nature will find in it much to gratify his tastes, even though he should not be a professed naturalist ; in it he will be led, with a goodly companion, " over field, and down, in the fresh, dewy morn — he will in fancy listen to the carol of the lark and the hum of the wild bee — he will stand at the edge of the precipice, and mark the glories of the setting sun — he will watch the mantling tide as it rolls inward, and roars among the hollow caves ;" and, we trust, that he will be led to share, with its author, those delightful emotions which the contemplation of the works of the Almighty must ever cause in the mind of the Christian naturalist. Beautiful as we have thought the present work in many of its descriptions, our chief attraction in it has been the bold and manly avowal of Christian principles and Christian pri- vileges which its pages bear witness to ; and we feel assured, that few will rise from its perusal without a more lasting feeling of pleasure and profit than could be produced if such an avowal were absent. In these days of almost infidel speculation, it is pleasant to meet with a work which a thoroughly wholesome tone pervades ; and on this account, even were its other merits less, we would gladly hail " The Rambles of a Naturalist on the Devonshire Coast" as a most pleasing addition to our literature. A Flora and Fauna within Living Animals. By Joseph Leidy, M.D., Philadelphia. Published in the Smithsonian Contributions to Know- ledge. 4to. Washington, 1853. The title of this pleasing memoir is of itself sufficiently explicit to state its purport ; and though, perhaps, the fastidious may be disposed to turn from its pages, to the naturalist they will be found, in a comparatively small compass, to present much original and deeply-suggestive materials of thought and research. It may be stated that the recent labours of others in this field of re- search have rendered the publication of the present memoir almost super- fluous. To this objection our author, in his introduction, modestly answers, by stating, that he but professes to give "the result of observations,. 6 REVIEWS. commenced several years ago, upon associated entozoa and entophyta, consti- tuting a flora and a fauna within animals ;" and though, perhaps, to the over-fastidious such a record may reveal unwelcome truths as to the presence of some fellow-lodgers, whose existence they would gladly ignore — and though these may rank among the lowest form of organization we are acquainted with — they still surpass the loftiest efforts of man, and place all his wonted skill at nought, forcing him to confess that, insignificant as they are, they can never be imitated successfully by him — that they bear about with them that which is God's prerogative to give — life ; and in their examination " he will be led to understand a little of the meaning of God's glorious title — maximus in minimis." Dr. Leidy's able memoir opens with an introduction, in which the lead- ing facts connected with the entozoa— -or animals living within other species ; and entophyta— or vegetable parasites within animals — are skillfully reviewed. The former of these have, from the most remote time, attracted attention on account of the peculiarity of their position, the unpleasant ideas associated with them, the sufferings they frequently induce, and the difficulty of explaining their mode of origin. The existence of entophyta, on the contrary, from their minute character, long remained unknown, until the microscope of Leuwenhoek detected the algoid filaments of the human mouth ; and it is only within a comparatively recent period that any large number have been discovered. In the year 1847, a very interesting mono- graph of these appeared at Paris, by Robin, under the title of "Des Vegetaux qui croissant sur Vhomme et sur Us animaux vivant." In tracing the history of these curious parasites, modern observations would indicate that both entozoa and entophyta are produced from germs derived from parents having a cyclical development. The difficulty of tracing the progress of this development is very great, " particularly in the case of the entozoa, whose various stages of existence are passed under totally different circumstances ; sometimes within one organ and then another of the same animal ; sometimes in several animals ; and at other times quite indepen- dent of, and external to, the animals they infest. If, however, an entzoon preserved the same form throughout its migrations, the difficulty just men- tioned would be easily overcome ; but such is not the case, for the alteration of form is frequently and probably always so great, that two successive con- ditions cannot be always recognised as the same." As a familiar example of this, we may mention the case of the Gordius, or hairworm, vulgarly supposed to be a transformed horse hair. " This animal, says our author, is rather common in brooks and creeks in the latter part of summer and autumn, occurring from a few inches to a foot in REVIEWS. 7 length. Its colour passes through all the shades of brown to black, and is perfectly hair-like in its form, except that in the male the tail-end is bifurcated, in the female, trifurcated (American species). No one has yet been able to trace the animal to its origin ! The female deposits in the water, in which is found millions of its eggs, deposited in long chords. In the course of three weeks the embryos escape from the eggs, of a totally different form and construction from the parents. Their body is only the 1 -450th of an inch long, and consists of two portions ; the posterior cylin- drical, slightly dilated and rounded at the free extremity, where it is furnished with two short spines ; and the anterior broader, cylindrical, and annulated, having the mouth furnished with two circlets of retractile tentaculae and a club-shaped proboscis. No one has yet been able to determine what becomes of the embryo in its normal cyclical course. Those which I observed always died a few days after escaping from the egg. " The grasshoppers in the meadows below the city of Philadelphia are very much infested with a species of Gordius, probably the same as the former, but in a different stage of development. More than half the grasshoppers in the locality mentioned contain them ; but those in drier places, as in the fields west and north of Philadelphia, are rarely infested. The number of Gordii in each insect varies from one to five ; their length from three inches to a foot ; they occupy a position in the visceral cavity, where they lie coiled among the viscera, and often extend from the end of the abdomen, forward through the thorax, even into the head ; their bulk and weight are frequently greater than all the soft parts, including the muscles, of their living habitation. Nevertheless, with this relatively immense mass of parasites, the insects jump about almost as freely as those not infested. " The worms are milk white in colour, and undivided at the extremities. The females are distended with ova, but I have never seen them extruded. " When the bodies of grasshoppers, containing those entozoa, are broken and laid upon moist earth, the worms gradually creep out and pass below its surface. Some specimens which crawled out of the bodies of grasshoppers, last August, have under- gone no change, and are alive at the present time (November, 1852). " In the natural condition, when the grasshoppers die, the worms creep from the body and enter the earth. Some of the worms, put in water, lived for about four weeks, and then died from the growth of Achlya prolifera. What is their cyclical development ?" The facts presented in this note serve well to show the developmental history of entozoa. After some preliminary inquiries into the nature of life in general, Dr. Leidy proceeds to the consideration of the topics more immediately bearing upon the nature and origin of entozoa, and into phytic life. Interesting as these topics are, and important, as bearing upon a class of questions which, at the present period, closely occupy the attention of the naturalist, we must pass them by, merely directing our reader's attention to their con- sideration in the pages of the present memoir, recording the result of some of the interesting researches of our author. Entozoa may and do penetrate through the living tissues ; but it is entirely by the mechanical process of boring. The intestinal canal of animals is most frequented by ento-parasites, on account of the ease with which the germs enter with the food. Aquatic animals are more troubled with entozoa than those which are terrestrial, because the water gives a better medium of access than the air. Terrestrial animals are more infested with ecto-parasites, because their 8 REVIEWS. covering, in hair, wool, and feathers, is more favourable to their production and development. A low degree of organic activity, and slowly-digestible food, favour the development of ecto-parasites ; and hence they are more frequent in the carnivora. Animals subsisting upon the endosmosed juices of the tissues of other animals and plants, are rarely infected with parasites, as hemipterous insects, aphides, &c. Entozoa themselves are not infested. In the list of "man's fellow-lodgers" are enumerated 26 Entozoa, 13 Ectozoa, and 10 Entophyta. The most extensive associated flora and fauna, discovered by Dr. Leidy within animals, exist with wonderful uniformity within the intestinal canal of the Myriapod, Julus marginatus (Say), and the Coleopterous insect, Passalus cormitus (Fabricius). But we must refer our readers to the valuable pages of the work itself for the history of these wonders, and to Dr. Leidy's beautiful plates, illustrative of them ; and we are sure that their perusal will amply repay those who are interested in the study of these curious forms ; and we hope will incite others to follow in his footsteps, and add somewhat to the list already furnished by those who have turned their attention to it. The Natural History of the Birds of Ireland, Indigenous and Migra- tory, CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE HABITS, MIGRATIONS, OCCUR- RENCE, and Economy of the two hundred and sixty-one Species comprised in the Fauna. By John J. Watters, Associate Member of the University Zoological Association. Dublin: James McGlashan. London : W. S. Orr & Co. 1853. 300 pages, 12mo. Price 5s. To the late Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, we are indebted for what may be appropriately termed the first Irish Ornithology, as, strange to say, though Ireland abounds in naturalists, comparatively little has yet been done towards the publication of a regular fauna. Within the last few years, however, considerable advances have been made in the right direction. In most of the larger towns, as well as in the metropolis, Natural History Societies have sprung up, and those whose efforts were, previously, at best but desultory, have been brought together ; fresh energy has been infused, and the materials are being rapidly quarried from which we may soon hope to see future explorers amply provided with text-books, recording what has been observed throughout the land. The preparation of local lists has long and deservedly been acknowledged as a most important step towards attaining any just idea of the natural REVIEWS. 9 history of a country ; to their value the pages of Mr. Thompson's " Birds of Ireland" bear ample testimony, and the skilful manner in which he has moulded into shape the observations of others, joined to his own deep prac- tical experience as a naturalist, will long render his work a pleasing stan- dard of reference, and allure many to tread the paths it has so ably marked out. With all its advantages, however, it still left unsupplied the want of a cheap, popular hand-book, suited to the requirements of the many. To supply this deficiency is the aim of Mr. Watters, in his " History of Irish Birds ;" and we feel confident that it will be gladly hailed by many who, from its size and expense, were prevented purchasing Mr. Thompson's work. We own that it is no easy task to prepare, in a popular form, any great amount of scientific details, and much of this is necessarily absent from Mr. Watters's — omitted, as we leam, " for the better economy of space, and consequent saving of expense." The volume itself contains the result of the observations of the author, who is no mere closet naturalist, and contains an abstract of the history and habits of two hundred and sixty-one species of birds already observed. It is more than probable that the number already recorded falls short of the truth ; and we sincerely hope that the present little volume may be the means of infusing a spirit of still further research among our out-of-door naturalists — a tribe, we hope, rapidly increasing both in number and powers of observation. As a specimen of Mr. Watters's style and powers of de- scription, we append the following history of the curlew (Numenius ar- quata) : — " The curlew is one of our most common and widely- distributed birds frequent- ing the sea-shore in large flocks, and feeding on marine insects, mollusca, Crus- tacea, and larvae, for which it probes the soft, muddy ooze with its long and admi- rably-adapted bill. " In Dublin Bay the immense flocks of curlew afford considerable attraction to the shore sportsman, both from their changeful evolutions when on the wing, and the fine, bold, spirited call-note of the species. Watchful and vigilant, we see no other shore bird exhibit the same suspicious habits as the curlew, and, what annoys the sportsman is, that, not content with its own safety, it extends its protection over all the flocks feeding in its vicinity. Possessing the loudest call-note of all our grallatorial birds, no flock is so adventurous as to remain feeding after the shrill, startling whaup of the curlew has echoed along the shore. " Of great interest in its habits, the curlew enlivens and makes cheerful whatever coast it frequents, no matter how desolate may have been its previous appearance. Thus do we see it in our own bay during autumn and winter, occurring along the entire range from Clontarf to Malahide, in flocks of the greatest abundance. Feed- ing together, they present the most diversified appearance in their attitudes upon the mud or ooze. But yet so easily alarmed are they, that the sportive leap of a wanton fish, the rustling of a leaf blown past upon the strand, or, when feeding during night-time, the snapping of a gun in their neighbourhood, serves to alarm the en- tire flock, which at once rises with that peculiar lightness and ease so eminently Eossessed by the curlew, and wing rapidly their flight from the way of danger, each ird uttering the loud prolonged » courlieu,' or the harsh and guttural ' whaup,' so indicative of danger, and which is heard so beautifully modulated both by sound 10 REVIEWS. and distance. Never to be approached npon an open shore, the only chance pos- sessed by the shooter is by concealment in the vicinity of their flight, or when ob- served waiting the falling of the tide in fields bordering the shore, the proximity of the hedgerow allows an approach to some portion of the flock. " Much as we admire the wild beauty of its call-note, it is never heard to more advantage than when passing to its feeding stations along the shore at night-time, uttered singly in long-echoing whistles, with another occasional call-note more hur- ried, which serves to bring in stragglers to the main flock. They impart one of the most beautiful of the many attractions which nature has so profusely scat- tered for our enjoyment. Sometimes, also, we hear, amid the deep silence of the night, some old veteran curlew, which has become a very Nestor in its precautions for safety, and its voice a deep bass, from years of constant whauping, utter a long- drawn whistle, so intense in expression, loudness, and solemnity, that even coast- guards stationed in the vicinity have left their domiciles to observe if the sea was burdened with a wreck. Even in our own vicinity, at Rob's Wall, near Malahide, the guard in custody of the Martello Tower represented to us having at times started from his bed to ascertain the cause of such an unearthly whistle : — ' Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore, His dun-grey plumage floating to the gale, The curlew blends his melancholy wail With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour.' " Feeding upon the shore in winter, during autumn the curlew lives for a short time upon seeds and berries, so much so that we have had the pleasure of examining, with Mr. Glennon, the stomachs of curlews, on two different occasions, which were entirely filled with blackberries, the action of which had not only discoloured the intestines, but changed the natural colour of the bones to a light purplish hue. " Towards the approach of spring, the great flocks which we had seen during winter, apparently thinned and diminished in number, separate into detached bodies, and depart inland to seek a suitable place for nidification. M On some barren and desolate moor, tenanted by the grouse, the moor harrier, and lizard, the curlew prepares an artless nest on the ground, in a dry tuft of grass or rushes, lined with withered herbage. Sometimes it is formed in a natural hollow or depression, smoothed by the bird, and lined with leaves, where the eggs are de- posited, four in number, of a pale green, blotched with brown. During the breed- ing season these solitary tracts, frequented by the curlew, appear replete with animation. From early dawn to the last hour of twilight, their incessant scream- ing and repeated motion afford a relief to the otherwise changeless and dull monotony of the scene ; on the nest being approached, the male and female assail the obnoxious intruder with noisy screams, beating at him with quivering wings, and, that failing, run and skulk before, in hopes of decoying and deluding him. " The male curlew in spring has a habit analogous to the bleating of the snipe, which is usually performed at early dawn. Kising slowly in the air, and sailing in easy flight, and at times rapidly descending, the amorous curlew utters at intervals the loud, shrill, quivering whistle peculiar to the breeding season ; and at daybreak the moving forms of curlew, rendered large and indistinct by the fog, the oft- repeated whistles of many birds on the wing at the same time, the challenging of the mountain grouse, and the hoarse croak of welcome from the raven sailing to its foray in the valley, form one of those little episodes intrinsically so trifling in ap- pearance, but yet replete with such interest, to greet the observer of nature." As we think that the history of the " Grallatores" and " Natatores" con- tains more original matter than perhaps that of the other three orders, we annex the following extracts from the latter one, of the roseate tern (Sterna Dongallii), and the razor-bill (Alca torda) : — " Discernible at once from the elegance of its frail form, we require no history of the roseate tern to inform us of its inability to abide the rough blasts of autumn and winter, but that, like our summer migratants on the land, its appearance is REVIEWS. 1 1 limited to the time when the islets and surrounding seas are prepared for its recep- tion. To the fisherman its grating cry is as welcome as the craking of the land- rail to the farmer, and its buoyant form is hailed with the same gratification upon the sea as the swallow upon the land. " To most ornithologists, few birds have conferred more pleasure in observing their habits than the roseate tern. Congregated in small flocks, they form in a manner similar to the gulls ' a play' upon the water, wherever a ' school' of fish is swimming near the surface, each bird, attractive from its changing and varying appearance — 'Now poising o'er ocean thy delicate form, Now breasting the surge with thy bosom so warm ; Now sweeping the billow, now floating on high, Now bathing thy plumes in the light of the sky.' " Yet beautiful as are these birds, they are too often ruthlessly condemned to suffer for those very attractions which should preserve them — instances frequently occurring where a breeding haunt is invaded by persons whose propensities for slaughter find an outlet in the destruction of these unoffending birds. Equally un- fortunate in its habits at this time, the roseate tern forgets its usual timidity ; and when a bird, after being shot, falls slowly through the air from its buoyant light- ness, the entire flock congregate and fly down towards it, as if wondering why it had left their joyous troop. Flying in its vicinity, they scream notes of compassion, which are changed into a requiem for themselves, for the class who commit such an atrocity consider each pitiable trait exhibited by the bird as at least a tribute to the skill which they evince in destroying them. " The razor-bill nearly equals the guillemot in its numbers and distribution around the shores of the island, and closely resembles that bird in habits, amicably frequent- ing the same ledge on the face of the rock, where it deposits its single egg, enor- mously disproportionate to the size of the bird, and often in situations at an immense altitude over the ocean. Interesting in its habits from the associations connected with it, the razor-bill is an attendant upon the lofty precipices which occur around our island, and is equally abundant about the basaltic columns of the north as the granite ranges of the western coast. Observed and studied in their solitary breed- ing haunts, few can form the most remote idea of the magnificence which greets the observer in the neighbourhood of a breeding station. Flocks of various species, flying in long strings close to the water, and rising on the wing as they approach the cliffs, all settle without the slightest noise ; bending over, we observe them ranged in lines along each flat, tabular projection, preening their feathers, and sit- ting upright hatching their single egg. The outer rocks at the base we observe, white and spotless, covered with hundreds of sea-gulls, in such contrast with the black side of the rock, as it were overspread with snow, outrivalling the white foam of the waves which surround it ; lines of cormorants stoop forward, in their peculiar manner of standing, like so many projecting ornaments on a balustrade. There is no alarm or disturbance to intrude upon this carnival of the breeding season ; but let a gun be discharged, and instantly the entire precipice seems alive : hundreds of guillemots, razor-bills, and puffins glancing downwards to the water, flocks of cor- morants, with their long necks outstretched, fly off close to the water's edge, and settling down when sufficiently remote from danger ; whilst at the same instant, like ten thousand snowflakes, kittiwakes (viewed from the distance above) wheel round in circles, their confused screaming scarcely distinguishable from the seething of the ocean. Overhead some patriarchal raven croaks hoarsely and angrily at our intrusion, whilst four or five kestrels appear on their motionless wings like so many fixed objects against the sky ; each pinnacle of the rock is surmounted by a troop of jackdaws, their sidelong looks directed upon us, and chattering loudly, as if to silence the harsh grating cry of the starlings beside them. u Beautiful as such a sight must be, however imperfect in its description, it is pitiable when we reflect upon those solitudes invaded by boats full of persons, who form parties to destroy those birds, offering neither an opportunity to display the skill of the shooter, nor, when shot, of the slightest value as an article of food. Unfortunately, never glutted by destroying, they cover the sea with their quivering 1 2 REVIEWS. forms, causing, at the same time, the loss of the lives of young depending upon the parent birds. Much as writers may object to the battue of game in an over- stocked preserve, yet there is a possible excuse to plead in one case, as game birds are shot at a time when the young are not dependent upon them, and when shot are of value as an article of food. "Even were the habits of these birds otherwise than harmless, their wanton de- struction is pitiable, and if a particle of the strictness extended over the care of a few game were used in the prevention of these excesses, all might be remedied, of which, as remarked in a correspondence with Mr. Thompson, the owners of rocky islets and headlands, where those birds frequent to breed, are highly culpable in permitting such slaughter upon their property, places where, in a few years, whole species will be extirpated, and known only as occasional visitants to the island. Having, in many instances, mentioned Lambay as a breeding haunt for sea-fowl, it may not be uninteresting to enumerate the different species which tenant the pre- cipitous eastern side of the island during the season of incubation : — The common and green cormorants, the common and black guillemots, razor-bill, puffin, shearwater, great and lesser black-backed gulls, herring and common gulls, and kittiwakes. " Amongst the land-birds which frequent the same face of the rocks, we find the peregrine (rarely of late years), the kestrel, raven, hooded crow, jackdaw, and stare (the chough is also said to nidify in rare instances), the wheatear, window martin, swift, and rock pigeon." This last extract is interesting from the fact, that were it not for the murderous attacks made in Lambay and other islands upon the feathered tribe, while preparing their nests, and engaged with the care of their young, we might have a second Bass rock on our Irish coast, and even exceeding it in the variety of its inhabitants. Although we do not wish to be too censorious in our review of this pleasing work, yet we would advise the author to study theology better before hazarding such opinions as those contained in the 64th page. On the whole, we think this volume deserves to be widely circulated, and we heartily recommend it to our readers. It abounds with anecdote, and is written in a popular style. They will find it to be an accurate history of our Irish birds — detailing most of their inte- resting features. The author has availed himself of the continental writers, as well as those of his own country, and has added the synonyms of Temminck to those of LinnaBUS and others. The typography and paper are of the best description, reflecting great credit on the publishers. Nereis Boreali Americana ; or, Contributions to a History of the Marine Alg^e of North America. By William Henry Harvey, M.D., M.R.I. A., Keeper of the Herbarium of the University of Dublin, and Professor of Botany to the Royal Dublin Society. Part I. — Melanos- permeaj. Part II. — Rhodospermeae. Published by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington ; and London, Van Voorst. These memoirs, from the pen of Dr. Harvey, already so well known to British algologists, by his Manual of British Algce and Phycologia Britannica, will be welcomed by all who are engaged in the study of the REVIEWS. 13 botany of our coasts. They are issued as part of the M Smithsonian Con- tributions to Knowledge" But before we proceed to speak of the me- moirs themselves, we will take a glance at the noble institution, in con- nection with which they are issued. They form part of the general plan adopted for carrying into effect the intentions of James Smithson, of Eng- land. This gentleman left his property in trust to the United States, H to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men ;" and these words of the testator were the only guide given for the adoption of a plan to carry out the benevolent intentions of the testator. This trust was accepted by the Government of the United States, and an Act of Congress was passed, August 10th, 1846, constituting the President and the other principal executive officers of the General Government, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Mayor of Washington, and such honorary members as they might elect, an establishment under the title of the "Smithsonian Institution for the Increase and Diffusion of Know- ledge among Men." In carrying out this plan two objects had to be stea- dily kept in view — the one, the increase of knowledge — the other, the diffusion of the knowledge thus increased. For these purposes the annual income of the institution has been wisely divided into two equal parts — the one part being devoted to purposes of original research and publication — the other to the gradual formation of a library, a museum, and a gallery of art, in accordance with the terms of the Act of Congress. The memoirs already published by the " Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution" embrace (besides various reports in octavo), five quarto volumes, displaying con- siderable originality of thought and laborious research ; and we are glad to see one from the old country engaging in such honourable rivalry, and taking his stand among his transatlantic brethren ; we are much better pleased to recognize the truly friendly spirit which pervades the report of the Smithsonian institution, when speaking of the acceptance of the present memoirs, and which we cannot forbear from quoting as alike honourable to the body from which it issues, and the talented Professor whose name it refers to. " This memoir (The Nereis Boreali-Americani) consists of a description of the marine plants or Algse, which are found along the eastern and southern coasts of the United States, and which are deserving of atten- tion, not only on account of their beauty, variety, and the illustrations they present of the growth and development of vegetable forms, but also on account of their economical value with reference to agriculture and the chemical arts. This volume is in the course of preparation by Professor Harvey, of the University of Dublin, a gentleman who is recognized as the 14 REVIEWS. first authority in this branch of Botany. He was induced to visit this country by an invitation to lecture on the Algae, before the Lowell Institute, and by the opportunity thus afforded him of studying his favourite branch of science in a new region. After completing his lectures, he made a col- lection of the marine plants of our coast, and offered to furnish drawings of the genera and species of them, with detailed descriptions, free of all cost, provided the institution would bear the expense of publication. Upon the warm recommendation of some of the principal botanists of this coun- try, the liberal offer of Professor Harvey was accepted, and he is now (Jan. 1, 1851) engaged in making with his own hand the drawings upon stone. The whole work, besides the time expended in collecting the specimens, will occupy more than a year. This voluntary contribution to knowledge, from a man of science, may surprise those whose minds are not liberalized by philosophical pursuits, and who cannot conceive any object in labour unconnected with pecuniary gain" (Fifth Report, 1851). We have transcribed this paragraph entire, as it tells officially the circumstances un- der which the present memoirs were composed. For the task thus gra- tuitously undertaken, Dr. Harvey was peculiarly fitted ; for many years he had turned his attention to the study of those lowest and simplest forms of vegetable organization — the Algae ; and in addition, as the keeper of an extensive herbarium, he had constant access to specimens collected in every quarter of the globe, and was thus enabled to compare the almost incon- ceivable varieties of form so often calculated to mislead the unwary. The memoirs before us are the two first portions of this work, and are issued by the Smithsonian Institution, in a style fully equal to any work on the Algae already published. For the accuracy of the details, we need only again state that the plates are all drawn on stone by Dr. Harvey himself. The portions already published embrace the Melanosperms and Rhodosperms, and will be followed by a third part, descriptive of the Chlorosperms, with an appendix of such species as may have been forwarded to the author since the publication of the previous parts. When speaking of the operations of the Smithsonian Institution, we omitted to state, that memoirs submitted to the " Board of Regents" for publication, are by them referred to compe- tent judges before acceptance. In the case of the present, the judges were Professor J. W. Bailey, and Dr. Asa Gray. Before entering on the subject of the Algae, found on the northern shores of North America, Dr. Harvey has prefixed an introduction, in which the peculiarities of this class of plants are ably considered, under the heads of root, frond, colour, fructification, movements of Algae, habitat, geographical distribution, directions for collecting and preserving specimens, and uses of REVIEWS. 15 the Algae ; from all these heads we would gladly extract, did our space permit ; we must, however, confine ourselves to a brief notice of the u Four regions of distribution" into which it is proposed to divide (for the pre- sent) the eastern and western shores of the United States. 1st. The Coast of Cape Cod, extending probably to Greenland. Among the characteristic forms are, Laminaria Longicruris (one of the largest on the coast), Agarum Turneri, and pertusum, Rhodymenia cristata, Ptilota plumosa, and Dumontea ramentacea. All the species mentioned are northern forms, and confined, in European waters, to very high latitudes, and all appear to vegetate south nearly, as far as Cape Cod, to which limits they are almost all confined. The marine flora of this region, as a whole, bears a resemblance to the shores of Iceland, Norway, Scotland, and the north and north-west of Ireland. 2nd. Long Island Sound, including under this head, New York Harbour, and the sands of New Jersey. In comparing the plants of the Sound with those of the first region, a marked difference is observable. We lose the Arctic forms, and their place is supplied by Sargassum, two species, by various beautiful Callithamnia and Poly- siphoniaj, and by abundance of Delesseria Americana, and Dasya elegans, Seirosiphora Griffithsiana is not uncommon, Rhabdonia Baileyi, Gracilaria multipartita (narrow varieties), Chrysemenia divaricata and C. Rosea are also characteristic forms, Delesseria Leprieurii also belong to this region, but it is a tropical form, at its utmost limit of northern distribution. 3rd. Cape Hatteras to Cape Florida. Many species found within these limits are common to those found in the second region ; others are here met with for the first time, as Arthrocladia villosa and a Nito- phylhim, found at Wilmington ; a noble Grateloupia, probably new (G. Gibbesii, MS.), and Delesseria hypoglossum. I have seen no Fucoid plant from this region ; but if there were a suitable locality here, we ought to have Sargassa ; all the estuaries of the district produce Grate- loupia Gibbesii, and a Bostrychia, either B. radicans Mont., or a closely allied species. These last are tropical forms, first observed at Cayenne. 4th. Florida Keys and Shores of the Mexican Gulf. — Here we have a very strongly marked province, strikingly contrasted in vegetation with the east coast, mentioned in the three regions already noticed. Of 130 species collected at the east coast in February, 1850, scarcely one- eighth are common to the east coast, seven-eighths being unknown to the American coast north of Cape Florida. With this remarkable difference 16 ' REVIEWS. between the Algae of the Keys and those of the east coast, there is a marked affinity between the former and those of the south of Europe. The marine vegetation of the Gulf of Mexico has a very strong resemblance to that of the Mediterranean Sea ; nearly one-third of the species collected are common to the Mediterranean. Several of them straggle onwards towards the coasts of Spain and France, and even reach the south of England ; but scarcely any of those are seen on the east coast of America. From this we may infer that they are not conveyed by the Gulf stream. Those collected at Key- West included 10 Melanosperms, 5 of which are common to the Mediterranean ; 82 Rhodesperms, 25 of which are Mediter- ranean ; and 38 Chlorosperms, of which 10 are Mediterranean. Besides these identical species, there are many representative, closely allied to the Mediterranean types. This resemblance is clearly shown in the genus Dasya, of which seven out of eleven European species are found in the Mediterranean. At Key- West eight species of this beautiful genus were collected. Among those, seven were new, and the eighth (D. Elgans) was found along the whole coast of North America. Three-fourths, per- haps, of the masses of sea-weed cast ashore at Key- West, belong to Laicreucia, of which genus several species, and innumerable puzzling varieties, are profusely common. A fine Hypnea, (described afterwards as Euchennia isiforme, J. A. S.), H. Wardemanni MS.), one of the most striking species of the genus is also abundant. Alsidium triangu- lares Digenia simplex, Acanthophora, Amarisia multifida, and other West Indian Rhodosperms, are abundantly cast ashore. Sargassum Vulgare and bacciferum Padnia Pavonia, Zonaria lobata and sundry Dictyota, are characteristic Melanosperms. But this region is especially remarkable for the abundance and beauty of its Chlorosperms, of the groups Siphonaceae and Caulerpacea3 ; 10 species of Caulespa were collected, some of which are of common occurrence, and serve for food to the turtles, which, in their turn, are the staple diet of the islanders. Pencellus, at least three species, Udotea, Halimeda, Aceta- bularia, Anadyomene, Dictyosphwria, Chamadris, Dasycladus, Cymo- polia, and others, some of which are West Indian, some Medi- terranean, are evidence of the high temperature of the sea round the Keys. Many of the plants obtained at Key- West were cast up from deeper water when the south wind blew strongly, and were not seen at any other time. A visitor, therefore, in the hurricane months would procure many which escaped me. Among the species, two new Delesseria?, (D. involvens and D. tenuifolia) are specially worth notice. These were very plentiful in the beginning of February, but soon disappeared. REVIEWS. 17 Two Bostrychia (B. montagnei and B. Jilicula, MS.), and a Catenella, were found on the stems of mangroves, near high-water mark. Such is Dr. Harvey's outline of the distribution of the leading types found in each of the four regions into which he proposes to divide the lo- calities, the result of whose examination is contained in the present Nereis. We have presented it to our readers, as we feel assured that it will be read with interest by all who wish to form some idea of the characteristic vegetation of the North American shores. The parts which we have extracted are prefaced by a few brief observations on the general causes that appear to affect the geographical distribution of the Algae. These will be read with confidence and interest by all, as affording, in an able summary, the results of observations made by some of the best algologists, grouped together by one who is himself more capable of appreciating the importance of such generalizations than, perhaps, any of his fellow-labourers in thi3 line of research. We would gladly transfer them to our pages ; but we feel that, however unwilling, want of space compels us to draw our present notice to an end. When comparing the genera recorded in these volumes with the same genera as found described by our author in his Phycologia Britannica, we are often surprised with meeting old friends under new names, and sometimes names that we were familiarized with, from the pages of Phycologia, unceremoniously transferred to new faces. We fear that in this respect some of the Algae could make out a very clear case against the learned Professor and some of his brethren — as for example, the Ralfsia deusta (Berk and Phyc. Brit.), which, after hav- ing passed through six different genera, hoped to have found its true name in the pages of the Phycologia Britannica; and yet, on the ap- pearance of the NereVs B or eali- Americana, finds that his fair name has been pilfered by an American stranger, patronized by J. Aghard, and, after all his previous sufferings, the poor Alga is again left in quest of a name. We are sure the learned professor " did it all for the best," and, therefore, will not say a word more than to warn our readers, that the American plant is not the British plant described under the same name. In the introduction prefixed to the sub-class Rhodospermeae, Dr. Harvey, after briefly stating the general characteristics of the Algae included in it, proceeds to an examination of the double system of fructification, which forms their most remarkable and distinctive character ; " two descriptions of spore-producing organs being found on almost all these plants, and always being developed on different individuals of each species. Thus, then, Algae are strictly dioecious, though in a different manner from other dioecious plants ; for here it is not stamens and pistils (or their analogues) which are VOL. i. c 18 REVIEWS. borno on different roots ; but some individuals produce only one kind of pistil, or sporiferous organ ; and others, of the same species, produce constantly a sporiferous organ of a different kind. The spores developed in either system are equally capable of reproducing the species ; and as the two kinds are always formed on different individual fronds, the idea of each species includes two individuals, and is not complete unless both are known. Hence the necessity, in forming our generic groups, to found them on the characters taken from both fronds. Perhaps the natural explanation of this double fructification is, to regard one form of the reproductive body as a true spore, supposed to be fertilized through the agency of an antheridium, and to consider the other as merely a gem- mule or bud, here reduced to a single cell, cast off by the parent plant, and capable of continuing an independent existence. If this be the true ex- planation of the phenomena, we have still to decide (and from analogy only, for evidence of fertilization is wanting) to which of these bodies we shall give the name of spore, and which we shall call gemmule. And here different botanists take different views, the positive evidence, as it seems to me, being nearly equal in favour of either. Having no new facts to bring forward, I shall not argue this question here, but adopt the name spores and tetraspores', for these reproductive cells respectively." We regret that space will not allow us to follow Dr. Harvey through the rest of this most interesting portion of his memoir. In it he has adopted a classification, based on the structure of the sporiferous nuclei, similar to that followed by Professor J. G. Agardh, whose " Species genera et or dines Algarum" (Lund., 1848, 1852) is highly and deservedly praised for accurate analysis, careful description, and original conception. We must now take our leave, for the present, of these contributions to the algology of the American coasts, which ably sustain the high character for scientific zeal and laborious research long awarded by his fellow-students to Professor Harvey. We understand that a similar devotion to science, as that which produced these volumes, has led their gifted author to explore other regions in search of his favourites; and that, probably, while these pages are passing through the press, he is algologising on the coasts of Australia. We most cordially wish every success to his labours, and hope that, on his return to his native land, their fruits may equal, if not surpass, those which are presented in the volumes we have been considering, as the result of his American trip. REVIEWS. 19 The Phttologist and Zoologist : Popular Monthly Miscellanies op Natural Histort. Edited by E. Newman, F.L.S., Member Imp. L.C. Acad., President of the Entomological Society, London, Monthly parts, Is. each ; 8vo. London : John Van Voorst. The above periodicals are issued monthly in a separate form, under the same able editorship, to enable those whose studies are confined either to Zoological or Botanical research, to provide themselves, at a trifling ex- pense, with a journal giving accurately the most recent information in their favourite branches of study. The importance of periodicals such as these are, in controlling and directing the researches of independent observers, who, from circumstances, are removed from personal intercourse with their fellow-naturalists, is difficult to appreciate. Some estimate of it may be formed by observing how deeply our best writers are indebted to the records preserved in them for the riches that adorn their pages. A modern work of any standing on British natural history, can scarce be opened without finding in it frequent reference to the Zoologist or Phytologist as sources on the authority of which statements are with confidence made ; while a glance at the contents of even a single number will amply convince how useful such a periodical must be to all who love to woo nature for her own sake. Their pages contain local lists, carefully and accurately compiled, thus enabling the student to compare the flora or fauna of his own imme- diate locality with others, which probably he would never be able to visit ; notes of the occurrence of rare species, both in the animal and vegetable kingdom, are recorded ; correspondence between naturalists, often of a most interesting character, and always such as is calculated to promote those friendly feelings which should always characterize the lovers and seekers after truth. Proceedings of societies are noted, thus providing the student with a notice of whatever is doing in the natural-history world. To these are added Notices of New Books, which last, owing to the pressure of im- portant original matter, are by no means either frequent or full. We hope this hurried review of the contents and objects of these valued periodicals may help to induce some of our readers to enlist themselves among their subscribers for the coming year, as we fear that they are not as well supported on this side of the Channel as their merits deserve. If a guarantee were wanting for the able management of these two works, we need only mention E. Newman, Esq., the able and esteemed president of the Entomological Society, as their editor, whose experience and judgment are acknowledged by all those who would be likely to read, or able to judge of their merits. ^rflteArags td jfcrtittas. BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. OCTOBER 26, 1853. A meeting of the above Society, for the session of 1853-4, was held at the Museum, Robert Patterson, Esq., President, in the chair, when a paper was read by Dr. Dickie on the RELATIONS OF FORM AND COLOUR IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. A specimen of a candle, made from paraffine, was shown to the meeting, and a letter read from Sir J. Emerson Tennent, stating that the paraffine had been pro- cured at Bonn, on the Rhine, from the brown coal or lignite of that neighbourhood ; and he suggested that the like might be obtained from the lignite which is found in some quantity in the county of Antrim. He also mentioned that oil, that burns resembling camphine, had also been obtained from the German lignite. NOVEMBER 16, 1853. The second meeting of the Society was held, when a paper was read by Mr. Robert Young, C. E., on THE DRAINAGE OF TOWNS, IN ITS SANITARY AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS. After the paper was read, there was an interesting conversation on the topics contained in it. Dr. Browne pointed out the distinction between the sewerage and drainage of a town ; and dwelt on the importance of the subject in a sanitary point of view. Dr. Stronge conceived that the breathing of the noxious vapours, arising from accumulations of animal filth, did not immediately produce cholera, but that by inhaling the like, the human constitution became disposed to receive epidemic contagion. , Mr. MacAdam drew the attention of the meeting to a statement of the Registrar- General, in which it was mentioned that, formerly, Newcastle-on-Tyne was healthier than at present ; but in consequence of the sewerage of the town being permitted to become mixed with the river, and the water, of late years, being sent back to the inhabitants to be used for domestic purposes, there was a marked dif- ference in their sanitary state, as exemplified in the late ravages of cholera ; also, that at Exeter, that disease made great ravages in 1832, at the first visitation of the epidemic, but that subsequently a new supply of pure water having been procured for the inhabitants, the city suffered comparatively little in 1849, when the second visitation took place. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 21' NOVEMBER 80, 1853. A meeting of the above Society was held, at the Museum, on the 30th November, Robert Patterson, Esq., President, in the chair, when a paper was read by the Rev. J. Scott Porter, on the state of society, arts, and manners among the primeval INHABITANTS OF IRELAND. The sources from which most of the facts embodied in the paper are derived, are the county, the parochial, and the ordnance surveys ; the works of Harris, Stewart, Petrie, Dr. D. Wilson, Wakeman, Shirley, and Wilde ; the writers of various articles in the " Archseologia," the "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," the " Ulster Journal of Archaeology," the Newry and Belfast Magazines, and the "Dublin Penny Journal." Many objects which would have illustrated the antiquities of Ireland, have unfortunately been destroyed, of which no account that can be relied upon had been preserved. This invests the subject with peculiar difficulties ; but it is also in itself obscure, because it relates to a period of which no written records exist ; so that it may appear to some to have no other foundation than conjecture. This, however, may be said to be the case with geology ; yet the main conclusions reached by that science are now admitted by every person who has examined and understood the facts on which it rests. There is often a blending together of the facts relating to the more recent changes of the earth's surface, and the primeval history of man. Thus, the remains of an ancient canoe were found embedded in the earth, on the banks of the river Carron, in Scotland ; and in the same stratum, but deeper down, those of an elephant, of a species which has been for many centuries extinct. In the same district was found, in 1824, the skeleton of a whale, and beside it the rude harpoon, tipped with deer's horn, from which it had probably received its death wound. Both lay far above the level of the tide ; and it is the province of geology to determine the limits of time, within, or beyond which that region had been the bottom of a frith, in which the whale once sported, and the primeval mariner pursued the monsters of the deep. Mr. Porter was not aware of any recorded instances of the discovery of boats, &c, in the alluvial soil of the valley of the Lagan; but such remains have been found in that which borders Lough Foyle, and are frequent in many of the bogs and inland lakes. But, although the first inhabitants of Ireland were necessarily acquainted with the rudiments of the nautical art, they were quite iguorant of the industrial use of metals ; many of their weapons and tools, which would have been made of metal if they had been made acquainted with the mode of working such substances, were made of bone, flint, and other kinds of stone. Stone knives, chisels, hammers, axes, alts, &c, are common, of which specimens were exhibited, illustrated by comparison with others brought from various places in which society is yet in a rude state. Not only the finished weapons are found, but, in some cases, the material rudely blocked out in stone ; and several flint arrow-heads were exhibited, found in Dunmurry, which appear to have been re- jected before they were completely formed, on account of flaws and imperfections. Dr. Hart thinks it highly probable that a deer of the extinct species, Cervus Megacerus, a part of whose skeleton is in the Royal Irish Academy's collection, had been wounded by an arrow in one of the ribs ; but Professor Owen disputes this conclusion. Another art in which the primeval inhabitants of Ireland had made some progress was that of pottery : several drawings and specimens of urns, from the sepulchres of the most ancient period, were exhibited ; and it was men- tioned, that sometimes the pattern had been impressed by tying down on the soft clay a piece of knitted woollen cloth. This shows that they had sheep, and were able to apply their fleeces to account as clothing ; indeed, implements have been discovered, made of the bones of the sheep, the ox, and the deer ; and the bones of the hog and the dog have also been found, both in their habitations and their sepulchres. They must, therefore, have had property and the rudiments of law ; and were advanced beyond the fishing and hunting state, in which some modern 22 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. archaeologists are disposed to place them. Their clothing, of course, included the knitted woollen fabric of which the impression is sometimes found on the pottery ; and also, doubtless, the skins of beasts. An account was given of the remains of a young man, so clothed, whose body was found in a bog at Mount Bellew, as described by Mr. Petrie. Mr. Porter stated that, in his opinion, the singular golden ornaments, resembling collars, and double cups connected by a curved barT belonged to this primeval period in the history of man. Gold, being found native, is often gathered and wrought by people who are quite unacquainted with any other metal. Perhaps the division of the world's duration into the ages of gold, of silver, of brass and iron, might originally have had an historical reference to the successive inventions in the arts of life, as well as that moral application to which the poets have restricted it. In reference to the habitations of the people, an account was given of the wooden house found, under sixteen feet of bog, in the county of Donegal, and described by Captain Mudge, which, though skilfully framed, mortised, and grooved, was manifestly made by people who had no metal tools, and who subsisted largely on hazel nuts for food ; but it was stated that the more common dwelling-places were circular, generally depressed in the ground, surrounded with a low wall of uncemented stone, and probably thatched with heather, reeds, or bent. Mr. Porter did not conceive it to be proved, that the use of corn was then known, or agriculture practised. The low wall of their common habitations may have given rise to the circular stone forts, consisting of large stones, uncemented, but wedged tightly together, such as Staigue Fort, in Kerry ; Greenan, in the neighbourhood of Londonderry ; and Dun Aengus, in Arran Isle, off the coast of Galway. The different modes of burying practised by this ancient people were enumerated : — simple interment in shallow graves ; in kist-vaens or rude stone coffins ; under cromlechs, cairns, and raths ; of which several kinds were described, and illustrated by drawings; as also funereal urns found beside the unburnt bones under raths and cromlechs, showing that inhumation and concre- mation were both in use at the same time. Pillar-stones belonging to this period were described. No idols, nor any object apparently designed for idolatrous use, has yet been discovered in the remains of this primeval race ; while the arrows, weapons, utensils, &c, found in the urns and sepulchres, manifestly show a rude anticipation of a future state. On the whole, it was concluded, that the state of society and manners among the people who, at an unknown era, first occupied the soil of Ireland, was much farther advanced than some recent inquirers seemed disposed to admit : although no historical reliance can be placed on the tales of bards and seannachies, or the chronicles complied by uncritical annalists, thousands of years after the date to which they profess to carry back their narratives. Mr. Porter concluded by expressing his belief, grounded on the evidence afforded by the primitive burying-places, that the people who first inhabited Ireland, whoever they may have been, were not swept away or extirpated by a succeeding body of invaders, as has been contended by some archaeologists. Skulls, which these inquirers look upon as characteristic of the two races, are often found in the same sepulchre, manifestly deposited there at, or very nearly at, the same time ; showing that the two races, if they were really distinct, had dwelt amicably together, and were laid by survivors, side by side, to sleep peacefully in a common grave. DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. DECEMBER 9th, 1853. The usual meeting of the members of the Society was held at their Rooms, 212, Great Brunswick-street, on Friday evening, the 9th instant, Charles F arran, Esq., M.D., in the chair. The minutes and introductory business being confirmed and disposed of, Mr. Kinahan begged to present to the Society, from Doctor Corrigan, a fine specimen of the spiny -cross fish (Uraster Glacialis;, also Muller's topknot (Rhombus PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 23 hirtus), both taken in Dalkcy Sound; and from himself the reddish grey bat (Vespertilio Nattereri), captured in the county of Kildare. Doctor. Gordon begged to propose a vote of thanks to the donors, and in doing so he could not avoid remarking on the great value and practical importance of thoroughly examining and discussing in the Society every point of interest con- nected with such donations. It was in that manner that natural history was made a useful and an improving study, and such notes of inquiry being given at the time, made the records of any donations doubly valuable, and at the same time had the effect of greatly encouraging and interesting donors to seek further objects that might be equally attractive to the pursuits of the Society. The monthly numbers of the " Annals of Natural History" bore testimony to the labours of J. E. Gray, Esq., of the British Museum, who was indefatigable in his investigations to bring to light any new features of interest, or in forming more correct classifications in the zoological department of the museum. This being seconded and responded to, Mr. Kinahan read the following paper on the occurrence of Nattereri's bat in the county Kildare: — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen — The bats, particularly in Britain, have been long confessedly a little known, because an almost unstudied, family ; and hence, every observation made concerning them or their habits has an interest for the naturalist. It is, therefore, with feelings of great pleasure that I rise to-night to lay before your Society some new, and, as I hope, though scanty, inte- resting observations made when, last summer, along with a friend, I had the good fortune to discover a new locality for the reddish-grey or fringe-winged bat (V. Nattereri). This bat, very local in England, in this country is to be numbered among the many new animals brought to light by the exertions of your Society and its members, as its first record as an Irish bat was owing to a specimen, killed by G. Mangan, Esq., at the Scalp, county Dublin, near Enniskerry, and by him presented to the Dublin Natural History Society, through E. M'Coy, Esq., by whom a paper on it was read at your meeting in February, 1845. Mr. M'Coy was unable to furnish any details concerning its habits. The specimens on the table were obtained in Levitstown, in the county Kildare, under the following circum- stances : — For the first recent specimens of this bat I was indebted to Frederick Haughton, Esq., Levitstown, by whom they were shot on the river Barrow, on the 22d of June ; they were handed to me, with the remark that they appeared to him lighter in colour than the bats he was accustomed to see about the place. On examination it was soon evident what they were f and having learnt from Mr. H. that he thought they had their nest in Tankardstown-bridge, as he had himself counted thirty- five and upwards flying out of a hole in it, and had been credibly informed that fifty-three were seen, I determined to examine the locality. The place pointed out was a set of small holes in one of the triangular abutments of the bridge, situated about four feet from the water at its ordinary height, and evidently containing a large colony, as the stones around its edge were polished and shining with the feet of the little animals running over them. On poking a switch into one of the holes, a loud chirping and clicking was immediately set up ; but as nothing could be done, on account of the earliness of the hour, we let them alone till evening, when, armed with a guage butterfly net and an ordinary landing net, we again rowed to the place, where a loud chirping, squeaking, and clicking announced that our little friends were already on the alert — this was 8.30 ; it was, however, 9.30 before they made their appearance, though all this time a great scrambling and scuffling was audible from the hole. This evening we captured three, and counted (including captives) forty-one bats coming out, between 9.30 and 10.30, and when we left, there seemed as many more in the hole, at least the chirping and scrambling was as loud as ever. On arriving at home we examined our captives, which turned out to be two full-grown female specimens of Natterer's bat (V. Nattereri), and one female Pipistrelle (V. Pipistrellus). The next night we proceeded again to the hole, and the bats began to fly precisely to the minute at 9.30. We remarked, however, several bats coming up the river half an hour earlier, either from Levits- town mills, or from an old church which here overhangs the river. The evening was dark and cloudy, and the night growing gradually more tempestuous, Natterer s bat began to return to their nest at 10, flying about our heads, and almost mobbing u». The following day was wet and stormy, and though the evening cleared up, 24 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. yet it continued so cold that only one bat came out, and one stranger was seen on the river, and when left them, at 10.30, all was quiet in the hole. The next day we did not disturb them at all. The 27th was a wet day ; it cleared up in the evening; though still cold, seventeen bats came out ; they had, however, grown very wary and learned to dodge the net, and would not come out unless all was quiet — they also first took a peep out to see that all was clear, running back if the net was not held perfectly steady; so acute was their hearing, that every time the gunwale of the boat touched the pier of the bridge, no matter how gently, there was a loud cry of alarm from the hole, which I did not hear except then ; and whenever a bat ran back from the net after this cry, all would grow quiet again for about five minutes, and then the scuffling, scrambling, and squealing would begin again, and in a few moments they would begin to come out. It was perfectly possible to dis- tinguish the two, both on the wing and when coming out of the hole — V. Nattereri coming to its mouth, and thence flying straight out ; whilst the Pipistrelle crept to the edge of the pier, and letting himself fall from thence, flew off. This, added to the batter's being more wary and active in dodging the net, rendered him more difficult to capture, and to retain when captured, as out of three, supposed to be of this species captured, I was only able to retain one. V. Nattereri does not fly as rapidly nor make such quick turns as the Pipistrelle, and when struck into the water, floundered in it so as to enable me to catch him, while the Pipistrelle, under similar cir- cumstances, just touched it and was off. The cry of the Pipistrelle is much shriller than that of the other. There was also an unmistakeably fetid odour from the Pipistrelle, which I did not remark from Natterer's bat. I would say that of the bats counted each night the following were the proportions : — June 23rd, Natterer's bat, twenty-seven ; Pipistrelle, fourteen. 24th, Natterer's bat, twenty ; Pipistrelle, nine. 25th, Natterer's bat, one. 27th, Natterer's bat, eleven ; Pipistrelle, six. So that Natterer's bat appears to be the commoner of the two, though this might arise from the Pipistrelle not beginning to fly till half an hour later than the other. On confinement their manners are very different ; the Pipistrelle being impatient, squealing, and biting like a little fury, and running up and down the sides of the net ; while Natterer's bat was gentle, submitting to be handled, merely gaping with its mouth, and uttering a soft, low chirp ; both species used the exserted tip of the tail as an additional foot. Out of the specimens of Natterer's bat captured or shot, the proportion of sexes were seven females and two males. One of Natterer's bats lived for two days with us, and fed on flies very readily, and on raw meat. I remarked, however, that when the fly was not moving before his eyes, the bat took no notice of it, although the fly was touching its nose, or walking over its ears and head. I attempted to keep the others alive ; but though they fed well with me for some days, the journey up in the train killed them. I did not remark the great insensibility to the proximity of objects, which, according to Spallangani, is so well marked in some species, as one of them, which escaped from us in the house, struck himself repeatedly against the ceiling and corners of the room, in his efforts to elude recapture. I remarked, too, that several of them flew straight into the net when held perfectly steady before the hole. Save in a few par- ticulars, the bats answered nearly to the description given in Bell's M British Quadrupeds." There was a well-marked sulcus between the nostrils ; the seba- ceous follicles not well-marked ; exserted portion of tail, a line and a half in length ; interfemoral, with from eight to fourteen bands. This character is, it would seem, of secondary importance, as the number of bands vary in my specimens. The male and the female differ slightly in dimensions, the female being the larger. The under surface of the latter, particularly the wings, was lighter than the former. The hind claws are thick and clumsy, and ciliated with stiff white hairs. The dis- tribution of this bat is curious, as in England it has only occurred in the eastern counties, and in this country the only two counties it has hitherto been recorded — Dublin and Kildare — are to the east, though I am sure it will, if looked for, be found in other counties also. I regret I have not any more information to supply your Society with in regard to the bat presented last February by me, as, owing to want of specimens for comparison, I am still in doubt what species to refer it to, as in its characters it partakes of those of both V. Daubentonii and Mystacinus Bell. It also resembles in one respect the species under consideration (V. Nattereri) — viz., PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 25 a slight fringe to the interfemoral ; but it differs so much in other respects, that I do not think it can be this bat, being much darker in the membranes and back and ears, and lighter on the belly ; the fur, too, is of a different texture ; it is also slightly smaller, and the tragus differs. In conclusion, I beg to lay before you a local list of the distribution of the mammalia of part of Carlow, Kildare, and Queen's County, for which I am indebted to the kindness of the same gentleman who gave me the bats — F. Haughton, Esq. : — Pipistrelle — common, one, captured in 1853, in company with the next, at Le- vitstown, county Kildare. Reddish-gray bat — nine, captured June, 1853, in Tan- kardstown-bridge, Levitsiown, county Kildare — common, though, perhaps, local. Hedgehog — common. Badger — Kilmarony woods, Queen's County, rare. Otters, river Barrow — very common. Stoat — very common. Common fox — very common. Long-tailed field-mouse — common ; Levitstown. Common mouse — very common. Black rat — Carlow; single specimen killed. Norway rat — common everywhere. Common marten — very rare ; last seen about ten years since at Bestfield, Carlow. A skin obtained at Mount Leinster, county Carlow, eighteen years since, was sent to the late Mr. Vigors, by S. Haughton, Esq. Irish, or varying hare — rather rare ; Oakpark. Rabbit — common. Common squirrel — very rare ; existed formerly in Pollerton, county Carlow, and said still to be found in Burton Hall woods. This list, though containing but few rarities, i3 of importance, as all authentic local lists are valuable. It contains but four rare animals — the squirrel, concerning which many doubt its ever having been indigenous ; it is said, in Rutty's " History of Dublin," to have been found in Luttrellstown woods, near this city ; and there is a tradition that they used to be found near Clondalkin. The other three rarities are — the marten, the black rat, and the badger, all of which, from various causes, are becoming more and more rare in this country. There is one remarkable omission in the list, the long-eared bat, which we might have expected to find. I made myself particular inquiries about it, and could get no tidings of it ; so I sup- pose it does not exist here. Mr. Williams and Mr. Montgomery said, that they were of opinion that in the more remote districts these animals were still frequent. The badger, Mr. Williams observed, was constantly met with in parts of Kerry ; and Mr. Montgomery stated that in Mayo and Donegal both the badger and marten were not scarce. Mr. Andrews said he could confirm Mr. Williams's statement that the badger was not uncommon in parts of Kerry. In some of the lonely recesses of the natu- ral woods, the marten was very frequent, and did much damage in destroying the young of the game-birds of the country. Mr. Andrews had every reason to believe that the true wild-cat was at one time well known in the Fiadhghleanna, or wild glens of the western parts of Kerry, for the description he got of it was totally different from that of the marten. The marten was called in Kerry M cat crann" (cat of the wood), and the wild cat known as the " cat fiadhachd" (hunting cat). The black rat, some years since, was very plentiful at a farm nearBallynunnery, County Carlow. Mr. Andrews then read a paper on the Malacorynchus membranaceus. This handsome species of duck was shot in the month of February last, on the east side of Inch Island, Dingle Bay, in Castlemaine harbour, by a person who was in the habit of looking for water-fowl. There had been previously severe gales from the south-west, and he had noticed some birds which he considered were teal, or the small brown widgeon. A flock of six birds were feeding in a muddy creek, and firing among them, the present specimen was the only one shot. He preserved the bird for Mr. Ross Townsend, who at once saw that it was a species perfectly new to him, and very kindly forwarded it to me in June last. Having submitted to you this addition to the ornithology of this country, I am not so much surprised at this instance, from the notices already, and but very recently, recorded, of many rare birds, such as the spotted eagle, Aquila naevia, of eastern Europe and of Africa ; the bee-eater, Merops apiastur, &c. ; and now, that the taste for the natural sciences is more widely diffusing, we may look forward to and expect in the several branches equally interesting additions to our fauna. Doctor Farran, the chairman, observed that such an addition to the ornithology 26 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. of Great Britain had, indeed, an interest beyond any record of the kind he had heard of in their country, and he was much pleased at the manner in which Mr. Andrews had so concisely reviewed the interest of such a discovery, and had so appropriately applied referential causes. Mr. Montgomery exhibited specimens of the great cinereous shrike (Lanius ex- cubitor) and the black-capped warbler (Motacilla atracapilla), both shot by him in Beaulieu wood, County Louth. J. E. Gray, Esq., of the British Museum, being proposed by Mr. Andrews, seconded by Dr. Gordon, was unanimously elected an honorary member. The ballot having been announced, Walter Lyndsay, Esq., Rathmines, and William Compton Domville, Esq., of Santry House, were duly elected members. The Society then adjourned to January. JANUARY 13, 1854. A meeting of the members was held at their rooms, 212, Great Brunswick-street, on Friday evening, the 13th instant, Robert Callwell, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the chair. The minutes and preliminary business being disposed of, the following donations were announced : — Presented by James R. Dombrain, Esq., two handsome specimens, male and female, of the red or common squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), which were shot at Avon- more, county of Wicklow ; and, by the same gentleman, a specimen of the godwit. Mr. Dombrain obtained this bird from a fisherman at the Pigeon-house, who found it nearly drowned, having taken one of the hooks. Mr. Ffennell observed, that the squirrel was not uncommon in many parts of Ireland ; at Lough Inagh, in Connemara, it was very numerous. Mr. Kinahan presented two specimens of the wood-mouse, or long-tailed field- mouse (Mus sylvaticus), male and female ; and Mr. R. P. Williams presented a specimen of the black scoter duck (Oidemia nigra), shot near Sallins. Thanks having been passed to the donors, Professor Allman described a remarkable condition which he had observed in some of the adventitious roots of a specimen of Jussicea grandiflora, growing in the College Botanical Gardens. Some of the roots, which proceed from the nodes of the stem, instead of growing downwards, so as to fasten themselves in the mud at the bottom of the water in which the plant grows, assume an ascending direction and grow into the air, where they present a very singular appearance, looking like portions of rush-pith attached to the stem of the plant. When examined by the microscope, they are found to have a central, slightly- developed, woody axis, round which is a peculiar structure, formed of exceedingly delicate stellate cells, having between them large intercellular spaces, and constituting one of the most regular and beautiful examples of a system of air-chambers to be found, perhaps, in the whole vegetable kingdom. A singular fact connected with these air-chambers is, that they are not surrounded by any epidermal investment, but open directly into the external air. Professor Allman also mentioned his discovery of a remarkable peculiarity of the woody fibres of the same plant, namely, the fact of these fibres being filled with starch granules, a condition of prosenchymatous tissue almost unique in the vegetable kingdom. Mr. Andrews then read the following REMARKS ON HARBOUR FISH AND ON THE FORMATION OF PISCINA. He said — I had some time since proposed to give a paper with reference to the har- bour fish of the south-west coast of this country, viz. — of such as were permanent residenters in our harbours and estuaries, and of such that visited the harbours dur- ing the seasons of spawning. I found, however, from my notes, that it would be a subject of such magnitude, that the interest and importance would ill be conveyed within the limits of a paper which the rules of our evening meetings prescribe. In PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 27 this statement, I shall as briefly as possible remark on some of the peculiarities and habits of those fish that are easily obtainable in our harbours throughout the seasons, for the object not at the present of treating on their economical uses, but of creating an interest in a physiological point of view, by observing, in those large glass cis- terns or tanks, which may be termed " piscinae," the habits, the modes of progres- sion, and the seeking of food which influence marine animals. Most are aware of the great pleasure generally afforded to the visitors during the last year at the Zoological Gardens, London, in the examination of the numerous marine and fresh water fishes, and of the Chelonia, or Tortoises, which were seen in the full beauty and spirit of life in the large crystal cisterns and troughs. In the following, I shall allude principally to the smaller kinds, chiefly marine, that would form objects of interest in their investigation : and in many instances, may lead to views entirely new, as the absence hitherto of such facilities have led to decisions, and put forward in ichthyological works, too, at variance with physiological facts. Mr. Andrews then went through the classifications of the several genera of our marine fish, and said that, among the Percidae, or family of perches, the greater and lesser, weevers, (Trachinus draco, and T. vipera), were singular in their habits. The latter is most frequently met in sandy inlets ; and I have, in several cases, witnessed the severe effects of its wound. It is well known in Kerry as the sting- fish ; and it is surprising, that some works on ichthyology still represent the injury to be caused by the dorsal spine ; but my friend, Dr. Allman, has clearly proved the action to be from the strong opercular spine. It is a pretty fish, streaked with brown and yellow, and with silvery abdomen ; having its eyes fixed upwards, like the gobies, it settles in the sand watching the approach of its prey. A few specimens of T. draco have been met in Ventry Harbour. Of the same family, the striped red mullet (Mullus sarmuletus) is of most remarkable beauty in its living state, its scales being of a brilliant red, passing into a silvery pink on the belly. In confinement, it timidly moves about, waving its barbels to and fro, as organs of touch. It is frequently taken in the herring-nets, at the entrance of Ventry harbour, and is probably by no means uncommon there ; and, when taken from the nets, exhibits great bril- liancy of colouring. Its scales are easily rubbed from the body, so that those seen in the fish shops of London are rarely good specimens, the scales being all detached by the working of the trawl-net they are taken in. The Basse, or sea perch (Labrax lupus), is beautiful at seasons in Brandon Creek, and, like several of our marine fish, thrives well, kept permanently in fresh water. Under the head of the mailed cheeks, or Gurnard family, are the several species of bull-heads, such as Cottus scorpius, and C. bubalis, which are most amusing when captured. Some give a slight hissing sound, and make their formidable spines very prominent by the inflation of the head. Nothing can equal the extreme beauty of the Cottus Green- landiaeus, or Greenland bull-heads, fine specimens of which were taken in Dingle harbour — the richest tints of carmine and deep morone, with spots and barrings of most vivid brilliancy, characterise these beautiful fish in the state of life. The ova, or roe, is different from that of the other species, being of a fine scarlet, and which was remarkable in the species I dissected. The natives of Greenland are fond of this fish, and even eat the roe in a raw state. Of the sticklebacks, the ten-spined and fifteen-spined frequent the harbours, particularly the latter (Gasterostens spina- chia) in great numbers in Dingle harbour. They are taken in the sean : and I have admired their playfulness and extreme beauty when placed in a tub of water. Except in anger or alarm, they do not exhibit their spines, but which lie closely adpressed to the dorsal ridge, in a sulcated groove. They are interesting in their movements in seeking and attacking their prey ; and the tangled masses of Fucus serratus and confervae, among which they form their nests and deposit their eggs, it unshyingly, almost immediately after capture, seizes the food offered. Passing over many species and families, which are altogether deep-water fish, the next presents the riband-shaped form (the Tamioidas), in which is the beautiful cepola rubesceas, red-band fish, which assumes the richest carmine to a pale rose- tint. It has frequently been taken on the West Coast, and sometimes cast ashore among sea-weeds after a gale of wind. It is met at low spring-tides among the stems of laminaria and the stronger fuci. It would form a beautiful object in one of the crystal cisterns, and to observe its sinuously -gliding motions between the 28 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. stems of sea-plants, its eyes large in proportion to its head, directed in pursuit of the soft molluscous animals upon which it preys. Through the kindness of Dr. Farran, I obtained a specimen from the South Coast Of the Mugilidse, the mullets are among the most lively and playful of our harbour fish. The grey mullet Mugil capita) are in great numbers in Ventry harbour, and of large size. Every water seems suited to their growth— salt, brackish, and fresh — and they are easily fed. The atherine, or sand-smelt (Atherina presbyter) are in abundance in Dingle harbour, and frequent sandy inlets in the winter and spring months in great num- bers, at which seasons they are in prime state for the table. They are in Dingle harbour all through the year, but in spring, approach the shore to spawn. The next contains a great many pretty species among the Gobiodiae, or the gobies. The spotted gunnell (Gunnellus gullata) is very numerous in Dingle harbour, and called the butter-fish, from the unctious feel of the body. It is every tint of rich brown, yellow, and purple ; and the large dark spots in some specimens are very- conspicuous along the line of the dorsal fin. Young specimens of the sea-wolf Anarrhecus lupus) have been taken in Dingle harbour. The black gobie — Gobius niger — beautiful in the spawning seasons with the deeper shades it assumes, and the rich orange tints of its dorsal fins, are plentiful in Dingle harbour ; and also the spotted, the one-spotted, and the double-spotted gobies have all been taken in Dingle and Ventry harbours. In Ventry harbour I met with a very beautiful species, presumed to be the Gobius reticulatus, peculiar to the Mediterranean, and distinguished by the rich rosy tints of its dorsal fins. In a calm and sunny day, in the month of August, and in a little sheltered inlet in Sneem harbour, I watched for some time the movements of multitudes of gobies. I was surprised at the number of black gobie, which occupied, with their young, a muddy recess between rocks, from which they occasionally darted, seizing and returning with their prey. The shanny (Pholis laevis) was more exposed, and in sandy grounds ; they occa- sionally rose to the surface perpendicularly with the aid of the pectoral fins, and with the aid of the same movement appeared singularly to raise themselves, or creep up the face of any perpendicular rock or stone. Both these species had numerous young, which they seemed carefully to protect. The speckled gobies were in clear, sandy and sunny spots, aud the two-spotted gobies remained near the surface, perfectly motionless. Of the dragonets I have only met in the harbour the Sordid dragonet (C. dracunculus), which possesses no beauty. The family of Wrasses, or Labridae, vie with all others in the brilliancy and gaudiness of their colours. Of these I have obtained Labrus maculata, L. lineatus, and L. variegatus, and beautiful speci- mens of the three spotted wras3e L. trimaculatus, in Valencia harbour — its colour most brilliant rose and reddish orange. In the sean, in Dingle harbour, I have taken the Comber wrasse (L. Comber), and a beautiful little wrasse marked with a lateral band, similar to the Rainbow wrasse, but having the abdomen reddish, and the head marked with wavy orange lines. The Goldsinny, or Goldfinny (Cre- nilasbrus cornubrensis), I have taken in numbers ; it is an extremely beautiful fish. I am certain that others of the Crenalabri will be met with on the coast of Kerry, and even some that are peculiar to the Mediterranean. There is no class of fishes that would be more beautiful in a vivarium, nor none that could be more easily fed, living as they do upon Crustacea and the harder mollusca, which their jaws, armed with strong conical teeth, enable them to crush. The Esocidae include the garfish (Esox vulgare), and which, in the young state, has afforded to me some degree of interest in the examination, particularly with reference to the supposed existence in our seas of a species of Hoemiramphus. However, the numerous opportunities I had of examining the different stages of growth, confirmed me in the opinion that the Hoemiramphus Europaeus was no other than the young of the garfish, and that the young state of Esox alone presented an undeveloped form of the upper jaw, but which gradually extended in growth until maturity perfected its equal development with the lower "jaw. In July, immense numbers enter the harbours of Dingle and Ventry, seeking the fry of other fish, and to spawn, and they are taken in numbers in the sean, little cared for as food, but are eagerly bought up by the fishermen for bait. In October and November, the young appear. There are multitudes of others I shall pass over, and some, although taken in the harbours, much longer continue in fresh water, as the Salmonide, and which merely frequent at periods the salt water PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 29 estuaries. The several 6pecies of Motella, the three, four, and five-bearded rocklings, are frequent in Dingle and Ventry harbours, and I have taken in a boat trawl in Ventry, the mackerel midge, the beautiful little Motella glauca. Of the Pleuro- nectidae, many in the young state are to be met with in the harbours. In the summer months, the French or lemon sole (Soleapogusa), and the variegated sole (Monochirus variegatus), are not uncommon in Ventry harbour. The Cyclopteridae, or suckers, are many of them frequent ; the Cyclopterius lumpus has been taken of large size in Castlemaine harbour, sometimes frequenting the salmon weirs. In some speci- mens the belly is of a rich azure. The Cornish sucker (Lepidogalter cornubiensis), has been taken at low water, attached to the stones in Smerwick harbour, its light tinge of carmine hue attracting attention. All the known British species of the pipe fishes (Sygnathidse) I have obtained on the south west coast ; some are beautifully and vividly marked in the living state, and their singular marsupial habits would render observance of their movements and peculiarities interesting. The deep- nosed pipe fish (Sygnathus typhle) I met rather abundantly in the spring months in Dingle harbour, and the Oquoreal pipe fish (Acestra oquorea) more frequent during summer. The Hippocampus brevirostris, short-nosed sea-horse, has been taken at low water in Smerwick, adhering in its peculiar manner to the rigid stems of cisto- seira. Fish, like the gay plumage of our birds, assume their gaudiest tints in the bridal season, and this is remarkably seen in the Sygnathidae, in the Cottidas, and in the Gobies. Skates and rays, and the singular homey pouches containing the young, are met in all the harbours ; but sufficient has been said of the interest that exists to the naturalist, and which a dredge and a small boat-sean can always com- mand the capture of. To follow out more closely such investigations, how interest- ing would be the experiments resulting from daily examination of the habits of these different fish placed in those large tanks, with shingly and sandy beds, rock, and with sea plants and confervas, to please their habits and tastes. Thus, beautiful fields of interest are laid open to the astonishment of the admirers of nature's works, and the hidden mysteries of the tenants of the deep, unveiled and unravelled to physiological science. In the large cisterns of the vivaria at the Zoological Gar- dens, I have watched with interest the perfect lifelessness of the pike and the perch — they appeared like beautifully varnished specimens suspended in the fluid — mo- tionless and inanimate, and no perceptible pulsation of the operculi or gill covers. Living in an element heavier than air, and suspended in a liquid of nearly the same specific gravity as their own bodies, their forms are beautifully proportioned to offer the least resistible force to progression, while the muscular powers of the tail in some and of the pectoral fins in others are admirably adapted to rapid movements of progression and of elevation. Fishes, of all vertebrated animals, are said to be the least sensitive of emotions of pain or pleasure ; their organs or sensation awaken no impressions ; rigid in countenance, and eyes almost immoveable, and which no tears dim, nor eyelids protect, they seem, with all their beauty of form and brilliancy of colour, mere automatons in sensibility, and mute as the silent depths they inhabit. This in the fullest extent is not strictly accurate, for they recognise the hand that feeds them, and follow apparently with joy and sportive liveliness the movements of those that protect them. Mr. Andrews then alluded to the great interest of the vivarium which some years had been formed and kept up by Mr. Bland, of Derriquin Castle, Kenmare Bay. In an inlet, guarded by reefs of rocks in Sneem harbour, a strong barrier of stones had been closely formed across the entrance, out through which every tide flowed and ebbed, leaving a suffi- ciency of water within. In this, mullet, whiting, bream, soles, and plaice suc- ceeded best — haddock did also well, but gurnards became paler in colour. Whiting became so tame as to feed out of the hand, and all assembled at the feeding time at the appearance of the tray ; all seemed fond of potatoes. This singular charac- ter is strikingly shown in the natatores, particularly in the mergansers and sheldrakes, birds whose formation of bill appear only adapted to feed on the shellfish and soft mol- lusca, their habitual diet. When tamed or domesticated they greedily eat potatoes, altogether rejecting the food of their wild habits. Many admirable positions existed on the west coast for the formation of extensive marine store ponds, and where turbot, soles, haddock, cod, and lobsters could be securely stored, and made available in times ■of scarcity and boisterous weather. Under such circumstances, the artificial 30 riiOCEEDINGS OF societies. propagation of the turbot, the sole, and the codfish and haddock, could, with the same results, be accomplished from the spawn, as the propagation of the ova from the salmon or tront. The Chairman considered the subject brought forward was one of great value, not alone to the scientific man, but in a practical and economical point of view. He could confirm, with regard to the fisheries, how useful the formation of those store ponds would be. At the island of Inishtrahull, about six miles from Malin Head, off the coast of Derry, he had observed the islanders were prepared to bring fish to vessels passing the island. The fishermen of that island had very fine whale boats, which were sheltered and drawn up in a sandy creek. In a store pond, naturally formed in the island, the fish taken by them, such as turbot and other prime fish, were deposited, and they were always prepared to put fish on board the steamer passing from Sligo to Glasgow, or to Liverpool. Mr. Ffennell, commissioner of fisheries, observed that the concluding part of Mr. Andrews's statement was one of great importance, and as it bore upon the artificial propagation of fish, he would take the opportunity of saying a few words as to what was doing in the salmon fisheries of this country. He had received a large quantity of the impregnated ova, and he had sent about 30,000 to Mr. Cane's, at St. Woolstan's, for the purpose of carrying on the propagation in the Liffey. Mr. Ffennell said he had a large quantity of the ova, which he was experimenting on at the Custom-house, and he would, from time to time, present to the Society phials of the ova, showing the progressive develop- ment ; and he would further be most happy to assist any who were desirous of following similar experiments and investigations. Mr. Ffennel was also happy to say, that the young fry which created so much interest at the Exhibition, were thriving and growing well. A few days since he took one with a small net from the tank, of which he had an accurate drawing and measurements made. Its length was 4^ inches, showing the size of growth from the time he first got them in June. At that time they were barely an inch in length. If any of the members call at the Custom-house, it would give him much pleasure to show them. Mr. George A. Pollock said, that in the time of the Earl of Hardwicke, the Irish fisheries were considered of the highest importance; and it was remarked, in a correspondence, that it was one of the principles inculcated on the members at their election, that they should support the Irish fisheries. After some interesting discussion the ballot was declared, and James Haughton, Esq., of Moorfields, Roebuck, was elected a member. The meeting then adjourned to February. DUBLIN UNIVERSITY ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. OCTOBEK 22, 1853. Dr. Ball, President, in the chair. J. O. Westwood, Esq., F.R.S., &c, &c, being proposed and seconded, was unanimously elected a corresponding member. Mr. Hogan read the following note by J. Walter Lea, Esq., Corresponding Member : — PARASITIC (?) MOTH FOUND IN THE PUPA OF LASIOCAMPA TRIFOLII. In the course of the early summer of 1848 I found a caterpillar of Lasiocampa trifolii, in the vicinity of Oxford, which throve satisfactorily, and in due time entered the pupa state, having formed its cocoon in the regular compact oval form peculiar to it. Instead, however, of the imago appearing, as it should have done, in July or August, it continued in the pupa state the whole of the summer, autumn, and winter of that year, and also through the spring and summer of 1849. I then thought it must be dead, and opened the cocoon to ascertain the fact, when I found it not only alive, but quite lively, and apparently in perfect health. Having carefully PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 31 closed the cocoon, I replaced it in the box where I was preserving it, and looked at it from time to time during the autumn and early winter of the same year, always finding it alive and lively, and very carefully closing the cocoon and box after each examination, so that no mischief should happen to it. In the beginning of 1850, the pupa ceased to show signs of life, when examined and handled ; but, not knowing what to make of it, I took redoubled care of it, and kept it by me all through the summer and autumn of the year ; but towards Christmas, being persuaded that it must be really dead, I at last resolved to open it, which I did, and the first thing that I saw, on making an opening in the puparium, was the head and eyes of a small moth, moving about rapidly, and in the most lively manner. A few moments sufficed to exhume the little creature, which was about the size, and had very much the general appearance of Margaritia hyalinalis. It was very lively, and walked quickly about the table, moving its antenna? in all directions. The wings were all shrivelled and crumpled together, so that I could make but very little of them, nor did they in the least expand with exercise. The inside of the puparium of the Lasiocampa trifolii was filled with a dry, pale powder, and I could find no trace of any cocoon, or vestige of any kind, of the moth which I had just extracted from it. There was no evidence to show how long it had been there ; and as it was manifestly far too small and feeble to make any opening in its prison, by its own efforts, it must have remained there until it died, had I not opportunely set it free. It did not occupy more than one-sixth of the interior of the puparium, and lay in a reversed position, with the apex of the abdomen in the place of the head of the proper occupant. It was quite unable to turn itself round inside the case, as it was too long, and also the whole space, which it did not fill, was well filled with the dry powder above mentioned. A rigid examination showed no opening in the puparium through which anything could have entered ; and, indeed, the pupa had been too carefully preserved to be within the reach of accident or enemies. Most unfor- tunately, before I had completed my investigations, I was suddenly called away, and in my absence the whole was swept away and destroyed by a servant. I took no memorandum of it at the time, being exceedingly busy, but I have the clearest recollection of the circumstances, and can answer for the facts being in every particular correct. I cannot explain the matter, and should be very glad of any light that can be thrown upon it. Professor Allman remarked, that if truly parasitic, the insect would, doubtless, have been provided with some means of effecting its escape. The Rev. Joseph Greene said, that he thought it was not a parasitic moth, or it would not have been so placed in the pupa; for even if it had been endowed with the power of secreting acid, it would, in all probability, not have been able to make its escape, as in all normal cases the parasite was placed with its head in the same place as that of the natural occupant ; he thought it would yet be proved that moths were not parasitic on moths. Mr. Hogan stated, that he had mentioned the case to Mr. Westwood, who observed that the subject was still very much in the dark. Dr. Ball exhibited Sphasrii, attached to the larva and pupa of Lepidopterous insects, from Kelso Bay, New Zealand. NOVEMBEK 5, 1853. Dr. Ball, President, in the chair. Mr. E. P.Wright announced the following donations of books : — HistoriaNaturalis Orcadensis, Part I., from Dr. W. B. Baikee, and the Annual Address to the Dublin Geological Society, by Dr. Ball. The Rev. J. Green exhibited a pupa of Steropus fagi, partially formed of a beech leaf, and from which the external membrane had been removed without disturbing the venation of the leaf. Dr. Ball exhibited a specimen of the fork-tailed Petril (Thalassidroma Leachii), shot near Clontarf ; also some Radiata, found floating on the sea, near the West Indies, which Professor E. Forbes pronounced to be a species of Glaucus ; and some Gulf weed, taken by Mr. Hassal, in lat. 21° 10', long. 37° 20', in February, 32 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 1853. The weed was covered with campanula?, which were still alive ; thus forming a miniature vivarium. Some conversation then ensued relative to the so-called Aztec children. Professor Forbes stated, that Mr. Connolly of London said he could find instances perfectly similar to them in this country, allowing for difference of race, &c. Dr. Carte said, that they were by no means so old as was imagined ; he had had an opportunity of examining the teeth of one of them, who could not have been more than eight years old. Dr. Ball exhibited skulls of various races, to illustrate the flattened character which some of them possessed in a great degree. Mr. E. P. Wright read a letter from R. Davis, Esq., Clonmel, relative to the appearance of the Dotterel and other birds. NOVEMBER 19, 1853. Dr. Ball, President, in the chair. Mr. Hogan read the following note on the larva? of Diglossa mersa, by J. 0. Westwood, Esq. : — " I have carefully examined and dissected the little larvae you gave me as those of Diglossa mersa ; I find them very interesting animals, and differing very much from the ordinary type of Staphylinideous larvae. The articulated caudal appendages, which are so much developed in the larvae of Staphylinus and all the other larvae of the family which I had previously examined, are in these larvae reduced to a very minute but still articulated pair of lateral setae, much shorter than the joint to which they are attached. The mandibles will do well for a Staphyline's larvae ; but the maxillae are quite unlike those of any other larvae I know, being long and like the blade of a sword, with a short palpus on the dilated handle or base. As Diglossa itself is such an aberrant form, I suppose, under all the above circumstances, that the larvae may belong to it rather than to any other Necrophagous group." The Rev. J. Greene exhibited a box of rare Lepidoptera, among which were specimens of Acronycta euphorbiae. Mr. Hogan then read the first part of a CATALOGUE OF COLEOPTERA FOUND IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DUBLIN. Imperfect though a list such as the following must necessarily be, I trust that it will be of use in assisting to determine the limits of distribution which exist among our native beetles. Much of the information contained in this catalogue has been communicated to me by A. H. Haliday, Esq., and Alfred Furlong, Esq., for whose kind assistance I have great pleasure in returning my best thanks. The names of the genera are those adopted by the late Mr. Stephens in his " Manual of British Coleoptera." Cicindela campestris, L. Killiney beach. Demetrias atricapillus, L. Killiney and Portmarnock. Dromius quadrimaculatus, L. Under the bark of trees, common. „ linearis, Ol. Portmarnock, &c. „ fasciatus, F. Killiney and Portmarnock. „ foveolus, Gyl. Portmarnock. „ truncatellus, L. Ditto. „ meridionalis, Ste. Cherry- wood, Loughlinstown. „ melanocephalus, Dj. Port- marnock, &c. „ agilis, F. Not uncommon. Clivina fossor, L. Abundant. Dyschirius thoracicus, Gyl. Portmar- nock and Portrane. ,, salinus, Schaum. Portrane. „ globosus, Hbst. Common. Carabus granulatus, L. Very abundant. „ auratus, L. This insect was taken some years since at Lough Bray, by the Rev. E. Tardy and the late T. Coul- ter, Esq. ; but I have not heard of any recent instance of its capture. „ glabratus, Pk. Lough Bray. „ nemoralis, Mir. Common. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 33 Carabus catenulatus, Pz. Local. „ monilis, F. Taken by the late J. Tardy, Esq. „ clathratus, L. Enniskerry. Leistus spinilabris, F. Very local. Helobia brevicollis. Pk. Everywhere. Loricera pilicornis, F. Common. Badister bipustulatus, F. Scarce, though generally distributed. Chiasmus vestitus, F. Along the Dod- der banks. Anchomenus prasinus, F. Abundant. „ oblongus, F. Rare. „ albipes, F. Common. Agonum marginatum, L. Dodder banks. „ parumpunctatum, F. Common. „ micans, Nic. Dodder banks. „ piceum, L. Local. Olisthopus rotundatus, Pk. Sea-coast. Synuchus vivalis, III. Portmarnock, on the sea sands. Sphodrus leucophthalmus, L. Dublin and Malahide. Pristonychus terricola, F. Dublin, in cellars. Calathus cisteloides, Pz. Common. „ flavipes, Dft. Portmarnock. „ melanocephalus, L. Very abun- dant. „ mollis, Mm. Portmarnock ; plentiful. (Amphigynus, Hal.) piceus, Mm. Fre- quent. Argutor erythropus. Mm. Local. „ vernalis, Gyl. Ditto. Adelosia picea, Ste. Taken by the late Mr. Tardy. Pogonus chalceus, Mm. Marshes at Baldoyle, Portrane, &c. Pa;cilus cupreus, L. Very common. „ var. versicolor, Sturm. Fre- quent. Omaseus nigrita, F. Local. , , melanarius, III. Not uncommon . „ orinomus, Ste. Military road. Steropus madidus, F. Abundant. Broscus cephalotes, L. Common along the sea-coast. Platysma niger, Ste. Everywhere. Abax striola, F. Generally distributed. Amara similata, Gyl. Common. ,, vulgaris, Gyl. Scarce. „ communis, F. Abundant. „ trivialis, Gyl. Local. „ familiaris, Crz. Portmarnock. „ brunnea, Gyl. Ditto. „ bifrons, Gyl. Ditto. „ tibialis, Pk. Not common. „ nitida, Er. Local. „ acuminata, Pk. Not uncommon. VOL. I. Bradytus apricarius, F. Local. „ fnlvus, Deg. Portmarnock. „ consularis, Dj. Ditto. Cyrtonotus piceus, F. Local. Harpalus aeneus, F. Portmarnock. „ ruficornis, F. Common. „ tardus, 77/. Portmarnock. „ honestus, Dj. Ditto. „ limbatus, Sturm. Common. Ophonuspuncticollis, Pk. Portmarnock. „ pubescens, Pk. Marine marshes at Baldoyle, &c. Trechus aquaticus, Ste. Common. „ rubens, F. Very rare ; Clon- tarf and Killiney. ,, fulvus, Mm. Not unfrequent. Blcmus pallidus, Ste. (Trechus labi- dosus,Dau>son). Of this local species I have captured a single specimen on the beach at Killiney ; it has also been taken by Mr. Haliday, at Holywood, Co. Down. Cillenum laterale, Lch. Baldoyle, abundant. Tachys immunis, Ste. In river gravel. „ obtusus, Dj. Local. Ocys rubens, Ste. Very rare ; North Bull sands, and Bray. „ currens, Ste. Dodder banks ; very rare. Notaphus ustulatus, L. Banks of the Liffey, at Celbridge. Lopha assimilis, Gyl. Local. Peryphus concinnus, Sturm. Mouth of the Dodder. „ inamarithus, Ste. Ditto. „ saxatilis, Gyl. Dodder banks. „ maritimus, Ste. Killiney ; but not common. „ Bruxellensis, Wesm. Local. „ littoralis, Pz. Not unfrequent. „ tibialis, Dj. Dodder banks. „ viridi-ajneus, Ste. Plentiful. „ decorus, Dj. Dodder banks. Tachypus celer, L. Everywhere. „ bipunctatus, L. Portmarnock. „ pallidipennis, Ste. Baldoyle. „ serosus, Er. Dodder banks and Loughlinstown. Philocthus asneus. Grm. Local. Notiophilus aquaticus, L. Common. „ semipunctatus, Sturm. Ditto. „ palustris, Dft. Ditto. Elaphrus riparius, L. Glen near Tick- nock ; by R. H. S. Smith, Esq. Haliplus elevatus, Helw. Canal, Dub- lin, and Loughlinstown. D 34 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Haliplus fulvus, F. Not uncommon. „ ruficollis, Deg. Canal,Dublin. „ lineatocollis, Mm. Ditto. „ obliquus, F. Ditto ; taken by Miss M. Ball. Noterus semipnnctatus, F. Same lo- cality. Hyphydrus ovatus, L. Portmarnock, &c. Hygrotus inaaqualis, F. Not uncom- mon. „ pictus, F. Phoenix Park Zoo- logical Gardens, but rare. Hydroporus palustris, L. Somewhat local. „ planus, F. Very abundant. „ reticulatus, F. Canal, Dublin. „ rivalis, Gyl. Lougblinstown. ,, lepidus, 01. Local. „ depressus, F. Loughlinstown. „ erythrocephalus, L. Not un- common. „ nigrita, F. Ditto. „ pubescens, Gyl. Ditto. Laccophilus minutus, L. Local. „ hyalinus, Deg. Generally dis- tributed. Colymbetes fuscus, L. Common. „ nebulosus, Ste. Dundrum. „ bipustulatus, X. Exceedingly abundant. „ cbalconotus, Rug. Local. Colymbetes guttiger, Gyl. A single specimen at Kingstown. „ angustior, Gyl. Fox-rock, &c. ,i fuliginosus, F. Common. „ ater, F. Local. Dytiscus marginalis, L. Not common, though generally distributed through the county. Acilius sulcatus, L. Howth and Port- marnock, Gyrinus natator, L. Everywhere. „ aeneus, Ste. Canal, Dublin. Orectochilus villosus, Mir. Loughlins- town. Heteroceru femoralis, Kies. Baldoyle : the var. called sabulosus (Hal.) also occurs here. Helophoruss grandis, III. Local. ,, aquaticus, L. Not uncommon. „ granulans, L. Frequent. „ griseus, Hbst. Local: a var. with a black head has been taken at Clontarf, by Miss M. Ball. Hydrobius fuscipes, Z. Tolerably fre- quent. „ globulus, Pk. Laccobius minutus, L. Limnebius mollis, Ste. Ochthebius punctatus, Ste. nock. Philhydrus melanocephalus, L. Local. Scarce. Dundrum. River Dodder. Portmar- Mr. A. Furlong said that as yet our Irish fauna did not contain more than one- third of the British insects. Even taking into account the difference of seasons and latitude, he thought it would not be too much to expect one-half; he also thought that so small a number of Coleoptera being discovered in Ireland might be owing either to the defectiveness of local lists or the scarcity of collectors. Some insects it would be useless to expect in this country, as, for instance, those frequent- ing the chalk hills of England ; but, at the same time, he was persuaded that our Irish sands were very much superior to any in that country. The Rev. J. Greene stated, that he had met with a second instance of a hybernating Vanessa Io, making a noise when disturbed ; it occurred at Colney Hatch, Hert- fordshire. DECEMBER 3, 1853. Dr. Ball, President, in the chair. The President exhibited some specimens of the Cirrhopedse, including the Lepa- didae and Balaenidae, and gave a short account of the various species. He also exhibited a female merlin, given him that morning by Mr. Nicholson ; shot eating a snipe, at Balrath, near Kells. Mr. Warren exhibited a dotterel, which, he fancied, was the little ringed dotterel (Charadrius minor, Meyer) ; shot at Clontarf Island by Mr. Lamprey. Mr. Kinahan said he was quite certain it was the Charadrius minor, from the description given of it by the Rev. L. Jenyns. Mr. Warren promised to have it more critically examined, and would bring it before the Association at an early meeting. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 35 DECEMBER 17, 1853. Dr. Ball, President, in the chair. The following donations were received :— A Treatise on the Educational Uses of Museums, by Professor E. Forbes, from the author ; and a Treatise on the Propa- gation of Salmon and other Fish, by E. and T. Ashworth, Esqrs., from Mr. Ffennell, Inspecting Commissioner of Fisheries, and thanks ordered to be given to the Donors. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. DECEMBER 5, 1853. Edward Newman, Esq., President, in the chair. The following donations were announced, and thanks ordered to be given to the donors : — The " Zoologist" for December ; by the Editor. The " Athenaeum" for November ; by the Editor. The u Literary Gazette" for November ; by the Edi- tor. The " Journal of the Society of Arts" for November ; by the Society. The " Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society," 1853, parts land 2; by the Society. " On two new Species of Calanidae, with Observations on the Spermatic Tubes of Pontella and Diapotmus," &c., by John Lubbock, Esq., F.Z.S. ; by the Author. " On the Destructive Powers of Scolytus destructor and Cossus ligni- perda," by Captain C. J. Cox ; by the Author. A specimen of Plusia bractea ; by R. S. Edleston, Esq. Two specimens of a Sciaphila, greatly resembling S. Penziana, from Scotland ; by John Scott, Esq., of Renfrew. An extract of a letter from Mr. Henry Doubleday, announed that if this Sciaphila, upon further examination, were proved to be a distinct species, he intended to describe it. R. G. Schofield, Esq., Glen Mohr Villa, Greenwich, and W. Groves, Esq., 12^ Morden Place, Lewisham Road, were balloted for, and elected subscribers to the Society. The Secretary announced that the Council had determined to distribute the Society's duplicate specimens of British Lepidopetra among the members. Mr. Westwood exhibited a piece of honey-comb, sent to him by a correspondent, in which the queen had laid drone-eggs in worker-cells, which had been enlarged for this purpose. Mr. Curtis exhibited some Hymenoptera and Diptera he had received from M. Leon Dufour and Signor Passerini, most of them valuable as typical specimens of species described in the " Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France." In the box, also, was Tryphon nigriceps, Grav., a species new to this country. It was bred by Mr. Foxcroft from cocoons of Trichiosoma lucorum, which he found in Wales. Mr. Curtis remarked that in 1828 he had bred Tryphon rufus from the cocoon of his Trichiosoma pratense, the larvae of which he found in a damp mea- dow, near Ambleside, in the previous year, on a plant he did not remember ; it cer- tainly was not whitethorn, but he thought a spiraea or some herbaceous plant. The Tryphon rufulus of Stephens is the male of T. rufus. These species, from the form of the petiole, belong decidedly to the genus Mesoleptus, which Gravenhorst hints at in his work ; but the multitude of exceptions to the characters of the genera proposed in the systematic tables, show how imperfect the latter are, and how diffi- cult it is to study the Ichneumonidae. Mr. Stevens exhibited two specimens of the very rare British longicorn beetle, Pogonocherus fasciculatus, taken by Mr. Foxcroft, in the Black Forest, Perthshire, and the new Noctiluca from Scotland ; but being a female, he had not been able to determine the species with certainty. Mr. Douglas exhibited specimens of the scarce moth, Hyponomenta irrorellus, reared by Mr. W. Kirby, of Wandsworth, from larvae found feeding upon Euonymus Europaeus ; and Mr. Stainton exhibited some of the cocoons. 36 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Mr. Wallace exhibited a fine new longicorn beetle, Acanthocinus sp. ? from California, and a splendid butterfly, Zenonia Octavius, JFa6., from Para. Mr. Smith exhibited two wasps' nests, one formed in a bee- hive and the other in a cask ; and he also exhibited a cell of Anthophora retusa, containing a larva of the bee, and several females of its parasite Anthophorabia ; and stated, that the duration of the life of the males he had observed was seven weeks. Since the last meeting of the Society, Mr. Walker had informed him that he had described the Anthophorabia retusa of Newport, as far back as 1839, in his monograph of the family, under the name of Cirrospilus Acasta. Mr. Westwood, referring to his remarks upon Anthophorabia at the last meeting, said that Mr. Smith having afforded him an opportunity of viewing the insect under a high magnifying power, he was convinced that Mr. Smith was correct in saying it possessed true ocelli. Captain C. J. Cox laid upon the table a block of wood perforated by larvae of Cossus ligniperda, and pieces of the wood and bark of elm and ash, illustrating the different ways of mining pursued by the larvae of Scolytus destructor and Hylesinus Fraxini. For several years he had devoted his attention to these insects, especially the Scolyti, and he was convinced that their ravages were so extensive as to be of great importance. Some of the oldest and finest elms in the parks had been de- stroyed, and young, sound trees were not exempt from their attacks. In opposition to several distinguished entomologists, he was convinced that Scolytus destructor attacked sound trees, and caused them to become diseased, partly through the influence of a poison contained in the excrement of the insect ; and a course of ex- periments had not only assured him on this point, but had also enabled him to state to the Office of Woods and Forests that the damaged trees might be saved and the pest prevented from spreading, if they would adopt his plan of partially barking the trees in the places attacked, and removing and destroying the portions cut off. Once, when in a ship-timber yard, where he had a yacht building, he saw an ash tree so covered with these insects, that he calculated there were not less than 280,000 of Hylesinus Fraxini in it ; the Scolytus was certainly quite as prolific, and unless some such steps as he had pointed out were speedily adopted to check the evil, he would venture to say that in sixty or seventy years there would not be an elm tree in or about London. The damage caused by Cossus lipniperda was very great, and he also attributed a poisonous quality to the excrement of the larvae ; but he found that if the larvae were followed up and cut out, the trees soon recovered. He said that in the Koyal Botanic Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, out of two hundred and forty trees, only ninety had escaped being attacked, and out of eighteen operated upon, all had done well except one. Mr. Westwood said his late lamented friend, Audouin, who had paid great at- tention to this subject, had once, when he was visiting Paris, pointed out to him that a female Scolytus first attacked a tree for food, and then other females followed to lay their eggs on the perforated and exposed place. Mr. Edward Sheppard said he had found the insects alive in old elm rails. Mr. Curtis had never known young trees attacked ; but at St. John's Wood his attention had been called to some old elms, which had completely lost their bark from the attacks of Scolytus ; and he thought that only trees in an unhealthy state, which frequently happened from many causes, or old trees decaying, became the prey of this beetle. Captain Cox replied to these objections :— 1. That he was sure, from observation, that the females laid their eggs on sound trees, to which they went for that purpose. 2. That he had known the insects eat down into the solid wood, but only when they had deprived the bark and alburnum of their nutriment. And, 3. That the ma- jority of the trees in the Regent's Park were growing vigorously, even to the ter- minal shoots, when attacked. He added that the efficacy of the plan he recom- mended as a cure, was proved by the fact, that trees rapidly in process of destruction by Scolytus and Cossus had, after the operation, become quite healthy. The President, in concluding the discussion, said that the society was greatly indebted to Captain Cox for his lucid explanations on a subject of such great importance and general interest. Without wishing in the slightest degree to under- value those exhibitions of rarities, or those descriptions of genera and species which PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 37 formed the staple of the society's proceedings, he considered that carefully -prepared observations on the habits of insects possessed a still higher value and interest, more especially when such habits exercised an important economical influence, whether beneficial or injurious. He also wished to observe, that, in discussions like that which had just taken place, and to which he had listened throughout with the utmost attention and pleasure, it would be a great advantage if a month's notice could be given, in order that members might have the opportunity of refreshing their memories by referring to what had been previously written on the subject — in fact, of u reading up," so to speak, for the occasion — for we really came as it were unprepared, and treated almost as new a subject to which our best entomologists had already given their earnest attention. With regard to the opinions advanced and ably advocated by Captain Cox, he inclined to offer two remarks. First, in reference to the Scolytus attacking young and sound trees, he thought the Captain's views were fully borne out by the sound and healthy wood of a young tree which was exhibited, and in which the ravages of the insect had been closely watched from their very commencement until they caused the death of the trees : this view was also in accordance with his (the President's, own observations on the trees in Camberwell Grove, where he had for years watched the progress of the pest, and found it extended indifferently to old and young, sound and unsound trees. The other remark he wished to make was, that he dissented from Captain Cox's opinion, that any poison was diffused by the insects, either in the case of the Cossus or Scolytus ; he attributed the injury to simple mechanical causes, since the galleries or perforations of these insect-pests either arrested the flow of sap altogether, or diverted it from the ordinary channels ; the admission thus given to rain-water, and also to other insects, likewise tended to accelerate decay. Mr. Wallace read the concluding portion of "Notes on the Habits of the But- terflies of the Amazonian Valley." Mr. Westwood, in reference to a remark in Mr. Wallace's paper, that a certain species of Hesperia, with a beautiful under-surface, sat with its wings erect, observed that Nature generally provided that adornments of this kind should be exhibited; it was particularly the case with the Catocalidse, which, having very beautiful under-wings, rested with the upper wings open, so that the under-wings were exposed. Mr. Curtis differed from Mr. Westwood ; he thought that in the genus Catocala, especially in C. nupta, this was not the case. — J. W. D. (Zoologist.) LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION OF KILKENNY. DECEMBER 9, 1853. The December meeting was held at the Tholsel Rooms, on Friday evening, 9th ultimo, Dr. Cane in the chair. The routine business having been transacted, the Secretary, Dr. Lalor, announced the following donations : — A whip made of the lace tree of Jamaica, presented by Dr. William Swan, staff surgeon. A small but neatly carved Burmese idol of alabaster, a most favourable specimen of the art of the Burmese ; by Surgeon Langley, 62nd Regiment. The Report of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; by the Committee. A Dutch bottle found at the Rabbit-borough, Tramore ; by Captain Helsham. Mr. Cotton, Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Company, was unanimously elected a member. Mr. Rawnsley read his paper on " Cruelty to Animals." 38 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Dr. Cane, in the absence of the writer, read a paper by the Rev. James Graves— ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTY OF KILKENNY. H There are certain subjects, ignorance on which is, by universal consent, held to be deplorable if not shameful ; and the character of the age we live in tends every day to the enlargement of the limits within which ignorance is a disgrace. In the olden times of chivalry, learning was so little deemed essential to the knightly character, that the noble actually boasted of his incapacity to read or write, deeming all such effeminate acquirements only the fitting concern of the churchman, whose profession debarred him from the great business of war. Now, however, things have taken a turn tout au contraire ; the circles of science are rapidly widening, and fields of knowledge, but lately held the peculiar demesnes of the professor, are cultivated by the many. Natural history, geology, and chemistry have been made part of an academical education, and drawing and music bid fair soon to be as essential to the educated classes as correct grammar or orthography. u These observations must plead my excuse for bespeaking your attention to the geology of our county of Kilkenny ; and I am pleased to believe, that to many of my hearers the language of the geologist is not an unknown tongue. Nature's great bard, Shakspeare, who seems to have anticipated nearly all the grand discoveries of science, found l sermons in stones ;' and sublime, indeed, are the records from which the student of geology derives his knowledge. As he humbly and reverently reads the world's history in the rocky strata, which form the leaves of this great volume, his mind expands ; he finds himself capable of forming ideas of duration, of power, and of all-planning design, which lead him to the contemplation of the Everlasting — the Almighty — the Omnipotent Creator. [Mr. Graves here entered into a detailed description of the classification and nomenclature of rocks, as given by Colonel Portlock, in his useful "Rudimentary Treatise on Geology ;" and then proceeded as follows, to apply the subject to the geology of the county of Kil- kenny] : — "The plutonic rocks are found in small patches to the south-east of the county, in the form of granite. Granite forms the core of Brandon hill, over Graigue-na- managh, which has evidently been protruded from below, through the sedimentary strata which rest against its sides ; these sedimentary rocks have been again re- acted on by this plutonic agency, and in many places have, in consequence, assumed the metamorphic character ; the greater portion of the southern tract of our county is composed of the older sedimentary sand-stones, clay-slates, and brecchias ; the boundary line of this formation extends from the neighbourhood of Graigue-na-managh round by Thomastown, by Knocktopher, and Kilmoganny, to Garryricken, near Slieve-na-man. These formations contain many useful building stones ; as, for instance, the granite, and many of the sand-stones. Its mill- stone grits are worked at Drumdowney hill, and near Waterford ; whilst it likewise affords fine roofing slates from the quarries on the estate of our noble president, the Marquis of Ormonde, near Carrick-on-Suir, worked by our fellow-townsman, Alex- ander Colles, Esq. In the opening address, which I had the honour to deliver at the commencement of our last session, I alluded to the recent discovery of several mag- nificent fossil ferns, fruits, and fish, in the sandstone strata of Kiltorkan hill, which excited so much attention amongst the scientific men assembled in Belfast, in 1852, when the British Association held their annual congress there. These fossils present the most highly organised examples of animal and vegetable life, as yet found, in these very ancient sedimentary strata. The magnificence of the fronds of fern, only equalled in the present vegetation of the world by tree ferns of Australia, and to which, by the way, they are botanically related, may be imagined, when I tell you, that I have seen a slab of the Kiltorkan sandstone, in the Museum of Economic Geology, in Stephen's-green, Dublin, nearly three feet square, and yet only containing a portion of a single fern -leaf. *' The mountain limestone, another, but very early sedimentary rock, occupies the remainder of the county of Kilkenny, or that portion lying north-west of the line I have already indicated as bounding the sandstone, and older sedimentary rocks. The limestone has been raised or canted upwards by a force acting in a northerly direction from below upwards ; by this means the edges of the strata have been PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 89 exposed, and it is proved to rest on the sandstone. The actual junction of the two rocks is nowhere, that I am aware of, exposed to view; but they may be seen approaching to within a few hundred yards of each other on the line of the Water- ford and Kilkenny Railway, the sandstone being exposed at the western pier of the great Nore viaduct, and the limestone having been cut through close to the Thomas- town station. Besides the great expanse of the limestone, occupying the central and northern portions of the county (and which is, after all, but a limb of the greater limestone formation which covers the central plain of Ireland, stretching from Galway to Dublin, and from Athy to Leitrim), small patches occur at Grannagh, Dunkitt, and Piltown, which are of incalculable value, in an economic and agricultural point of view, supplying a great portion of the primitive districts of the counties of Kilkenny and Waterford with lime. Access is had to the water's edge from the limestone quarry at Grannagh, by a tunnel, running under the public road. It is needless to dwell on the advantages arising from the pre- valence of the mountain limestone in our county ; all our richest lands, either for cultivation or pasture, are situate within its bounds ; when burnt it makes a valuable manure, thus fertilizing the sandstone districts beyond its borders, and (but in a less degree) useful to the limestone tracts themselves. As a building stone it is superfluous to sound its praise; the sculptured ornaments of St. Canice's Cathedral, of Kilcooly Abbey, and many another ancient buildings, show it sharp and uninjured by the lapse of centuries , whilst its black marble quarries, running in a line across this county by Kilkenny, Farmley, and Callan, afford an abundant and elegant material for internal ornamentation. The mountain limestone of Kilkenny presents many varieties. Of these, it will be sufficient to enumerate, beside the black marble already alluded to, the brown spar and magnesian limestone. 1. The brown spar is a dove-coloured and highly crystalline limestone, altered by fire, and on its way, as one may say, to be made white marble ; for the Carrara marble, of whose spotless purity sculptors have taken advantage in every age, is but limestone altered by the action of heat under great pressure. The old geologists called the brown spar sidero-calcite, or iron- limestone ; and as such you will find it mentioned in Mr. Tighe's admirable survey of the county. The localities where this rock is apparent reach from Archer's Grove, where it forms an extremely picturesque line of cliffs, across the Nore, showing again at Lavistown and Dunbell, in the cuttings of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway, from thence stretching towards Gowran, where it rises into the elevation known as Freestone Hill, and so across to the base of the Johnswell mountains, where, at Kilcomar, it is well defined. At Riverview, a small stream separates the dark-blue limestone from the brown spar, in a very remarkable manner, the different rocks coming quite to the brink of the stream at each side. The researches of the government geological survey, which is at present being carried on in Ireland, have, as I am informed, brought to light a very curious cause for this altered limestone. It appears that it lies in the direction of a great fault, or upheaving of the earlier sedimentary strata, caused by the protrusion of the plutonic rocks, which form the mountain ranges of Carlow and Wexford ; from this crack, or fault, there would be an emission of the central heat, which, acting from below on the limestone, and under the pressure of a superincum- bent ocean, would convert these rocks which came in contact therewith, into a species of marble ; and it is remarkable, that the other marbles of our county strike across the district close to, and in a line with, the brown spar. 2. The magnesian limestone covers a large tract of country, within which Ennisnag, Annamult, Flood Hall, and Kells, are situated ; and a patch of the same rock occurs near Pil- town, in the barony of Iverk. This rock differs chiefly from the other calcareous strata in containing a large quantity of flint in its composition, sometimes exhibiting in the form of clusters of very beautiful prisms of quartz ; and, in consequence, makes a bad building stone, and worse lime. In compensation for these defects, the magnesian limestone often contains ores of lead and silver ; and a mine of this metal was worked in this district, with considerable success, at Knockdrina, over Flood Hall, as mentioned by Mr. Tighe in the work already quoted. A magnifi- cent silver cup, the property of this mine, was kindly entrusted to this Society by Mrs. Flood, to accompany the geological specimens forwarded by this institution last summer to our great National Exhibition. 40 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. " The fossils of the mountain limestone are both numerous and beautiful ; indeed, so much so, as to defy even enumeration in a paper such as this is. They are, I believe, without exception, marine. " It may have seemed strange to any observant person, that I should have made the assertion, that the mountain limestone extends over the entire of the north- west of the county of Kilkenny, when it is well known that extensive tracts of sand- stone and slate occur in that very district, while hills and eskers of sand, gravel, and clay, cover much of the remainder. These tertiary and later deposits do not, however, invalidate the well-established fact of the continuity of the first-mentioned rock over the region alluded to. " Let us now briefly examine the character of these groups of sandstone and slaty hills, which here and there rear their rounded summits over the limestone plains — I allude to the coalfields of the county of Kilkenny. I have already briefly stated the generally received theory as to the formation of coal, and shall not take up your time by again going over the same ground. The same theory which accounts for the formation of the English coal deposits, is as fully applicable to ours ; there is the same recurrence of numerous beds of coal, separated by gritty and slaty strata, the same indications of a luxuriant tropical vegetation. The principal difference arises from this, that our coal is devoid of bituminous matter, and burns without a flame. This peculiarity may be accounted for, by supposing that, after its for- mation, it was charred by a subterranean heat, approaching, as it does, nearer to pure charcoal than any other known mineral coal. From this peculiarity, it has received the name of ant.hr actite. The history and statistics of our Kilkenny col- lieries would be an interesting topic to enlarge on ; but as I am informed that it will be brought before you ere the session closes, by another member of the insti- tution, I will not here enter on it. " The strata which contain this valuable deposit, form hills which^ commencing in the barony of Gowran, and known as the Johnswell mountains, sweep round by Ballyfoyle and Ballyragget, forming the north eastern boundary of the county, and extending backward into Carlow and the Queen's County, embrace, within the limits of Kilkenny, the Castlecomer coal-field. Separated by the Nore from the Castlecomer coal-field, we find, rising on the western bank of that stream, a similar group of hills. At the point where the Dinan pours its tributary waters into the Nore, Mount Eagle rock rises its picturesque front, thence stretching backwards, the coal measures extend southwards, to within a mile of Kilkenny, at Richmond ; and then, trending westwards, stretches on to Ballykeef. Erom Mount Eagle, northwards, again, the coal measures, forming a line of picturesque bluffs, extend by Barnaglissane, Clashacrow, and Upper Court, to Kilcooly, the entire tract between the two boundary lines just now briefly indicated, belonging to the same formation. Within the bounds of the county of Kilkenny, but little coal has been discovered in this coal-field ; it extends, however, into Tipperary ; and at Slievar- dagh extensive pits of coal and culm are worked. " Erom the similarity of character in the eastern and western Kilkenny coal- fields, Mr. Griffiths, a high authoi'ity in such matters, has supposed that they originally formed one unbroken mass ; but that at some remote period in the world s history they have been separated by diluvial action, and the gap scooped out which now forms the valley of the Nore. I may be allowed to state two facts, which strongly corroborate Mr. Griffith's theory. Near Wellbrook, about a mile and a-half from Freshford, and on the old road to Kilkenny, there is a quarry where the limestone is worked within a hundred yards or so of the adjacent coal-measures. Here may be seen, overlying the limestone, not the undisturbed slaty strata of the adjacent hill, but the broken fragments of those strata, and not rolled and rounded, for the distance through which they were transported was too short to allow of that, but just as they were torn from their present beds, piled up like a mass of road metal, and forming the bearing or crown of the limestone quarry." " The wide range which geological science takes will, I trust, prove my excuse if in anything I have been obscure ; and when, as was unavoidable, I have been compelled to omit much of importance; but if what has been said leads even one of my hearers to cultivate the noble science of geology, I shall be amply rewarded." THE NATURAL HISTORY REVIEW. IS^ftiefos. Norway and its Glaciers, visited in 1851. By James D. Forbes, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c. Edinburgh : Adam Black. 1853. Price, £1 Is. A goodly volume lies before us — broad margin, fine paper, excellent illus- trations. We like such books. We use the word "like" as did the child who being asked whether she liked pudding or mamma better, adroitly- replied — " I like pudding ; I love mamma." We like a handsome book ; we love a good one. That Forbes's Norway is the former must be " plain to all beholders ;" it at once recommends itself to those who purchase on such considerations, and needs not our commendation of its external beauty. Having thus the advantage of a favourable first impression, we endeavour, to a certain extent, to inform our readers of its other merits. Thinking it pro- bable that the generality of reviewers will address themselves particularly to his descriptions of the glaciers, we first take, as an example of his style, and as an extract having a special interest to Irish readers, his account of his visit to an encampment of Laplanders, near Tromsb. It is right that we should explain that the learned Retzius has shown that the earliest inhabitants of Ireland, of whose skulls remains still exist, were identical in ethnological character with the Lapps of the present day ; thus the interest referred to arises in us: — "In the evening, a party from the steamer, accompanied by several gentlemen, from Tromso, proceeded in a boat across the sound (which is here only one-third of an English mile in width), to visit an encampment of Laplanders, who annually return to the same spot with their herds of reindeer. We landed near the opening of a valley which terminates in a hill of considerable height partly covered with snow. It is called, I believe, the Tromso -tind. On either side of the valley, hills rise to 1,500 feet or more, and are green to the top. These furnish pasture to the reindeer. The bottom is well wooded with trees of respectable growth, far superior VOL. i. E 42 REVIEWS. to those behind Tromso, and consisting, so far as I recollect, of birch, alder, and willow. There were no firs. The ground was boggy in many places, from the abundance of land springs, which, in part at least, are alimented by the melting snows, which evidently had but lately disappeared on the shady slopes. One good spring which appeared to rise from a rock, and which might have an elevation of 150 feet above the sea, had a temperature of 37° 5'. We at length extricated ourselves from the wood, and, crossing the stream, saw the Lapp camp before us, on a dry and pleasant grassy space, about two and a-half English miles from the sea. Some piles of sticks and mounds, which seemed like no human habitation, first attracted at- tention. The piles of sticks form, as we found, a sort of skeleton shed, which can be enclosed in bad weather by a kind of rude tarpaulin. They contain barrels, clothes, and many nondescript utensils and stores, which, in fine weather, are exposed, sus- pended from the bare poles. Two low, round mounds of turf, overlaid with sticks and branches, in a most disorderly fashion, composed the habitations of a multitude of men, women, and especially children, who seemed, at first sight, to be countless. Their appearance, uncouth, squalid, and diminutive in the extreme, was, I thought, decidedly unprepossessing. But an attentive survey brought out some more favour- able features. The countenance was altogether unlike any I had seen, but by no means devoid of intelligence, and even a certain sweetness of expression. Notwith- standing that our party was tolerably numerous, they exhibited no signs either of distrust or of shyness ; and whilst some of them entered into conversation with one of the gentlemen from Tromso, who knew a little of their dialect, and others went, attended by several small, active dogs, to fetch some reindeer for our inspection from the heights, the greater part remained quietly engaged in their huts, as we had found them, quite regardless of our presence. On inquiring into their occupation we were surprised to find them possessed of some excellently-printed and well cared- for books, particularly a Bible in the Finnish tongue, and a commentary, each forming a quarto volume. We found some of them also engaged in writing. This was a matter of surprise, where we had been led to expect something approaching barbarism ; and we had soon a proof that their pretension to religious impressions was not merely theoretical : for they positively refused to taste the spirits which were freely offered to them, and of which our party partook ; though it is well known that excessive and besotting drunkenness used to be the great sin of the Lappish tribes, and still is. Of those who have not been converted to habits of order and re- ligion, by the zealous efforts of the Swedish missionaries (particularly, I believe, Lestadius and Stockfleth) who have indefatigably laboured amongst them. " The characteristic composure of the people was well shown in a young mother with rather pleasing features, who brought her infant of four months' old out of one of the huts, and seating herself on the sunny side of it, proceeded in the most deli- berate way imaginable to pack up the child for the night in its little wooden cradle, whilst half a dozen of us looked on with no small curiosity. The cradle was cut out of the solid, and covered with leather, flaps of which were so arranged as to lace across the top with leather thongs. The inside and the little pillow were rendered tolerably soft with reindeer moss ; and the infant fitted the space so exactly that it could stir neither hand nor foot, yet made little resistance to the operation. A hood protected the head whilst it admitted air freely. When the packing was finished, the little creature was speedily rocked asleep. The elder children were inquisitive, but far from rude, and they played nicely with one another. The Lapp hut is formed interiorly of wood, by means of curved ribs, which unite near the centre in a ring, which is open, and allows free escape for the smoke ; the fire being lighted in the centre of the floor. The exterior is covered with turf. The door is of wood on one side. The inmates recline on skins on the floor, with their feet towards the fire, and behind them, on a row of stones near the wall of the hut, are their various utensils. Their clothing — chiefly of tanned skins and woollen stuffs — looked very dirty. Their whole wealth consists in reindeer. The two families who frequent this valley possess about 700 deer. We saw, perhaps, about one-fourth of that number. A few of them were driven for our inspection into a circular enclosure of wooden paling, where they are habitually milked. One of the men dexterously caught them by the horns with a lasso or noose. The deer are small, but some of them carry immense branching horns, the weight of which they seem almost unable REVIEWS. 43 to support. At this season, their long winter coat of hair came off by handfulls. They make a low grunting noise almost like a pig ; the milk is very small in quan- tity and excessively rich." The theory of glacier motion, communicated by Professor Forbes in his former work, is that — " A glacier is an imperfect fluid, or a viscous body, which is urged down slopes of a certain inclination by the mutual pressure of its parts. When we think of a mass of Wenham ice on our dinner tables, flying into fragments on slight acupuncturation, we are not prepared to consider it as a plastic body, yet such it surely is, when we view it in the enormous masses of the glacier — squeezing through defiles of varying breadth, spreading out where there is space, and passing, by extension, longitudinally when the gorge narrows; yet though this plastic nature, subject to the enormous pressure it occasionally bears, will account for the slow descent of the glacier, and though we fully agree with the general philosophic views of the author, we do think he has ne- glected to give to hydrostatic pressure its full value in facilitating the motion in question. In 1838, our learned countryman, Robert Mallet, gave to the Geological Society of Dublin, a most excellent paper on the mechanism of glaciers. He there very clearly showed how the glaciers may be water borne for a while, until the escape of the water below resulted in a downward motion of the mass above. Every schoolboy knows the hydrostatic paradox, that a drop of water will float a man of war, so will a drop float a glacier. When we see workmen with levers urging along some enormous mass of stone, it is scarcely moveable until a roller is placed beneath, so with the glacier, the mighty forces to which it is subjected, and its plastic nature may admit of some motion ; yet we believe it would be small, but for the lifting power below. Never having seen a glacier, we feel diffident in thus expressing an opinion which would, probably, have been unnecessary had Professor Forbes noticed Mr. Mallet's papers on the subject, as he has those of Esmarh and others. The observations of Professor Forbes, in Norway, go to confirm his views as formed in Switzerland, that the glacier moves as £ great river, allowance being made for its immensely greater vis- cosity. Be it so; but it has helps which the river has not, we think. Amongst others, freezing of water in the crewasses, if it be so, would be a mighty power, pushing forward where there was least resistance. We consider that it may, perchance, be useful to give such circulation to the desiderata of our author as our pages can supply ; we, therefore, here insert them. " I will briefly refer to a few of the many observations desirable to be 44 REVIEWS. made with reference to the glaciers of Norway, which may be recom- mended to future travellers : — " 1. To ascertain whether unquestionable and well-defined snow fields occur south of lat. 60°; the level of the snow line, and the period of the year at which it retreats highest. u 2. To examine the glaciers on the west slope of the Justedal mountains, and at the head of the Sogudal and Veitestrandswand, and to trace to their origin the remarkable granite boulders which seem to be derived from thence. " 3. To select amongst the glaciers of the Justedal range one or more suitable for careful observations of progression, both during the height of summer, and from year to year. The Lodal's glacier is probably one of the best. " 4. To ascertain carefully the snow line of the Folgefond, and in Nord- fiord (between Justedal and the sea). "5. To visit and describe the glaciers of the Jenesfield, &c. M 6. To explore the country to the west and north-west of Sneehattan, on the Doore-field ; to observe its geology, and ascertain the level and extent of its snow fields. " 7. Generally, in the preceding excursions, to notice the occurrence of grooved and polished rocks, and the direction, by compass, of the stria?, especially on level places, not in the direction of valleys. The attempt to trace generally the boulders to their origin could only be attempted by persons familiarly conversant with the intricate and obscure geology of Norway. But moraines should be watched for, and sketched. That of Vasbotten, near Stavanger, mentioned by Esmarh, would be worthy of a visit. " 8. In Nordland, and the higher north, the traveller may explore the Bbrgefield between the Namsen and Vefsen rivers, frequented for their fishing by numerous tourists. "9. The glaciers and snow fields of Foudal (lat. 66°, 67°), would, unquestionably, repay a week or a fortnight's research. From the steam- boat station of Rodb" the Mels-fiord, Flolands-fiord, and Gloms-fiord might be easily visited, of which the two first, at least, contain glaciers at a very low level. The mountains of Foudal are, in a great measure, detached from the interior chain, and it is probable that the explorer might return from Gilleskaal, beyond Cape Kunnen, by the landward side, to the head of the Ranen-ford (lat. 66° 10')? and rejoin the steamer. u 10. The promontory of Syngen, with its numerous glaciers, might be made an object of an excursion from Tromso, with the aid of the steamer. REVIEWS. 45 "11. A detailed examination of the Bergs-fiord, Jbkuls-fiord, and Qven- anger range has been already recommended (page 84). " 12. Eveiy opportunity should be taken to ascertain the direction of the abraiding and smoothing agency, which has left such extraordinary traces along the coast between the Throndhj em-fiord and the Lofoddens ; and in general it should be sought to observe how far the stria? correspond or not in direction with the general declivity of the ground, or whether they are in any case extensively parallel with the coast. "13. The limits of vegetation of the birch and the snow line should be observed wherever practicable ; but, with regard to the latter, the great difficulty of ascertaining the extreme limit of recession of the snow should be borne in mind ; and the time of year, the character of the season, and the exposure should be particularly noticed. " 14. The meteorology of Norway is in a state which is not creditable to the acknowledged intelligence of the people and the eminence of its scien- tific men. I know of but two places — Christiania and Kaa-fiord (separated by 10° of latitude) — of which the mean temperature is known with any accuracy. This is lamentable in a country whose climate is one of the most interesting in Europe. The means of remedying it seems easy. Let observations, in the first instance, be confined to the thermometer. It Is impossible to doubt that a net-work, of say fifty stations, might be quickly established over the entire country. The intelligent officers of the Royal Marine and Trigonometrical Survey, the clergy (who have almost all had a university education), the masters of schools and academies — like my well- informed friend, Mr. Blom, at Tromso — the active magistrates and civil officers, even the station holders and substantial merchants on the steam- boat routes, would, probably, in many instances, lend a cheerful aid to so simple and interesting an inquiry; whilst the combination of the results could not be placed in better hands than those of the professors of Christiania." In chapter IX. the philosophic Professor shows how the temperature of Norway is favourably modified by the heat brought northward by the currents of the great Atlantic, clearly explaining the apparently anomalous distribution of the isothermal lines, a phenomenon which majves Norway comfortably inhabitable, while a country of similar latitude, in the southern hemisphere, would be a desert waste. In this work many interesting obser- vations will be found as to the limit of growth, in elevation, of certain plants; he also shows how the simple peasants there, like our own, do not under- stand how men climb mountains and endure privations merely for the love of knowledge. The book, though known as Forbes's Norway, has appended to it excursions in the high Alps of Dauphine, Berne, and Savoy, 46 REVIEWS. Our space will not permit us to enter into this at any length, it gives a narative of several deeds of difficulty, but particularly of the successful ascent of the Jungfrau, and its result — the view of a stupendous cloud ! The ascent of difficult mountains has been, and, probably, will always be, a feat which many will desire to accomplish, yet it very rarely happens that the end gained is anything equal to an equivalent for the great labour and risk encountered. The ascent of the Jungfrau, it appears, had been doubted before ; thus the eclat of a positive accomplishment of the deed was some- thing to be gained, but one which we should not have thought our author would have cared for — it not being the character of his countrymen to labour without some good end in view. We began by admiring the general appearance of his book, we have been instructed and entertained by its perusal. Terra Lindisfarnensis. — The Natural History of the Eastern Borders. By George Johnston, M.D. 8vo. Vol. i., Botany. London: John Van Voorst. 1853. Price, 10s. 6d. In this volume, the first of a series, to be issued by Dr. Johnston, illus- trative of the natural history of the Eastern Borders, we have a most pleasing record of the botany of a large district, which comprehends within its circuit the whole of Berwickshire, the Liberties of Berwick, North Durham, and the immediately adjacent parts of Northumberland and Rox- burghshire, forming together a district of a nearly circular figure, about forty miles in diameter, and bounded by a tolerably distinct outline, which the eye may trace from any commanding height within its area. The district is one peculiarly fitted, from its varied character, for the researches of the naturalist ; and, judging from the volume now before us, the history of its natural treasures will be gladly welcomed by those who love to ob- serve the works with which an all-wise Creator has surrounded then* daily path, and the beauty of which is often not sufficiently appreciated, only because of the frequency with which they meet the eye. Habits of obser- vation cannot be too carefully inculcated ; independently of the vast im- portance they exercise in every profession, their possessor enjoys within himself a rich mine, " at once adorning and relieving the toils and vexations of a busy life, and refining and exalting the enjoyments of a social one." Dr. Johnston is no mere recorder of habitats, nor is his present work only suited to the border botanist ; its pages are plentifully and pleasantly interspersed with notices of " The Club," and its worthy members — their REVIEWS. 47 happy meetings, and rare discoveries — with much of what may be termed the poetry of science ; its author has lent his pen willingly to record the sayings and customs, the plays and incidents associated with the plants which pass under review, and with a praiseworthy zeal has endeavoured to rescue from oblivion much of that traditionary lore which still lingers in remote haunts, though now to be sought among a motley race, constituting the herbalists of the present day, who, even still, in some places, dispute the skill and pretensions of the more regular practitioner. Few writers are so capable of illustrating the natural history of the Eastern Borders as the author of the " Terra Lindisfarnensis," Himself a borderer, he is bound to the task by a natural predilection, while his deep acquaintance with the records of the past, peculiarly fits him to pur- sue with profit the line of research which he has so happily adopted ; and though, perhaps, the over-fastidious may be disposed occasionally to cavil at his modes of expression as rough and uncouth, still these defects — if they really exist — would seem to spring naturally from a close acquaintance with the quaint diction of those early waiters, so often and appropriately quoted by him with the respect they deservedly merit from all true lovers of nature. We feel, however, that our readers will be best fitted to judge of the merits of this most pleasing contribution to local natural history, by a few extracts taken, almost at random, from its pages, all of which will amply repay an attentive perusal. Under the head Rubus — Bramble, we have, at page 60, the following analytical table to assist the student in determining the Eastern Border shrubby brambles : — 11 A. Stems erect or nearly so. Leaves white underneath . . . R. idaeus. Leaves green on both sides . . . R. plicatns. B. Stems arched or trailing. * Stem smooth, glabrous or slightly hairy, t Lower leaflets overlapping. T. leaflet cordate, the lower stalked . R. nitidus. 0 T. leaflet rhomboid, the lower sessile . R. corylifolius. tt Lower leaflets separate, retroflexed. § Stem angular. T. leaflet obovate cuspidate green be- neath R. macrophyllus. T. leaflet obovate cuspidate white be- neath R. rhamnifolius. T. leaflet cordate cuspidate green . R. cordifolius. §§ Stem roundish. T. leaflet suborbicular cuspidate green . R. mucronatus. T. leaflet cordato-ovate acute . . R. carpinifolius. 48 REVIEWS. ** Stein villous, the hairs patent. . . .11. leucostachys. *** Stem rough, with setae and glands, angular, f Leaves 5-nate, lower leaflets stalked. Stem furrowed or concave between the angles R. rudis. Stem convex or plane between the angles . R. radula. tf Leaves 3-nate or 5-nate, when the 1. leaflets are sessile R. Koehleri. **** Stem setigerous, round and glaucous . R. caesius." Passing on a few pages further, we meet with the following interesting notes on the Calluna vulgaris, which we extract as a fair sample of the antiquarian research and ability developed by our author: — "Calluna vulgaris. — Hooker's Brit. Flora (1830), i. 177. — Heather: he- heather. The principal covering of our moors, and descends without reluctance to the sea-coast. The beautiful flowers are commonly rose-coloured, but a white variety is occasionally met with ; and another variety with a hoary or pubescent foliage is not uncommon. The calluna is called he-heather, from its superiority as a fodder, for sheep have an aversion to other heaths, on account, shepherds say, of their bitter taste. As the old plants become woody, it is customary, and has been so from the earliest times, to burn the heather, in fixed proportions, once in three or four years ' How grand the scene yon russet down displays. While far the withering heaths with moor-burn blaze! The pillar'd smoke ascends with ashen gleam : Aloft in air the arching flashes stream; With rushing, crackling noise the flames aspire, And roll one deluge of devouring fire ; The timid flocks shrink from the smoky heat, Their pasture leave, and in confusion bleat, With curious look the flaming billows scan, As whirling gales the red combustion fan.' — Leyden. (The burning of heather, whins, and fern is observed often to bring rain in its suite, and is sometimes productive of a very misty state of the atmosphere. Notes and Queries, v. p. 302. I find this is believed to be true in Berwickshire.) ' This encourages the growth of grass among the heath, by admitting the influence of the gun and air, and by the manure communicated from the ashes of the burnt heath ; and it gives leave for young and tender plants of heath to spring up, in place of the old and unprofitable woody plants that have been burnt down. When allowed to stand unburnt for a good many years, heath is apt to disappear altogether, after the application of fire ; which is often a misfortune on moors unfit to produce better pasture plants, at least for many years afterwards.' — Kerr's Berw., p. 312. In the Scotch parliament, February, 1101, in the reign of Robert III., a statute was made * to be observed through the whole realm, that there should be no muir-burning, or burning of heath, except in the month of March ; and that a penalty of 10 shillings should be imposed upon any one who dared to contravene this regu- lation, which should be given to the lord of the land where the burning had place.' — Ty tier's Scotland, iii. p. 110. In the first parliament of James I. of Scotland, in 1121, this enactment appears to have been renewed, with some modification. • No man, under a penalty of 10 shillings, was to burn muirs from the month of March till the corn be cut down ; and if any such defaulter was unable to raise the sum, he was commanded to be imprisoned for 10 days.' — Ibid., p. 215. It is reckoned beneficial to the health of sheep on turnips , if they have liberty of grazing out on heather. In the Lammermuirs it is one mark of an early season if this heath is in bloom before the 12th of August. Usually it begins to blow about the middle of the month, when the flowers of our fields are mostly gone ; and it then becomes REVIEWS. 49 advantageous to carry bee-hives to the moors, as is practised in several places in the district. There are few flowers which yield more honey, and since they are twenty-fold more numerous in the same space than any others, the bees collect their stores with rapidity — ' Upon thy sloping banks and lonely glens, Thy wide-extended moors, and mountains hoar, My country, many a beauteous flower beneath The eye of morning smiles in gracefulness And beauty ; but, the chief o'er all the rest, Old Scotland's " symbol dear," which he, the Bard Of Coila, hath immortalized, and spared The inspiring emblem waving in the breeze, I love to mark ; nor less the heather flower, Of scent delicious, and inviting still The eye to rest upon its beauty, spread For miles athwart the moor, where wild fowl haunt, And where the industrious bee collects her sweets Medicinal, and ministers alike To luxury's claims, and to the comforts which Sometimes descend to cheer the poor man's heart.' — Ckease. The plant appears to be affected, in its secretion of honey, by the nature of the soil on which it grows. Around Wooler there is a sandstone and a porphyritic soil. The bees on the latter produce considerably greater quantities of honey than those pastured upon the former. Heather honey is of a brown colour, and has a peculiar flavour — which raises it in the estimation of many. ' The tiny heath-flowers now begin to blow; The russet moor assumes a richer glow ; The powdery bells, that glance in purple bloom, Fling from their scented cups a sweet perfume ; While from their cells, still moist with morning dew, The wandering wild bee sips the honied glue ; In wider circle wakes the liquid hum, And far remote the mingled murmurs come.' — Leyden. Those shepherds who have passed their youth amongst the Lammermuirs have their gaits so affected by traversing the rough heath, that, for the rest of their lives, they are accustomed, in walking, to lift their feet higher than other people. This practice is called by the lowlanders 'heather-lamping.' In a long- continuous storm it is customary to drive sheep to some heathery spot, as the snow is usually drifted from the moors, and the heather lies bare, offering a welcome pasturage. " That the Picts knew the art of distilling an ale from heather, some antiquaries consider a myth, and some a fact ; and of the latter some maintain that there exist remains of the breweries in which this ale was made (see Wilson's Archaeology of Scotland, p. 76). The secret died with the people ; and the tradition of how it died so worthily is well told by Mr. Chambers, as it still lingers amidst the Lam- mermuirs, u the last ground contested by the Scots and Picts." We have already alluded to the meetings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, which, like the "Friday Club" celebrated in "Lord Jeffrey's Life," owed its success to the result of some negatives, as its members were troubled by no written laws, no motions, no disputes, no ballots, no fines, no business of any kind, except what was managed by one of ourselves as secretary. Under Veronica chamcedrys we have a sketch of one of its meetings, which we extract, trusting that the pleasing picture it presents may tempt the speedy formation of similar clubs in districts where none yet exist : — 50 REVIEWS. u V. chamadrys. — V. bibarbata, Stokes, Bot. Comment, i. 56. — Germander Speedwell. Milk-maid's-eye : Eyebright: — 1 There blooni'd the Strawberry of the wilderness, The trembling Eyebright show'd her sapphire blue.' Wokdsworth, Memoirs, i. p. 177. It is often miscalled the forget-me-not, albeit its ephemeral and deciduous blossoms are not false types of that friendship which the world swears shall be life-lasting. The plant is common on road-sides, in pastures, and in deans, flowering with the hawthorn, which it rivals in beauty, although that beauty has been less celebrated in song. Yet it has not been overlooked : thus Ebenezer Elliott, under the name of ' Eyebright'— ' Blue Eyebright ! loveliest flower of all that grow In flower-loved England ! Flower whose hedgeside gaze Is like an infant's ! What heart doth not know Thee, cluster'd smiler of the bank ! where plays The sunbeam with the emerald snake, and strays The dazzling rill, companion of the road Which the lone bard most loveth, in the days When hope and love are young? O come abroad, Blue Eyebright! and this rill shall woo thee with an ode.' It was a beautiful May morning — the 1st of May, in the year of grace forty-four, when the ; Club' assembled at Etal (Mr. Selby has given an interesting account of this meeting in the Transactions of the Club, ii. p. 86), the loveliest village of our plain ; and so gay and happy with its parterres and green lawn, and broad walks, and trees, and ruins, and the Hall, that I ween a prettier village may not well be seen anywhere. (' To see what a village in our northern regions may be, and ought to be, go to Etal. There you will find flower-gardens in perfection — with the village green as a lawn in the best-kept pleasure-ground, and the rustic benches under the spreading branches of elm and sycamore. One fine tree, with the seat around its trunk, is conspicuous, with an inscription, which shows the consi- derate kindness of the noble family, now residing in the mansion-house — " Willie Wallace's Tree." I believe the old man is still alive in whose honour the tree is thus devoted to longevity. But it is to the flower-gardens in front of the cottages at Etal to which I am anxious to direct attention, because, as a French author says, " It is the cultivation of flowers which announces a change in the feelings of the peasantry. It is a refined pleasure making a way for itself through grosser materials, like the first opening of the eyes — it is the perception of the beautiful — a new sense awaking in the soul. Those who have wandered through country scenes can testify how the rose-tree at the window, or the honeysuckle at the door of a cottage, always promise everything that is delightful within, and a welcome to the weary traveller ; for the hand that cultivates flowers never shuts it at the prayer of the destitute or the wants of the stranger. In all countries women love flowers, and make bouquets of flowers, but it is only in the midst of comfort that they conceive the idea of adorning their dwellings with them." — Rev. Dr. W. S. Gilly, 'Peasantry of the Border,' p. 13, 1841. It does one good to visit that florulent village ; and the zephyr, full of fragrance, that came upon us, sunning from a thousand blossoms, gave a whet to the appetite, when the call to breakfast hurried us from these aerial essences to a substantial fare. The hearty and substantial meal over, we again sally forth to saunter a-field, amid such wit- nesses as modern agriculture permits — in meadows and woods, in brakes and deans, and 1 By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals,' And so away — all chatting— few listening — the admiration of every ruddy-cheeked lass, and the wonder of every Colin Clout — a queer group, as pied in dress, and cast in as many characters, as a strolling company ; the clerical suit of sober black, mellowed and relieved by the freckled and chequered sporting jackets that suit so REVIEWS. 51 well this holiday. The village is left ; and the lane leads us by an abrupt turn, down to the rat-rat-rattling mill, all grey and dusty, and quite a picture, with the lusty miller leaning on the half-shut door, eying us complacently, while the two cats that bask at his feet seem to be half alarmed at the novel route. How hurriedly the water runs from beneath that heavy revolving wheel, as it were glad to have escaped from thraldom and from beneath the wheel of torture ; ' It flows through Alder banks along Beneath the copse that hides the hill ; The gentle stream you cannot see, You only hear its melody, The stream that turns the mill. Pass on a little way, pass on, And you shall catch its gleam anon ; And hark ! the loud and agonizing groan That makes its anguish known, Where, tortured by the Tyrant Lord of Meal, The Brook is broken on the Wheel.' Southey, Works, p. 126. The eye seeks relief from the painful image in the caul beyond, over which the river rolls itself, in a round and oily wave, into the linn beneath, where, fretted by the fall, it ruffles itself into a white foam, and murmurs, not loud and scarcely displeased, at the accident and delay ! After a short whirling play, the water goes on in a smooth and placid flow, that, after a space, quickens into a tumbling, brattling stream, as if suddenly become conscious that it had dallied here too long, and must make up the lost time. We take the hint, and we start to follow the river, leading by a pathway, which the inscription, carved on a rock, in rustic fashion, informs us was made by my Lord Frederick Fitzclarence — not for our ease, who are all too regardless of a trespass. So onwards we saunter, changing companions as whim and chance dictate, now in front — now lost in the rear — now plucking a new variety of flower — and now entrapping the gorgeous insects that flit about everywhere. The air is full of life, but 'twas unlucky to be so engaged just at this particular moment, for I cannot participate in that laugh which some story of Douglas's has provoked, and I lost the fun, too, for the sake of a fly that I have not captured. (' One should take care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life as laughter.' — Addison.) Onwards again ; and now the wood is passed, when we cross, with a quicker pace, the open fields, and scarcely tarry at the queer little house and mill, which is sunk, as it were, in the bank, over which the road is carried. But we greet the good woman who stands there, with her infant in her arm, all a- wondering at the throng ; and our greeting is returned with a cheerful smile that bespeaks the good woman to be happy with her lot. And the opposite bank, covered with the bonnie broom, is sunny, and alive, too, with yur-yur-yurlings, and chirps, and melody ; and the river is alive with the leaping trout and the up-and-down flies — and it plays in its course with alternate streams and stills, rapids and circling deep pools ; and the sun shines on all things, living and dead, and we know not what to say but that this is beautiful and fine, and we say this to one another very often and never dream that we repeat a twice-told tale. Now a precipitous rock, partly quarried, and clothed with flowering sloes, with a golden whin or two, with hazel and budding hawthorn, with honeysuckle clam- bering amidst the shrubs, and with ivy that festoons the dark rock, and much varied herbage, draws us to remark with what successful art nature has grouped and mingled all this heterogeneous furniture, producing a very pleasing and picturesque effect with materials, which, separately viewed, are of a mean and regardless character. Turned by this rock, the river now runs in a rougher channel, banked on one side by a green pasture slope, while the steeper bank, along whose base we travel, is wooded with almost impenetrable shrubbery and trees of minor rank, where the varied botany that luxuriates in their shelter calls us to frequent admi- ration. The primrose and violet banks, the trailing ground-ivy with its modest flowers, the tall and graceful rush, the starwort with its blossoms of vestal purity — are all beautiful, and although often seen before, their beauty comes fresh and new 52 REVIEWS. upon us. I do love these wild flowers of the year's spring. And on we stroll — almost palled with sweets, and almost weary with loitering — so that it is felt to be a relief, when a sylvan dean, that opens aside on our path, tempts us to trace its unknown intricacies and retreats. It is a dean without a name, hut sunny and odorous, and silent. Here the brae glows with whin and budding broom — there copsed with grey willows and alders, and every wild shrub and trailer ; here a gentle bank with its sward pastured by a lamb or two and their dams that have strayed from the field above ; while opposite, a rough quarry contrasts, yet not disturbs, the solitude, for the prickly briars and weeds, that partially conceal the defect, tell us that it has been some time unworked. Now a sloe-brake gives shelter to every little bird which is seen flitting out from its shelter stealthily, and stealthily returning; and the lark sings and soars above; and the black- bird alarms the dean with its hurried chuckle. And as we near the top, we find a grove of elms, and poplars, and willows, which hang partly over a little shallow linn, formed by a rill that has fallen in a gentle stream over a moss-grown shelf of rock ; and then the water steals, more than half-hidden, down the grassy bed of the dean. The quietness of the place begins to influence us all — the conversation assumes a subdued tone, and some are evidently meditative, when the current which the thoughts of some young dreamer amongst us has taken, is marked out visibly by the question that is asked — ' What is the blewart of Hogg?' No one — nor old, nor young — has thought the question abrupt or out of place, but we enter upon it, as if the scene had suggested it, and made our young friend its spokes- man. ' What is the blewart in Hogg's beautiful pastoral ?' ' Why the blewart must be the same as the blaver or blawort — the Centaurea cyanus.' ' Nay, that cannot be ; the Centaurea is a corn-field weed, an autumnal flower, nor is it a sleeper at eventide. Let us hear the verse : — ' When the blewart bears a pearl, And the daisy turns a pea, And the bonuie lucken-gowan Has fauldit up her ee, Then the lavrook frae the blue lift, Draps down, and thinks nae shame To woo his bonnie lassie When the kye comes hame.' 1 Very well, my good fellow, the blewart grows there at your feet, and its first blossoms are giving blue eyes to that sunny hillock. The blewart is the Veronica chamcedrys ; its blossom is the pearl, when at eve the flower has closed, and turned upon us the pale glaucous underside of its petals ; it is the companion of the daisy and lucken-gowan ; it is the ornament of the dean without a name.' After a little more light discussion, the demonstration appears complete ; and we feel that there is more interest, and as much utility, in settling the nomenclature of our pas- toral bards as that of old herbalists and dry-as-dust botanists. "I have here attempted to sketch, slightly, a meeting of 'our Club' and one of its rendezvous, and to indicate the nature of the discoveries and discussions with which we beguile the morning walk ; but I feel that the attempt is weak and ineffective. Yet on my return from such a meeting, the conviction has often been forced upon me that the poet was right when he said — 1 And he is oft the wisest man Who is not wise at all.'" We had marked many similar passages, intending to transfer them to our pages, but want of space prevents us. We will now merely direct attention to the " Sketch of the Fossil Flora, of the Mountain Limestone Formation, of the Eastern Borders," which is from the able pen of Mr. G. Tate, the present President of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, and without which the present volume would be far from complete. Though the fossil REVIEWS. 53 flora is, to a certain degree, destitute of the poetic attractions with which the rest of the present work is enriched, this chapter is far from " present- ing merely a bare enumeration of fossil plants with technical descriptions," for the subject is rendered most interesting by the way in which local facts are used to illustrate scientific truths. In treating this subject the ap- pendix opens with a well-digested sketch of the history of coal, viewed under the several sub-divisions of relative position — origin, plants, or the original materials of which coal was formed ; and, lastly, the changes which coal has undergone, and the conditions of the era during which it was deposited. Under each of these heads much useful information is con- tained. From the first we learn : — " That true coal has been rarely seen amongst the oldest rocks ; the only in- stance known to the author being that of an anthracite coal, six feet thick, in Por- tugal, belonging to the lower silurian formation ; while the most remarkable coal in the secondary series is a rich bituminous bed, 36 feet thick, in Eastern Virginia, which Sir Charles Lyell has shown to be not more ancient than the lias formation. But with these and a few other exceptions, productive or valuable seams of coal are found only in that formation which lies between the old red sandstone and the new red sandstone, and which has been called carboniferous, because a large amount of carbon has been locked up in the coal and limestone bed. This conclusion is of practical value, as enabling the geologist to point out the class of rocks which will produce coal, and so prevent useless and expensive boring in formations which are unproductive of coal seam." We would gladly extract the entire of the last of these sub-divisions ; we have, however, space only for one passage, illustrative of the conditions of the era during which the coal formation was deposited : — " The complicated phenomena of our district evidence frequent oscillations of level, and repeated changes of land, freshwater, and marine conditions. During the carboniferous era, this district had its hills and valleys, its rivers and lakes ; but there were also extensive, low-lying plains, rank with vegetation, bordering on the sea. These swamps were converted into lakes, and the submerged vegetation was covered with sand and mud, in which were stems and branches of trees ; other changes succeeded — the waters gradually became shallower, and at length a new marshy surface appeared, supporting vegetation as luxuriant as before ; after the lapse of ages, the scene is again changed — the vegetable accumulations have sunk — the waters of the ocean have rolled over it, and eventually it is covered with lime and mud beds, which are crowded with marine animals, that had lived and died on the spot where they are now entombed. " The carboniferous deposits have a wide range in both hemispheres, from the arctic regions down to the 33° of north latitude. Over the whole, the same general conditions prevailed, for the same peculiar flora is found in every portion of it. That flora was not varied, though extraordinarily luxuriant and enormous in the aggregate. At present there are in Great Britain 1428 species of flowering plants and ferns, but only 300 species have been found belonging to the carboniferous era. The different proportion of ferns is also remarkable ; for while nearly one half of the carboniferous flora are ferns, they constitute only about l-35th part of the entire existing flora. Conditions such as are indicated by the carboniferous flora are to be met with only in countries, especially in islands, bordering on the tropics ; and it may, therefore, be inferred that the climate of the era was humid and equable, and, if not warm, at least temperate. This conclusion is strengthened 54 REVIEWS. by some peculiar characters of the coniferous fossils found in the valley of the Tweed, for they have few and very slight appearances of concentric rings, which arise from interruptions of growth, consequent on changes of temperature. M The scenery of these primaeval lands, though not glowing with beauty nor radiant with light, has its charms, and arrests attention by the strangeness and vast proportions of its vegetation. The summits of the hills and slopes of the mountains were adorned by the picturesque forms of the lofty araucarias and other cone- bearing trees ; on the extended swampy plains, dense forests of gigantic club- mosses flourished, their huge arms flung wildly out, and covered with scaly leaves, and terminated with cones; fluted trees stood erect on widely-spreading roots, their long narrow leaves forming a series of drooping curves rising from the summit and sides of the stem, and giving to the scene sepulchral solemnity ; tall reeds sprung upward, straight as the mast of a vessel, with slender leaves or branches in whorls around the stem. The foliage of the whole was sombre, but somewhat relieved by the brighter green herbaceous ferns which grew in the shade, and by the graceful tree ferns crowned with overarching fronds. No warm-blooded creature then • walked the earth' — no beast roamed through the forest — no bird was there with its gay plumage and sportive song ; only a few reptiles crawled in the swamps, and an insect here and there fluttered on the wing ; yet the thoughtful mind, con- necting this scene with the distant future, feels deeply interested with its aspect and bearings ; for here the all-wise Creator, who adjusts the working of physical laws to the attainment of moral purposes, caused the vegetative powers of nature to put forth their strength, to make provision for the future wants of the intellectual and moral beings who were to people the world. M It now remains for us to attempt to explain the chemical changes which the en- tombed vegetable mass has undergone in its conversion into coal. " Coal is formed of the same elements as wood, but in different proportions. Leaving out unessential materials, wood is composed of oxygen and hydrogen gases united with about an equal quantity of carbon. Oak, for example, contains 49.432 parts of carbon, 44.499 of oxygen, and 6.069 of hydrogen. Now, when wood is immersed in water, a change commences, which Liebig calls mouldering, and which is different from the decay which results when air is freely admitted ; oxygen and hydrogen are given off, in combination with smaller quantities of carbon ; the hydrogen and carbon forming carburetted hydrogen, the fire-damp of miners; and the oxygen and carbon forming carbonic acid, the choke-damp of miners. Trees submerged in bogs are undergoing this change ; and, hence, the swamps bordering the Mississippi are constantly emitting carburetted hydrogen, especially wherever the ground is dug into. Bog-wood, therefore, contains a larger proportion of carbon than wood does, its composition being 57.0 of carbon, 37.5 of oxygen, and 5.9 of hydrogen. When the mouldering process has gone on for a longer period, lignite, such as is found in the tertiary beds, is formed, in which the carbon is further increased, the composition being 58.56 of carbon, 26.85 of oxygen, and 5.95 of hydrogen. As we go backward in time, the disproportion becomes greater, for the rich bituminous Bensham coal, belonging to the Newcastle coal- measures, consists of 86.44 of carbon, and only of 5.67 of oxygen, and 5.74 of hydrogen. And in anthracite, where the series of changes is nearly completed, the oxygen and hydrogen have all but disappeared, and the result is nearly pure carbon. 44 Here a practical hint may be given. Some persons, especially those living in the country, expose coals to rain, in the belief that their quality will be thereby improved ; but exposure to moisture hastens on the decay of coal — it cannot, indeed, be stored in too dry a situation. For steam-vessels, dry storage is of great importance, because access of moisture, besides wasting coal, may cause spon- taneous combustion, when sulphuret of iron is in combination with the coal. "The mouldering process is still going on in coal-fields, for to this is owing the evolution of carburetted hydrogen, the dreadful enemy to miners ; and yet this destructive element, when rightly treated, ministers to our wants, cooking our food, and lighting our villages and towns. Bearing in mind what has already been achieved in controlling and directing the powers of steam and of the electric fluid, it may be hoped that science, impelled onward by humanity, will ultimately be able to bring the carburetted hydrogen from the mine, where it spreads misery and REVIEWS. 55 death, and, conducting it into proper receivers, to apply it to economical pur- poses." We must now take leave, for a season, of the natural history of the Eastern Borders, which we hope soon to renew our acquaintance with, in a second volume from the same accomplished pen, as we have rarely taken up a local flora in which we felt greater interest than in the present, which has at each page reminded us of the force of an observation of Goethe, quoted by our author, that — " plants and flowers of the commonest kind may form a charming diary for us, because nothing that calls back the remembrance of a happy moment can be insignificant ;" and some of the lowliest of our wild flowerets are associated with treasured memories of the past, the full force of which, perhaps, we did not realize until they were summoned before us as we read page after page of Dr. Johnston's " Botany of the Eastern Borders." Popular Physical Geology. By J. Beete Jukes, M.A., F.R.S., M.R.I.A. ; author of " Excursions in Newfoundland," " Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Fly" &c. London: Reeve and Co., Henrietta-street, Covent Garden. 1853. Price, 10s. 6d. " Beud ant's Geologi, Lyell's Geology, &c, would lead one to suppose that the tyro geologists' wants were all supplied ; yet, our author has discovered that it is not only not so, but he has given us a work more calculated to attract attention than the very excellent volumes to which we have referred, and while he has done so, he has not supplied their places, but has made them still more valuable ; is not this a paradox ? The fact is, Mr. Director Jukes's work is freely written and easily read — it does not hamper the student with technicological difficulties, nor require of him to enter into palaeontological pursuits at the outset, but it sets forth by showing the active agencies at present at work, goes over in an intelligible way the various formations, and finishes by informing his readers that the time is coming when the profes- sionally educated geologist will be indispensable. The work is beautifully illustrated, and well calculated to afford pleasure to the amateur geologist, who will from it learn to make his eye for observation, and thus open a source of perpetual pleasure, while to the artist it especially commends itself. To us the landscapes of Mr. Dunoyer (who has illustrated the work) have always had a surpassing excellence, as we could see in them nature combined with artistic skill. There was a great painter, who, going into tropical climes, could not forget his native oaks and other familiar trees ; these he introduced 56 REVIEWS. occasionally into pictures, when palms, bamboos, &c, should have appeared. The consequence was disastrous ; so is it in the eye of the geologist, or indeed of any one who uses his eyes in observing, when, in pictures, artistic rocks take the place of real ones. Though the illustrations of our author would, at first sight, make us think that no fancy could be so wild as to produce a rock scene, of which a likeness could not be found, it is not so. There is a character in nature which is not to be trifled with. We earnestly recommend this work to all landscape painters, and to all gentle- men geologists. As a sample of its style take the following — u I do not know that we can commence an elementary book on geology in a better way than by asking the reader if he knows what sand is. Because any one who thoroughly understands the origin and nature of common sand — whether it be found in the gravel-pit, in the river-bed, or be " the ribbed sea-sand " of the shore — has made no despicable commencement in the study of the science. " If the reader will examine a handful of sand by the aid of a lens, he will find that it is composed of grains, or minute, irregularly-shaped particles of a hard, shining, often semi-transparent substance. These particles are, if not round, very much rounded, often having on the surface a rubbed appearance, as if they had been worn and ground against each other. 11 As to river or sea sand, it is obvious that this rubbing must actually have taken place, because, as the moving water must frequently wash the sand about, and roll it onwards in its course, the particles must be constantly exposed to friction against each other, or against whatever substance it may be that lies at the bottom of the water. It is clearly possible, therefore, that all river or sea sand may have been produced, or brought into the state of sand, by the action of the running or moving waters tearing away fragments of rock, breaking them up into constantly diminish- ing particles, and, by perpetual friction and rolling, grinding those particles into small rounded grains. " If this mode of formation be true for all sand found now beneath or on the margin of any moving water, it is, a priori, highly probable that all sand whatever, even that of the wide deserts of Sahara, the sands of Arabia, or those of the centre of Australia, have been thus formed. " If we come to consider of it, indeed, there appears to be no other at all likely method by which sand could, in any case, be formed, unless it were originally created as sand, such as we now find it. " Let it be taken for granted, then, for the present, as the reader sees its great probability now, and will be quite convinced of its truth hereafter, that all sand was produced by the action of moving water on solid rock. " It is, however, by no means necessary to suppose that the water always detached the sand directly from the rock as sand — that is, in small grains. On the contrary, if we examine the action of moving water, now whether we go to the rapids and cataracts of rivers, or to the breakers of the sea battering against a rocky coast, we shall everywhere see large blocks of rock lying about, often but newly detached from their original site, with all their angles sharp, and the fractures fresh, the yet unhealed scar perhaps plainly visible in the cliff above. We should see, also, blocks having every gradation of form, from this newly-broken angular fragment to smaller and smoother, well-rounded boulders and pebbles, having every projecting angle ground off, and all the surface worn as smooth as a billiard-ball. This has been effected by the frequent moving and rolling of all these blocks, one against the other, on the pebble-beach or in the bed of the torrent ; every roll removing some little corner, chipping off some little projection, each separated fragment being itself shortly smoothed and rolled into a pebble or shingle, and all the waste of this process being carried off by the moving water in the shape of sand. " We come then now to look upon not only all sand as a water- worn material, but upon every pebble and every detached stone, of whatever shape and size, REVIEWS. 57 whether found in river, lake, or ocean, if it has at all a worn and rounded outline, as having probably acquired that outline by the action of moving water, and as having been probably transported by that action from its parent site to the place where we now find it. But, as in the case of the sand, so in that of the pebbles and boulders — if all those found in rivers or on shores have been rounded by the action of moving water, it is, a priori, highly probable that all pebbles and boulders and round stones whatever, however high and dry they may now be on plains or hills or mountain -slopes, are, in fact, but water- worn fragments of older rock. " There is not a shower of rain that falls, whether on the crowded street, the dusty road, the plains, the hills, or the mountain summits, that does not cause a multitude of rills, and streams of muddy water to flow from higher to lower levels. The mud borne along by that water was once part of a solid rock. Even if it be but the waste of the bricks and tiles of our houses, this is still true ; and it is equally true for every other case, except for those particles of it that may be the result of the decomposition of animal or vegetable matter. Even the gentlest rain that soaks silently into the most richly- carpeted meadow of grass, contributes to the stock of water contained below ground, which here and there bursts forth in springs, carrying momently some grain of mineral matter to the brook, the river, and the ocean. Who has not seen the springs discoloured after heavy rain? Who has not watched, in wet weather, the swollen brook or the roaring mountain-torrent, with its thick, muddy, coffee-coloured water ? Who does not know the flooded aspect of a river, with its dull, yellow, turbid eddies, so different from the limped stream that commonly flows between its banks ? Whoever has seen these things, has seen one of the multitudinous actions of nature which are for ever and everywhere in operation, performing slowly, and in the lapse of ages, mighty works by means apparently inadequate, and at first sight, perhaps, not especially adapted to the purpose. " There are, however, other agencies at work — agencies acting with greater local power than mere rain — in wearing away solid rocks and transporting the waste to other localities. We have alluded to the action of brooks and rivers ; but if we were to trace them more minutely and in detail, and follow them up to where they acquire a swifter stream, or where rapids and cataracts occur in them, we should estimate still more highly their destructive power on solid rock. Rivers are, in fact, great natural saws or planes, for ever grooving furrows in the land. Let any one look at the bed of a mountain torrent, where it has cut a deep ravine through hard rock, and he will see the amount of its force perpetually acting through un- counted ages. As a well-known example, let him take the Ealls of Niagara, as detailed in Sir C. Lyell's ' Principles of Geology,' and he will see somewhat of the nature of river action in deepening its own beds through the destruction and trans- portation of the rock composing it." Himalayan Journals ; or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sik- kim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, &c. Two vols. 8vo. Plates. London : John Murray. 1854. Price £1 16s. We had long looked with an anxious desire for the appearance of these volumes ; and now that they have appeared, we gladly hail them as a welcome addition to our previous scanty and very imperfect knowledge of the regions they treat of. . The readers of Hooker's Journal of Botany will, no doubt, as the title meets the eye, recall with pleasure the letters from their accomplished author, which studded its pages, while he was pursuing the researches whose results vol. i. r 58 REVIEWS. are so ably recorded in the pages of the present volumes. During their perusal, the observations of the venerable Baron Humbolt regarding their author was forcibly recalled to our recollection — " What a noble traveller is Joseph Hooker 1"* — writes the Baron to his father — " what an extent of acquired knowledge does he bring to bear upon the observations he makes, and how marked with sagacity and moderation are the views which he puts forward." After such a testimony from one so capable of appreciating the objects of our traveller's research any attempt at criticism must appear indeed ridiculous ; and we will, therefore, only endeavour to give such glimpses of the book as will make its perusal, we trust, desired by all who have not yet met with it, feeling assured that they will rise from it with the conviction that the time spent over it has not been wasted. Its author is no mere novice ; he had long been known as an able ob- server, and, by habits of thought nurtured under the most favourable auspices, was peculiarly fitted for such an undertaking. Dr. J. D. Hooker had previously accompanied Sir James Ross on his voyage of discovery to the Antartic regions, where botany was his chief pursuit. On his return, prompted by a desire to carry his researches into other latitudes than those he was already acquainted with, after some hesitation he determined on pro- ceeding to India, being influenced in his choice by kind offers of assistance from Dr. Falconer, the superintendent of the Honourable East India Com- pany's Botanic Garden, at Calcutta. Through the intervention of the Earl of Carlisle and the late Earl of Auckland, his journey assumed the character of a government mission, and £400 per annum was granted by the treasury for two years. Lord Auckland and Dr. Falconer both selected that portion of the Himalaya best worth exploring, recommending Sikkim as being ground untrodden by traveller or naturalist. Since the period of Turner's embassy to Tibet, in 1789, no part of the snowy Himalaya, north-west of the British possessions, had been visited; and here it was highly important to explore, scientifically, a part of the chain which, from its central position, might be presumed to be typical of the whole range. Among our author's earliest recollections in reading, we are told, were "Turner's Travels in Tibet," and "Cook's Voyages." The account of Lama worship and Chumulari in the one, and of Kerguelan's land in the other, always took a strong hold on his fancy. It was, therefore, singular that Kerguelan's land should have been the first strange country he ever * Hooker's Journal of Botany, iii. 21. REVIEWS. 59 visited, and that in the first king's ship which has touched there since Cook's voyage, and while pursuing the track of the illustrious navi- gator in south-polar discovery ; and that, at a later period, he was nearly the first European who has approached Chumulari since Turner's embassy. We are not surprised at the influence that these works exerted on the mind of Dr. Hooker; as, to the mind of every original thinker, they appeal with a force and energy which the ordinary run of modern travels are in- capable of. Having thus very briefly sketched our author's prospects, we will pro- ceed a short way in his company, allowing him to state his observations as much as possible in his own words. On the 11th of November, 1847, the Moozufer, with our author on board, left England, and after a voyage of two months, was steaming among the low, swampy islands of the Sunderbunds. Here the large fruits of the Nipa fruticans appear to have excited most interest, as they were thrown up by the paddles of the steamer. They are the product of a low, stemless palm, which grows in the tidal waters of the Indian ocean, and bears a large head of nuts ; which are interesting to the geologist from the nuts of a similar plant abounding in the tertiary formations at the mouth of the Thames, and having floated about there in as great profusion till buried in the silt and mud which now forms the Isle of Sheppy. During Dr. J. D. Hooker's stay at Calcutta, his leisure hours were spent partly at Government House and partly at Sir Laurence Peel's residence. The attractions he there met with do not appear to have prevented his attention being steadily employed on the great objects of his mission ; for towards the close of the month of January we meet him at Mr. Williams's camp, at Taldangah, a dawk station, near the western limits of the coal basin, the Damooda valley; here — " The coal crops out at surface ; but the shafts are sunk through thick beds of alluvium. The age of these coal-fields is quite unknown, and I regret (o say that my examination of their fossil plants throws no material light upon the subject ; upwards of thirty species of fossil plants have been procured, and of these the majority are referred by Dr. M'Clelland to the inferior oolite period of England, from the prevalence of Lamia, Glossopteris, and Tceniopteris. Some of these genera, together with the Vertebraria (a very remarkable Indian fossil), are also recognised in the coal-fields of Sind and of Australia. I cannot, however, think that botanical evidence of such a nature is sufficient to warrant a satisfactory refer- ence of these Indian coal-fields to the same epoch as those of England or of Australia ; in the first place, the outlines of the fronds of ferns, and their nervation, are frail characters, if employed for the determination of existing genera, and much more so of fossil fragments ; in the second, recent ferns are so widely distributed that an inspection of the majority affords but little clue to the region or locality they come from ; and, in the third place, considering the wide difference in latitude and longitude of Yorkshire, India, and Australia, the natural conclusion is, that they could not have supported a similar vegetation at the same epoch. In fact, finding 60 REVIEWS. similar fossil plants at places so widely differing in latitude, and hence in climate, is, in the present state of our knowledge, rather an argument against than for their having existed contemporaneously. The cycadece especially, whose fossil remains afford so much ground for geological speculations, are far from yielding such precise data as is supposed. Species of the order are found in Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and India, some inhahiting the hottest and dampest, and others the driest climates on the surface of the globe ; and it appears to me rash to argue much from the coal of Yorkshire and of India, when we reflect that the geologist of some future epoch may find as good reasons for referring the present Cape, Austra- lian, or Mexican flora to the same period as that of the lias and oolites, when the cycadece, now living in the former countries, comes to he fossilized. M Specific identity of their contained fossils may be regarded as fair evidence of the contemporaneous origin of beds, but among the many collections of fossil plants that I have examined, there is hardly a specimen, belonging to any epoch, suffi- ciently perfect to warrant the assumption that the species to which it belonged can be again recognised. The botanical evidences which geologists too often accept as proofs of specific identity, are such as no botanist would attach any importance to in the investigation of existing plants. The faintest traces assumed to be of vegetable origin are habitually made into genera and species by naturalists ignorant of structure, affinities, and distribution of living plants; and of such materials the bulk of so-called systems of fossil plants is composed." We would glady accompany our author through each step of his route, culling a flower here and there to present to our readers, but such a course would not be just. We can gather but an occasional bud, and trust that they will tempt many to read with the care they so well merit these most suggestive volumes. We had marked the account of Dr. Hooker's interview writh Lieutenant Ward, one of the suppressors of Thuggee, " who kindly showed him the approvers, or king's evidence, of his establishment, belonging to those three classes of human scourges — " Thug, Dakoit, and Poisoner." We refrain from following our first intention, partly from the conviction that these passages will be transferred into most notices of the work, and partly because, though most curious, it does not, strictly speaking, fall within our province as a Natural History Eeview. In order, however, to give some idea of the extent to which Thuggee prevails, we may mention that — " Major Sleeman has constructed a map, demonstrating the number of ' bails,' or regular stations for committing murder, in the kingdom of Oude alone, which is 170 miles long by 100 broad, and in which are 274, which are regarded by the Thug with as much satisfaction and interest as a game preserve in England. Nor are there ' bails ' less numerous in other parts of India. Of twenty assassins who were examined, one frankly confessed to have been engaged in 931 murders, and the least guilty of the number to 24." The details of the entire system, so often, though superficially, noticed in works on India, is here ably condensed, and will, no doubt, be read with interest by all who have the good fortune to meet with the " Himalayan Journals." In the month of March, Dr. Hooker reached Patna, where he took up his residence with Dr. Irvine, an old acquaintance and botanist ; here his REVIEWS. 61 principal object was to see to the opium godowns (stores), which Dr. Corbett, the assistant agent, afforded him every facility for doing. We extract his notes on this great source of East Indian revenue : — u The East India Company grant licenses for the cultivation of the poppy, and contract for all the produce at certain rates, varying with the quality. No opium can be grown without this license, and an advance equal to about two-thirds of the value of the produce is made to the grower. This produce is made over to district collectors, who approximately fix the worth of the contents of each jar, and for- ward it to Patua, where rewards are given for the best samples, and the worst are condemned without payment ; but all is turned to some account in the reduction of the dung to a state fit for market. u The poppy flowers in the end of January and beginning of February, and the capsules are sliced in February and March, with a little instrument like a saw, made of three iron plates, with jagged edges, tied together. The cultivation is very carefully conducted, nor are there any very apparent means of improving this branch of commerce and revenue. During the north-west or dry winds, the best opium is procured; the worst during the mist or E. and N. E., when the drug im- bibes moisture, and a watery, bad solution of opium collects in cavities of its sub- stance, and is called passewa, according to the absence of which the opium is generally prized. " At the end of March the opium jars arrive at the stores, by water and by land, and continue accumulating for some weeks. Every jar is valued, and stowed in a proper place, separately tested with great accuracy, and labelled. When the whole quantity has been received, the contents of all the jars are thrown into great vats, occupying a very large building, where the mass is distributed, to be made up into balls for the market. This occupation is carried on in a long, paved room, where every man is ticketed, and many overseers are stationed, to see that the work is properly conducted. Each workman sits on a stool, with a double stage and tray before him. On a top stage is a tin basin containing opium sufficient for three balls ; in the lower another basin containing water ; in the tray stands a hemi- spherical cup, in which the ball is worked. To the man's right hand stands another tray, with two compartments, one containing their pancakes of poppy petals, the other a cupful of sticky opium-water, made from refuse opium. The man takes a brass cup, and places a pancake at the bottom, smears it with opium-water, made from refuse opium. Of this he takes about one-third of the mass before him, puts it inside the petals, and agglutinates many other coats over it ; the balls are then again weighed, and reduced or increased to a certain weight, if necessary. At the day's end each man takes his work to a rack with numbered compartments, and deposits it in that which answers to his own number; there the balls (each being put in a clay cup) are carried to an enormous drying-room, where they are ex- posed in tiers, and constantly examined and turned, to prevent their being attacked by weevils, which are very prevalent during moist winds, little boys creeping along the racks all day long for this purpose. When dry, the balls are packed in two layers of six each in chests, with the stalks, dried leaves, and capsules of the plant, and sent down to Calcutta. A little opium is prepared, of a very fine quality, for the Government Hospitals, and some for general use in India, but the proportion is trifling, and such is made up into square cakes. A good workman will prepare from thirty to fifty balls a day, the total produce being 10,000 to 12,000 a day ; during one working season 1,353,000 balls are manufactured for the Chinese mar- ker alone. The poppy-petal pancakes, each about a foot radius, are made in the fields by women, by the simple operation of pressing the fresh petals together. The liquor with which the pancakes are agglutinated together by the ball maker, and worked into the ball, is merely inspissated opium-water, the opium from which is derived from the condensed opium (passewa), the washing of the utensils and workmen, every one of whom is nightly laved before he leaves the establishment, and the water inspissated. Thus not a particle of opium is lost. To encourage the farmers, the refuse stalks, leaves, and heads are bought up, to pack the balls 62 REVIEWS. with ; but this is a far from economical plan, for it is difficult to keep the refuse from damp and insects. " A powerful smell of opium pervaded these vast buildings, which Dr. Corbett assured me did not affect himself or the assistants. The men work ten hours a day, becoming sleepy in the afternoon ; but this is only natural in the hot season ; they are rather liable to eruptive diseases, possibly engendered by the nature of their occupation. Even the best East Indian opium is inferior to the Turkish, and, owing to the peculiarities of the climate, will, probably, always be so. It never yields more than five per cent, of morphia, whence it3 inferiority, but is as good in other respects, and even richer in narcotive. The care and attention devoted to every department of collecting, testing, manipulating, and packing is quite extra- ordinary ; and the result has been an impulse to the trade beyond what was anti- cipated. The natives have been quick at apprehending and supplying the wants of the market, and now there are more demands for licenses to grow opium than can be granted. All the opium eaten in India is given out with a permit to licensed dealers, and the drug is so adulterated before it reaches the retailers in the bazaars, that it does not contain one twentieth part of the intoxicating power it did when pure." "When Dr. Hooker set out to investigate the botany and the physical character of the eastern extremity of the great Himalaya range, Baron Humbolt addressed him a letter on certain objects which it was especially desirable he should keep in view. He there writes — " Que je suis heureux d'apprendre que vous allcz penetrer dans ces belles vallees d' l'Himalaya, et meme au-dela, vers Ladak et les Plateux de Thibet, dont la hauteur moyenne, non confondue avec celles des cimes qui s'elevent dans le plateau meme, est un objet digue de recherche." And in another passage — " Eclaircir lc problemc de la hauteur des neiges perpetuelles a. la pente meridionale et a la pente septentrionale de l'Himalaya, en vous rappelant les donnees que j'ai reunies dans le troiseme volume de mon 'Asie Centrale."* We have inserted these extracts, as showing the interest which the veteran Humbolt took in the objects of the mission undertaken by Dr. Hooker. Need we say that the two objects proposed for his observation received such an amount of attention as to ensure their solution. Difficulties of no ordinary character had to be surmounted, arising partly from physical obstacles, which required great labour and patience to overcome, and partly from the jealous bickerings of the Sikkim tribes, who occupied the southern frontier passes ; but the task had been undertaken by no mere adventurer ; Dr. Hooker was a genuine traveller, and no holiday sight-seer, about to write for the million. He had an object in view ; and after twelve months of laborious anxiety, he achieved the object of his ambition, and succeeded in determining the elevation of the great Tibetian table-land, and also solving the second problem indicated by M. de Humbolt — the elevation of the snowline. We deeply regret our inability to follow our tra- • Hooker's Journal of Botany, vol. i., p. 337. REVIEWS. 63 veller through the history of his difficulties, and we feel that to give any extract from his most amusing record of them would be doing a posi- tive injustice to their " admirable " relator, who appears to be gifted with a rare union of all that is required to be found in the explorer of almost unknown regions. We venture to predict that Hooker's Journal will long be sought for by the Himalayan tourist as the book on that region ; one in which the desultory reader will find ample stores of information pleasingly narrated, and in which the studious inquirer will find the most important questions that may, or, indeed, could be brought under his notice, treated of with all the vigour of a master mind. Palm Trees of the Amazon, and their Uses. By Alfred E. Wallace. With forty-eight plates. London : John Van Voorst. F.cap 8vo., pp. 130. Price 10s. 6d. 1853. In this pleasing little volume we have, from the pen of an accomplished naturalist, an account of the Palm Trees of the Amazon Valley. Its author collected the materials during a residence of four years in the valley of that river, which were most labouriously spent in acquiring an intimate knowledge of its natural history. On his return to Europe with a large collection which he had made during his residence there, the vessel in which he was a passenger took fire, and went down, leaving him to the mercy of the waves. He was picked up by the " Jordeson" 200 miles from land, and has lived to record in this, and another work of great power and interest, the record of his observations and discoveries. The present work is well got up, and the plates, though uncoloured, are very charac- teristic of the forms of vegetable life which they represent, and will prove acceptable to many who have not the opportunity of either seeing or pro- curing the splendid works of Dr. Martius on the Palm Tribe. Uotires of Stria! ^uMkaikts. [We purpose, under the above head, briefly to notice the contents of the various periodical publications devoted, in whole or in part, to the pursuits of the Naturalist, which may have reached us during the previous three months. We feel assured that in adopting this course, we materially serve the cause of Natural History, by directing the student to the various memoirs which may have appeared either at home or on the Continent on the subjects which engage his attention ; while by their being carefully indexed, at the close of each volume, a valuable register will be gradually formed of the progress of scientific observation.] Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Tom. xx., Nos. 1, 2, 3. Paris : Victor Masson. No. 1. — Zoologie — Memoire sur la destruction des Termites an Moyen d'injections gazeuses, par M. A. de Quatrefages ; Note sur les Termites de la Rochelle, par M. A. de Quatrefages ; Memoire sur la comparaison des Membres chez les animaux vertebras, par M. Paul Gervais. Botanique — Memoir sur la l'ergot des Glumacees, par M. L.-R. Tulasne ; Remarques sur l'organogenie des Hepatiques, par M. G. W. Brischoff. No. 2. — Zoologie — Memoire sur la comparaison des membres chez les animaux verte'bres, par M. Paul Gervais (suite) ; Monographic de la fa- mille des Ballistides, par M. Hollard; Rapport sur un Memoire de M. Lacaze Duthiers, intitule ; Recherches sur V alimentation des Insectes galli- coles, par M. A. de Quatrefages ; Nouvelles observations sur l'osteologie des Troglodytes Gorilla, par M. Owen ; Analyse des observations de M. Miiller sur le developpement des Ophiures, par M. Camille Dareste. Botanique — Memoire sur le developpement des Loupes et des Broussins, envisages au point de vue de l'accroissement en diametre des arbres dicoty- ledon^, par M. A. Trecul ; Description d' un genre nouveau de la famille des Labiees, par MM. E. Cosson et Durieu de Maisonneuve ; Description d'un genre nouveau de la famille des Cruciferes, par M. Durieu de Maisonneuve ; Vingt et unieme Notice sur quelques Septoria nouveaux, par M. J. B. H. J. Desmazieres ; Organogenic des families des Myrtace'es, Punicees, Philadelphe'es ; Loasees et Ombelliferes, par M. Payer. No. 3. — Zoologie — Analyse des observations de M. Miiller sur le deve- loppement des Ophiures, par M. Camille Dareste (suite) ; Remarques sur NOTICES OF SERIALS. 65 l'appareil pulmonaire du Gymnarchus Niloticus, par M. le Professeur Fcerg de Munich ; Note additionnelle, par M. Duvernoy ; Memoire sur la famille des Ocypodiens, par M. Milne Edwards (suite). Botanique — Nouvelles recherches sur l'appareil reproductuer des Champignons, par M. L. R. Tulasne ; Note sur la formation des feuilles, par M. Tre'cul ; Note sur la Galle des tiges du Poa nemovalts, par M. Prilleux. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, including Zoology, Botany, and Geology. No. 73, January; No. 74, February; No. 75, March, 1854. 8vo. London: Taylor and Francis. Price Is. each. No. 73, January : — (Muller, Johannes) On the structure of the Echi- noderms — a translation made by Mr. T. Haxley of a Paper read before the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin ; (Sclater, P. L.) On a new species of Tanager, in British Museum ; (Kellaart, E. F.) Descriptions of new or little known species of Reptiles, collected in Ceylon; (Forbes, Edward) Note on Spadix purpurea, Gosse ; (Deakin, Richard) Descrip- tions and illustrations of new species of Verricaria and Sagedia, found about Torquay, Devonshire ; (Gray, John Edward) Description of a MS. of Laurence Theodore Gronov, lately purchased for the British Museum, with a collection of dry fish which it describes. A box of dry skins of fish, arranged between sheets of cartridge paper, like a collection of dry plants, said to be accompanied with a MS. description, was offered for sale in a collection of objects of vertu, in Bond-street ; at the time of sale, and while on view, the MS. could not be found. Dr. Gray, however, thought that, even independently of the MS., the collection would be an advantageous purchase. The MS. was subsequently found, and, on examination, it proved to be a collection, generic and specific, with descriptions, made by L. T. Gronov, better known by his Latinized name Gronovius. In a scientific point of view, such a collection is most important, and we are glad, therefore, to see that it has passed into the hands of the British Museum. (Jordon, T. C.) Catalogue of Species of Plants found in Southern India. Proceedings of Societies — Zoological; Botanical; Royal Society of Edinburgh. Miscellaneous. No. 74, February : — Monograph British Graphideae ; (Benson, W. H.) New European Pupa and new Australian Bulimus ; (Jordon, T. C.) Cata- logue of Ants of Southern India ; (Hancock) Notes on Greenland and Ice- land Falcons ; (Muller, Johannes) On the Structure of the Echinoderms ; (Layard, Edgar L.) Notes on Ornithology of Ceylon ; (Williams, Thomas) On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and Structure of the Organs 66 NOTICES OF SERIALS. of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals ; (Kellaart, E. F.) Catalogue of Reptiles collected in Ceylon. Proceedings of Societies. Miscellaneous Notices. No. 75, March: — (Wright, Thomas) Contributions to the Palae- tomlogy of Gloucestershire — a description with figures, of some new species of Echircodermata, from the Lias and Ooilites; (Blackwell, Y.) Description of some newly-discovered species of Araneidea ; (Williams, Thomas) On Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration, &c, continued ; (Gray, Dr. J.) New Genus and Species of Seals (Helioptoca Atlanticd) from Madeira; (Leighton, Rev. W. A.) Monograph of British Graphideae; (Layard, Edgar L.) Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon, continued. Proceedings of So- cieties. Miscellaneous Notices. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. No. VI. 8vo. T. Highley. January, 1854: — (Boswell, R. S.) Remarks on Actinophrys Sol, sup- plementary to the Paper in the Microscopical Journal, vol. i., pp. 25 and 98 ; (Busk) Remarks on the Structure and Function of the avicularean and vibracular organs of the Polyzoa, and their value as diagnostic characters in the classification of these creatures. After describing these curious appendicular organs which are affixed to many of the Cheilostomata of Busk, or Celleporina of Ehrenberg, and ra- pidly reviewing the researches already made into their structure and functions, their importance, as affording excellent and available systematic characters, is briefly discussed. These organs are divided into two kinds apparently with distinct functions — avicularia and vibracula; the one, probably, prehensile, the other defensive ; of those the avicularia are found by far the most extensively, being wanting in but few of the genera con- stituting the Cheilostomatous class of Polyzoa. For the purposes of classifi- cation, they are subdivided into three classes — 1st, pedunculate; 2nd, sessile; and 3rd, immersed. The two latter classes run insensibly into each other, while the pedunculate form is quite distinct, as it presents an additional member in the form of a basal joint. To this form of avicularium the term " birds," or " vulture's heads," is more properly applied. Examples of this form may be found in Bugula avicularia, B. plumosa, and B. flabalata. Another modification of pedunculate avicularium, where it assumes the form of a large trumpet-shaped or infundibuliform tube, exists in Bicellaria tuba. The pedunculate form of avicularium appears to be restricted to the genera Bugula and Bicellaria, though it does not exist in NOTICES OF SERIALS. 67 every species of each genus, and in one assumes a form quite different from the ordinary. The sessile form of avicularium may be subdivided into the projecting and the immersed. Of these, the latter is the more exten- sively distributed; it is placed either at the angles or margin of the cells, usually of their anterior aspect, but sometimes on the posterior; instances of this latter may be found in Cabarea nuda, and the genus Retaphora. The importance of a due attention to these organs as affording specific and even generic distinctions, may be best appreciated in the difficult and hitherto much confused families of Flustradae— Membraniponda, and es- pecially of the Celliporidce, Escharadoe, and Selenaridce. In Lepralia these organs are of the utmost importance and easily available. The mode in which Mr. Busk has employed this character may be seen in his " Cata- logue of British Marine Polyzoa," published by the British Museum. (Queckett, John) On the Minute Structure of a peculiar Combustible Mineral from the Coal Measures of Torbane Hill, &c. This mi- neral, our readers may remember, has lately excited considerable at- tention in the scientific world, and a trial, " second to few in importance, has lately taken place in Edinburgh, having for its object the determination whether the Torbane Hill mineral should be called a coal or not, and whether it should be included in the missive of agreement for a lease, and let as coal." On the trial, 78 witnesses were examined — 33 for the plain- tiff, and 45 for the defendant — who might be differently classified. This memoir only enters into the evidence offered by the microscopists examined, among whom was its accomplished author, and has for its object to prove — " That the Torbane Hill mineral is not, microscopically speaking, a coal ; that it is not like any of the combustible substances used in this country as coal ; and though possessing some of the properties of coal, it is, notwithstanding, a mineral sui generis, having a basis of clay which is strongly impregnated with a peculiar combustible principle; and that when plants are found in it, they are accidental, and have no more been con- cerned in the formation of the mineral, than has a fossil bone in that of the rock in which it may have been imbedded." (Gregory, William) New Forms and Varieties occurring in the Diatomaceous Earth of Mull, with Remarks on the Classification of the Diatomaceaa. Translations — (Virchow, Rud.) On the Irratibility of Ciliated Cells ; (Tulasne, M. L.-R.) On the germination of the Spores of the Uredinece, extracted from " Comptes Rendus," torn. xxxv. Reviews — (Fresinius, Dr. George) Beitrage Zur Mycologie (contributions to Mycology) ; (Unger, Dr. F.) Botanical Letters to a Friend. Notes and Correspondence. Proceedings of Societies. 68 NOTICES OF SERIALS. Zoologist. No. 135, January ; No. 136, February ; No. 137, March, 1854. 8vo. London : Van Voorst. Price Is. each number. In the pages of this periodical, the following, among other articles, have appeared during the last three months : — No. 135, January: — (Couch, Jonathan) Some further Remarks on Habits of Bats, in continuation of his diary in Zoologist, p. 3,936 ; (Sclater, Philip Luttley) List of Birds exposed for Sale in the Market at Rome. No. 136, February: — (Douglass, T. W.) Entomological Localities (con- tinued from page 4,001), Terra Incognita ; (Greene, Rev. Joseph) List of Lepidoptera captured near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. We see by it that the Lithosia trebicollis meets with that pest, the ichneumon, nearly as often as the genus Nothodonta. (Scott, John) A few notes on the necessity for rearing the Tineida?, and other small groups ; (Hogan, Arthur R.) List of Coleoptera found in the neighbourhood of Dublin (se- cond part). No. 137, March: — Entomological Society, President's Address; an able review of the labours of the British and Foreign Entomologists during the last year. A suggestion thrown out by the learned President we would gladly see carried out in other Societies — namely, that a month's notice should be given of papers likely to excite discussion, in order that the minds of those interested in the subject might have their attention specially directed to them. Miscellaneous Notices, &c. Phytologist. Nos. 102, 103, 104. Price Is. each. 8vo. London : J. Van Voorst. January: — (Robson, Joseph) Catalogue of Wild Plants of Gosforth, Cumberland, and adjacent district, in 1853 ; (Warrington, Robert) On Preserving the Balance between the Animal and Vegetable Organisms in Sea-water. A very interesting communication on a subject which is now engaging the attention of many of our leading naturalists, and which will, probably, ere long, lead to the discovery of many facts hitherto unnoticed. Notices of Books — (Shacht, Dr. Herman) The Microscope in its Special Application to Vegetable Anatomy and Physiology ; (Leeman, Berthold, H.M.S. Herald) Part III., Botany. Proceedings of Societies — Phytologist Club. Among other notices we have here a new Irish Equisetum recorded, and forming the third striking form of Equisetum discovered in Ireland, the other being E. Mackaii and E. Wilsoni; the new plant has been named E. Moorii, in honour of its discoverer. It may be distinguished from E. Hyemale, the species it most resembles, by the long, loose, white sheaths, with white, setaceous teeth, besides the stems are longer, much more NOTICES OF SERIALS. 69 attenuated, and have fewer Strice; the latter characters would appear to connect it with E. Mackaii, from which it may be distinguished by the colour of its sheaths, and their having shorter teeth, and in its stems, which never branch. In addition to these marks, it may be remarked, that while the stems of all British unbranched species of Equisetum are persis- tent, remaining green throughout the winter; the economy of E. Moorii is the reverse of this, as its stems die down annually. The present only recorded habitat is clay-banks facing the sea, at Eockfield, County Wicklow, where it was found by Mr. D. Moore, in company with Professor Melville. Botanical Society of Edinburgh ; Phytological Club, in connection with the Pharmaceutical Society ; Linneaean Society, including notices of two new British ferns, one the Polypodium alpestre (Hoppe), and the others supposed to be undescribed, with the name of P. flexile provisionally assigned. February : — (Baker, John G.) On Salix acutifolia, and its occurrence in Britain ; (Newman, Edward) Contributions towards a History of a British Asplenium, considered as a distinct species, and as entitled to a place in the British Flora. In this contribution we have most ably dis- cussed the claims of Asplenium acutum to a place in the British Flora ; and we trust that the materials for properly considering the subject, here so impartially collected, will meet with the attention they so well deserve from all botanists who have made our native ferns a special object of study. (Borrer, William) Notes on the " Cybele Britannica," vol. iii. These notes are communicated, with their author's permission, by the able author of the " Cybele Brittanica," to whom they were originally sent. No- tices of Books — (Hooker, Sir W. J.) Species Filicum, part vi., or vol. ii., part ii. Proceedings of Societies — Phytologist Club ; Linneaean Society ; Dublin Natural History Society ; Phytological Club ; (Tulasne, M. L. B.) On Germination of the Spores of the Uredineae. March : — (Leeman, Berthold) Remarks on Sarsaparilla. The object of these remarks is to prove that the greater portion of Sarsaparilla is the produce of one species of Smilax, and that species is S. officinalis H. and B. (S. papyracea Poir S. Medien Cham et Schlecht), but is not intended by so doing to abolish the commercial distinctions now so universally recognised in the Sarsaparilla trade. As long as the Brazilians continue to strip the roots of the beard, and put them up in the same long rolls as they now do, there will always be Lisbon Sarsaparilla in the market ; as long as the inhabitants of the Spanish Main continue to preserve the root- lets, we shall have Jamaica Sarsaparilla ; and as long as the climate and other physical circumstances of Guatemala remain unchanged, we shall 70 NOTICES OF SERIALS. always receive from that locality Sarsaparilla, distinguished by its abun- dance of starchy matter. (Mudd, William) Account of the Lichens of Cleveland. Proceedings of Societies — Phytologist Club, including a list of new or scarce Irish plants, by J. Carroll ; Botanical Society of Edin- burgh, including notice of Desmarestia Dresnayi (D. pinnatervia Mont), at Molville, near the mouth of Lough Foyle, in August last; and some obser- vations on that troublesome pest, the Anacharis alsinastrum, in Ireland, at Waringstown, where it is supposed to have been located nearly eighteen years. Rules of Foreign Exchange Club, which has been established in connection with the Botanical Society of London, to facilitate the exchange among its members of specimens of foreign plants. Hooker's Journal of Botany. Nos. 60, 61, 62. Price 2s. each. January : — (Bentham, George) Florula Hongkongensis ; (Hooker, Sir W. J.) Notice of some of the contents of the Kew Garden Museum ; the Poppy family (Papaveracce) form the subject of the present notice, which embraces most copious details respecting the mode of cultivating the Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) ; Cyperacese Cumingianise Herbaris Lind- leyani, Auctore Neesis ab Esenberk ; Botanical information, &c. February : — (Spence, R.) Journal of Voyage up the Amazon and Rio Negro ; (Roe, J. S.) Report of Journey of Discovery into Western Austra- lia ; the Vine Disease. This notice is a translation of M. Tulasne's " Notes on the Fungus which causes the Vine disease," extracted from the " Comptes rendus des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences, vol. xxxvii. This fungus, now well known under the name O'idium Tuckeri (Berk), consists of a network {Mycelium) of white, loose filaments, which covers here and there the green and healthy parts of the vine, and causes the formation of brownish or blackish spots. From these filaments, which are all superficial or external on the epidermis of the infested plant, spring thick tufts of simple pointed stalks, the ultimate points of each of which quickly becomes a large oval cell, as capable of propagating the fungus as any true seed could be. Independently of these reproductive bodies, the Oidium Tuckeri produces brown, generally pedicellate, fruits, coated with a cellular mem- brane, and containing very minute seeds, capable of germinating. These fruits are commonly larger than the swollen acrogenous bodies, described above, but not always so ; they are of the same form, and are often borne on the same footstalk, almost appearing as if they were caused by a trans- formation of the normal seeds. From a close observation of these pecu- liar organs, M. Tulasne conjectures that the O'idium Tuckeri is of a very NOTICES OF SERIALS. 71 different nature from that hitherto supposed, and he proposes referring it to the parasitic genus Erisyphe ; the precise species of which cannot be satisfactorily determined until its ascophorous fruits shall have been observed, as the two secondary modes of multiplication already observed (naked acrogenous spores and polysporous fruits) are not sufficient to distinguish it from many of its congeners. (Lee- man, Berthold) Remarks on Passifloraceae and Turneraceae. These orders, confessedly closely allied, are proposed to constitute one and the same natural family of plants ; the connecting link being the American genus Eriblichia, one of these peculiar genera the discovery of which will always produce great changes. Botanical information — Plants of Boazel ; Bourgeau's Spanish Plants; British Hieracia; Linden's South American Plants. Notices of Books — Steetz's Family of Iremandrex (Die Familie der Iremandreen, &c.) ; Botanists' Word-book (Macdonald and Allan) ; Mono- graphic des Maratteacees (De Vries and Harting) ; Notes on Welwitsch's Cryptogamic Plants collected in Portugal, 1842-50 (Rev. M. J. Berkeley). March : — (Thwaites, G. H. K.) New Genera and Species of Ceylon Plants ; (Bentham, George) Florula Honkongensis, comprising Genera allied to Euphorbiaceae ; (Roe, J. S.) Report of a Journey of Discovery into Western Australia ; (Smith, John) Observations on a remarkable Cy- cadeous Plant from Port Natal. Botanical Information — Pine-leaf Fibre of the Silesias and Bahamas Plants of Armenia, Mons. Huet de Pavilion's collection of ; South American Plants, Mr. Spencer's collection of ; Plants of the North of Western Australia, Mr. Drummond's collection of ; Plants of Tunis, appointment of M. Kralick as collector of. Notices of Books — Carpary Geneva Plantarum Flora Germanica, Fasc. xxvii. ; (Klotzoch, J. F.) Uder Pistia ; (Lindley, Professor) Folia orchidacea, Part v. London, 1854. The Journal of Industrial Progress (Edited by W. K. Sullivan). No. 1, January; No. 2, February; No. 3, March. 8vo. Dublin: W. B. Kelly. Price Is. each part. If, in the present day, there can be any necessity to reply to the question, " What practical end do the researches of the scientific naturalist ever tend to ?" an answer might be readily found in the pages of this most promising Journal. We can only refer here (as is the case with other serials) to those papers which are connected with the pursuits of the naturalist. No. 1, January : — (Sullivan, W. K.) On the Undeveloped Resources of Ireland — No. I., Application of Fish Offal and Marine Exuvia to the Manu- facture of Artificial Manure. 72 NOTICES OF SERIALS. No. 2, February : — (Corte, M.) On the Artificial Oyster Beds of Lake Fusaro, and the importance of adopting a similar method on other Coasts. No. 3, March : — (Allman, G. J.) On the Artificial Breeding of Fish ; a most able memoir on a subject now attracting considerable attention. (Jukes, J. Beete) The Mines of Ireland, No. I. The Naturalist : conducted by B. R. Morris, Esq., A.B., M.D. Nos. 35, 36, and 37. 8vo. Groombridge and Co. Price 6d. each number. No. 35, January, 1854 : — The Coney ; Notes on the Cere and Legs of Birds ; Notes on the days when the Summer Birds were first observed about Barnsley ; Protracted continuance of Insects in Chrysalis state ; Notes on the Lepidoptera of Banff ; the Propagation of Hardy Trees and Shrubs ; Anagallis Arvenis, &c, in Flower, November 14 ; Miscellaneous Notices ; Review ; Retrospect ; Querist. No. 36, February, 1854 : — A Glance at the Feathered Residents in, and Visitants to, the Grounds of Terrick House; Local Jottings, No. 11., Dorchester — Dorsetshire ; Notes on the Dodo ; Extracts on the Nightjar, or Fern Owl ; Entomologist's Excursion to Ebbor Rocks ; Two new British Marine Algae ; Miscellaneous Notices ; Proceedings of Societies ; Querist. No. 37, March, 1854 : — Utility of the common Mole ; Notes on the Nesting of Birds ; Ornithological and other Notes ; The common Ring- snake ; The Salmon Manufactory on the Tay ; Lepidoptera round Exeter ; Stray Notes on the Elm ; Sand Martins ; The Late Frost ; Miscellaneous Notices ; Retrospect ; Querist. Ijromfthtgs of j&ttttties. BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. DECEMBER 14, 1853. Dr. Stevelly in the chair. Professor M 'Coy read a paper " On Experiments to determine the Effect of Pres- sure in Modifying the Temperature of Fusion, with their Applications to Geology ;" in which he drew attention to the great apparent difficulties of reconciling the pre- cision of the equinoxes and rotations of the earth's axis, Avith theoretical views sup- posed to follow from a consideration of experiments on central heat. He then described the instruments and mode of procedure adopted by Mr. Hopkins, of Cam- bridge, in his recent successful experiments, which proved that the great mass of the earth might be solid, although heated far above the temperature required to fuse all known rocks at the surface. DECEMBER 21, 1853. Mr. Patterson, President, in the chair. Mr. A. O'D. Taylor read a paper on " The Gigantic Birds formerly found in the Mauritius and adjacent Islands." Having glanced at the subject of geogra- phical distribution, he mentioned the JEpyornis of Madagascar, a bird which M. St. Hilaire, of Paris, supposes to have been from 9f feet to 13 feet in height. This conclusion had been arrived at from inspecting some immense eggs and bones found in the alluvial deposits of that island. The Dodo of the Mauritius was next noticed ; it was exterminated by the year 1679, and now the only sources of infor- mation regarding it are the rude descriptions of unscientific voyagers, three or four oil paintings, and a few bones. It appears that two species of brevi-pennate birds were to be found in Bourbon during the 17th century ; one of which was men- tioned by a French visitor in 1669, and by him called the " Oiseau Bleu ;" and another species was described by a Captain Castleton, who touched there in 1613. It is also known that a very large bird, called from its habits the " Solitaire," in- habited the neighbouring island of Rodriguez, in the early part of the 18th cen- tury. These four last-named species seemed to have been destroyed chiefly, if not entirely, by the agency of man, from whose destructive powers escape was impos- sible ; for these birds had no means of defence in the shape of dangerous talons or otherwise ; they were supplied with merely rudimentary wings, and the isolated tracts over which they ranged were exceedingly limited. It cannot, however, be positively affirmed that the iEpyornis of Madagascar is extinct, as that island has been scarcely explored in any parts by scientific men, and it is not impossible that the iEpyornis, or some allied species, may yet be discovered in the lonely central tracts. In illustration of the subject, Professor Carlile exhibited some bones of the " Dinornis," sent from New Zealand to Dr, Dickie. Professor Carlile explained the peculiarity of structure in these osseous fragments, their formation, indicating a more simple or less advanced stage of development than now obtained amongst VOL. I. Q 74 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. birds. He also alluded briefly to the " Porphyrio Melanotus," a cognate species of which a specimen was exhibited. After the conversation which the paper elicited had terminated, the President, Mr. Patterson, laid before the meeting a specimen of the sea-loche, " Motella tricirrata," which had been captured in Strangford Lough, and forwarded im- mediately to the Museum through the kindness of Mr. B. Meenan, to whom the thanks of the Society were desired to be offered for his attention. JANUARY 25, 1854. Dr. Andrews, V.P., in the chair. Dr. Stevelly delivered a lecture on the "Electric Telegraph," detailing its history and present mode of operation, illustrated by numerous diagrams and apparatus. FEBRUARY 1, 1854. Dr. Dickie, V.P., in the chair. Mr. R. Patterson read a paper on the u Instincts of Animals." After some in- troductory remarks, an extract was read from Paley, and one from Kirby and Spence, to show the meaning attached to the term u instinct" by those writers. It was then remarked that, up to the present time, we had not any really philosophical treatise on the subject, and that the humble inquirer of the truth could do little more at the present time than classify the observed facts under distinct heads. Acting on this idea, Mr. Patterson brought forward examples of instincts for the propagation and support of offspring; and, next, of instincts for the well-beim* of the individual. After these had been dwelt upon at some length, instincts which were originally acquired, and had in time become hereditary, were referred to, and the common but erroneous opinion that all the actions of the lower animals are to be attributed to instinct, and those of man to reason, was noticed, and the views on this subject entertained by Archbishop Whately were brought forward. After showing that, among animals, we have instances of this conforming to circum- stances, and adapting means to an end, examples were adduced of their manifesting emotions and passions similar to those of man, and the question discussed, of how are actions which are properly the result of reason, to be distinguished from those which are instinctive ? The remarks of Archdeacon Paley, of Lord Brougham, Dr. Rcid, were referred to on this subject, and illustrative examples given from the writings of White, Darwin, and other naturalists. An animated and protracted discussion took place at the concluston of the lecture, in which Professors Stevelly, Dickie, MlCosh, and other members took part. MARCH 1, 1854. Robert Mac Adam, Esq., in the chair. Mr. Patterson read some notes on " Chinese Mirrors." When Sir James E. Tennent was last in Ireland, he entrusted to Mr. Patterson's care a Chinese mirror, in order that the members of the society might have an op- portunity of examining it, and expressing their opinions as to its construction. Sir James, it will be remembered, had been a member of this society many years ago, and has always manifested the warmest interest in its progress. During his resi- dence at Ceylon, he collected various specimens of great interest and value, many of which were presented, on his return, to the Belfast Museum. The Chinese mirror consists of a thin disc of yellowish- white metal, slightly convex on one side, and slightly concave on the other. The convex side is highly polished, so that it may be used as an ordinary mirror ; the other is ornamented with figures PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES! 75 in relief. The peculiar property of it is, that if the polished side be used to reflect the rays of the sun on any plain surface, the reflection presents a perfect image of the figures on the other side. This singular phenomenon has been explained in two ways. Sir John Davis, the author of a work entitled "The Chinese: a General Description of China and its Inhabitants," says that the effect is produced by etching on the convex side a copy of the figures on the other ; that the surface is then highly polished upon some soft, yielding substance, as cloth, so that the hollows may be polished equally with the rest of the surface ; and that this etching is so light that the figures will only be visible in very strong lights. Professor Faraday supposes that the mirror is cast in what is technically called a " chiil," that, consequently, the density of the thick parts of the mirror is* less than that of the thin portion ; that the surface in the process of polishing grinds away unequally, as the denser parts will resist the grinding more than the other; that thus hollows are produced on the convex surface corresponding in position to the figures on the back, and that these form concave mirrors, which reflect the images as described above. At Mr. Patterson's request, Mr. William Gray, a member of the society, under- took to make a small casting to test, from actual experiment, the effect of a " chill." His experiments, however, were not sufficiently extensive to enable him to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion on that head ; but, from the difficulty he experienced in getting the metals composing the alloy thoroughly mixed, he thought that the unequal density on the metal, arising from imperfect mixture, would materially in- terfere with like unequal density arising from the mode ef casting. Hence he in- ferred that the less dense portions of the convex surface would not invariably cor- respond in position to the figures on the back, and he suggested that, after the mirror had been cast in a u chill," as Professor Faraday supposed, the upper surface was sub- jected to some such process as that described by Sir J. Davis. By this means slight hollows would be produced in proper positions ; and, afterwards, in the process of grinding, the hollows would become greater when the density had varied according to the law laid down by Faraday, and the inequalities of surface produced by the acid in those parts of it where the density was regular would not be diminished by grinding the surface on cloth. Mr. MacAdam read some notes on Physical Geography, relating to the distri- bution of the great masses of land on the surface of the globe, and referred to some theories which had been started in explanation. Mr. Patterson laid on the table a number of engravings of Lycian coins, and read the following announcement respecting them : — " Sir Charles Fellows, being about to publish some account of relative dates of the works of art discovered by him in Lycia, is anxious to perfect, as far as possible, the portion illustrated by the ancient coins of that province. Sir Charles sends impressions from the plates he is preparing, and asks assistance in making additions or corrections, that he may be enabled to to bring together, he believes for the first time, all the coins of Lycia before the age of Alexander the Great." DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. FEBRUARY 10, 1854. Dr. Gordon, M.R.I.A., in the chair. The usual routine business being disposed of, Mr. Kinahan presented to the Society two volumes of Pennant's M British Zoology.'' Mr. Callwell, in proposing a vote of thanks for the donation, observed that works of such a class were valuable to the Society as records of the state of zoology of that day, and as comparison withh the present superiority of all works of the kind, and of the advanced state of scientific research. The works of Pennant, however, are well known for the accuracy of his details. 76 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Mr. Andrews then said that he had a few remarks to make relative to the paper brought forward on a former evening, on the capture of the membranaceous duck, in Castlemaine Bay, County Kerry. He had since traced every circumstance fully confirmatory of its capture there; he regretted, however, that the trachea or windpipe had not been preserved, nor the sternum, which might have afforded additional interest to the observations. Apparently, the membranaceous duck would possess great power of flight, although its wings were extremely short, as in the Fuligulinae, the scaups or pochards, &c, whose powers of swimming and diving are great. Through the kindness of Dr. Farran, he had the opportunity of exhibiting and comparing fine specimens of the gadwall and of the shoveller duck. These beautiful birds, like the membranaceous duck, were remarkable in having the laminae of the mandibles largely developed, and which were strongly so in the gadwall — a provision suiting them to their peculiar habits of feeding. The membranaceous duck, whose bill was extremely soft in its substance, seemed only suited to feed upon the softer mollusca and gelatinous marine and freshwater animals ; thus, the finely pectinated lamina? retain the minute creatures upon which the bird feeds, allowing only the watery portions to escape. In the paper before alluded to he had mentioned the capture, off the island of Valentia, of the dusky petrel, Puffinus obscurus, and he was now, through the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Blackburne, of Valentia, enabled to exhibit the specimen, which had been beautifully preserved. This bird — the Puffinus assimilis of Gould, a native of Norfolk Island and the eastern shores of Australia — is the first record of its capture in Europe, never having been known north of the Mediterranean. It is, however, plentiful at the Cape of Good Hope, and, probably, on the north-west coast of Africa, and its true specific name is the dusky petrel, Puffinus obscurus. The Puffinus obscurus is extremely like the Manx petrel, Puffinus Anglorum, but is readily distinguishable by its diminutive pro- portions. At the same time, the dusky petrel is a southern species, while the Manx petrel is a northern. Mr. Andrews had also the opportunity of ex- hibiting a specimen of the Manx shearwater with the egg, taken in one of the cliffs, on the Island of Valentia. These birds were always considered to breed on the Skellig Islands, but Mr. Andrews had never known the eggs to be obtained there. An egg had been sent to him taken from the smaller Skellig Island, stated to be that of the Manx shearwater, but, on comparing it with the egg sent by Mr. Blackburne, it was of much smaller size, and not so oval as the egg of the Manx shearwater. On examination of the eggs in the British Museum, Mr. Andrews found one corresponding with it, marked as the egg of Bulwer's petrel, Thalassi- droma Bulweri. It was gratifying to have so well authenticated, by Mr. Blackburne, the egg of the Manx shearwater, as it but little known to the naturalists of this country. The eggs of the petrel are large in proportion to the size of the birds, and it would be extremely interesting yet to prove that the egg of the petrel that had been sent to him was that of T. Bulweri. Having noticed these instances on the west coast of such rare birds, discovered within the last year, we may naturally expect to meet other species of the petrels on that coast. The petrels on the south- west coast seemed principally to breed on the smaller Skellig Island, and on the islands of Innismacalaun and Innisnabroe — two of the Blasquett Islands. In con- cluding, Mr. Andrews could not but observe on the extreme interest of the birds exhibited this evening; two of the rarest additions to British ornithology that had been made for years. The dusky petrel excited great interest, when exhibited by Mr. Yarrell, at the Linnaean Society, in June last ; and this society was much in- debted to the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Blackburne, of Valentia, in now affording the opportunity of seeing the specimen, and of that of the Manx shearwater. Living in a wild and remote retreat, Mr. and Mrs. Blackburne, with their daughter, devoted much of their time to literary pursuits, and the two latter had, by their observations, gained and added much interesting information to the zoology and botany of that district. Mr. Williams said that he had long and great experience in watching the habits of water fowl, and he did not consider that the shoveller had any peculiarity in its feeding ; he observed it, when swimming, to skim the surface of the water with its bill, but it ate potatoes and meal, in common with other of the duck tribe. The Chairman remarked that the habits of birds in confinement could not be PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 77 considered generally as the true mode of seeking and using food, as their wild state influenced them. They more commonly adapted their habits to the use of the ar- tificial food supplied to them. Mr. Andrews said that, in the instance of a merganser, whose strong serration of the mandibles in the wild state enabled it to retain the fish it captured, the serrated character of the bill became blunt, and, to some degree, obliterated, by its change of food in confinement. Mr. Kinahan observed, that the paper possessed particular interest in the remarks concerning the breeding of the Manx shearwater and Bulwer's petrel in this country. Mere stragglers have no right to be regarded as natives, though their oc- currence should always be noted. He had no doubt that observation would add some birds to the list of those which breed in this country, at least occasionally. He might remark, that he believed the siskin was amongst the number, having met them in various years, in the summer, in Rathgar and Donnybrook, in the County Dublin, and in Tipperary, and in Powerscourt woods as late as the 22nd of July. He had also little doubt that the redwing sometimes bred here, and it was also believed that the black-cap warbler did so too. Mr. Kinahan then read his paper ON THE REPRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE SMOOTH NEWT, AND A NOTICE OF THE POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS RELATING TO IT. ■Some years ago my attention was directed to these interesting animals, chiefly with reference to the number of species found in and about Dublin. I was then so fortunate as to have an opportunity of watching the progress of some of the earlier stages of development of our only Dublin species, the smooth newt, (L. punctatus — Bell. Within the last few months my attention was again called to them, by a very interesting and valuable paper, by J. Higginbottom, of Nottingham, in the annals for December, 1853. In this paper, which is stated to be the result of five years' close study, the author enters very fully into the habits and distinctions of the different species, corroborating, for the most part, the previous researches of Rus- coni, in his u Amours des Salamandres," and of Professor Bell, in his excellent treatise on British reptiles, and also adding much to our knowledge by researches into what he calls their terrestrial stage. On reading this paper, I was struck with several discrepancies between Mr. Higginbottom's and my own observations. Whether this arose from his observations having been made solely on the warty newt (on which point there is some ambiguity in his paper), and mine on the smooth newt, or from some accidental cause, leaving others to decide, I shall content myself with detailing what I saw, and pointing out the discrepancies between the conclusions arrived at by Mr. Higginbottom and the results of my experiments. On the Uth May, 1851, I placed two smooth newts (L. punctatus — Bell), one a female, captured in the Bishop's Fields, on the preceding day, the other a male, taken some ten days previous, in a glass jar, four inches in diameter, and about eighteen inches high ; this was filled with water within a few inches of its summit, and had floating in it a plant of the Indian pond-weed (Pistia stratiotes). On the 15th I found that the female had deposited half-a-dozen eggs ; these were small and made up of a round, white body, about the size of a grain of white mustard-seed (which it much resembled), floating inside of a pellucid, opal-coloured sac. During the two following days she deposited about a dozen more ; they were arranged in strings of four to six, adhering in rows, and intertwined among the long, floating roots, and also through the axils of the leaves, but in no instance could I find them de- posited singly in the folded edges of the leaves as Bell states, and Mr. Higginbottom asserts, is necessary for their preservation. Bell, indeed, states that they are some- times placed in the axils of the leaves. The female, when depositing the ovum, wound her tail round the roots of the plant, as if to anchor herself. Of the ova produced I distributed among my friends all but two ; these I placed in a small bottle of water, in a window facing the south-west, in a room of the temperature of from 60 to 70 degs. Fahrenheit. They were soon hatched ; the one on the 3rd of June, the other on the 5th. This appears to contradict Mr. Higginbottom's statement, that the ova must be folded up in a leaf, and thus protected from the free 78 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. access of the water, as these ova were hatched while lying in the "bottom of the vessel, and had heen knocking about for several hours, in a small bottle, in my pocket, previous to having been placed in the window. I do not mean to assert that the ova are not deposited also singly in the folded leaves, but merely that they are not necessarily so. The progress of their far- ther metamorphosis has been so well detailed by Bell that a lengthened descrip- tion on my part were superfluous ; suffice it to state, that the newts lived with me for fourteen days from the day they were hatched, and five weeks from their extrusion as ova ; they then died, and, at this period, the most forward had the anterior extremities well-formed, and the situation of the posterior marked by a protuberance on each side, as you may see. With respect to fecundation, my observations would lead me to corroborate Professor Bell's statement, in opposition to the belief of Kusconi and others, including Higginbottom — i.e., I believe it is to be internal, with actual contact. This species is distributed through the entire of this county (Dublin), even at considerable elevations above the sea. I have found them near the summit of Howth, and in every quarry-hole among the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. It is known by several names — in its aquatic state, as man-keepers, man-eaters, dark-leakers, daddy-leukers, and art-leukers; and, in its terrestrial stage, as the dry ask and lizard. It is much earlier in awaking from its hibernation, and seeking the water here than in the midland counties of England. I generally find them in the ponds in the Bishop's Fields, about the second week in February. In other parts of Ireland they are pretty generally distributed. Thompson states, " occur- ring from north to south, but not generally distributed ;" and in his comparative list records it in Belfist, Dublin, and the west. There are numerous specimens of this species, obtained in the north, in the Ordnance Survey collection, now in the Museum of Irish Industry. I have obtained it in, or received specimens from the following places : — North of Clare, rare ; Tipperary, north, scarce ; south, common ; King's County, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford (where it is also called E vet) ; Kil- kenny, on the authority of the Rev. J. Graves, who informs me it there goes by the name of dark leuker, which, he suggests, is derived either from dearc, a reptile, and leucair, brightness — i.e., the shining reptile ; or from luacrac — i.e., the reptile dwelling in rushy places — by this name it is known all over Ireland. It is also, I am informed, found in Louth, Queen's County, and Carlow. It is omitted in the catalogue of the Cork Cuverian Society ; and I searched for it unsuccessfully about Youghal and Ardmore, thouih I have reason to believe it is found in part, at least, of the County Waterford. Rutty, in his "Natural History of Dublin," mentions this animal among " the quadrupeds," in its two states, as distinct species : — 1st. The dry ask, or man - keeper ; 2. The water ask, or arglogher (the last manifestly the same word as dark leuker, which name, in some parts of the County Dublin, is pronounced art looker). He mentions, for the purpose of contradiction, two traditions, connected with it as current in his time — 1st. That it is poisonous. 2nd, That it can live in the midst of fire. With respect to its popular name, I find some of the lower orders call both the dry ask and the water ask, man-keeper or man-eater, while the names dark leuker, &c, are restricted to the animal in its aquatic state. In Scotland, in Gaelic, the animal is also called Dearc luachrach. I rind, also, that, in part of Kilkenny, it is also called Derrig na dioul — a name properly applied to one of the Staphylinidae. This brings me to the third part of m J paper — viz., the superstitions connected with this animal ; there are several of these curious and interesting, as having a connection with the religious belief of the former inhabitants of this country, and are now fast dying away. In almost every part of the country we find these animals looked on with disgust and horror, if not with dread ; this arises from two superstitions — one, common to a great part of Ireland, relating chiefly to the animal in its aquatic state, and which, in the County of Dublin has earned it the names of man-eater and man-keeper, though the dry ask of the county of Dublin — i.e., the animal in its terrestrial stage, is supposed to be equally guilty with the first-mentioned in the habit of going down the throats of those people who are so silly as either to go to sleep in the fields with their mouths open, or to drink from the streams in which the dark leukers harbour; thev are also said to be swallowed by the thirsty cattle; in consequence, the country PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 79 people kill them wherever they meet them on land, and poison the stream they are found in, by putting lime into the cattle's drinking pools. In either case the result is the same ; the reptile taking up his quarters in his victim's interior — in some way, it would puzzle a physiologist to explain how — contrives to live on the nutriment taken by the luckless individual or animal, so that, deprived of its nourishment, the latter pines away ; nay, so comfortable does the newt make her- self, that, not content with living by herself, she contrives to bring up a little family. Often have I been told of the man who got rid of a mamma newt and six young ones by the following recipe, which, I am assured, is infallible : — The patient must abstain from all fluids fcr four-and- twenty hours, and eat only salt meats— at the expiration of this time, being very thirsty, he must go and lie open-mouthed over a running stream, the noisier the better, when the newts, dying of thirst, and hearing the music of the water, cannot resist the temptation, but come forth to drink, and, of course, you tike care that they do not get back again. The dry ask, in addition to this evil character, is also supposed to be endowed with the power of the evil eye, children and cows exposed to its gaze wasting away. The Rev. J. Graves writes to me, that in Kilkenny it is looked on as " a devil's beast," and, as such, burnt. But, to compensate in some measure for its evil qualities, the dry ask is said in Dublin to bear in it a charm. Any one desirous of the power of curing scalds or burns, has only to apply their tongue along the dry ask's belly to obtain the power of curing these ailments, by the touch of this organ. In the Queen's County it is also used to cure disease, but in a different manner, being put into an iron pot under the patient's bed, it is said to effect a certain cure, though of what disease I am not quite clear. Of the other species of newts I have not been able personally to find any trace. The warty newt, T. cristatus, rests solely on Mr. Templeton's authority ; it is an inhabitant of every part of England, and might naturally have been expected to be found in Ireland. It may, perhaps, yet be found in the western wilds, where Mr. Thompson has, from description only, recorded the palmated newt, L. palmipes, which has been found both in England and Scotland. It is recorded in the catalogue of your museum, but of the locality where it is said to be obtained I cannot find any record. Other points of interest, relating to the economy of these animals — many of them bearing on Mr. Higginbottom's paper — I hope, at some future period, to lay before you, when I have made further ex- periments. After some interesting discussion, the meeting of the Society was adjourned to the month of March. MARCH 10 \Pm. Dr. Choker, M.R.I. A., in the chair. After the usual preliminary business, Mr. Andrews stated, that he had received a communication from Mr. Ffennell, Inspecting Commissioner of Fisheries, mentioning that his absence from Dublin would prevent him from giving his paper " On the Propagation of the Salmon, and on the Progressive Development of Ova, the results of experiments now carrying on," until next month. Mr. Gilbert Sanders read the following paper : — ON THE FRUCTIFICATION OF THE GENUS DESMARESTIA. At the request of my friend, Dr. Allman, I beg to present to the Dublin Natural History Society a short description of the fructification of Desmarestia, as observed in the species Ligulata. Dr. Harvey, in both editions of his Manual, and in thePhy- cologia — as well as every other algological authority I am acquainted with — records the fructification of Desmarestia as unknown. I was recently engaged in micro- scopically examining the structure of several specimens of Desmarestia ligulata, when I observed some very minute brown dots on the pinna I had under the micro- scope, which were resolved by a higher power into well-defined tubercles, through the pellucid walls of which I saw assemblages of angular spores of the usual pink colour of the spores of the Florideaa. Further examination showed that these 80 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. tubercles were pretty freely distributed over both surfaces of the pinna, on the mar- gins as well as on the flat surfaces ; those seen on the margins, being in profile, showed a hemispherical outline, the greater part of which projected beyond the margin. I have no doubt of these tubercles being the fruit, and that they are to be regarded as conceptaclcs and superficial. I examined pinnae from two other speci- mens of I), ligulata, which I had in my possession some years, and in both I no- ticed traces of the same appearance of fruit, but not nearly so distinct as those on my first specimen. In these last the capsules and spores appeared to have discharged their endochrome, which is very probable, as this genus is very impatient of fresh water, or even exposure to the air, decomposition commencing almost immediately after they are removed from the sea. If the mode of fructification is to guide us in the arrangement of the genera under orders, I conceive Desmarestia should be re- moved from the order Sporochnacas to Dictyotacae, as the fructification I have ob- served in D. ligulata is much more conformable to the latter order than to that of the former. I have not as yet perceived any symptom of fruit either on D. acu- leata or D. viridis, but the scattered single spores, so very abundant on Mr. Sawer's late important addition to British botany, Desmarestia pinnatinervia, cannot but be the fruit of that species. These spores have the same pink colour as those of D. ligulata ; but, instead of being in capsules, they appear on every part of the frond, like strings of beads or chains. I think it not improbable that young spring plants of the two other species, aculeata and viridis, will reward careful examination by a discovery of their fructification, and I would recommend search to be made among the Byssoid fibres with which the young plants are clothed. I take this opportunity to exhibit some specimens of Desmarestia Pinnatinervia, for which 1 am under obligation to Mr. William Sawers, of Londonderry, to whom belongs the honour of adding it to the marine botany of our country. Mr. Sawers sent specimens of his plant to the meeting of the British Association, at Hull, and to most of our best algologists, some of whom pronounced it a mere variety of a Lami- naria. At length specimens reached Dr. Montague, of the French Institute, who recognised it as his D. Pinnitinervia, a description and figure of which he gave in the uAnnales des Sciences Naturelles," for 1842, vol. xviii. As there are some differences between the appearances of the Spanish plant, as described by Dr. Montague, and those found by Mr. Sawers, I will refer to a free translation which I have made of the article in the " Annales." u Is it truly a Desmarestia ? That is a question not easily decided, in the absence of any fructification. M. Aghardh is inclined to believe it is to that genus we should refer it. This alga requires careful description, because it has a perfect resemblance to Laminaria debilis, collected on the coast of Corsica by my friend Mr. Solierol. The only differences which I have found, though essential diffe- rences, and which separate our plant from those with which I have compared it are — first, the presence of a well-defined stipe, about four or five millimetres long — second, a midrib, which traverses the entire length of the frond, and from which nervures issue to the right and left, at the distance of five and ten millimetres from one another, forming, with the midrib, angles of about 24 degs. All these nervures, though strongly marked, are of the greatest tenuity. The form of the frond is obovate, fourteen millimetres long by eight in width at the widest part, which is the summit. It has the same delicate tissue as Laminaria debilis. If it is a Desmarestia, as all believe it to be, we must consider the frond as formed by the fusion of the opposing pinnules, which will represent the nervures." The differences which I find between the Spanish plant as described by Dr. Montague, and the specimens of the Irish plant supplied by Mr. Sawers are — The Spanish plant is dentated at the margin, obovate, and the widest at the summit. Mr. Sawer's specimens are entire at the margin, very slightly waved, lanceolate, and widest about one-fourth of the length of the frond from the base, tapering thence towards the summit; the proportions of length and breadth of the two plants, are very dissimilar. However, I am inclined to regard them at present as iden- tical, merely altered by the circumstance of climate. It is singular that, although the figure given in the u Annales" exhibits an appearance of dots, Dr. Montague has made no mention of chain-like series of spores, such as are contained in the dots in Mr. Sawer's plants. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 81 I imagine that, from these spores on our Irish specimens, the exotic ones have them also. By some it has been doubted if the plants, taken at Lough Foyle, are indigenous to that coast, but have supposed them to be stray waifs, brought from more temperate regions by tides or currents. I cannot subscribe to such ideas, from the fact of Mr. Sawed having found fronds of his Desmarestia in tolerable abundance during a large portion of last year (1853), even up to near Christmas, and as Desmarestia undergoes decomposition so very rapidly when dead, I cannot believe it possible those fronds, which we see here in excellent preservation, could have been knocking about on the ocean for months. I, therefore, conclude they grew not far from the spot where Mr. Sawers found them. In conclusion, I would wish to remark on the doubt implied in Dr. Montague's paper as to the alga in ques- tion being a Desmarestia. The structure certainly agrees with that of ligulata. As my specimens were quite dry when they reached me, I could not determine if the single-jointed tube, mentioned by Dr Harvey, as traversing the fronds, exists in pinnatinervia. Should it be found there, I have no doubt that it Avill appear in the nervures and midrib. Altogether, the question is one of much interest to algo- logists, and I look forward, with expectation, that Dr. Harvey will investigate the subject on his return, and clear up existing doubts. I think it very evident that if the pinnatinervia be a Desmarestia, and if the tubercles I have observed on ligu- lata be the true fruit, then Dr. Harvey will have to construct the genus anew, for the diagnosis does not meet the existing facts. [Mr. Sanders gave very clear explanations of his several microscopical examina- tions, which he illustrated by handsomely -coloured diagrams. He was clearly of opinion that he had detected the spores indicative of a true state of fructification.] The Chairman said that the society was much indebted to Mr. Sanders for the very interesting statement he had given — interesting, because Mr. Sanders had brought forward an investigation which had hitherto escaped the notice of the scientific. He would be happy to hear any remarks on Mr. Sanders's views. Mr. Andrews said that it would be difficult to comment on the excellent state- ment made by Mr. Sanders, unless the same opportunities of investigation had been afforded, that Mr. Sanders so perseveringly followed out. The highest credit was due to Mr. Sanders in submitting views which had not been noticed by any autho- rity in algology. Statements, so put forward, had frequently influenced fuller inquiries, and which often resulted in the formation of new alliances or genera. In a notice of the discovery, in Cork harbour, by Mr. Isaac Carroll, of Stcnogramme interrupta, Dr. Harvey, in this society, gave a review of the several discoveries and wide distribution of that plant. This genus was established by Dr. Harvey ; Agardh, who had constituted it a Delesseria, having mistaken the linear concep- tacle for a nerve. Many of our most commonly distributed lichens and mosses are considered a rarity w hen found in fruit, and several species of the most frequent occurrence have never been known to fruit in the British Isles. Desmarestia ligu- lata is a plant of common occurrence. On the west coast it may be found in the tide pools of low water mark, and to the greatest depth that algae exist. Mr. An- drews trusts that Mr. Sanders may successfully establish the investigations which he has so ably commenced. Dr. Kinahan next read the following paper : — ON THE INJURY DONE TO FRY IN FISH PONDS AND VIVARIA, BY THE SMOOTH- TAILED STICKLEBACK. G. LEIURUS (CUV. AND VAL.). During a former session I had the honour to submit to your society some ob- servations on the spawning of the above fish ; to-night I have occasion again to call your attention to it with reference to a very different matter, the destruction it causes among young fry, a subject of economic importance, since the breeding of fish has become not only a fashionable amusement, but even an object of commer- cial speculation. That the smooth-tailed stickleback, and, indeed, all the fresh- water fish of that genus, are, when grown, most destructive to fry, even of fish much larger than themselves — such as gudgeon, rudd, dace, minnow, trout, &c. — has long been established by Baker and others, and any one anxious to verify it for himseli need but to watch the shallows adjacent to the spawning beds, where the 82 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. fry congregate, to have an ample proof of it, among the myriads of pinkeens which swarm in such places. In fact, the voracity of the mature or half-grown stickle- back almost exceeds credibility. Nothing comes amiss that has life — small crusta- ceans, moluscs, fry, often double their own size ; worms, grubs, all alike are accep- table. I have often been amused by the struggles and efforts of a pinkeen to engulf one of those large white moths which, in the autumn, are so often found floating on the water ; the fish, being unable to get a sufficient purchase to enable him to overcome the resistance offered by the insect's outspread wings, would return again and again to the charge, spinning the moth round ami round on the water, and often, in his eagerness, springing completely out of it himself. A still more remarkable instance of this ravenous appetite fell under my notice, having when bait fishing, captured a pinkeen, scarcely more than an inch long, on a hook, armed with a gentle nearly as big as himself, which the little brute had the imper- tinence to swallow, and was, in consequence, hooked through the lip. But, though acquainted with the voracious appetite of the full-grown fish, I must confess I was not prepared to find it more strongly developed in the fry scarce six weeks old, rendering them the terror and scourge of the fish pond— a fact first brought under my notice by the same accurate observer who called my attention to their nest- buihling powers, Mr. C. Brunetti, to whom I am principally indebted for the details. In the month of September the following fish were placed in a long glass jar — viz., two dace, about half an inch long, four gold-fish (hatched in June), about an inch in length, one gudgeon, a minnow, and a single smooth-tailed stickleback, the last measuring about a fourth of an inch in length. For about three weeks the fish lived in harmony together, and seemed to be thriving, feeding freely on bread crumbs, but at the end of that time my informant remarked that the stickleback had given up feeding on the bread, while the gold-fish seemed out of sorts, languid and pining, lying more at the bottom than had been their wont, and evidently not thriving ; this led him to watch them, when he was witness to a singular scene. He saw the pinkeen, after deliberately setting one of the gold-fish, as a dog would a hare, make a dart at it, and bite a piece out of one of the gold-fish's pectoral fins, and, retaining the piece in his mouth, rise to the top of the water, and there chew and masticate it, in the peculiar manner common to most fishes, till he had reduced it into a sufficiently comminuted state to allow it to be swallowed. After a momentary rest, the little glutton would, diving, select another gold-fish, and go through the game round of setting it, and biting a piece out of his fins, making as many as five or six attacks in as many minutes. Having devoured as much of their pectorals as he could, he next attacked their tails, and so persecuted them that, at length, the unfortunate gold-fish, unable to preserve their balance, turned over on their backs and died. Our little tyrant then paid similar attentions to the dace (which was about double his own size), and succeeded in stripping its pectoral fins, but the dace, being a hardier fish, bore this rough handling better than the gold-fish. The minnow was also attacked, but proved too active for its tiny foe, while the gudgeon escaped uninjured, protected either by his size, or, perhaps, because his fins are too tough. This voracity exceeds that of all his fresh-water congeners, not even excepting the pike, and opens up the question whether some effort should not be made to exclude him, if possible, from our spawning ponds — a task, it must be confessed, of some difficulty, when we consider the myriads of these fishes that are found in almost all our waters ; but, perhaps, by watching the spawning grounds of the Gasterostei in the proper season much might be done, at least to lessen their numbers : as, for instance, by capturing the males on the nest, and the females when congregated for the deposition of their ova ; while, by means of properly- constructed gratings, the fish might be nearly totally excluded from the ponds. I may as well mention a singular circumstance with reference to the distribution of this fish. There is a district in the north of Clare, around Feakle, where the fish, as far as I could learn, is utterly unknown, even by name, its place in the streams being taken by the Smooth loach (G. barbatula), called there Cailliagh Rhua— i.e., red hags — and the gudgeon, which (generally a local fish) here lite- rally swarms in the sandy rivers, even in the subterranean tourmines of Kiltannan. 1 was told by several persons, who knew the pinkoen well, that it did not exist PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 83 there ; and a careful search on my own part, during six weeks sojourn, failed to discover it — a fact the more singular as a great part of the district is bog, in the pools in which, in some of the neighbouring counties, the smooth-tailed stickle- back is plentiful ; neither could I find the minnow there, though both perch and trout abound ; and in Loughgraney I was told bream were found ; but I did not see any myself. In my former notes on this fish I gave a list of the fishes of the Dodder. To these I may now add the dace (Leuciscus vulgaris), which has lately been introduced into the ponds connected with the river, into which latter they will probably eventually find their way. Mr. Andrews said that every fact of interest bearing upon new features in the natural history of animals and plants were useful records, and it was the principle of this society, in all its scientific inquiries, to connect every information of prac- tical importance. At a recent meeting Mr. Andrews had given a review of the harbour fish of the south-west coast, among which he had mentioned several species that were considered extremely rare, and of local occurrence on the coasts of Great Britain. He now exhibited specimens that frequented the harbours of Dingle and Ventry, and among them were fine specimens of the red mullet — Mullus surmuletus. No branch required more practical investigation than that of our marine ichthyology ; and the numerous opportunities that Mr. Andrews had of forming accurate notes, proved to him that much additional information had been obtained of the marine fish of this country, beyond what had been noticed in Mr. Yarrell's work on British fishes. He had every respect for Mr. Yarrell, and considered his book a valuable reference ; still, however, species had been described upon too Blight grounds, Mr. Yarrell, probably, not having had the opportunity of examining recent specimens, or of being supplied with information of sufficient accuracy. The Labridae, or Wrasses, present very varied features of markings and form, which have led to the describing of one species under those of Crenilabrus Tinea, C. Cornubicus, and C. Gibbus. Mr. Andrews had obtained numerous specimens in Dingle harbour, at different seasons, in all stages of growth, and he was perfectly satisfied that those several species could not be separated from that of C. Tinea Mr. Andrews exhibited a fine specimen of C. Tinea, with the black spot at the termination of the lateral line, at the base of the caudal fin, and which Mr. Yarrell considered to be the constant and distin- guishable characteristic of C. Cornubicus. A small specimen of C. Tinea had also the same mark, and specimens possessing all the characteristics of C. Cornu- bicus were destitute of that mark. Mr. Andrews considered that the black mark was not strictly peculiar to either the character of C. Tinea or of C. Cornubicus, but was occasionally present or absent in both. This species is very plentiful in Dingle and Ventry harbours. It was named Cornubicus as local on the coast of Cornwall. The habits of these several named species are the same. Mr. Andrews also exhibited specimens of Crenilabrus Microstoma, taken in Dingle harbour. The Crenilabri, are separated from the Labri by the pectinated or toothed character of the preoperculum. Dr. Kinahan exhibited a plant of Scol. vulgare (var. marginatum), found by him at Tinnehinch, county Wicklow, March 2, 1854, its first record as Irish. This variety (first discovered in England by Sir W. C. Trevelyan) is remarkable for having the epidermis on the back of the frond raised into a membraneous ridge or tuck, running in a wavy line along it, at some little distance from the edge of the frond ; the fronds are scolloped and serrated along the edges, the sori either continuous over the ridge to the edge of the frond or stopping at it, when we find a second set of sori arising outside the hem ; or, thirdly, the sori are only produced external to the hem. The form is further remarkable for having several modifica- tions—firstly, that under consideration ; secondly, a form named bimarginatum, in which there is a hem on both faces of the frond ; thirdly, a form named suprali- neum, where the hem exists only on the upper surface of the frond; and, fourthly, in a form named dubium by its discoverer, G. B. Wollaston, Esq., by whom it was raised from seed, in which we find the free margin running along a frond with multifid apices. In all these forms we find an irregularly serrated margin to the fronds, showing that probably the deficiency of the substance at the edge of the frond and of the epidermis ; or, taking another view of the case, the irregular 84 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. grow A of the epidermis and of the venules and apices ; proceed from the same cause. Dr. Kinahan illustrated his remarks with a series of specimens of the forms mentioned. The Chairman then announced the ballot, when Lord Clermont, of Ravensdale Park, and Edward P. Wright, Esq., were elected members; and Dr. Carte, of the Royal Dublin Society, rejoined the society. Those who were formerly members, on being proposed by the council, can rejoin the society without payment of the admission fee. The meeting then adjourned to the 7th of April. DUBLIN UNIVERSITY ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. JANUARY 21, J854. R. Ball, LL.D., President, in the chair. Mr. A. R. Hogan read the following paper from E. Waller, Esq., Corre- sponding Member, ON THE LAND AND FRESH -WATEK MOLLUSCA, OF FINNOE, COUNTY TIPPER ARY. The district under observation is comprised within, but not fully occupying, a circle of about one mile and a half radius, embracing part of the parish of Finnoe, and a small portion of Borrisokane, in the north of Tipperary. It lies within the great central mountain limestone formation, and is traversed by a small river which, a couple of miles farther west, falls into the expansion of the Shannon, called Lough Derg. The river- valley, about 170 feet above the sea, is composed partly of alluvial soil and partly of bog. When first examined by me, the rive- was sluggish and deep, the water nearly on a level with the banks, and flowing into drains abounding in various water plants, and thus favourable for the abode of water mollusca. The operations of the Drainage Commissioners have converted it into a shallow, rather rapid stream, running between deep banks, leaving the old drains completely dried up, and involving the loss of nearly all their mollusca — amongst them, Pisidium Henslowianum, in the only Irish locality where it has been hitherto noted. There are some other boggy and marshy grounds in the district, which is moderately planted, and contains one wood of considerable extent and age, called Borris Wood. The hills rise to an elevation of about 230 feet above the sea ; the lower ones, generally covered deeply with gravel, the higher, having the limestone rock protruding. I have followed the nomenclature and arrangement adopted in Gray's edition of Turton's Manual of Land and Fresh-water Shells — the work, I believe, most gene- rally in use by collectors in this country. Neritina fluviatilis. Abundant in the river. Bithinia tentaculata. Very abundant in the river and drains, of the normal character. Valvata piscinalis. Abundant; varying considerably in size and in elevation of spire. In one variety, the volutions appear angular, from being spirally cut by slightly elevated ridges, the angles of which are marked with white lines. „ cristata. Abundant. Arion ater. Numerous; black, and various shades of brown. „ hortensis. Common. The variety 2 of Gray's Turton, /3 of Alder. Limax maximus. Not uncommon. ,, agrestis. Common. I believe there are other Limaces ; but not having paid sufficient attention when collecting them, I am not certain of the species. Vitrina pellucida. Generally distributed, varying in hue, not exceeding one-fourth of an inch in diameter. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 85 llelix aspersa. Very abundant. I found one specimen considerably longer in pro- portion and marked with five distinct bands. „ nemoralis. Very abundant, and varying considerably in size, and in eleva- tion of the spire. The lip of different colours, from pure white, through various shades of rose and brown, to nearly black. I have collected spe- cimens corresponding very well with the figures in Turton, of H. nemo- ralis and IT. hortensis, and with most of the figures in Brown, of H. nemoralis, hybrida, and hortensis. None were as small as the figure of hybrida in Gray's Turton. I have collected, at Manheim, on the Rhine, Helices, with black and white mouths, plain and variously banded, but all smaller than our hortensis, and some precisely like the figure of H. hybrida, in Turton, p. 11, fig. 130. I obtained, from the late Mr. Thompson, a specimen of Mr. Leyland's H. hybrida, from Halifax ; it is smaller than the figure in Turton, and, at least in size, cannot be con- sidered intermediate between nemoralis and hortensis, being very much smaller than either From having collected these shells in various parts of Ireland and in England, I think the mere shell will scarcely afford sufficient means of indicating different species ; a specific difference in the animal would, of course, be decisive. For such purpose, the variation in the Vesicula multifida should be proved to be constant, by an extended examination of specimens from various localities. Even then, unless it could be shown to produce sufficiently distinct characters in the shell, it would not avail the collector or conchologist. ,, pulchella. Rare and local. I have obtained both the plain and ribbed varieties in high, dry grounds, and also in marshy situations. „ fusca. Rare ; in Borris Wood. „ fulva. Rare ; normal in shape. „ hispida. Common ; varying much in colour, height of spire, and close- ness of hairs. Some of these shells may be H. sericea, but I could not satisfactorily draw a line separating some of the varieties of H. hispida from shells better answering the description of H. sericea. ,, concinna. I found this species, as determined by Mr. Thompson, on exami- nation of the shells. „ rufescens. Not uncommon ; pale ash colour, and dark brown. „ virgata. Pale ash colour, and white, with a single dark band ; very abundant in one locality only, where I have reason to believe that it must have been recently, and I should say accidentally, introduced; and that I observed it very soon afterwards, when specimens could not be found beyond the range of a few yards, although, a few years after, they were so numerous, over whole fields, as to be crushed at every step. Helix ericetorum was plentiful in the same fields. „ ericetorum. Extremely abundant over the whole district generally, with one or more brown bands ; sometimes mottled with brown ; rarely white, with transparent bands. Zonites rotundatus. Plentiful, varying but little in form. „ umbilicatus. Extremely numerous on dry walls and limestone rocks. » pygmaeus. Very rare and local ; at Kyle Park. „ alliarius. Not numerous ; obtained both of the horn colour and pale green. I have procured a few specimens of a larger Helix, nearly crystalline ; they were shown to Mr. Thompson, and noted by him in his catalogue as intermediate in form between H. nitidula and H. alliaria; could they be H. glabra, of Studer — var. 2 of Gray's Turton ? „ cellarius. Common ; generally distributed ; not exceeding one-half inch in diameter. ,, purus. Not common, but found both hyaline and horn colour. „ nitidulus. Common. I have found a few shells, smaller, whiter, and more transparent ; not having seen any description of Mr. Gilbertson's H. helmii, I cannot say whether they resemble it. ,, radiatulus. Rather rare ; occurring hyaline and horn-colour. „ lucidus. Rare and local ; at Finnoe. 86 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Zonites crystallinus. Not uncommon. Succinea putris. Not abundant. „ Pfeifferi. Generally distributed ; very abundant in some places. I never obtained any specimens which might seem to unite this shell with Suc- cinea putris. Zua lubrica. Abundant. Achatina acicula. I obtained some shells in two or three localities on the roots of grass, and by removing a few inches of earth from the surface of the limestone rocks. Pupa umbilicata. Very abundant ; varying, in number of whorls, in size, colour, and transparency, and some being of the toothless variety. I found here, one shell with a second tooth, and a nearly similar one in the north of Ireland ; I considered them as Pupa umbilicata. Vertigo edentula. Not common ; very local ; at Kyle Park. The elongated as well as short variety is found. „ pygmaea. Not uncommon ; on walls and under stones. ,, palustris. Rare and local ; at Finnoe. „ pusilla. I procured two or three specimens of this rare shell at Borris Wood. Balaea perversa. Not common. I met one shell with a tooth on the pillar lip. Clausilia nigricans. Very abundant ; exhibiting all the varieties noted in Gray's Turton. Carychium minimum. Plentiful. Acme fusca. Very rare. I obtained two or three of the pale variety at Kyle Park. Limnaeus auricularius. I found Limnsei, which, taking Turton's figure and descrip- tion, I must range under this species. They are not so much expanded as some I have seen from other localities, or as some of the figures in Brown's Land and Fresh- water Shells. „ pereger. This species is abundant in different parts of the district, where may be found the normal shell, and others representing the varieties ovatus, or lineatus and acutus. Near the mouth of the river, in Lough Derg, I have obtained L. lacustris, and from the stomach of a Gillaroo trout, taken in the same place, a Limnaeus, having the spire quite flat, and some specimens with the spire very slightly elevated, approaching the ordinary form of L. lacustris. The flattened variety would be well described under the name of Convolutus. I believe I have observed, from this flat spired variety, up to L. auricularius, a series whose gradations are so close as to prevent any clear or well-de- fined separation. „ stagnalis. Plentiful. In a small pond, at Finnoe, I obtained a few speci- mens about one inch and a half long. The shell thinner, the sutures deeper, and the volutions more rounded than in the common form, giving the shell a more graceful outline. „ palustris. General and abundant; varying considerably, but not to an ex- treme degree, from the normal form. „ truncatulus. Common, of the ordinary type. A smaller variety is found on stones at the edges of a spring. Ancylus fluviatilis. A small number of these in the river and adjoining drains. Velletia lacustris. Rare ; on water-lilies in the river. Physa fontinalis. Generally rare ; abundant in one drain. Aplexus hypnorum. Very rare, except in one small isolated pond, only a few yards in diameter, where it was in great numbers one season, previous to the complete drying up of the pond. Planorbis albus. Very abundant. „ laevis. Very rare. I found a few specimens in a small pond at Kyle Park. „ imbricatus. Not numerous. In a pond, at Finnoe, and in drains. Some are the smooth variety, and some, though not amongst the smaller, answered very well to the figure of Planorbis cristatus in Brown's Land and Fresh-water Shells. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 87 Planorbis marginatus. Very abundant, of the common form ; some with a very slight line indicating the keel, and a few without any trace of it. Plan- orbis carinatus is found in the marl, and is the only marl shell which I have not found living in the district. N vortex. Abundant ; rarely with the white rib inside the mouth. „ spirorbis. Abundant ; occasionally is seen with the white rib within the mouth. „ nitidus. Rare ; in one pond, at Pinnoe. „ contortus. Very abundant. Cyclas cornea. Abundant ; varying considerably in globosity and size. Pisidium obtusale. Rare and local. „ nitidum. Not uncommon. ,, pusillum. Abundant. ,, pulchellum. Common. ,, Henslowianum. Very rare and local. I obtained a very few specimens, in drains, near the river, now dried up. The shells scarcely exceeded one-eighth of an inch in length, and the laminar projections were not as prominent as they are represented in Mr. Jenyns's monograph. All these small Pisidia were determined by my friend, the late Mr. William Thompson, from shells sent to him, to Belfast. I found shells of all the species agreeing, pretty accurately, with the typical figures and descriptions of Jenyns ; some belonging to his varieties, and some not easily reducible to them. ,, amnicum. Rare and local. This small district thus possesses 66 of the 96 species recognised by Mr. William Thompson, in his Catalogue (Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. VI., p. 16, Sept. 1840), as being Irish. I might, perhaps, have added Limax flavus, Helix hybrida, Helix hortensis, and Helix sericea ; but I would not introduce any species I was not per- fectly certain of. It will be seen, that I obtained several additional species, at Finnoe, since 1840, by reference to Mr. Thompson's Catalogue, under the head of Finnoe. My observations on these mollusca lead me to think that some zealous investi- gators of this branch of zoology, from the very natural desire of making its arrange- ment as accurate and minute as possible, have unnecessarily multiplied species which, independent of the error, much embarrasses those studying either the shells themselves, or the works written on them. Dr. Lyon Playfair considered that such lists, from various localities, would be very valuable. Professor Allman urged the necessity of local lists, this being the true way to arrive at the knowledge of geographical distribution, and that such knowledge would ultimately be of beneficial results. Mr. J. R. Kinahan then exhibited specimens of a bat, taken in the County Kildare, and gave the following reasons for considering it to be a distinct species from the Vespertilio pipistrellus : — 1st. The hairy fringe on the interfemoral. 2nd. The greater number of false molars in Natterer's bat. 3rd. The difference in shape of the trajus; in Natterer's bat long and pointed, in the pipistrelle short, and rounded at its extremity. 4th. The different colours ; Natterer's bat being dark- greyish red on the back, silvery white on the belly ; while the pipistrelle is a uni- form light gray. Mr. Kinahan, while referring these specimens for the present to Natterer's bat, pointed out differences between them and the description in Bell's British Quad- rupeds, and also the specimen of this bat killed at the Scalp, in 1849. These were : — 1st. The non-development, to any extent, of the sebaceous follicles of the nose. 2nd. The greater number of interfemoral nervous bands (a character which differs in almost all Mr. Kinahan's specimens). 3rd. The shortness of the spur of the heel. 4. The fringe being continued beyond the hind paw, half-way up to the last finger. 5th. The comparative shortness of the trajus. The President did not ccnsider this bat to be V. nattereri ; it did not agree with that species as described by Demarest, or Baron de Sely's Longchamps. Its most 88 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. obvious difference from V. pipistrellus appeared to him to be the colour of its fur, but the observations of its habits, so well described by Mr. Kinahan, seemed to indicate a distinction of species. He urged further examination. Mr. Hogan then read the second part of his CATALOGUE OF COLEOPTERA, FOUND IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DUBLIN. Cercyon depressum, St. Sea-coast, Baldoyle, &c. „ littorale, Gyl. With the for- mer. „ obsoletum, Gyl. Local. M haemorrhoum, Gyl. Roe- buck. „ laterale, Gyl. Local. „ unipunctatum, L. Dunghills ; flies about in warm spring days. „ quisquilium, L. Roebuck. „ melanocephalum, L. Port- marnock. „ anale, Pk. Local. „ bolitophagum, Mm. Moist places, in moss, &c. „ atomarium, F. Roebuck. Sphaeridium scarabasoides, F. Common. ,, marginatum, F. Ditto. Phalacrus acneus, ///. Dodder banks, corticalis, Schon. Taken by Miss M. Ball. Ephistemus gyrinoides, Mm. Malahide. ,, confinis, St. Ditto. Leiodes ferrugineus, Schmidt. Local. „ thoracica, St. Portmarnock. „ pallens, St. Local. ,, picea, ///. Ditto. „ arenaria, Ste. North Bull. Colenis dentipes, Gyl. Local. Clambus Armadillus, Deg. Malahide. „ enshamcnsis, St. Do. Corylophus cassidoides, Mm. Ditto. Ptomaphagus truncatus, Ste. Sea-coast. Catops sericeus, F. Dodder banks, Portmarnock, &c. „ tristis, Pz. Ditto. „ Morio, F. Ditto. „ angustatus, F. Moist places, roots of trees, &c. Necrophorus humator, F. Rather scarce. „ vespillo, L. Common. ,, ruspator, Er. Taken by the late Mr. Tardy. „ mortuorum, F. Ditto. Oiceoptoma rugosa, L. Abundant. Silpha opaca, L. Portmarnock. „ quadripunctata, Ste. TheDar- gle. Phosphuga atrata, L. Not common. „ subrotundata, Mm. Every- where. Nitidula grisea, L. Kilruddery, &c., on bones. „ depressa, L. Ditto. „ discoidea, F. Ditto. „ asstiva, L. On flowers of haw- thorn, Umbelliferse, &c. „ silacea, Hbst. Ditto. ,, pusilla, ///. Ditto. „ obsoleta, F. Ditto. „ bipustulata, F. Local. Meligethes viridescens, F. On flowers of Sinapis, &c. „ aaneus, F. Ditto : var. cceruleus, Mm., also oc- curs. „ pedicularius, Gyl. Ditto. Cateretes Urticas, F. Not unfrequent. ,, pedicularius, L. Ditto. Cychramus luteus, F. Local. Micropeplus porcatus, Pk. Portmar- nock. „ staphylinoides, Mm. Ditto. Trichopteryx faseicularis, Er. Dung- hills. ,, gi*andicollis, Er. Ditto. „ sericans, Heer. Ditto. „ curtus, Alib. Ditto. „ Kunzei, Heer. Ditto. Anisarthria pusilla, Gyl. Malahide. ,, apicalis, Gyl. Local. ,, punctata, Gyl. Sea-coast. Atomaria phasogaster, Mm. Local. ,, mesomclas, Hbst. Ditto. „ nigriventris, Ste. Ditto. „ fuscipes, Gyl. Ditto. ,, atra, Hbst. Ditto. „ basella, Ste. Baldoyle. Mycetaea hirta, Mm. Not unfrequent. Sylvanus Surinamensis, Ste. In sugar- stores, &c. Lathridius lardarius, Deg. Local. „ transversus, Ol. Ditto. „ minutus, L. Ditto. Corticaria pubescens, ///. On walls and windows. „ gibbosa, Hbst. Ditto. „ ferruginea, Mm. Ditto. Byturus tomentosus, Deg. (B. Rosae, Scop. 1768.) Local. Typhaja fumata, L. Roebuck. Cryptophagus scanicus, L. Dublin, on walls, windows, &c. „ fumatus, Gyl. Local. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 89 Cryptophagus Ulicis, Ste. Phoenix Park ; abundant. „ Abietis, Pk. Malahide. Antherophagus pallens, L. Local. Monotonia picipes, Pk. Merrion. Anommatus obsoletus, Shuck. Roches- town, in decayed potatoes, by Mr. Molloy. Rhizophagus ferrugineus, Pz. Mount Merrion Demesne. Trogosita Mauritanica, L. Local. Dermestes lardarius, L. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Attagenus pellio, L. Lumber-rooms, &c, commou. Byrrhus pilula, L. Local. „ varius, F. Portmarnock, &c, on grass. Simplocaria semistriata, F. Ditto. Hister cadaverinus, Pk. Common. „ carbonarius, Pk. Ditto. „ purpurascens, Pk. Taken by Mr. Tardy. „ bimaculatus, L. One specimen in Hume-street, Dublin. Onthophilus striatus, F. Roebuck, &c, not common. Saprinus rotundatus, Pk. Portmarnock. ,, nitidulus, F. Ditto. ,, dimidiatus, Pk. Ditto. „ asneus, F. Local. Typhaeus vulgaris, Ste. A dead speci- men, at Killiney ; of frequent occur- rence in Co. Wicklow. Geotrupes stercorarius, L. Scarce ; the var. (?) foveatus, Mm., is, however, abundant about Roebuck, &c. „ putridarius, Er. Local. „ sylvaticus, F. Ditto. Aphodius erraticus, L. Phcenix Park; rare. „ fossor, L. Roebuck, &c. „ scybalarius, F. Not uncom- mon. „ fcetens, F. Ditto. „ fimetarius, L. Frequent. „ ater, Deg. Roebuck. „ sordidus, F. Ditto ; very rare. „ merdarius, F. Portmarnock. „ prodromus, JBrahm. Abun- dant. „ contaminatus, Hbst. Ditto. „ rufipes, Z. Little Dargle. &c. „ depressus, Kug. Phcenix Park. „ marginalis, Ste. Common. -£Cgialia globosa, III. Portmarnock. Serica brunnea, L. Dodder banks. Melolontha vulgaris, F. Near Rath- farnham ; but I have not heard of its being found of late years. „ Hippocastani, F. Roebuck; taken by J. Haughton, Esq. Phyllopertha hordeola, L. On wild roses in flower. Adrastus limbatus, Thbg. Not un- frequent. Dolopius marginatus, L. Ditto. Agriotes obscurus, L. Ditto. ,, lineatus, L. Ditto. Limonius cylindricus, Pk. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Agrypnus murinus, L. Local. Hypolithus riparius, F. Ditto. Cryptohypnus tetragraphus, Germ. Dodder banks. Ctenicerus tesselatus, L. Taken by Mr. Tardy. „ cupreus, F. On long grass in meadows, but does not appear every year. Aplotarsus testaceus, F. Local. „ rufipes, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Melanotus rufipes, Hbst. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Athoiis hsemorrhoidalis, F. Abundant. ,, hirtus, Hbst. Local. Cardiophorus testaceus, F. Ditto. Atopa cervina, L. Somewhat local, and uncertain in its appearance. Scirtes hemisphericus, L. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Cyphon pallidus, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. ,, marginatus, F. Local. ,, griseus, F. Ditto. ,, lividus, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Lampyris noctiluca, L. Near Cas- tleknock, by M. J. O'Kelly, Esq. Telephorus pellucidus, F. Not common. „ bicolor, F. Ditto. „ flavilabris, Fall. Roebuck, &c. ,, thoracicus, Ol. Local. ,, nigricans, Mir. Ditto. Podabrus alpinus, Pk. Ditto. Ragonycha melanura, L. Exceedingly abundant. ,, pallida, F. Local. „ testacea, L. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Malthinus biguttatus, L. Local. „ brevicollis, Gyl. Portmar- nock. <>0 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Malthinus minimus, L. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Necrobia quadra, Mm. Local. Ptilinus pectinicornis, L. College Park. Ptinus fur, L. Roebuck, Donny brook, &c. ,, crenatus, F. Ditto. „ hololeueus, Fald. Common. Anobium castaneum, Kug. Taken by Mr. Tardy. ,, striatum, Ol. Abundant. Ochina Hederas, Mir. Dunsink. Cis Boleti, Scop. In Boleti on trees. , , nitidus, F. Not common. Tomicus micrographus, L. Bray. Hylastes ater, Pk. Near Rathfarnham ; very rare. Cossonus Tardii, Cts. Not nearer than Powerscourt. Mecinus pyraster, Hbst. Portmarnock. Gymnaetron noctis, Hbst. Not com- mon. Cionus hortulanus, Mm. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Calandra granaria, L. Corn stores. ,, Oryzse, L. Ditto. Nedyus assimilis, Pk. Local. „ pollinarius, Forst. On nettles. „ troglodytes, F. Baldoyle. Ceutorhynchus Erysimi, F. Local. ,, contractus, Mm. Ditto. „ Quercus, F. Ditto. „ didymus, Hbst. Ditto. „ sulcicollis, Gyl. Port- marnock. ,, subrufus, Hbst. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Tychius picirostris, F. Portmarnock. Rhinonchus Castor, F. Local. „ pericarpius, F. Ditto. „ quadrituberculatus, F. Do. ,, quadricornis, Gyl. Ditto. Orthochaetes setiger, Germ. Portmar- nock. Orchestes Quercus, L. Local. ,, Alni, L. Ditto. ,, Fagi, L. Glasnevin Bo- tanic Gardens. , , Rusci, Hbst. Takeu by Mr. Tardy. ,, Salicis, L. Local. ,, Saliceti, F. Glasnevin. ,, stigma, Germ. Not com- mon. Balaninus Brassicse, F. Ditto. ,, brunneus, Mm. Rare. Anthonomus Ulmi, Deg. Glasnevin Botanic Gardens. M pomorum, L. Not com- mon. Hydronomus Alismatis, F. Ditto. Grypidius Equiseti, F. Bray Com- mons ; in meadows. Pachyrhinus leucogaster, Mm. Local. Notaris acridulus, L. Ditto. Erirhinus schirrhosus, Schon. Ditto. Dorytomus Tortrix, L. Ditto. ,, pectoralis, Pz. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Hypera punctata, F. Dundrum, &c. ,, murina, F. Portmarnock. „ nigrirostris, F. Ditto. ,, Plantaginis, Deg. Taken by Mr. Tardy. ,, Rumicis, L. Ditto. Ellescus bipuctatus, L. Ditto. ,, scanicus, Pk. ? Portmarnock. Leiosoma ovatula, Civ. Not com- mon. Tanysphyrus Lemnae, Pk. Rathfarn- ham. Alophus triguttatus, F. Portmar- nock. Barynotus mercurialis, F. Frequent. Merionus elevatus. Mm. Ditto. ,, obscurus, F. Frequent. Leiophlaeus nubilus, F. Generally dis- tributed. Otiorhynchus sulcatus, F. Local. „ singularis, L. Ditto. ,, rugifrons, Gyl. Sandy- cove. ,, tenebricosus, Hbst. Bal- doyle, on hedges. ,, atro-apterus, Deg. Ma- lahide and Portmar- nock. ,, scabrosus, Mm. Near Dundrum. ,, ovatus, L. Local. ,, niger, F. Ditto. ,, brunnipes, Ol. Roebuck, &c. Trachyphlams scabriculus, L. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Molytes anglicanus, Mm. Portmar- nock; rare. Philopedon geminatus, F. Ditto. Strophosomus Coryli. Schon. Local. Sciaphilus muricatUs, F. Ditto. Sitona Regentsteinensis, Hbst . Ditto. ,, hispidula, F. Ditto. ,, lineata, L. Common. ,, can in a, Gyl. Local. ,, grisea, F. Ditto. „ tibialis, Hbst. Ditto. ,, lineella. Bonsd. Portmarnock. „ fusca, Ste. Baldoyle, &c. ; abun- dant. ,, subaurata, Kby. Ditto. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 91 Polydrosus flavipes, Deg. Glasnevin Botanic Gardens, &c. ; scarce. ,, micans, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. ,, ptergomales, Schon. Upon beech-trees, early in summer. Nemoicus oblongus, L. Local. Phyllobius uniformis, Mm. Ditto. ,, argentatus, L. Frequent ,, calcaratus, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Apion Cracca?, L. Bray. M violaceum, Kby- Local. Hydrolapathi, Kby. Ditto. „ frumentarium, L. Ditto. ,, radiolus, Kby. Ditto. teneum, F. Portmarnock. Apion rufiorstre, h. Ditto. ,, virens, Hbst. Portmarnock ; abundant. , , Kirbii, Ste. Phoenix Park. ,, flavipes, F. Local. ,, nigritarse, Kby. Ditto. , , apricans , Hbst. Not unfrequently. ,, Pisi, F. Local. ,, miniatum, Schon. Malahide, &c. ,, subulatum, Kby. Not com- mon. ,, vorax. Hbst. Ditto. ,, Ervi, Kby. Ditto. ,, assimile, Ste. Local. Ramphus flavicornis, Civ. Phoenix Park ; on hawthorn. Rhynchites Alliariag, Pk. Taken by Mr. Tardy. ,, Betuhe, L. Ditto. ,, Carduorum, Kby. Local. In reference to some observations of Mr. Hogan, Dr. Ball and Mr. Kinahan mentioned having found the cockchaflfer (Melolontha vulgaris) frequently near Dublin ; and Dr. Ball said that the glowworm (Lam- pyris noctiluca) had been brought from England to Dublin, and, some having escaped, might possibly still be in existence. Mr. J. H. Lamprey exhibited a pair of the woodlark (Alauda arborea), which had been captured during the severe weather about the first of this month, in the Vale of Avoca, County Wicklow, and related some interesting particulars about them. This bird is so very local as to be almost ranked among our rare indigenous birds. Dr. Ball exhibited a very fine specimen of the green woodpecker (Picus viridis) ; it is a bird of rare occurrence in Ireland, and this was the first well- authenticated case that had fallen under his notice ; it was kindly forwarded to him by Thomas Batt, Esq., of Rathmullen, Derry. Dr. Ball then explained the curious structure of the tongue, enabling it to protrude it considerably in search of its insect prey. Dr. Allman said it was one of the commonest of the woodpeckers in the south of England, and with its bright green colour added greatly to the beauty of the woods. Mr. Wright mentioned that a specimen obtained in County Kildare was in the collection of Mr. J. Watters, and that it had been obtained as far north as Scotland. Dr. Ball stated that he had just procured, for the Zoological Society, a living specimen of the short-eared owl (stryx brachyotus) ; and then the meeting adjourned to February 28. FEBRUARY 11, 1854. R. Ball, Esq., LL.D., President, in the chair. Donations to Library. — Cuvier's Comparative Anatomy, edited by Dr. Macartney ; and Huber on Bees, by the President. Dr. Ball laid before the meeting a collection of fishes, Crustacea, mollusca, &c, collected by Commander M'Clintock, in his voyage in search for Sir John Franklin. He regretted that he was prevented from entering as fully as he had intended into the description of this very interesting collection ; at present he would content him- self with calling attention to some of the most remarkable specimens, reserving for future occasions a more detailed statement. Amongst the fishes was a specimen of Cyclopterus spinosus found on the ice in 75£° north latitude ; an Ammodytes lancea, taken at sea in Baffin's Bay; a Gadus~callarius, having attached to the gills a Lernea Avhich seemed distinct from the Lernea branchialis. Amongst the many interesting shells the large series of Buccinum Humphreysianum appeared to be particularly interesting to Irish naturalists. Some of the specimens were much 92 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. larger than any Irish specimens the President had seen, and he mentioned that he had obtained many specimens of this rare shell off the coast at Youghal, about thirty years since. In the collection was also a series of the Hypothyris (Tere- bratula) psittacea, a very rare shell on the British and Irish coasts. Dr. Ball directed attention to the fact, that several of the specimens produced, seemingly of species familiar to us, were yet of larger dimensions ; thus the Velutina laevigata and Farcimia are greatly larger than are to be met with in this country; the Farcimia surpassing the large variety, or species, familiar to collectors of zoophytes, as much as that does the small ordinary form. Dr. Ball also stated that some of the Crustacea were probably undescribed, as he had not yet been able to identify them. He finally exhibited the skull of an Esquimaux, the most northern human remains found by Commander M'Clintock ; cast of the horns of a musk ox, and referred to some birds in the University Museum, all the generous contributions of the gallant gentleman, who is now again on his arduous duties. Mr. Walpole considered that he had seen as large specimens of the Farcimia, near the Sal tees ; and that the Buccinum Humphreysianum exhibited obscure undu- lations which he had not observed in Irish species. Mr. Carte, Curator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, exhibited a specimen of Lepidosiren annectens. He had received the specimen from Mr. Brian, who had brought it from the Gambia. When it reached him it was enveloped in dry mud ; having been incautiously placed in cold water, it perished. It lay coiled up, covered with mucus, in a sort of chamber in the mud ; from its mouth there appeared to be a tube for respiration. Mr. Carte called attention to some of the anatomical peculiarities of his spe- cimen, which were strongly against its being classed with fishes. He exhibited some remarkably well-executed drawings of the specimen, and promised further to communicate to the Association on the subject. The President had laid on the table the principal authorities in reference to the much disputed position of this most interesting creature, and concurred in the view Mr. Carte had taken. The Rev. Joseph Greene exhibited some rare English Lepidoptera, among which the following species were included — Notodonta dictaea. „ dromedarius. „ dodonea. ,, trepida. Spaelotis ravida. Polymmatus argiolus. Lithosia aureola. „ miniata. Sesia fuciformis. Pcecilocampa populi. Platypteryx unguicula. Cerura furcula. „ bifida. Stauropus fagi. Ceropacha or. „ ocularis. Ptilophora plumigera. Spaelotis pyrophila. Spaelotis praecox. Cirraedia xerampelina. Xanthia aurago. ,, citrago. Hadena rectilinea. ,, cucubali. Heliothi3 marginata. Plusia inscripta. „ interrogationis. Catocala sponsa. Emymene dolabraria. Lophobora sexalisaria. Tephrosia consonaria. Anticlea rubidaria. Hemithea bajularia. „ vernaria. Pericallia syringaria. Geometra papilionaria. Some inquiries having been made as to the best method of killing Lepidoptera, the President and Dr. Allman suggested chloroform. Mr. Greene considered bruised laurel leaves quite as efficacious, and said that they have the advantage of being always at hand. Mr. Lamprey noticed that a specimen of the glossy Ibis (Ibis falcinellus) had been obtained by W. Doherty, Esq., at Bushmills, Coleraine. This bird is of com- paratively rare occurrence in Ireland. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 93 Dr. Ball, with the view of directing attention to the manner in which animal forms are represented in the different parts of the world, laid on the table specimens of Ibes, from America, Australia, Asia, Africa — seven species — the species under discussion being European. Amongst the specimens exhibited was a mummy of the sacred Ibis, in which the gizzard still remained, enclosing the food, which in- cluded amongst other things a large Paludina, swallowed on the Nile more than 2,000 years ago. Mr. Lamprey again brought under the consideration of the Association the Charadrius, which had been before exhibited under the impression that it was the C. minor. The President produced a number of species of the same bird from different localities ; amongst others an authenticated specimen of C. minor, from the British Museum, one of the duplicates of Hodgson's collection. This bird was much smaller than the specimen in dispute, and agreed precisely with the descriptions of Yarrel, Temminck, &c. Dr. Ball reiterated the opinion he had before expressed, that this bird, killed by Mr. Lamprey, was only the young of the Charadrius hiaticula. Mr. Hogan read the following — NOTES ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER MOLLUSCA OF THE COUNTY DUBLIN. The following notes are not intended to form a catalogue of the land and fresh- water shells found near Dublin, as their form might suggest ; they merely contain my own experience, which has been almost confined to a district destitute of ponds or streams of uny size, or of woods that might be expected to produce rare species ; besides, that I have never attempted either to collect or study the slugs. Yet that even these observations may not be entirely without value, will be evident on comparing a catalogue recently published (in the "Zoologist," for 1853), which, though it includes seventeen species that have not fallen under my notice, does not record ten that appear among those here adverted to. In the nomenclature I have followed Gray's edition of Turton's M Manual of the Land and Fresh- water Shells of the British Islands." Bithinia tentaculata. Glasnevin Botanic Gardens ; in ponds, abundant. Vitrina pellucida. Mount Merrion ; scarce. Helix aspersa. In great abundance everywhere ; a curious variety, with the spire unusually elongated, which I took at Roebuck ; was exhibited at a former meeting of this Association. Some years ago I found several specimens at Charlton, evidently destroyed, while in a torpid state, by a grub, which was alive in the shell ; but whether it were that of a moth or a beetle (instances of both of which are known) I cannot say ; the individuals captured did not come to perfection. ,, hortensis. Local ; generally on walls. „ hybrida. Of this species I possess a single specimen, taken by Mr. E. P. Wright, while in company with me, at the Glasnevin Botanic Gardens. „ nemoralis. Very abundant, and with every variety in colour, as well as in the number and breadth of the bands ; often without any. „ pulchella. A specimen at Donnybrook. „ hispida. Common in the usual localities. ,, concinna. Occasionally along with the latter. ,, depilata. Found among the two last species. ,, rufescens. Exceedingly abundant on walls about Roebuck, and very rufous usually. I have taken, on nettles, at Roebuck, a variety much more carinated than usual, and also the white variety which Gray's M Turton" states to be rare. „ Pisana. On the sea-coast at Rush, so well-marked and so plentiful, that there can be no doubt of its identity, although Gray seems to distrust our claim to it. ,, virgata. Very common ; I have taken the dark brown variety, with the single white band, plentifully on a wall, at Bullock Harbour, near Dalkey. 04 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Zonites rotundatus. Abundant everywhere. „ alliarius. Not uncommon. „ cellarius. Occasionally found. „ nitidulus. Common. Succinea putris. Rather plentiful ; I have taken remarkably fine specimens on the bank of the Dodder, at Firhouse. „ Pfeifferi var. I believe this occurs occasionally with the last species ; but I am inclined to think that it is not really distinct from it. Bulimus obscurus. Dundrum, &c. ; not unusual. ,, acutus. Abundant ; principally on the sea-coast. Zua lubrica. Very common. Pupa umbilicata. Generally distributed. „ rnarginata. Frequent, along with umbilicata ; unless this be the toothless variety of that species alluded to by Mr. Waller, in his paper on the Finnoe mollusks. Gray mentions a toothless variety of marignata only, not of umbilicata. Vertigo pygmaea. Mount Merrion ; one specimen. ,, alpestris. Same locality ; not more plentiful. Balnea perversa. Abundant about Roebuck, both on walls and trees ; among the latter I have found it chiefly on the elm. Clausilia nigricans. Generally distributed ; often on old walls. Limnseus pereger. Abundant in all its ordinary haunts. „ stagnalis. Ponds in Glasnevin Botanic Gardens. ,, palustris. Ditches at Rathmines ; the specimens of unusually large size. „ truncatulus. Scarce ; at least not generally distributed. My specimens were taken at Charlton, the most distinct of them being peculiar to an old water-cask standing in a garden, but unfortunately removed since, to the destruction of the flourishing colony. Ancylus fluviatilis. In a small stream at Rathfarnham. Physa fontinalis. Rare ; I have only found dead specimens. Aplexus hypnorum. Local ; but very abundant about Roebuck, and usually in clear, running streams, which would appear to be different from the experience of English collectors, as the locality given by Gray is " ponds and slow streams." If one might judge from the conformation of the shell, it seems peculiarly adapted to the former. Planorbis carinatus. Glasnevin Botanic Gardens, I believe. „ marginatus. Common. „ vortex. In a ditch at Donnybrook. „ spirorbis. Glasnevin, as well as I can recollect. „ contortus. Two dead specimens at Charlton. Cylas cornea. Common. Pisidium pulchellum. A single specimen at Celbridge, on the bank of the Liffey. I have also taken one or two other species of Pisidium (one of them being am- nicum) near Dublin ; but have, unfortunately, allowed them to become mixed with specimens from other places. Mr. W. Walpole mentioned that Balnea perversa had not been, in his expe- rience, found in the locality stated by Mr. Hogan — namely, the elm ; but was common on the beech. Mr. Kinahan exhibited a lengthened series of specimens of H. nemoralis and hortensis, and hybrida, and made several observations on these varieties, the two first of which, at least, he looked on as species, owing to differences which he had found permanently pervading each in every locality where they were found. Mr. Hogan considered that the depression of the spire was the principal dis- tinctive mark of Helix hybrida. The President observed that there was here a subject for philosophical inquiry ; and urged that to malacology, rather than conchulogy, we should look for a solution of the difficulty. He then exhibited from his old collection some specimens which he considered typical of the species nemoralis and hortensis, some remarkable forms of the former, as well as unusual varieties of Helix aspersa. The meeting then adjourned. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 95 MARCH 4, 1854. R. Ball, LL.D., President, in the chair. The Librarian having acknowledged the following donations — viz., Scottish Fauna, 2 vols., by Josh. H. Lamprey, Esq. ; and the Natural History Review, for January, 1854, by A. R. Hogan, Esq. — The President stated that an addition to the Museum, consisting of a room of large dimensions, was nearly completed, and he hoped in a few months to display therein the fine collection of native marine zoology now in the possession of the University. He also mentioned that the Board, kindly complying with his request, had attached two additional rooms to the Museum ; in these rooms the business of the association will be conducted in future. Mr. E. P. Wright then read the following : — NOTES ON THE OCCURRENCE OF RARE BIRDS IN IRELAND, FROM FEBRUARY, 1853, tO FEBRUARY, 1854. The late Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, had a number of individuals scattered through- out the length and breadth of Ireland, who communicated to him, from time to time, their observations and discoveries in Ornithology. The first appearance of the swallow — the first note of the cuckoo, and other summer visitants — the first discord- ant croak of the land rail, wer.. all noted by them, and forwarded, with willing hand, to one whose " History of Irish Birds," was a fit place to deposit such information. Surely, the publication of his work, or his own untimely death, should not hinder the still quiet accumulation of interesting facts in this branch of Zoology. It is one of the objects of this Association to investigate the Zoology of Ireland ; and one great means of doing this would be attained, if we could prevail on some of our distinguished corresponding members to make our transactions the rich store- house of such facts. I have put into scientific order the following note^ of the occurrence of some of our rarer birds, which have either been communicated tome, as one of the Hono- rary Secretaries of this Association, been exhibited at our meetings, or have fallen, under my own observations. I did this with the impression that single, uncon- nected facts are much more easily lost sight of than when they receive strength by addition to their numbers. I hope that, on the next occasion I may have the plea- sure of doing so, I shall, through the kindness of our members, be able to increase my list fourfold. In order to show the distribution of the various species enume- rated, I have quoted the first line from Thompson. In cases where the bird was exhibited at any of the meetings of the Association, I have mentioned so. Falco oesalon (the Merlin). A specimen of this bird was forwarded to Dr. Ball, by Mr. Nicholson, of Balrath, county Kclls, shot, eating a snipe. It was exhibited at one of our meetings. Mr. Davir, in one of his letters, says — u That he saw, in the hands of a person in Clonmel, a fine specimen of the common buzzard (Buteo vul- garis), but on tracing it to the death, found it had come from Wales, in the flesh. I mention this as an instance of how much care is required in receiving specimens from the preservers, lest we should add to our fauna, through their importations. Scops aldrovandi (Scops-eared Owl), has been, at least, twice obtained in Ire- land. Mr. T. W. Warren informs me that he has a specimen of this owl, shot in Hillsborough, by the Marquis of Downshire's gamekeeper, about March, 1853 Stryx brachyotus (the Short-eared Owl). This owl can only be announced with certainty, as a regular winter visitant. — Thompson. A living specimen was ob- tained by Dr. Ball, for the Zoological Gardens, Phoenix Park, in the month of February, 1853. Phcenicura ruticilla (the Red Start), can only be noticed as a very rare visi- tant to Ireland. Mr. Davis informs me, that a specimen of the male red start has been procured at Waterford. It, or a similar bird, had occasionally been noticed in the yard attached to the house of T. J. Walpole, Esq., of that city, during the summer of 1852, and, on making its appearance in the early part of last year, was shot, by his brother, on the 27th of February, 1853. 96 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Parus caudatus (Long-tailed Tit). This interesting bird, says Thompson, though not well known in consequence of its retired and wooded haunts, has long been recorded as indigenous to Ireland. I noticed a flock of these birds in Donny- brouk, in the early part of last spring ; they were from eighteen to twenty in number, and alighted on a horse-chesnut tree, within about three yards of my win- dow, on the 17th of April, 1853. They were unaccompanied by any of the other Pari, and I had a good opportunity of observing their manners as they quickly searched every branch of the tree — uttering all the while their cheerful tweet. A few of the birds had the fine roseate hue on their breasts. Montacilla flava (Rays Wagtail). According to Thompson, this bird can only be announced as a summer visitant to one locality — viz., Lough Neagh ; and as of occasional and rare occurrence elsewhere. I observed a pair of these birds on the banks of the river Dodder, in the early part of the summer of 1853. The M. hoarula was present at the same time, but even at a distance the difference was clearly discernible. Alauda arborea (Woodlark), is a resident, though very local species. — Thomp- son. Mr. Lamprey exhibited a pair of these birds, at a former meeting of the Association, taken near the Vale of Ovoca, county Wicklow, during the severe weather which occurred about Christmas. Fringilla montifringilla (Brambling). Is a frequent, if not a regular, winter visitant. — Thompson. In a letter received from Mr. Davis, on the 3rd of this month (March), he states, that a flock of the above birds are in the neighbour- hood of Clonmel. They resort to one spot in a demesne about one or one and a-half miles from this (Clonmel), and are generally seen in the very tops of high beech trees. Picus viridis (Green Woodpecker). A specimen of this very rare Irish bird was forwarded to Dr. Ball, by Thomas Batt, Esq., shot on the 12th of January, in Derry. This is one of the commonest of the English woodpeckers, and is found to the north of Scotland, although not mentioned by Jardine or Macgilivray, being enume- rated in Dr.W.B. Backie's Historia Naturalis Orcadensis, as occurring in Zetland. Its stomach contained minute larva — doubtless taken from beneath the bark of trees. This is the third well-authenticated occurrence of this species in Ireland. It was exhibited at a former meeting of the Association.. Scolapax rusticola (Woodcock). A female specimen of this bird, with two young ones, was forwarded to Dr. Ball, in the month of May, 1853, by James Pirn, Esq., from Monkstown, and is another instance of this bird breeding in our island, they are preserved, among the Irish collection, in the University Museum. Crex porzana (Spotted Crake). Mr. T. S. Walpole has, in his collection, a specimen of this bird, shot at Kilbarry, County Waterford, some time in October, 1852 ; this was communicated to me in April, 1853, by Mr. Davis. This bird, says Thompson, can only be announced with certainty as an occasional, though, probably, a regular, summer visitant. Charadrius morinellus (Dotterel) is very rarely met with in Ireland. — Thompson. In a letter frjm Mr. Davis, of the 26th October, 1853, he says, that on the 30th of last month, he had a dotterel sent him, shot on the hills near this town (Clonmel). This bird is very rare hereabouts ; and Mr. T. W. Warren exhibited, at a meeting of this Association, a specimen of this bird, shot by Mr. Trumble, on one of the highest mountains in Donegal, it was in company with some golden plover (Squat- arola cinerca). Ibis Falcinellus (Glossy Ibis) is an occasional visitant, chiefly late in autumn or early in winter. — Thompson. By a paragraph in a local paper (the Coleraine Chron.), not always the safest guide in such cases, it would appear that a specimen of this bird has been obtained in that neighbourhood. I wrote to Mr. W. Dogherty, in whose possession the bird was, and have to thank him for the following particulars : — " It was one of six which were seen on the banks of the River Bush, near Bush- mills, in autumn last, and the specimen in question was the only one procured out of the flock. It was kept alive for ten days, and fed on small fish ; but, being wounded in the head, died at the expiration of that time. It is now stuffed ; it appeared to be in full plumage ; colour, approaching to a beautiful green ; about the size of a curlew ; legs very long, and bill long and curved." PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 97 Anser ferus, Gessner (Grey-legged Goose), is of occasional, but rare occur- rence in Ireland. This bird, though said in former times to have been abundant in this country, must now be reckoned among the rarer of our Anatidae. During the severe weather which prevailed towards the latter end of December, 1853, and the beginning of January, 1854, several of these birds were brought to Dublin, by the wild- fowl shooters. A very fine specimen was obtained for the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, shot in Westmeath. The bean goose was also very abun- dent, but the specific difference appeared to be well known, as well as the diffe- rence in their value. Anser Canadensis (Canadian Goose). This bird, according to Thompson, has, in a very few instances, been shot on parts of our coast. In a letter which I re- ceived from Mr. Davis, he mentions that a fine, and evidently a " pure wild speci- men," was obtained by Dr. Harvey, of Cork, in the month of January last, shot on a river in the vicinity of that town. Hareldaglacialis, Linn (Long- tailed Duck). Robt. Warren, jun.,Esq., kindly com- municated to me the occurrence of this beautiful duck, in limited numbers, in Killala Bay, county Sligo. It is a regular winter visitant to that locality. They sometimes remain far into April, before taking their departure for the season. Sula bassana, Briss (Solan Goose or Gannet). On the 26th of October, 1853, 1 re- ceived the following communication, in a letter from Mr. R. Davis, Clonmel : — " About two months since, I had a fine specimen of the gannet sent me, shot in Tramore Bay, August, 1853, which differed in plumage from any specimen I have yet seen or met with ; in appearance it much resembled a great black-backed gull ; it is now in the collection of Dr. Harvey, Cork. The following is a descrip- tion of the bird : — Forehead, yellow white, which tinge shows in upper part of neck ; crown and sides of head, brownish black, irregularly mixed with white ; a narrow line of same colour down nape ; sides of neck and breast, white, with some brown spots intermixed ; flanks, mixed black and white, in equal proportions ; all the upper parts — viz., back, wing, coverts, primary, and tail, &c, brown black, with very faint and slight remains of triangular white spots (hardly perceptible, ex- cept on close observation) ; remaining under parts, white ; bill and legs, as in adult, but rather dull. I suppose this to be no uncommon variety, but merely the mid- way stage between youth and full age ; but I have not noticed any description resembling it." Dr. Ball has, I believe, observed the same state of plumage in the gannets kept in confinement in the Zoological Gardens, Phoenix Park. Sterna cantiaca, Gmel (Sandwich tern), is of occasional occurrence on the coast in summer and autumn. — Thompson. Mr. R. Warren informs me, that these interesting birds were rather late in making their appearance in Killala Bay, last spring, on account, perhaps, of the severe weather. They did not arrive until the 7th April. Although last year (1852) they were observed as early as the 23rd of March, he had not, as yet, ascertained their breeding haunts, although he thinks it cannot be far distant, as they fish throughout the summer in the bay. Lestris Richardsonii (Richardson Skua), is occasionally procured on the coast. — Thompson. The following communication, in reference to this bird, for which I am indebted to Mr. R. Warren, would seem to cast a doubt on the statement of Mr. Watters, in his History of Irish Birds, that the L. Richardsonii was the rarest of Lestridae. A brother of Mr. Warren's, residing at Bartra, in Killala bay, about a mile from Enniscrone, says, that some time in November, he witnessed the mi- gration of some hundreds of species of Lestris ; they appeared to come from the north-east, and went right across the country towards the south-west ; they were, probably, L. Richardsonii, for on October 17th, 1851, I witnessed a like migration at the same time, and one, which I then shot, proved to be of that species. As well as I could judge of them on the wing, they appeared to be of all ages. The one I shot was immature. I wTas not before aware of the appearance of the Skua in such abundance on our coast. ThalassidromaLeachii,Temm (Fork-tailed Petrel). A specimen of this petrel was obtained by Dr. Ball, for the University Museum, and exhibited at a former meet- ing of this Association. It was shot near the North-wall, during stormy weather, in the month of October, 1853. In concluding these few notes, which are only a tithe of the rare birds which have 98 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. visited, for the last twelve months, our island, but which, few though they be, I thought better to lay before the Association now, than defer them for another year, in order that 1 might thereby add to their number. I wish to return my best thanks to Robert Davis, Esq., of Clonmel, and Robert Warren, jun., Esq., of Sligo, for forwarding, through me, to the Association, notes on such birds as came under their observations. I hope that I may be excused for wishing that other of our corresponding members will kindly follow their example, as I think it will tend to the increase of the knowledge of our native birds, to bring before the Association, each year, all the facts which can be procured concerning them during that period* together with notes, on the first appearance and time of departure of the summer visitants. Dr. Ball then exhibited a very fine specimen of Mergulus alle, procured by Mr. Ogilby, in the County Tyrone, and shot thirty miles from the nearest sea. The allied species Uria troile, or willock, is sometimes captured on the land ; find it is an old notion of the Irish that this bird cannot fly over land ; it certainly seems to prefer flying round the head-lands, rather than crossing them, as eagles and sea birds generally do ; probably it is unable to rise from the ground, as is the case with the albatross and some other birds. Dr. Ball also exhibited a piece of decayed wood, of unknown age, containing some large specimens of Pholas crispata, trawled in Dublin Bay, near Lambay Island. Dr. Carte exhibited specimens of the Teredo megotara, which he had found in great abundance in a piece of wood, covered with the Lepas anatifa, and washed ashore, near Merrion, during the stormy weather, in the early part of last month; for it he was indebted to the kindness of Dr. Ball. Mr. T. W. Warren exhibited a very interesting series of the valves and pallets of Terido bipinnata, from his collection. They were given him by Mr. Gabbett, of Clare ; and in the same timber he found specimens of Pholas striata. Mr. Wright said that the finding of P. striata in company with T. bipinnata might be a proof of the latter not being indigenous ; the former, according to Forbes and Hanley, not being so. Mr. Walpole remarked that some of the pallets in Mr. Warren's collection were covered with fine striae, which he had never before seen on any other pallets of Teredo, nor was it mentioned by Forbes and Hanley. It might, possibly, be a distinct species. Mr. A. R. Hogan then read the third and concluding part of his CATALOGUE OF COLEOPTERA, FOUND IN TlIE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DUBLIN. Leiopus nebulosus, L. Ratlifarnham, &c. ; on chesnut trees. Rhagium bifasciatum, F. Powers- court. Strangalia elongata, Ste. do. Grammoptera ruficornis, F. do. „ laevis, F. Glasnevin, &c. ; on Umbelliferse. Donacia cincta. Germ. Glasnevin Bo- tanic Gardens. „ crassipes, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. ,, Sagittariae, F. Portmarnock. „ Proteus, Kunz. Glasnevin. „ Lemnae, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. „ linearis, Hop. Glasnevin. Crioceris cyanella, Ste. Firhouse. „ puncticollis, Cts. Do. „ melanopa, Ste. Rathfarnham Park. Cassida rubiginosa, ///. Dodder banks. Galeruca Tanaceti, L. Taken by Mr. Tardv. ,, Crataegi, Dft ? „ Nymphaeae, L. Local. ,, Capreae, Ste. ? Do. Haltica Lepidii, Ent. Hft. Glasnevin and Portmarnock. „ Brassicae, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. „ Nemorum, L. Local. „ Rubi, F. Do. „ caerulea, Pk. Phoenix Park; on flags. „ ferruginea, Schr. Roebuck, Firhouse, &c. „ flava, Ste. Local. „ Helxines, F. Firhouse, &c. ; on willows. „ Oleracea, L. Dodder banks. „ Modeeri, F. Portmarnock? PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 09 Thy am is tabida, 01. On Senicio Ja- cobasa. „ atricilla, Ste. Local. ,, ochroleuca, Ste. Killiney ; on Ononis arvensis. „ lurida, Gyl. Common. ,, Holsatica, L. Local. Macrocnema Hyoscyami, Ent. Hft. Pirhouse ? „ exoleta, Ste. Roches- town ; taken by Mr. Molloy. ,, marcida, III. Portmar- nock. n chrysocephala, L. Taken by Mr. Tardy. ,, rapas, III. Dodder banks. Chtetocnema concinna, Ste. Local. „ aridella, Pk ? Hare. SphaBroderma testaceum, F. Local. „ orbiculata, Mm. Port- marnock. Timarcha coriaria, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Chrysomela polita, L. Local. ,, staphylsea. L. Do. „ Banksii, Ste. Abundant about Roebuck, &c. ,, lamina, F. Roebuck, Clon- tarf, &c. ; scarce. Helodes Beccabungae, Pz. Dodder banks. ,, auctus, F. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Phaedon marginella, Ste. Dodder banks. „ Vitellinae, L. Local. „ Raphani, F. On docks ; com- mon. ,, cochleariae, F. On cow pars- nips. Coccinella septem-punctata, L. Com- mon. ,, variabilis, 77/. Do. „ conglomerata, Ste. Local. ,, quatuordecim-punctata, L. Near Dundrum. „ tredecim-punctata, L. Port- marnock ? on willows. „ octodecim-guttata, I. Ta- ken by Mr. Tardy. Scymnus discoideus, F. Portmarnock ; very rare. Rhyzobius litura, F. Baldoyle ; abun- dant. Cacicula pectoralis, Ste. Portmarnock ; on dwarf willows. Stene ferruginea, Ste. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Tenebrioobscurus,F. Dublin; in stables. Phylan gibbus, F. Portmarnock. Crypticus quisquilius, Pk. Ditto. Blaps mortisaga, Ste. Dublin ; in cel- lars and stables. Helops striatus, Ste. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Lagria hirta, L. Portmarnock and Kil- liney. Melandrya caraboides, L. Malahide; taken by Dr. Lloyd. Anspis frontalis, L. Phoenix Park ; on hawthorn flowers. „ ruficollis, Gfry. Same locality. ,, obscura, Gyl. Ditto. Proscarabasus violaceus, Mm. Roe- buck, Merrion, &c. ; very uncertain in its appearance. „ vulgaris, Ste. Portrane sands. Ischnomera melanura, Ste. Glasnevin Botanic Gardens; on Scrophularias. Anthicus floralis, F. Powerscourt. Scydmaenus tarsatus, Mull. Taken by Mr. Tardy. Pselaphus Heisii, Hbst. Malahide Hill. Euplectus Karstenii, Rchb ? Local. Autalia rivularis, Grav. Portmarnock. ,, impressa, 01. ? Local. Falagria sulcata, Pk. Ditto. Calodera nigricollis, Pk. Malahide. Tachyusa atra, Grav. Dodder banks. Astilbus canaliculars, F. Portmar- nock, &c. ; common. Polystoma obscurella, Ste. Portmar- nock and Malahide. Callicerus obscurus, Ste. Portmarnock. Bolitochara circellaris, Grav. Mala- hide ; very common. „ analis, Grav. Do. „ socialis. Pk. Local. Oligota subtilis, Er. Do. Encephalus complicans, Wood. Port- marnock ; rare. Aleochara fuscipes, Grav. Not un- common. „ nitida, Grav. Portmar- nock. ,, lanuginosa, Gyl. Local. „ moesta Grav. Ditto. Oxypoda opaca, Grav. Portmarnock. Diglossa mersa, Hal. Baldoyle; for description of exact locality, &c, vide u Zoologist," 3,464. Subsequent ex- perience has, however, convinced me that the insect is much more abundant than might be supposed from the ac- count there given. Tachyporus thoracicus, Ste. Local. „ chrysomelinus, L. Do. 100 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Taehyporus marginellus, Ste. Do. „ Hypnorum, F. Everywhere. Hypocyptus laeviusculus, Ste. Port- marnock ; on the hent grass. Conurus pubescens, Grav. Local. „ pedicularius, Grav. Killiney, &c. Megacronus analis, Ste. Local. Tachinus silphoides, L. On dung-hills. ,, marginellus, F. Local. ,, subterraneus, L. Phoenix Park. „ elongatus, ' Gyl. Chapelizod glen. „ ruflpes, Ste. Not uncommon. Creophilus maxillosus, L. On car- Trichoderma pubescens, De G. Abun- dant. Staphylinus erythropterus, Ste. Do. „ castanopterus, Ste. Local. „ seneocephalus, Ste. Do. Goerius olens, Mull. Frequent. Ocypus similis, F. Local. Quedius tristis, Grav. Dalkey. „ impressus, Pz. Portmarnock; common. „ discoideus, Ste. Local. Raphirus semi-obscurus, Ste V Do. „ boops, Grav. Do. Philonthus splendens, F. College Park. „ politus, L. Frequent. „ marginatus, F. Do. „ sanguinolentus, Grav. Port- marnock. Cafius xantholoma, Ste. Baldoyle, &c. ; on the sea-sands. „ fucicola, Ste. Killiney, &c. Gabrius aterrimus, Grav. On the sea- coast. Remus sericeus, Ste. Malahide. Othius fulvipennis, F. Local. „ melanocephalus, Grav. Do. ,, leeviusculus, Ste. Do. Xantholinus glabratus, Grav. Scarce. „ punrtulatus, Pk. Baldoyle. „ linearis, Ol. Local. Leptacinus parumpunctatus, Gyl. Dung- hills. „ batychrus, Gyl? Local. Lathrobium brunnipes, Grav. Phcenix Park. „ fulvipenne, Grav. Do. „ elongatum, L. Local. Lathrobium multipunctatum, Grav. Do. „ angusticolle, Boisd. A single specimen on the banks of the Dodder, near Firhouse. Sunius ochraceus, Grav. Dodder banks. Astenus augustatus, Pk. Malahide. Rugilus ruflpes, Er. Local. „ orbiculatus, Er. Do. ,, affinis, Er. Do. Stenus guttula, Mull. Dodder banks and Loughlinstown. „ Juno, Ste. Common. ,, buphthalmus, Grav. Do. „ nitidus, Er. Do. „ speculator, Er. Do. „ pumilio, Er. Do. „ unicolor, Er. Do. „ aceris, Ste. Do. „ picipes, Ste. Do. „ tarsalis, Ste. Local. „ oculatus, Grav. Everywhere. Bledius tricornis, Hbst. North Bull sands, &c. Hesperophilus arenarius, Pk. Baldoyle and Portmarnock. Phytosus spinifer, Ste. One specimen on Portrane sands. Platysthetus morsitans, Pk. Local. Oxytelus rugosus, F. Do. „ nitidulus, F. Do. „ piceus, L. Common. „ sculpturatus, Grav. Do. „ depressus, Grav. Do. Megarthrus depressus, Grav. Do. Proteinus atomarius, Er. Portmar- nock ; rare. „ brachypterus, F. In putres- cent agarics. Phlasobium clypeatum, Mulll Local. Omalium deplanatum, Gyl. On a win- dow in Dublin. „ rivulare, Grav. Common. „ subpubescens, Ste. Phoenix Park, &c. ; abundant on furze. Deleaster dichroa, Grav. A single specimen, by the late Mr. Jas. Egan. Trogophlaeus pusillus, Grav. Dodder bank. Thinobius longipennis, Heir. Do., near Fii house. Lesteva obscura, Pk. Dodder banks. On the catalogue thus concluded there is little to remark, save the absence of many species usually common in similar localities, which constant observation during the past half-century has failed to discover, and few of which I think likely to be brought to light hereafter, notwithstanding Mr. Douglas's very encouraging remarks on ** terra incognita." We have hardly anything to compensate us in the way PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 101 of species considered rare or local in other parts of the British isles, with the exception, perhaps, of Trechus labidosus, Heterocerus femoralis, Lathrobium angus- ticolle, Thinobius longipennis, and two or three more; even Diglossa mersa is no longer peculiar to the Irish coast, having been taken in large numbers on the coast of France, in 1852, by Messrs. Blan chard and Signoret, and in Scotland by M. Javet. In one genus only, have we more than the proportion of species that might be expected — namely, Cercyon, of the thirteen species of which, acknow- ledged as European, all have been found in Ireland, and eleven within the limits of the county Dublin. That other collectors, however, of whose existence I may be as yet unaware, have taken more, and, possibly, remarkable species not known to me as occurring in the neighbourhood, I should not wish to seem to doubt ; and I hope they will not fail to make their discoveries public, either by sending notices of them to the "Zoologist," or, if they prefer it, communicating them tome, for a future appendix. Thus may the very imperfections of my list tend to the advancement of science, and to the encouragement of new votaries to the study, who, if they would reap the highest and best fruits of their labours, will not forget, I trust — " To trace in nature's most minute design, The signature and stamp of power divine, Contrivance intricate, expressed with ease, Where unassi> ted sight no beauty sees. The shapely limb and lubricated joint, Within the small dimensions of a point; Muscle and nerve miraculously spun, His mighty work who speaks, and it is done ; The Invisible in things scarce seen revealed, To whom an atom is an ample field." So will the lover of entomology, whom the cheering fragrance of returning spring once more tempts to ramble forth from the scenes of his winter labours, soon find his way, as Cowper says (from whom I have just quoted) : — " To regions where, in spite of sin and woe, Traces of Eden are still seen below ; Where mountain, river, forest, field, and grove, Remind him of his Maker's power and love." The Rev. Joseph Greene then mentioned that he had bred a specimen of Hip- parchia -^Egeria, on the 1st of March, from a pupa found on a blade of grass, near a poplar, in December last, and drew the attention of the meeting to its very early appearance — proving the singular mildness of the season. The Association then adjourned to the 25th of March. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION OF KILKENNY. FEBRUARY 15, 1854. Dr. Browne, in the chair. The usual business being transacted, the honorary secretaries announced that the auditors, appointed at the January meeting (Dr. Kearns and Robert Molyneux, Esq.), had given in their report, to the effect that the treasurer's statement of accounts was most satisfactory, leaving a balance in his hands of £11 18s. lOd. The following donations were announced : — Report of the Dublin Statistical Society ; and Statistics of Australia, by the Dublin Statistical Society. An Indian letter, folded in the shape of a neck-tie, intended to be sent by hand. It was composed of portions of the palm-leaf. 102 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Thomas Leary, Esq., A.B., Kilkenny College, was admitted a member. Robert Curtis, Esq., read a paper on M The evil effects of Intoxicating Liquors ;" and Mr. Robertson read the following paper: — THE PALMYRA PALM, DATE-TREE, AND SAGO PLANT. I feel happy in being able to contribute to our Society's Museum, a curiosity lately forwarded to me from the South of India. In presenting it, I will avail my- self of the opportunity to give some account of my donation, as I will thus be enabled to indulge my partiality to speak about " Trees and Plants," by offering a few remarks on two or three species of the palm tribe — a family of plants which has many claims upon our attention, particularly in a commercial point of view, as but few of its species are without some useful property. The cocoa-nut and the date are valued for their fruit, which yield food, drink, and oil ; the fan -palm and many others for their foliage, whose durability and hard- ness render it a good material for thatching ; it is also used to form sunshades wherewith to screen the natives of tropical countries from the scorching rays of a vertical sun ; again, the sweet juice of the Palmyra palm, when fermented, yields a sort of arrack, the favourite, but intoxicating liquor of the Indian; the pith of the sago palm abounds in nutritive starch, whilst other species supply, in their leaves and trunks, materials for cordage and elastic timber. The antiquity of the palms is worthy of our notice ; that they were amongst the first plants which were created is proved by the numerous remains of their fruit, leaves, and stems, which occur in the coal formations of northern countries. I exhibit two specimens of these fossil remains, one of them was found in the coal district of Slievardagh, in the county of Tipperary, it appears to belong to the order Cycadece, a class of plants which forma connecting link between the palms and tree ferns. The other specimen has been presented to me by Mr. Butler, of Woodstock, who describes it as being a part of the stem of the date tree {Phoenix dactylifera), of which more hereafter. I cannot pass over the fact of the remains of palms being found in the coal for- mations, without stating, that this circumstance has given rise to much discussion on the probability of a great change of climate having taken place in these northern countries. The discussion of so important a subject requires too much scientific knowledge for me to undertake, but I may here briefly state, that the advocates of the above theory assume that the remains of the palms occasionally found in cold countries are not only tropical species, but that they grew in or near the localities in which they have been discovered in a fossil state. On the other hand, their oppo- nents say that these remains may have been drifted from the tropical countries, or that they belonged to species now extinct, which were adapted to a temperate cli- mate ; at present, I believe, that the climate of Sicily is the coldest in which any palms have been grown in the open air. That palm leaves were, at a very early period, used as a material for manu- scripts, is evident from a passage in Niebuhr's History of Rome, when he says, in allusion to the sybilline oracles instituted by the last Tarquinius (B.C. 510) : " From what little has been handed down, divulged, perhaps, after their destruction in the time of Sylla, they appear to have been written on palm leaves. The method of consulting was most probably by shuffling them, and drawing forth a leaf.'' As this use of the palm leaf is intimately connected with the little curiosity which I present ; I will proceed with a description of it, in the words of my correspondent, who thus writes — " The little articles on the string are specimens of letters, which the natives of this locality (near Tuticoreen, Presidency of Madras) are in the habit of sending to one another ; they are formed of the leaf of the Palmyra palm, and are called Ola or Olas by the natives. They are not intended to be sent through the post- office, but are conveyed by hand from one neighbour to another. The address is written on the outside, by means of a style. I would not advise you to open one of them, as most probably you would not succeed in folding it again." Having been unable to procure a leaf of the Palmyra palm (Borassus fiabelli- formis), I will endeavour to give a brief description of the plant, which is said to be so called from Palmyra, the name of a celebrated city in the desert of Syria, PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 103 formerly a place of great importance, but now only a mass of picturesque ruins, which tell the melancholy story of its former splendour. Palmyra was also called, Tadmor, and, in the sacred book of Chronicles, it is described as having been built by Solomon. On the other hand, the city of Palmyra is said to have derived its name from the word palm, in consequence of this plant nourishing in its vicinity. The Palmyra palm is a stately plant, common in the islands of the Eastern Archi- pelago, and the southern parts of India. Its leaves are used in making fans and punkahs, and also in thatching ; the fruit is eaten ; the sap is drank in its natural state, and forms a refreshing drink, or is evaporated to make a coarse sugar ; but, if fermented, it forms one of the intoxicating liquors of tropical countries ; our intelligent associate, Mr. Molyneux, tells me, that he has often seen the natives of India drawing off the palm juice for this purpose. My friend, Mr. Butler, thinks that these Indian letters are formed of the leaf of the date-palm (Phoenix dactyliferd) and not of the Palmyra palm. Mr. Butler having forwarded a leaf of the former to me, I will give a short account of the plant, which fulfils a very important part in the economy of nature, its fruit being the almost only food of a large portion of mankind. The date tree is one of the best known, and, probably, the earliest known of the palms ; it is the palm tree of Scripture, and was emblematic of Judaea, as is learned from coins. "The extensive importance of the date-tree is,'' says Dr. Clarke, uone of the most curious subjects to which a traveller can direct his attention. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia subsist almost entirely on its fruit. They make a conserve of it with sugar, and even grind the hard stones in their handmills for their camels. In Barbary, they form handsome beads of these stones. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, bags, mats, and brushes ; the trunk is split, and used in small buildings, also for fences to gardens, and the stalks of the leaves for making cages for their poultry. Parts of the leaves are also twisted into ropes, which are employed in rigging small vessels. The sap of this species also yields the intoxicating liquor of which I have already made mention ; by the withdrawal of the sap the stem is exhausted, becomes dry, and is used for firewood. Such being the importance and multiplied uses of the date-tree, it is not surprising that, in an arid and barren country, it should form so prominent a subject of allusion and description in the works of Arab authors, and have so many names in their language." About fifteen years ago, the finest date-tree in Europe was in the conservatory of the Earl of Tankerville, at Walton-on-Thames ; it was then sixty years old, the stem seven feet four inches in circumference, and the leaves thirty feet long. The last plant, to which I will direct your attention, is a very beautiful and in- teresting member of the Cycadete, I mean the sago palm (Cycas revoluta)* of Japan ; where Thunbergf tells us it is held in such estimation, that it is contrary to the laws of Japan to take the trees out of it. The Cycas revoluta (of which I ex- hibit a leaf) is not, however, the only plant from which sago is procured ; of late years a very fine sago has been brought from Brazil, supposed to be the produce of the Mauritia flexuosa, and some of the other magnificent palms of that country ; a species of the date-tree, Phoenix, also yields an abundant supply of this flour, hence it is called farinifera, or flower bearing ; there are other plants, also, of the palm tribe which yield sago, but an enumeration of them is unnecessary. It will be more interesting to describe the process of preparing sago, which signifies, in the language of the Papuans, bread, since it forms the staple article of food to the inhabitants of the eastern Archipelago and other parts where the plants which yield it grow. Sago is a variety of starch, which nature has supplied to the plantfor the use of the flowers and fruit, and is most abundant just before the appearance of the flour-bud, which is known by a whitish dust appearing on the leaves. At this time the stem is cut down, near the base, and then divided into pieces of five or *The leaves of the date-tree and of the sago palm— which were exhibited at the meeting — were taken from plants growing in the conservatory at Woodstock, the seat of the Right Hon. William F. Tighe. The conservatory is circular, and was designed and executed in metal, by J. Turner, of Hammersmith, Dublin. t Thuuberg, a celebrated Dutch traveller and botanist, in honour of whom the pretty genus of jtoue plants, Thunbergia, was so called. 104 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. six feet in length. A part of the outer hard wood is then sliced off, and the work- man coming to the pith, cuts across the longitudinal fibres and pith together, leav- ing a part at each end uncut, so that when it is excavated there remains a trough, into which the pulp is again put, mixed with water, and beaten with a piece of wood ; the fibres being then separated from the pulp, float at the top, and the flour subsides. After being cleared in this manner by several waters, the pulp is put into cylindrical baskets, made of the leaves of the tree. The quantity yielded by one tree is very great. Five or six hundred pounds are not an unusual produce for one tree ; and as the vegetation still remains after the tree has been cut down, a stem again springs up, which goes through the different stages of growth until it is fit for the axe. The flour is rarely imported, granulated sago being the state in which it is commonly brought to Europe. To bring it into this state from the flour, it must be moistened, and passed through a sieve into a very shallow iron vessel, held over a fire, which enables it to assume a globular form. Thus, all our grained sago is half baked, and will keep long. Of this granulated sago there are two varieties, the common or brown sago, and pearl sago. It is insipid, but when well seasoned is much used as an article of diet for invalids and children — a coarse description of sago is sometimes employed in the feeding of calves. I have been unable to dis- cover at what time sago was first introduced into these countries, but I have learned from men in business for the last thirty or forty years, that, during that time, the consumption of it has been increased very little. In conclusion, I may state, for the information of many, that there is a pretty numerous collection of very well grown specimens of palms in the Royal Dublin Society's garden, at Glasnevin ; and to all who may be induced to visit those interesting and beautiful grounds, I can promise the greatest civility from the attendants. THE NATURAL HISTORY REVIEW. |Ufritfos. Geodephaga Britannica. A Monograph of the Carniverous Ground Beetles, Indigenous to the British Isles. By John Frederic Dawson, LL.B. Coloured Plates. London: John Van Voorst. 1854. Price 12s. 6d. This book may be reckoned as one of the many proofs of the advance of entomological science in these days. In the good old times, when ento- mology was considered a school of cruelty, or, at best, a sport for babes in understanding, the few men who had courage to pursue the study, and endeavour to reduce it to a system, had so much more on their hands than they could possibly manage, that it is no wonder that their early attempts were sometimes crude, or, at any rate, too sketchy and imperfect to stand the test of time and deeper investigation unchanged. The real wonder is that they did as much as they did, and as well ; that they did no more and no better was the fault, not of themselves, but of those who, by spending their time in ridiculing instead of helping them, left them to struggle unaided through a work far too vast and complicated to be satis- factorily performed by a few. Times are now happily changed, and men are not only no longer ashamed of being entomologists, but think it worth while to devote to it their time, trouble, and intellect ; and do not think it beneath them to investigate minutely one order, or even — as in the pre- sent case — one group of insects, instead of endeavouring to grasp every- thing at once, Something may be lost in sound, but the real interests of science are immeasurably the better for it. Therefore, such books as this, if carefully and ably written — and this is undoubtedly so — deserve a cordial welcome from the true lovers of entomology as a science, not as a pastime. If too great simplicity were the prominent failing in some of the earlier systems of classification, Mr. Dawson is of opinion that, of late, the opposite vol. i. ; 106 REVIEWS. error has become rather prevalent — at least in the nomenclature and ar- rangement of the stirps, which is the subject of the present Monograph. To this opinion the publication of the present volume is, perhaps, princi- pally owing, as appears from the opening sentences of the preliminary ob- servations : — " In consequence of a suggestion made to me by several of my entomological friends and correspondents, I have been induced to undertake, and, at length, to pub- lish, a specific arrangement of the carnivorous ground beetles indigenous to the British Isles — a group to which I have paid much attention. No small amount of confusion appears to have existed in their nomenclature, which has arisen from the circumstance of an undue importance having been assigned to varieties, differing merely in size and colour, which have either been formed into imaginary species, or have been mistaken for others which have never been found in Britain ; the result of which has been that the total amount of actual species has been considerably overrated." The value of this word "considerably" may be readily gathered from a comparison of Mr. Dawson's Tabula specierum with the corresponding portion of Stephens's Manual; in the latter of which we find, under " Stirps Geodephaga," 472 (or, deducting 23, included in parentheses, as improperly introduced into the British lists, 449) species, while in Mr. Dawson's list there are only 294 ; in other words, 155 species, or about one-third of the whole, have disappeared. Indeed the difference is still greater ; for of the 294 species admitted by Mr. Dawson, about fifteen are introduced for the first time into the catalogue of the British Geodephaga; so that of Stephens's 449, no less than 170 are rejected by Mr. Dawson. Such a result may well seem startling; but, however much our national vanity may shrink from being thus roughly spoiled of so many of our fancied indi- genous fauna, the sentence of condemnation would seem to have been not lightly pronounced — " I have been unwilling," he says, " to reject any reputed indigenous species which I felt that I could reasonably retain, and yet, after full consideration, have been compelled to reduce their aggregate amount very considerably, either because many of them are evidently varieties of others, or because no sufficiently conclusive evidence exists to warrant their retention in the British Fauna. In the subfamily — Bembidides, particularly — I have been compelled to reject about two-fifths as mere varieties or immature examples, which may satisfactorily be resolved into some one or other of the remainder.'' Thus, for example, Bembidium obtusum (Tachys obtusus, Steph.) is given as the type of a species, of which Tachys immunis, pusillus, and gracilis, of Stephens, are considered varieties, the distinction between them consisting mainly in different shades of colour in the elytra and legs, attri- butable to greater or less degrees of maturity, and in the greater or less depth of the foveae at the base of the thorax. In the type there are two impressions on the third interstice of the elytra, which seem to be occasion- ally wanting in the varieties ; but the departures from the type are not REVIEWS. 107 sufficiently important or uniform to justify the author in considering them distinct species. He specifies Tachys gracilis, Steph., as a "smaller exam- ple ;" the dimensions, however, given for T. pusillus are less ; those of T. gracilis corresponding with those of the type. Of the Cicindelidae, of which Mr. Stephens admits six species, one Cic. sylvicola (first described as distinct by Mr. Curtis), is regarded as merely " a green example of C. hybrida ;" so far as it can lay claim to being indigenous to this country, although " the original representative," " is by most entomologists consi- dered a distinct species, and is a larger insect, but not found in Britain." Perhaps we may be permitted to doubt whether still further investigation may not lead to the re-admission of some of the species rejected by Mr. Dawson ; at any rate, it will be interesting, and possibly useful, to collect such gleanings of information about any of them as may tend, however slightly, to bring the question of their authenticity to a final issue. With this object in view, we will allude, for a moment, to a species, Nebria pici- cornis, included in a list, at page viii., of the Prel. Obs., as erroneously re- ported British. Mr. Dawson's note on it is as follows : — " Stated to have been captured by the Rev. F. W. Hope, in Longmont Forest. Its natural habitat is on the muddy banks of rivers and lakes, and the locality in which it is reported to have been found is so widely different from those which it naturally affects, that I am inclined to suspect that it has been introduced into the British Fauna by mistake." But we have been in- formed that another specimen, accurately answering to Mr. Stephens's description, and in length between 6^ and 6J lines, was taken by Mr. J. Walter Lea and his brother, in 1847, near Oxford (not an unsuitable locality), and a note to that effect is made against that species in the mar- gin of his copy of Mr. Stephens's Manual. As, however, owing to un- avoidable neglect for a long time, the whole of the collection in which the insect was placed was subsequently destroyed by mites, it is, unhappily, im- possible to subject the specimen to further investigation; so the report must, of course, be taken quantum valeat. But as the locality was the only objection to the reception of the insect on the previous testimony, and as the same difficulty can scarcely apply to this latter instance, it seems, at least, worth mentioning. Curtis says it was "first taken by Dr. Leach, near Ashburton, Devon" But it is not only with respect to the number of indigenous species that Mr. Dawson comes before us in the light of a wholesale reformer ; his treatment of the ordinarily received families and genera is scarcely more merciful. Of the six families into which the Geodephaga have been divided, he rejects four (the Brachinidae, Scaritidae, and Harpalidae, of 1 08 REVIEWS. MacLeay, and the Bembididae of Stephens), as having been erected on an untenable principle, and not possessing characters sufficiently distinctive to entitle them to " a footing of equal importance with the Cieindelidae and Carabidae ;" he thinks " that the most consistent and natural divisions will be found in Latreilles's two grand families, Cicindeletes and Carabici (p. ix. Prel Obs.)," which arrangement he has resumed under the terms Cicidelida) and Carabidae, dividing the latter into five subfamilies — but in a matter of such importance it will be better to let our author speak for himself. He says (p. ix. Prel. Obs.) : — " I have, furthermore, divided the latter (the Carabidae) into five groups or sub- families, according to the plan set forth hy Mr. Westwood, in his ' Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,' with this difference, however, that I have transposed the third and fourth groups, considering it more desirable that the Har- palides should immediately precede the Bembidides ; and the natural transition from Trechus to Bembidium he maintained through the intimate affinities which subsist between those remarkable insects, Aepys marinus, Blemus areolatus, Lym- naeum nigropiceum, and Cillenus lateralis ; and I have placed Pelophila and the Elaphridea in their natural juxta-position with Nehria, though, by so doing:, the foreign genus Homophron is farther removed from the Hydrocantharides ; to which, at first view, and judging merely from its external structure, it would seem to be more nearly allied than it really is ; in this arrangement I have, consequently, fol- lowed, under certain modifications, Dejean, Erichson, Heer, Bedtenbacher, and, in fact, most of the Continental entomologists. " The first group (Brachinides) comprises all the genera which were comprehended in the family Brachinidas of MacLeay and Stephens, and corresponds with Dejean's subfamily Truncatipennes. "The second group (Scaritides) corresponds with the Scaritides of Dejean, and the family Scaritidae of MacLeay and Stephens. " The third group (Carabides) corresponds with the Simplicipedes of Dejean, and comprises the Carabidge of MacLeay and Stephens, and the Elaphiridae of Stephens." The characters given — " the anterior tibiae entire, and not notched ; the anterior tarsi being more or less dilated in the male," seem not exactly to correspond with those assigned by Stephens to the family Elaphridae (Man. p. 4); " anterior tibiae not palmated, without a notch on the side, but slightly notched at the apex; anterior tarsi not dilated in the males." But it is observable that in his description of the genera comprised under this family, there is not one instance of the anterior tarsi of the male being not dilated (the nearest approach being in Notiophilus " male with three basal joints of anterior tarsi " scarcely dilated"), so that they may fairly be cha- racterised as " more or less dilated," according to Mr. Dawson's descrip- tion ; and the " slight notch " at the apex of the anterior tibiae is not invariable, and cannot, therefore, be relied on as distinctive. The fourth and fifth group, Harpalides and Bembidides, correspond re- spectively with the Harpalidae of MacLeay and Stephens, and the Bembi- didae, of Stephens. REVIEWS. 109 There is yet one more deviation from the ordinary generic arrangement, which Mr. Dawson thus announces : — M The modern subdivisions of genera having proved unsatisfactory, being some- times founded on almost imaginary differences, at any rate far from constant, are altogether rejected, and I have merely inserted the names of the subgenera in brac- kets for the convenience of those English entomologists who have been most accustomed to Stephens's arrangement, without meaning to attach to them any importance otherwise." Accordingly, about 35 genera, and one or two subgenera, of various authors, almost all of them contained in Stephens's Manual, are swept away at a breath. On the whole, then, whether we regard the arrangement of the families, genera or species, according to Mr. Dawson's Monograph, the pervading spirit is that of determined compression. Thoroughly dissatisfied with the received arrangement, and continually complaining of the confusion into which it has been thrown, he has set himself in good earnest to simplify as much as possible. He has applied himself to his task with most laud- able patience and assiduity, and has evidently turned to good account the great advantages of which he was possessed. The result of his labours is now before the entomological world, and even should it eventually be proved that he has occasionally judged rather too strictly, great thanks would be owing to him for his searching scrutiny of received opinions, out of which nothing but good can eventually come. Even were one-half only of his strictures to be finally established, it would be more than enough to justify the observation with which this notice opened, as to the great im- portance of each section of the science being separately and thoroughly investigated. Having said so much of what Mr. Dawson has rejected, it is necessary that some notice should be taken of the new species which he has intro- duced, beautiful figures of which have been taken by Mr. Westwood, and with the dissections and several outlines, representing those external parts of the insects of certain closely-allied species, in which the " most material distinctions of character are to be found, as an additional aid in deter- mining the differences between them," are made the subject of three ad- mirably executed and valuable plates at the end of the volume. The number of " newly introduced " species, of which entire figures are given, is fifteen, distributed among the following genera : — Dyschirius 2. Now first introduced. Badister 1. Calathus 1. Anchomenus 1. Harpalus 1. Now first introduced. Stenolophus 1. Now first introduced. Trechus 2. T3 iLuu c (Four species now first Bembidium 6. j introPduced< 110 REVIEWS. The seven species not marked as now first introduced are all recent dis- coveries in this country (except, indeed, Badister peltatus, which, under the name of Trimorphus erro, was first described by Mr. Newman in the Ent. Mag., and was inserted by Mr. Stephens in his Manual). Calathus rubi- gena was discovered by Mr. Haliday on several of the Irish mountains, which seem at present to have monopolized the honour, as no English or Scotch locality is assigned to it by Mr. Dawson. Anchomenus quadripunc- tatus was taken at Long Benton, in Northumberland, by Mr. Bold, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Trechus incitis, a pair were captured by the author at Whittlesea Mere, in July, 1847. T. lapidosus (of which Blemus pal- lidus of Stephens is counted a var.) is reported very local ; Ventnor, South Shields, Berwick-upon-Tweed, being the only English localities mentioned; while Mr. Haliday has again the honour of having discovered it in Ireland, on the shore at Holywood, and Mr. Hogan of taking it near Dublin. Bembidium Clarkii was first discovered by the author, in 1848, in marshes, near Dorchester; it was taken, in the same locality, in 1852, and also on the shore of Pegwell Bay, near Eamsgate, on each occa- sion by the same gentleman. Bembidium Schuppelii, " two examples were taken, first by Messrs. 5old and Murray, on the banks of the Irthing, near Naworth Castle, Cumberland ; and subsequently about a dozen more by Mr. Wailes, in the same locality. It has been taken occasionally also near Edinburgh." Of the species now first introduced, Dyschirius impuncti- pennis, was taken by the author near Weymouth. D. jejunus (an entirely new species, unknown on the Continent), was discovered by Mr. Bold, near Lanercost Abbey, on a sandy beach by the Irthing, in June. Harpalus melancholic us was captured near Swansea, in 1845, by Mr. Wollaston. Stenolophus elegans was taken in the Isle of Sheppy, in May, 1853, by the Rev. H. Clarke. Bembidium obliquum was taken by Mr. Bold, at Gorforth. B. stomoides was discovered also by Mr. Bold, between Laner- cost Abbey and Naworth Castle, in June, 1848. B. Jluviatile, a fine series, were captured by Mr. Hadfield, on the banks of the Trent, at Kel- ham. B. callosum was taken by Mr. Stewart, on Woking Common, in 1851. Besides these species, of all of which entire figures are given, the follow- ing are recorded as now first introduced: — Harpalus sulphuripes, " now, for the first time introduced into the British Fauna, on the authority of an example taken near Bristol, which perfectly corresponds with specimens received from Paris. One of the insects, standing under the name servus in the Stephensian Cabinet, appears to correspond with this species." Harpalus Wollastoni — " Four or five examples of this species were cap- REVIEWS. Ill tured by Mr. Wollaston, in May, 1852, at Slapton Ley, Devonshire; and as I have not been able to identify it with any recorded species, I have named it after the captor." Stenolophus derelictus — " This apparently unique insect was captured near London, probably at Plumstead, by Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum, who kindly gave it me. It was returned to me from Paris as a species of Stenolophus unknown there." It is gratifying to find recorded so many incentives to increased activity and diligence as this list affords ; and we may remark, that every newly-dis- covered species is not only a valuable addition to our native Fauna, but a fresh instance of the manifold and wonderful working of God, for whose glory everything was created, and which never must be lost sight of in all researches and discoveries of science. If we forget to glorify God in his works, we fail to appreciate more than half their beauty and their real value. We cannot close these remarks without expressing the pleasure with which we observe that Irish localities are assigned to not a few of the species valuable for their rarity, or for being very local in their habitats — a pleasure which we owe, in great measure, to the indefatigable and emi- nently-successful researches of Mr. Haliday. We subjoin, in addition to those already mentioned, a few examples, which may, perhaps, be inter- resting : — Dyschirius ohscurus. Lough Neagh. Mr. Haliday. The only known English specimen, was captured by a foreigner, and, consequently, is lost to this country. Carabus arvensis. Local. Hills, near Belfast. Haliday. C. clathratus. Extremely rare in England. " Near Dublin" (St. Man.) " Very abundant on the coast of Ireland" (Dawson). C. auratus. Lough Bray. Leistus raontanus. Croagh Patrick. Mangeston and Carran Tual. Nebria complanata. A single specimen, on Arklow sands. N. borealis. Lough Neagh, Killamey, &c. Also in Scotland ; but ap- parently not found hitherto in England. Chlcenius holosericeus. "Extremely rare in this country — a single indi- vidual was taken by Mr. Haliday, near Athy, in Ireland." Pterostichus aterrimus. Very local. Neighbourhood of Cork. P. gracilis. Rare. Captured by Mr. Haliday, near Belfast. Amara brunnea. Portmarnock. Bradycellus cognatus. " A single specimen, captured by Mr. Haliday, on hills near Belfast." Bembidium bruxellense. Captured in Ireland, by Mr. Haliday. B.pallidipenne. Apparently very local. " Lough Neagh and Killamey." 112 REVIEWS. In conclusion, we will only express our opinion, that Mr. Dawson has produced a very original and useful Monograph, and we hope that many other entomologists may be incited to follow his example, in still further and more rigidly scrutinizing either this or some other branch of the science. Mr. Dawson has shown us how much may be done with the Geodephaga, other sections would possibly prove not less fruitful in in- teresting and useful discoveries. The Entomologist's Companion. By H. T. Stainton. Second Edition. Pp. 156. London : John Van Voorst. 1854. Price 3s. 6d. The title of this work, which we are glad to see has reached a second edition, might, perhaps, mislead those expecting to find it an introduction to entomology, in the general acceptation of the word ; whereas it treats of a very small, though exceedingly imteresting portion of insects, the Microlepidoptera, particularly including the Tineina. This edition pre- sents several new features, a summary of which we shall present to our readers. Besides copious instructions of the how, and when, and where to catch the micros, hints about rearing their larva, and a calendar of their appearing in the several conditions of imago, pupa, and larva, which were contained in the edition of 1852, we have as follows — Firstly, some fourteen pages devoted to the entomological localities in the neighbourhood of London, with the means of getting to them, and what to be found in them, fully detailed. To the London entomologist this will, we think, prove a welcome addition. Secondly, we have an account of ten days at Kilmur, with a trip to the Island of Arran. If our author would visit the north Islands of Arran, situated off the west coast of Donegal, in Ireland, we can, we think, promise him a harvest of his favourites not yet touched, without much of the inconvenient moisture he met with in Scot- land; and we would be greatly disappointed in the resources of our country, if he did not find in it some insects whose names have not appeared in the pages of the " Entomologist's Companion." And, lastly, we have the Journal of a Microlepidopterist for the year 1853, which may fairly stand as a model of such things. In conclusion, we heartily recommend this little work to all our readers, but to none so much as to our Irish naturalists. Many discoveries, no doubt, will yet reward the diligent observer in England and Scotland ; but nowhere, in our opi- nion, is there so much of the terra incognita as in Ireland. This volume should be found in every collector's possession ; as a handbook they will REVIEWS. 118 find it invaluable, and in the absence of a history of British Tineina, which we trust will soon be published, the only work on the subject they can safely have recourse to. Proceedings of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club. Vol. III. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4. 8vo. (Printed for the Members.) In these few pages we have a pleasing record of the proceedings of a small knot of Berwickshire Naturalists, during the years 1850-51-52-53 ; and as we read the able addresses, with one of which (delivered by the outgoing President) each number opens, we were much struck by the benefit that would accrue to science were such clubs more numerous. That whose proceedings are recorded in these pages, scarcely numbers one hundred members ; but then they are men of the right stamp, and the addresses and proceedings which follow bear ample evidence of how judi- ciously their meetings have been conducted. The Club was founded, some one and twenty years since, by its present able and indefatigable secretary, Dr. George Johnston ; and, to use the language of the address, delivered at its last anniversary meeting, " starting into life under the fostering charge of experienced and distinguished naturalists, it had scarcely an infancy; it first efforts were manly, and even its first contributions to Natural History took their place among the original authorities in scientific literature." We are glad to be able to testify that the promise of its earlier years have been steadily fulfilled, and that, unlike similar societies, it shows no symptoms of premature decay, but that its list of members contains many names, which are a guarantee for the ability and zeal which will characterize its future operations. It must be, indeed, most gratifying to its founder to have witnessed so worthy a scion attain its majority ; and, we trust, he may be long spared to enjoy the beauties of nature himself, and to lead others to take an interest in those which surround them. The addresses contained in the numbers before us recapitulate, with a pleasing terseness, the results of the several field meetings of the Club during the previous year. The proceedings which follow are not exclusively devoted to the pursuits of the naturalist, but contain also some papers of interest to the local antiquary. Among the Natural History papers, we would wish to draw attention to a paper of Dr. William Baird, on Entozoa, with a list of those known to occur within the bounds of the Club, and also to a paper on the Acarides of Berwickshire, by Dr. G. Johnston, with specific characters, both of which will amply repay a perusal. 114 REVIEWS. A Familiar History of Birds. By the late Edward Stanley, D.D., F.RS., Lord Bishop of Norwich. London: J. W, Parker. 1854. Sixth Edition. Price 3s. We are glad to see that this very pleasing little volume has met with the encouragement it so deservedly merits ; while the price at which it has been published is so veiy moderate, as to place it within the reach of all. Its object is rather to furnish the reader with rational and interesting facts than to treat the subject of ornithology scientifically. But at a period when the education of every class of the community is rapidly improving, and when the minds of the rising generation are in a state of advancement fitting them for that more perfect knowledge, which in the preparation of elementary books ought to be always kept in view, it is of importance that even the simplest work should be arranged and founded, in some degree, on scientific principles. We accordingly find in the opening chapters some tables of classification carefully compiled from Cuvier and Dumeril, which will prove a great assistance to the young naturalist. And though its pages are not of a nature to attract those who have paid attention to orni- thology as a science, the very pleasing notes they contain on the habits of birds will render them a welcome companion during an idle hour. A History of British Ferns. By Edward Newman, Member of the Imperial L. C. Academy, F. L. and Z. S. President of the Ent. Soc, London, &c. 3rd edition. London: John Van Voorst. 1854. With Engravings. Price 18s. Of all Cryptogamic plants, perhaps, there are none so universally liked as the Acrogenic fern — from the lichen, that makes the ruined tower look so gray, so venerable, to the slime that on the stagnant pond charms the eye with its verdant greenness, there surely are none with which we are more familiar ; while living, graceful and attractive objects, and when raised, after the lapse of ages, from the stony tomb, still elegant, they lose but little of their beauty. They are " voices of the past, Links of a broken chain, Wings that bear one back to times That cannot come again." Leaving the past for the present, we have in the volume now before us the history of those Ferns which inhabit Great Britain and Ireland, amply and faithfully recorded, and the knowledge acquired through many years' study of Mr. Newman's favourite plants, brought before us; so that though many REVIEWS. 115 works on the subject have lately made their appearance, yet we think this one entitled to become the text-book with botanists, and a fit com- panion for the other works on British Natural History, as one of a series of which it is published. In all but name this work is a Monograph ; and though future investigators may, and, doubtless, will discover some new things, yet, up to the present moment, all that can be said in elucidation of these objects is said; and patient research into works of other ages, has opened to us all that our ancestors — those fathers of Natural History — thought and wrote upon them. The labour and research exhibited in these pages in distinguishing species deserves our warmest praise, which, we are sure, will not be denied by any Pteridologist, who knows the perplexity caused by the various abnormal forms in ferns, and by the number of varieties falsely elevated to the rank of species. In the year 1690, the the author of the " Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of Creation," published his " Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum," a work characterized by one of our most competent judges, Sir J. E. Smith, as one of the most perfect, systematical, and practical floras of any country. This synopsis contained forty-eight species of ferns, or less by two than the number recorded in the work before us, as being strictly British ; of this number twelve are omitted as being varieties. The next addition will be found in the English Flora, by Sir J. E. Smith, who adds nine, of which six are rejected in the present work — four, Aspidium spinulosum, A. dumetorum, A. irriguum, and Cystopteris dentata, as having no claim whatever to be mentioned even as varieties ; two, Cystopteris regia and Asplenium fontanum, as having been only found on stone walls; two additions are given by Sir W. Hooker, in his British Flora, Aspidium (Lophodium) rigidum, and Hymenophyllum Wilsonii (unilaterale), which are retained under new titles ; and, at sundry times, and in various edi- tions of his British Ferns, Mr. Newman has added nine species — thus making the number of species of ferns found in Britain to be fifty. These fifty are arranged by Mr. Newman into three grades — first, those concerning whose identity there can be no doubt ; secondly, the following four — Woodsia alpina, Cystopteris Dickieana, Ophioglossum lusitanicum, and Hymenophyllum unilaterale, which, though inserted in his pages as established species, still we find botanists, of acknowledged ability, doubtful as to whether they may not be varieties of kindred species; and, thirdly, Asplenium acutum, Polystichum angulare, Lophodium collinum, Amesium germanicum, Lophodium glandulosum, Lophodium uliginosum, Botrychium rutaceum. The claims of these latter to be species the reader will find fully entertained in these pages, under their respective titles. 116 REVIEWS. With respect to A. acutum, they will see its right to rank as a British species ably and candidly discussed in that storehouse of Ferns, "The Phytologist," for February, 1854, No. 103.* The difficulty of pronouncing finally will be understood on reading the last few lines, on the 164th page, where six various names are recorded as given to the one specimen of Lophodium uliginosum. As to the various varieties, each distinguished by some peculiar name, our author seems, in general, like old Parkinson, " to have wholly refused to set downe many descriptions of one herbe, but sometime degenerating ; let one de- scription, therefore, serve instead of many." Having said so much of the number of British Ferns, which, after all the care and discrimination of Mr. Newman, can be hardly said to be yet set- tled, it behoves us to say something of the volume itself, which certainly does the publisher great credit, and, with its bright green and gold cover, looks almost as graceful as the ferns it treats of. Each fern has its history recorded under the following heads: — Character, which contains the diagnosis of the genus and species. Synonymes and Figures, in which the right of priority in nomenclature is strictly stated, and long familiar names disappear before those of older date. Let us hope that the present ones, though for a time distasteful, may be finally adopted, and that collectors may understand each other, and not speak in a foreign tongue. Geographical Range. — Here we have recorded the localities and habitats, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, for the various species ; and, perhaps, no volume, on any branch of British Natural History, has yet been published in which more attention has been paid to our native country, possessing as it does, forty-two of the fifty British Ferns, of which two have not been recorded as occurring elsewhere in the British isles; it has advantages for the Pteridologist, which Mr.Newman has not lost sight of, and ofttimes he thanks our botanists for kindness, and praises our country for its wild though romantic loveliness. Irish naturalists must feel they have not been passed by in perusing this volume. Descriptions. — Which are well written. The chief characteristics recorded and explained so as to materially assist the learner. Varieties. — Some of the most prominent of which are glanced at. Culture. — In which we have the benefit of the author's large experience in this matter, and ample directions to keep these graceful denizens of our woods nearer hand, and constantly under our inspection. * "The Phytologist," a monthly journal, price Is., published by J. V. Voorst, Paternoster- row, London. REVIEWS. 117 In conclusion, we would congratulate the author on the appearance of a third edition, which, though it wants the Equisetaseae and Lycopodasese, still far surpasses its predecessors. "Want of space has kept us from entering into what appears, even to ourselves, to be endless disquisition as to the rights of some forms to the rank of species ; but so much has been written by men more experienced than we are, without finally settling the dispute, and the subjects themselves are so very candidly discussed in this volume, that we prefer sending our readers to the pages themselves, than adding one more to the already large list of disputants. The price of this volume — considering its increase in size — has been materially lessened ; and we hope that every one who cares about the subject will, by securing a copy, help to defray the expense and trouble, which are, we regret to say, neces- sary consequences to ushering into life works on natural science, where they are the result of private enterprise. A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an Account of the Native Tribes. By A. R. Wallace. Pp. 541. 8vo. London : Reeves and Co. 1853. Price 15s. In our last number, when noticing Mr. Wallace's unpretending little work on the Palms of the Amazon Valley, we briefly alluded to the circum- stances under which it was compiled, referring to his work on the Valley of the Amazon for a fuller narrative of the labours of a naturalist in an almost unexplored region. This narrative forms the volume now before us, which contains notes collected during four years' residence in this in- teresting and too little known district. It would be difficult to estimate how deeply science is indebted to wayside notes and jottings brought home by travellers ; observations recorded as trivial, perhaps, at the time, often serve to illustrate or confirm a theory that, in the absence of such inde- pendent testimony, would have scarcely been hazarded, or would have been treated with silent contempt. The present age is eminently remarkable as an age of observation ; and this tendency may, in some measure, have given an impulse to the energies of those who devote their prime to foreign travel, not with the mere design of spending a few years in the gratification of a vacant curiosity, but who go forth with prepared minds, eager to observe all that would be likely to advance the interests of science ; and the result has been the production of a class of works of travel, unsuited, indeed, to the mere literary lounger, but in which the man of science, or of cultivated understanding, will take a deep interest, and which will not be dismissed 118 REVIEWS. only to be forgotten, but be treasured alike for the observations in their pages, and the patient spirit of inquiry in which they were made. The volume of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, by Mr. A. R. Wallace, now before us, is a well marked example of this class, and one that will amply repay a careful perusal. Written under circumstances of great dis- couragement, it nevertheless presents a mass of valuable observations, in- teresting to all true naturalists, as descriptive of a little known, though most luxuriant region. Mr. Wallace, who was most desirous " of seeing with his own eyes all those wonders which he had delighted to read of in the narratives of tra- vellers," was induced, by a perusal of Mr. Edwards' little book, "A Voyage up the Amazon," to start on the same route, purposing to pay his expenses by making collections in natural history; which we are glad to say, for the sake of scientific enterprise, he succeeded in doing. The pages now before us contain an account of how four years could be spent on the Amazon and Rio Negro ; the first and last portions being nearly a transcript of his journals, while the intervening portion is merely gleaned from rough notes saved from the burning of the Helen, the ship in which his homeward voyage was made, and which caused the loss of all the notes made during two years, as well as the greater part of his collections and sketches. The scene chosen for our author's labours was a most encouraging one for the naturalist to explore. Situated, as the basin of the Amazon is, in the Tropics, on both sides of the Equator, it surpasses in dimensions that of any other river in the world. The body of fresh water it empties into the sea is not only absolutely, but also, in all probability, relatively to its area, greater than that of any other river in the world. For richness of vegetable production, and fertility of soil, it is unequalled in the globe, and capable of supporting a greater population than any other of equal ex- tent. From about 4° north latitude, to 20° south, every stream that flows down the eastern slope of the Andes is a tributary of the Amazon. Some idea, though a faint one, may be formed by imagining every river, from St. Petersburg to Madrid, uniting their waters into one large river. The true source of the Amazon our author, for several reasons, judges to be the Maranon ; and, speaking of its extent, he says : — " We find that, from its origin in Lake Lauricocha to its mouth, in longitude 50° west, its length, following the main curves, but disregarding the minuter windings, is 2,740 English miles. Its extent, in a straight line, from east to west, is about 2,050 miles; and from north to south its tributary streams cover a space of 1,720 miles. The whole area of its basin, except the Tocatius, which I consider a distinct river, is 2,300,000 English square miles, or 1,760,000 nautical ones ; this is rather more than one- third of South America, and equal to two-thirds of all Europe. All western Europe could be placed in it without touching its boundaries, and it could contain all our Indian empire." REVIEWS. 119 The tributary streams, watering this vast territory, are numerous, and present to the naturalist some very remarkable differences in the character of the vegetation on their banks, the animals that inhabit them, and even the very colour of their water. This last point of difference is so remarkable as to enable them to be classed in three great groups — the white-water rivers, the blue-water rivers, and the black-water rivers. To the first of these divisions the main stream of the Amazon itself belongs ; and it would appear that its colour (a pale yellowish olive) is not entirely dependent on free, earthy matter, but rather on some colouring material, held in solution. All the rivers that rise in the mountains of Brazil belong to the blue or clear water class ; of these the principal are the Tocatiiis, the Xingu, and the Tapajoz. Above the Madeira the black-water rivers are first met with. Of these the Rio Negro is the most celebrated ; it rises in 2° 30' N. lat., where its waters are much blacker than in the lower part of its course. The peculiar colour of these rivers would appear to be produced by the solution of decaying leaves, roots, and other vegetable matter. The examination of the geological peculiarities of so vast an area, and the comparative rarity of natural sections falling under the observations of a single individual, is of but little value. It is, however, remarkable that Mr. "Wallace was unable to find any trace of fossil remains, which prevents any geological age being assigned to the various beds of rock which occur. To the botanist, however, the riches of this district are most attractive. Mr. Wallace thus speaks of the vegetation : — " Perhaps no country in the world contains such an amount of vegetable matter on its surface as the valley of the Amazon. Its entire extent, with the exception of some very small portions, is covered with one dense and lofty primeval forest — the most extensive and unbroken which exists upon the earth. It is the great feature of the country — that which at once stamps it as a unique and peculiar region. It is not here, as on the coasts of southern Brazil or on the shores of the Pacific, where a few days' journey suffices to carry us beyond the forest district and into the parched plains and rocky serras of the interior. Here we may travel, for weeks and months inland, in any direction, and find scarcely an acre of ground unoccupied by trees. It is far up in the interior, where the great mass of this mighty forest is found ; not on the lower part of the river, near the coast, as is generally supposed. u A line from the mouth of the river Parnaiba, in long. 41° 30' W., drawn due west towards Guayaquil, will cut the boundary of the great forest in long. 78° 30', and for the whole distance, of about 2,600 miles, will have passed through the centre of it, dividing it into two nearly equal portions. " For the first thousand miles, or as far as long. 56° W., the width of the forest, from north to south, is about 400 miles ; it then stretches out both to the north and south, so that in long. 67 °W. it extends from 7° N., on the banks of the Orinooko, to 18 oS., on the northern slope of the Andes of Bolivia, a distance of more than seventeen hundred miles. From a point about sixty miles south-east of Tabatinga, a circle may be drawn of 1,100 miles in diameter, the whole area of which will be virgin forest." Forests our author regards as the characteristic of the New World, as 120 REVIEWS. steppes and deserts are of the Old. One of the peculiarities of the Amazon forests is the variety of species of trees of which they are composed, " two individuals of the same species scarcely ever occurring together, ex- cept in certain cases, principally among the palms." Among the produc- tions met with in these forests are the Indja-rubber (Siphonia elastica), and the Brazil-tree nut ; which latter is thus described : — u The Brazil-nuts, from the Bertholletia excelsa, are brought chiefly from the interior ; the greater part from the country around the junction of the Rio Negro and Madeira with the Amazon rivers. This tree takes more than a whole year to produce and ripen its fruits. In the month of January I observed the trees loaded at the same time with flowers and ripe fruits, both of which were falling from the tree ; from these flowers would be formed the nuts of the following year ; so that they, probably, require eighteen months for their complete development from the bud. The fruits, which are nearly as hard and heavy as cannon-balls, fall with tremendous force from the height of a hundred feet, crashing through the branches and undergrowth, and snapping off large boughs which they happen to strike against. Persons are sometimes killed by them, and accidents are not unfrequent among the Indians engaged in gathering them. M The fruits are all procured as they fall from the tree. They are collected together in small heaps, where they are opened with an axe, an operation that requires some practice and skill, and the triangular nuts are taken out, and carried to the canoes in baskets. Other trees of the same family (Lecythidece) are very abundant, and are remarkable for their curious fruits, which have lids, and are shaped like pots or cups — whence they are called ' pot-trees.' Some of the smaller ones are called by the natives ' cuyas de macaco' — monkey's calabashes." Amid all the brilliancy of tropical vegetation seen under its favourable aspect, Mr. Wallace (whose pages bear ample evidence of his power of appreciating the beautiful) does not quite forget home scenes and home beauties, and he thus contrasts them : — " There is grandeur and solemnity in the tropical forest, but little of beauty or brilliancy of colour. The huge buttress trees, the fissured trunks, the extraordinary air roots, the twisted and wrinkled climbers, and the elegant palms, are what strike the attention and fill the mind with admiration, and surprise, and awe. But all is gloomy and solemn, and one feels a relief on again seeing the blue sky, and feeling the scorching rays of the sun. M It is on the roadside and on the rivers' banks, that we see all the beauty of the tropical vegetation. There we find a mass of bushes and shrubs, and trees of every height, rising over one another, all exposed to the bright light and the fresh air ; and putting forth, within reach, their flowers and fruit, which, in the forest, only grow far up on the topmost branches. Bright flowers and green foliage com- bine their charms, and climbers with their flowery festoons cover over the bare and decaying stems. Yet, pick out the loveliest spots, whene the most gorgeous flowers of the tropics expand their glowing petals, and for every scene of this kind we may find another at home of equal beauty, and with an equal amount of brilliant colour. u Look at a field of buttercups and daisies — a hill-side covered with gorse and broom— a mountain rich with purple heather — or a forest -glade azure with a carpet of wild hyacinths, and they will bear a comparison with any scene the tropics can produce. I have never seen anything more glorious than an old crab-tree in full blossom ; and the horse-chesnut, lilac, and laburnum will vie with the choicest tropical trees and shrubs. In the tropical waters are no more beautiful plants than our white and yellow water-lilies, our irises, and flowering rush ; for I cannot con- sider the flower of the Victoria regia more beautiful than that of the Nymphtpa REVIEWS. 121 alba, though it may be larger ; nor is it so abundant an ornament of the tropical waters as the latter is of ours." We have extracted this passage, as affording an instance of the absence of exaggeration which pervades this volume. We regret that we cannot extract any passages from the able summary of zoology of the district, which presents some curious peculiarities of local distribution. The eth- nological notes and vocabularies, which conclude the volume, are from the pen of Dr. Latham, and give still greater value to a work, which will be gladly read by all who are interested in the labours of a naturalist in the tropics. My School and Schoolmasters. By Hugh Miller. Second edition. 8vo. Pp. 537. Edinburgh : Johnstone and Hunter. Price 7s. 6d. In these pages we have the autobiography of an observant mind while passing through a chequered life — " a sort of educational treatise in a narrative form" — from the pen of one who owes much to his own exer- tions, and who is now reaping the harvest of a life of self-discipline and self-culture ; honoured by all who have the privilege of his friendship, or can esteem his virtues. Mr. Miller is the descendant of a long line of sea-faring men — skilful and adventurous sailors — some of whom had coasted along the Scottish shores as early as the times of Sir Andrew Wood, and the " Bold Bartons," and mayhap had helped to man that " verrie monstrous schippe, the Great Michael," that " cumbered all Scotland to get her to the sea." His father, " one of the best sailors that ever sailed the Moray Firth," was lost at sea, in the year 1807, when our author was only five years old ; and from this period his recollections date. Though commencing so early, his impressions bear with them the stamp of sincerity, and are most interesting when taken in connection with the influence his earliest years appear to have exercised over his after life. When only five years old he was sent to a dame's school, where it was not until his sixth year, when his mind was called into exercise by a perusal of the story of Joseph, he made the greatest of all discoveries, " that the art of reading is the art of finding stories in books ;" and from that moment a new era dawned on our author, and the embryo geologist collected a library in a box of birchen bark, about nine inches square, which he found quite large enough to contain a great many immortal works suited to his years, for " Those intolerable nuisances, the useful-knowledge books, had not yet arisen, like tenebrious stars, on the educational horizon, to darken the world and shed VOL. I. K 122 REVIEWS. their baneful influence on the u youthhood ;" and so, from rudimental books — books that make themselves truly such by their thorough assimilation with the rudimental mind — he passed on, without being conscious of break or line of division, to books on which the learned are content to write commentaries and dissertations, but which he found to be quite as nice books as any of the others." From a very early period, one of his uncles (Alexander) appears to have exercised a very strong influence on his after life ; and it is interesting to find that " he had a decided turn for natural history." Mr. Miller's collec- tion still contains a murex which " Uncle Sandy" had transformed from the bank to his pocket, during the landing in Egypt, under Sir Kalph Abercrombie — for he was a sailor. In his twelfth year he was transferred to the grammar school of the parish, where, among other studies, he learned a good deal of "pig-anatomy," and "the take and curing of her- rings," both of which he had ample opportunities of observing, and which his even then keen, intelligent eye did not neglect. The school, in its ordinary acceptation, was not where Mr. Miller was fitted to write the " Foot-prints of the Creator," or " The Old Ked Sandstone ;" his leisure hours were spent on the Cromarty beach, sauntering over the pebble beds, observing the component parts of the different rocks which lay strewed around ; and totally deficient of a scientific vocabulary, by a self- devised system of notation he had learned to form an idea of the mineralogical character of the rocks he was studying. The self-reliant, thoughtful boy now was truly father to the man ; such mental exercise was true educa- tion, and worth more, for all the practical purposes of life, than hours trifled away in profitless labour, where neither the head nor the heart are really engaged. We cannot loiter over the tempting narrative of the early days of the poet ; for then he wrote verses ; and naturalist ; not even the description of the dreamer, " Francie," who certainly must have been a playmate and fellow-trifler of our own boyhood, may tempt us ; nor will we pause to describe the never-to-be-forgot ten wonders of the " Doocot Cave," and the dreary nights the young votaries of science passed in it. If our readers take up " My School and Schoolmasters," and really can love or appreciate a truthful picture, they will not quickly lay it down ; and when they do, visions of beauty will pass before their eyes which they would gladly realize. We must pass over a few years of the boy-student's life, spent with profit in the great school of nature, not because they do not furnish much material for reflection, as we have learned much in the perusal of their history, and we enter on a new school where young Miller found himself standing, face to face, with a life of labour and restraint. If we felt an interest in the education of his mind to this point, it is now deepened by our admiration of the manly, high-toned principle that led REVIEWS. 123 him to adopt a life of labour. We doubt that out of Scotland a second Hugh Miller could be found ; and, we feel assured, the history of such "a mind cannot fail to exercise an influence for good on all who read it. The husband of one of our author's maternal aunts was a mason ; and with him he agreed to serve a period of three years as apprentice. Soon after he became acquainted with the " Easie Lias," a deposit rich in organism, which are thus described : — " These Liasic beds, with their separating bands, are a sort of boarded books ; for as a series of volumes reclining against a granite pedestal in the geologic library of nature, I used to find pleasure in regarding them. The limestone bands, elaborately marbled with lignite, ichthyolite, and shell, form the stiff boarding ; the pasteboard-like laminae between — tens and hundreds of thousands in number in even the slimmer volumes — compose the closely -written leaves. I say closely written, for never yet did signs or characters lie closer on page or scroll than do the organisms of the Lias on the surface of these leaf-like lamina?. I can scarce hope to communicate to the reader, after the lapse of so many years, an adequate idea of the feeling of wonder which the marvels of this deposit excited in my mind, wholly new as they were to me at the time. Even the fairy lore of, my first-formed library — that of the birchen-box — had impressed me less. The general tone of the colouring of these written leaves, though dimmed by the action of untold centuries, is still very striking. The ground is invariably of a deep, neutral gray, verging on black ; while the flattened organisms, which present about the same degree of relief as one sees in the figures of an embossed card, contrast with it in tints that vary from opaque to silvery white, and from pale yellow to an umbry or chestnut brown. Groupes of ammonites appear as if drawn in white chalk ; clusters of a minute undescribed bivalve are still plated with thin films of the silvery nacre ; the mytiliceas usually bear a warm tint of yellowish brown, and must have been bril- liant shells in their day ; gryphites and oysters are always of a dark gray, and plagiostomas ordinarily of a blueish or neutral tint. On some of the leaves curious pieces of incident seem recorded. We see fleets of minute terebratulas, that ap- pear to have been covered up by some sudden deposit from above when riding at their anchors ; and whole argosies of ammonites, that seem to have been wrecked at once by some untoward accident, and sent crushed and dead to the bottom. Assemblages of bright black plates, that shine like pieces of Japan work, with numerous parallelogramical scales bristling with nail-like points, indicate where some armed fish of the old ganoid order lay down and died ; and groups of belem- nites, that lie like heaps of boarding pikes thrown carelessly on a vessel's deck on the surrender of the crew, tell where sculls of cuttle- fishes of the ancient type had ceased to trouble the waters. I need scarce add, that these spear-like belemnites formed the supposed thunderbolts of the deposit. Lying athwart, some of the pages thus strangely inscribed, we occasionally find, like the dark hawthorn leaf in Bewick's well-known vignette, slim-shaped leaves coloured in deep umber ; and branches of extinct pines, and fragments of strangely- fashioned ferns, form their more ordinary garnishing. Page after page, for tens and hundreds of feet together, repeats the same wonderful story. The great Alexandrian Library, with its tomes of ancient literature, the accumulation of long ages, was but a meagre collection — not less puny in bulk than recent in date — compared with this marvellous library of the Scotch Lias." We sincerely regret that we cannot transfer to our pages more of Mr. Miller's history — how the working mason became accountant ata bank — married — became editor of the " Witness" newspaper, which his zeal and energy quickly raised to a high standing. Every page of his narrative abounds in description, valuable to the naturalist, proceeding, as they do, 124 REVIEWS. from the pen of one who has been educated in a school, and under school- masters from whom we rarely meet with a pupil. We cannot, however, pass by one extract on the " Red Sandstone of Cromarty:" — "A rich ichthyolitic deposit of the Old Red Sandstone lies, as I have already said, within less than half a mile of the town of Cromarty, and, when fatigued by my calculations on the bank, I used to find delightful relaxation to lay open its fish by scores, and to study their peculiarities as exhibited in their various states of keeping, until, at length, I became able to determine their several genera and species from even the minutest fragments. The number of ichthyolites which that deposit of itself furnished — a patch little more than forty yards square — seemed altogether astonishing. It supplied me with specimens, at almost every visit, for ten years together. Nor, though after I left Cromarty for Edinburgh it was often explored by geologic tourists, and by a few cultivators of science in the place, was it wholly exhausted for ten years more. The ganoids of the second age of vertibrate exist- ence must have congregated as thickly in that spot, in the times of the Lower Old Red Sandstone, as herrings do now, in their season, on the best fishing banks of Caithness or the Moray Firth. I was for some time greatly puzzled to restore these ancient fishes, by the peculiarities of their organization. It was in vain I examined every species of fish caught by the fishermen of the place, from the dogfish and the skate to the herring and the mackarel. I could find in our recent fishes no such scales of enamelled bone as those which covered the Dipterians and the Celacanths, and no such plate- encased animals as the Coccosteus or Pterichthys. On the other hand, with the exception of a double line of vertebral processes in the Coccosteus, I could find in the ancient fishes no internal skeleton : they had apparently worn all their bones outside, where the Crustaceans wear their shells, and were furnished inside with but frameworks of perishable cartilage. It seemed somewhat strange, too, that the geologists who occasionally came my way — some of them men of eminence — seemed to know even less about my Old Red fishes and their peculia- rities of structure than I did myself. I had represented the various species of deposit simply by numerals, which not a few of the specimens of my collection still retain on their faded labels ; and waited until some one should come the way, learned enough, to substitute for my provisional figures words by which to designate them ; but the necessary learning seemed wanting, and I, at length, came to find that I had got into a terra incognita in the geological field, the greater portion of whose organizms were unconnected with human language. They had no represen- tatives among the vocables. " I formed my first imperfect acquaintance with the recent ganoidal fishes, in 1836, from a perusal of the late Dr. Hibbert's paper on the deposit of Burdiehouse, which I owed to the kindness of Mr. George Anderson. Dr. Hibbert, in illustra- ting the fishes of the Coal Measures, figured and briefly described the Lepidosteus of the American rivers as a still surviving fish of the early type ; but his description of the animal, though supplemented shortly after by that of Dr. Buckland, in his Bridgewater Treatise, carried me but a little way. I saw that two of the Old Red genera — Osteolepis and Diplopterus — resembled the American fish externally. It will be seen that the first-mentioned of these ancient ichthyolites bears a name com- pounded, though, in the reverse order, of exactly the same words. But while I found the skeleton of the Lepidosteus described as remarkably hard and solid, I could detect in the Osteolopis and its kindred genus no trace of internal skeleton at all. The Cephalaspian genera, too — Coccosteus and Pterichthys — greatly puz- zled me ; I could find no living analogues for them ; and so, in my often repeated attempts at restoration, I had to build them up, plate by plate, as a child sets up its dissected map or picture, bit by bit — every new specimen that turned up fur- nishing a key for some part previously unknown — till at length, after many an abortive effort, the creatures rose up before me in their strange, unwonted propor- tions, as they had lived, untold ages before, in the primeval seas. The extraor- dinary form of Pterichthys filled me with astonishment; and, with its arched carpace and flat plastron restored before me, I leaped to the conclusion, that as the recent Lepidosteus, with its ancient representatives of the Old Red Sandstone, were REVIEWS. 125 sauroid fishes — strange connecting links between fishes and alligators*— so the Pterichthys was a Chelonian fish — a connecting link between the fish and the tortoise. A gurnard — insinuated so far through the shell of a small tortoise as to suffer its head to protrude from the anterior opening, furnished with oar-hke pad- dles instead of pectoral fins, and with its caudal fin clipped to a point — would, I found, form no inadequate representative of this strangest of fishes. And when, some years after, I had the pleasure of introducing it to the notice of Agassiz, I found that, with all his world-wide experience of its class, it was as much an object of wonder to him as it had been to myself. ' It is impossible,' we find him saying, in his great work, ' to see aught more bizarre in all creation than the Pterichthyan genus : the same astonishment that Cuvier felt in examining the Plesiosaurus, I myself experienced when Mr. H. Miller, the first discoverer of these fossils, showed me the specimens which he had detected in the Old Red Sandstone of Cromarty.' And there were peculiarities about the Coccosteus that scarce less excited my wonder than the general form of the Pterichthys, and which, when I first ventured to describe them, were regarded by the higher authorities in Palaeontology as mere blunders on the part of the observer. I have, however, since succeeded in demon- strating that, if blunders at all — which I greatly doubt, for Nature makes very few — it was Nature herself that was in error, not the observer. In this strange Coccostean genus, Nature did place a group of opposing teeth in each ramus of the lower jaw, just in the line of the symphysis — an arrangement unique, so far as is yet known, in the vertebrate division of creation, and which must have rendered the mouth of these creatures an extraordinary combination of the horizontal mouth proper to the vertebrata, and of the vertical mouth proper to the crustaceans. It was favourable to the integrity of my work of restoration, that the press was not waiting for me, and that when portions of the creatures on which I wrought were wanting, or plates turned up whose places I was unable to determine, I could lay aside my self-imposed task for the time, and only resume it when some new-found specimen supplied me with the materials requisite for carrying it on. And so the restorations which I completed in 1840, and published in 1841, were found, by our highest authorities in 1848, after they had been set aside for nearly six years, to be essentially the true ones after all. I see, howeverv that one of the most fanciful and monstrous of all the interim restorations of Pterichthys given to the world — that made by Mr. Joseph Dinkel, in 1844, for the late Dr. Mantell, and published in the ' Medals of Creation,' has been reproduced in the recent illustrated edition of the ' Vestiges of Creation.' But the ingenious author of that work would scarce act prudently were he to stake the soundness of his hypothesis on the inte- grity of the restoration. For my own part, I consent, if it can be shown that the Pterichthys, which once lived and moved on this ancient globe of ours, ever either rose or sank into the Sterichthys of Mr. Dinkel, freely and fully to confess, not only the possibility, but also the actuality, of the transmutation of both species and genera. I am first, however, prepared to demonstrate, before any competent jury of Palaeontologists in the world, that not a single plate or scale of Mr. Dinkel s restoration represents those of the fish which he professed to restore ; that the same judgment applies equally to his restoration of Coccosteus ; and that, instead of re- producing in his figures the true forms of ancient Cephalaspians, he has merely given, instead, the likeness of things that never were 'in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth.' " We have endeavoured to give our readers some idea of this most remarkable autobiography, in which is portrayed the working of a sensitive and observing mind in its passage through the great school of life. It is a book calculated at once to please and instruct all who are capable of reflecting on the aim with which it is written — to rouse to the impor- tant work of self-culture and self-government. Though there will be found in it the ordinary faults of an autobiography, still the absence of false sentiment and exaggeration must commend themselves even to the most 12C REVIEWS. critical, and while the descriptions of scenery and pictures of Scottish life will interest the general readers, the man of science will be glad to have an opportunity of perusing the life-long education of one who keeps his eyes and mind open, though often pursued in a bitter school. To another class of readers it might prove beneficial — we mean those employed in the work of education ; but we fear that long-cherished prejudices will prevent their being awakened to a sense of the true object of all education — self-govern- ment and self-culture ; wanting which, the most " finished scholars" they can " turn out" will be but pieces of animated mechanism, unable to reason with judgment or act with independence. The Micrographic Dictionary; a Guide to the Investigation and Structure of Microscopic Objects. By J. W. Griffith, M.D., F.L.S., &c, and A. Henfrey, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. 8vo. London: J. Van Voorst. Parts 1 and 2. Price 2s. 6d. each. We have here the promise of a want, long felt by the microscopist, being ably supplied. The progress which natural science has made in the last few years, while it has opened out new fields of research, has also created fresh difficulties to be overcome; and the task of lightening the toil of the eager and anxious student is one that requires considerable ability and discrimi- nation to be pursued with success. In no country has the naturalist been provided with the materials for study in greater abundance than in our own ; A series of British monagraphs has issued from the press of Van Voorst, each edited by a master hand. To all of these the " Microscopic Dictionary" promises to be an indispensable adjunct. No field can open out for the la- bours of the naturalist in which he may not expect to find some informa- tion in its pages. The hands into which the editorship has fallen form a sure guarantee for the ability with which it will be conducted, both its edi- tors being men who, in addition to other qualifications, have had many years' experience in the use of the microscope, in the most varied fields of research; and the present publication may be regarded as, in some measure, the result of their past labours. The numbers now before us con- tain the introduction (which should be carefully read by all who intend purchasing an instrument), and a portion of the letter A; several carefully- executed plates illustrate each part — some of which are coloured. Before taking leave of this publication, which we purpose noticing more fully at a future time, we would wish to state the intentions of the editors as to the subjects to which its pages will be devoted — "1. Instruction in the selection and use of microscopes, and of the various essential pieces of apparatus connected with them, a description of the methods of ascertaining the structure of the objects, which can only be studied by their aid. KE VIEWS. 127 u 2. The characters, structure, and, as far as possible, the natural history of the genera and species of British animals and plants of microscopic dimensions, together with a description of the microscopic organs and appendages of animals and vegetables generally. "3. An account of the elementary tissues of two great kingdoms of organized beings, with full information as to the methods to be pursued in this department. u 4. The distinguishing characters of the inorganic matters occurring in animal and vegetable fluids." We need now only add, that this work will appear in monthly parts — price half-a-crown each, and that it is proposed to be completed in about 12 parts, and will be illustrated with about forty plates. Botanical Letters to a Friend. By Dr. F. Unger. (Translated by Dr. B. Paul.) Pp. 116. 8vo. London : Samuel Highley. Price 5s. These very attractive letters which are now issued in an English dress, as part of " Highley's Library of Science and Art," will, doubtless, be gladly hailed by many wTho could only be acquainted with them through the medium of a translation. Their author is already well known as the founder of a natural system of Fossil Plants, published in Endlicher's Genera Plantarum. Though, we confess, they bear but too evident traces of being a trans- lation, they are, nevertheless, pleasingly written, and form a most welcome addition to our stock of botanical text books. The views advanced are stated with a simplicity and clearness not often to be found in writers of the school to which Dr. Unger belongs, and, while some of the theories propounded will meet with but little favour from many British botanists, still a statement of them put forward in a popular form will be thankfully received. It was our intention to have presented our readers with a few extracts from the concluding letters which are most suggestive, but we refrain from a conviction of how disjointed any extract from a letter must necessarily appear to those who are unacquainted with the original. We would, however, refer them to the sketches of the " Plant-world" as contained in the 15th and 16th letters ; here it is viewed under the heads of " Local Distribution" and " Chronological Aspect" as deserving of an attentive perusal, and likely to afford matters for reflection even to those who are disposed to question the views which are contained in them. The work is neatly brought out, and the wood cuts, which are numerous, greatly enhance its value to the student, from the strict accuracy of their details. Considerable praise is due to the exertions of the publisher of the series of which this forms a portion; and we will be much surprised if it does not meet with considerable support, if conducted at all equal to Dr. Unger's Botanical Letters, which we gladly recommend to our botanical readers. ftoticts of SkxM ffiMrttim. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, etc. Tome xx., Nos. 4: & 5. Paris : Chez Victor Masson. Botanique. — Note sur la Galle des tiges du Poa nemoralis, par M. T. Prilleux (suite). Nouvelles observations relatives a raccroissement en diametre des arbres dicotyledones, par M. A. Trecul ; Vingt-deuxieme Notice sur les Plantes Crypto- games, recemment decouvertes en France, par M. J. B. H. J. Desmazieres ; Memoire sur la Formation des Feuilles, par M. A. Trecul. Zoologie — Me- moire sur la famille des Ocypodiens, par M. Milne Edwards (suite) ; Note sur le genre Hyanarctos, par M. Paul Gervais; Description osteologique de VAnomalurus, et remarques sur la classification naturelle des Rongeurs, par M. Paul Gervais ; Analyse des observations des M. Muller sur le developpement des Echinodermes, par M. Camille Dareste. Zoologie. — Analyse des observations sur le developpement des Echinodermes, par M. Camille Dareste (suite) ; Description de quelques especes de Phoques et de cetaces, par M. Paul Gervais ; Recherches sur l'osteologie des plusceurs especes d'Amphisbenes et remarques sur la classification des ces Reptiles, par M. Paul Gervais ; Note sur le Glossololiga poireti et l'Euproctus Rusconij, par M. Paul Gervais ; Nouvelles observations sur le developpement des vers certo'ides, par M. Van Beneden ; Additions a la note sur le developpement des vers intestinaces, par M. Wagner. Botanique — Memoire sur la formation des feuilles, par M. A. Trecul (suite) ; Lichenes Algerienses novi, quos exposuit, W. Nylande, Dr. M. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, including Zoology, Botany, and Geology. No. 76, April ; No. 77, May. 8vo. London : Taylor and Francis. No. 76, April: — (Muller, Johannes) On the Structure of the Echinoderms (concluded) ; (Berkeley, Rev. M. J.) Description of a new species of Closterium, to which the specific name Griffithii has been given ; (Layard, E. L.) Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon (continued). Among these very interesting notes we were much struck with the account of the Basket-maker Bird (Ploces Philippinus, Linn.) which is pretty generally scattered through the islands. It breeds in June, fabricating the hanging nests which are so well known to naturalists. The male bird has a nest for himself, which is similar to that for breeding in, except that it has no gallery, and the chamber that contains the eggs in the one has no bottom in the other, so that the droppings of the bird— which always sits with its head towards the opening which replaces the gallery— fall through to the ground. The natives all state that the male bird conveys fireflies to its nest, and sticks them NOTICES OF SERIALS. 129 to the side, by means of mud, for the purpose of illuminating its dwelling. Mr. Layard will not vouch, from personal observation, for this fact, but suggests that the patch of mud which the bird places on each side of its perch, may be used for the purpose of sharpening its bill ; and that, perhaps, the husks of seeds, or the wing-cases of a stray beetle, left sticking upon it, may have given rise to the idea which the natives entertain. (Leighton, Rev. W. A.) Monograph of the British Graphideae (continued) ; (Sedgwick, Rev. Professor) A reply to two statements published by the Palaeontographical Society, in their volume for 1853 ; the one appearing to accuse the University of Cambridge of illiberality in the administration of the Museum ; the other reflecting on the character of Professor M'Coy. This dispute arose from a passage in one of the publications of the Palaeontographical Society, in which the editors — MM. Edwards and Haime — would lead their readers to infer that " they had personally made an application for certain Palasazoic fossils in the Cambridge Museum, which had been rejected ; that this rejection was in disadvantageous contrast with the liberal conduct of all other public bodies to which they had applied ; that their loss on account of this rejection was the less because Professor M'Coy had (since) published and figured {First Cambridge Fasicules, May, 1851) nearly all the species of which they were anxious to have the loan ; that the Professor had made an unfair use of their first part of British Fossil Corals {i.e., Tertiary and Cretaceous Corals, as published in 1850) ; and to cover his plagiarisms, he had misdated a portion of his own labours, and virtually stated what was not true." These are grave charges, which we have stated in Professor Sedge- wick's language, and to which the letters of Professors Sedgwick and M'Coy are in answer to. (Greville, R. K.) Notice of the occurrence of Desmarestia Dresnayi on the coast of Ireland. This alga, the occurrence of which was already noticed by us, was collected towards the close of last year, near the mouth of Lough Foyle, in the north of Ireland, by William Sawyers and Morrison, Esqrs., and com- municated by the former gentleman to Professor Balfour, by whom specimens were placed in Mr. Greville's hands for examination. Dr. Montague pronounced it to be identical with the alga found by him at Port St. Sebastian, in 1823, and pub- lished by him in M Annales des Sciences Naturelles," for 1842, p. 251, t. 7, f. 2, under the name Desmarestia pinnatinervia. Dr. Montague obtained only a single specimen, scarcely more than four inches high, fully two inches wide, and truncate. M. Crouan has likewise met with it, but rarely, at Brest, and regards it as a variety of Desmarestia Dresnayi of Lamouroux, described and figured in the " Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles," torn, xiii., p. 105. Professor J. Aghard, the most recent authority, in his Species, Genera et Ordines Algarium, refers both alga to varieties of Desmarestia liguilata ; but still in- cludes D. pinnatinervia among his " Species inquirendas." The Irish plants, now described, would appear to form an intermediate link between these two forms. They have a slender, well-defined stipes, half an inch long or more, a linear lanceolate front, from 12 to 18 inches long, and 2 to 4 inches broad ; margin more or less sinuous or dentate. A very fine but perceptible nerve runs from base to apex, from which lateral ones, opposite and frequently forked, are given out at intervals of half an inch ; these, which in dried specimens are somewhat incon- spicuous, terminate in the marginal denticulations ; colour, in fresh state, that of a Lamminaria, but with a thinner substance. (Williams, Thomas) On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration, and the Structure of the Organs of Breathing 130 NOTICES OF SERIALS. in the Invertebrate Animals. We postpone any notice of this paper till its conclu- sion, as we find it is likely to lead to some controversy from the pen of Mr. George Newport, who, in a letter to the editors of the " Annales," expresses M his surprise and regret at such a mass of erroneous statements ;" and states his intention of endeavouring to remedy the injury which these errors are likely to do to science by their promulgation. In the meantime, those who take any interest in this subject should give Dr. "Williams's papers an impartial perusal, as they evidence considerable care and attention, and will, no doubt, prove most suggestive to the inquirer. (Wright, Thomas) Contributions to the Palaeontology of Gloucester- shire. A description of some new species of Echinodermata, from the Lias and Oolites. Bibliographical Notices — (Unger, Dr. F.) Botanical Letters; (De Selys- Lonchamps, M. E.) Synopsis de Calopterygines, Brussels, 1853. Proceedings of Societies — Royal Institution of Great Britain — (Owen, Professor) On the Structure and Homologies of Teeth. Zoological Society — Specimen of Echiodon Drummondii (see Yarrell, Brit. Fishes, vol. ii., page 417), found on the shore of the harbour of Valentia, Co. Kerry, after a violent storm from the west, which occurred on 23rd of January last. (Scott, A. W.) On Cystosoma Saundersii of Curtis and Westwood. Botanical Society of Edinburgh. Miscellaneous — (De Tchihatcheff, M. P.) On Vegetation of Mount Argaeus, in Cappadocia ; (Gray. Dr. J. E.) On genera Volutella and Cymbiola ; (Kingsley, G. H.) On Notamea bursaria ; (Reave, Lovell) On a new species of Helix, from Van Dieman's Land ; (Martens, M.) On Colours of Plants. No. 77, May: — (Sclater, P. L.) Synopsis of the Fissisostral family, Bucconedce ; (Tyther, Capt. R. C.) On Fauna of Barrackpore ; (Wright, Thomas) Palaeonto- logy of Gloucestershire (continued); (Bowerbank, J. S.) Reply to statements of Professor Sedgewick. This letter, from the honorary secretary of the Palaeonto- graphical Society, which, though firm, is still courteously written, clearly shows, that the conversations respecting " the Cambridge Fossils" was regarded by those engaged in the Palaeontographical Society's memoir, as a refusal to render them available for the purpose of that society. We deeply regret that there should be even an apparent want of courtesy shown by one naturalist to another, and the more so as it was, in this case, shown to one who was not a fellow-countryman. We, however, hope that the matter may still be so explained, as to prove that it was not intended to obstruct the efforts of those labouring for the Palagontographi- cal Society, when anxious to present its members with as a complete a monograph of the British fossil corals as materials existed for doing. We cannot conceive what purpose museums were ever intended for, unless to preserve, in a collected form, and to render available, under the most liberal regulations, to the student, all their treasures ; and we would hope, that no narrow-minded policy would prevent the, we must say, most reasonable request of M. Milne Edwards being acceeded to, if made, not to individuals, but to the " Board of Auditors," or whoever else may be the governing body of the Cambridge Museum. The correspondence that has taken place will do, we are assured, considerable service, by teaching Museum Curators and University Professors that the opportunities placed at their disposal by their position, were never intended for exclusive use, or as means of personal aggrandizement, but that others have, under proper regulations, an equal right to share in them. (Leighton, Rev. W. A.) Monograph of British Graphideae (con- tinued) ; (Berkeley, Rev. M. J.) Notices of British Fungi ; (Gray, J. E., Ph. D.) NOTICES OF SERIALS. 131 A Revision of the Arrangement of Bivalve Shells (Conchifera) ; (Gray, J. E., Ph. D.) On Reproduction of lost part of an Operculum, and of its probable Re- storation when entirely destroyed. Proceedings of Societies — Linnean — (Yates, J.) On inflorescence of Cycas revoluta and Macrozamia spiralis ; (Clarke, J.) On the parasitic habits of Bhinanthus Crista-galli ; (Newport, G.) On the Reproduction of the lost parts in Earthworms. Three specimens of Earthworms were exhibited, in which the lost parts of their bodies had been reproduced, as formerly proved by the experiments of Bonnet and Spallazani, to take place in these animals. One of the specimens was still living. These specimens possessed some interest from the fact of reproduction in Earthworms, and other annelids having been recently denied. In a report on the British annelida, by Dr. F. Williams (in the Report of the British Association, &c, for 1851), after mentioning the statements made by Bonnet and Spallazani, as quoted by Professor Owen, the following statement occurs: — " On the authority of hundreds of observations, laboriously repeated at every season of the year, the author of this report can declare, with deliberate firmness, that there is not one word of truth in the above statement." " Dr. Williams," Mr. Newport adds, " must have been unfortunate in his statements, since it is no uncommon thing, at this season of the year, to find earthworms with a large proportion of the body restored. (Hooker, Dr. J. D.) On Hodgsonia, a new and remarkable genus of Cucurbitacece ; (Burton, G. B.) Notice of several species of Bats, captured in England last autumn. The species referred to are Vespertilio serotinus, V. Daubentonii, var. emarginatus, and the typical V. Daubentonii. Of V. serotinus, three specimens were captured at Chartam, near Canterbury, in August last, where it appears to be the common bat of the neighbourhood, although Mr. Jenyns, to whom the specimens were submitted, states that he has seen but two other English specimens. Their flight is graceful, but somewhat heavy ; and ap- peared to be limited to about an hour after sunset. They seem to affect the neigh- bourhood of high trees and shady places. V. Daubentonii, var. emarginatus, was captured on the banks of the Stour ; and V. Daubentonii in the church-tower of Christ Church, Hants. (Hogg, J.) Notice of the appearance of Myriads of a species of Aphis, in the North of England, in the autumn of 1852 ; (Seeman, B.) Remarks on Sarsaparillas. Miscellaneous — (Gray, Dr. J. E.) Occurrence of Buncina Hancockii in pools, left between the rocks at low tide, in Belmont Cove, Weymouth, but only on tufts of Hypnea purpuracens, which were infested with Diatomacea, which induces Dr. Gray to believe that they feed on these parasitic plants ; (Dareste, M. Camille) Note on Colouration of Waters of Chinese Sea. In this note is recorded the occurrence in a sample of water from the Chinese Sea (taken at a time when it was coloured to a great extent red and yellow) of Trichodesmium erythrceum, which Ehrenberg described as the cause of the re- colour assumed by the Red Sea at certain periods. Toe Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. No. 7, April. 8vo. London : S. Highley and Co. Price 4s. (Roper, F. C. S.) On the Diatomacas of the Thames ; Report of the Micro- scopical Society {Fourteenth Annual Meeting}. We purpose, in our next num- ber, drawing attention to this document in detail, when speaking of the advance of Microscopical science. (Wenham, F. H.) Theory of the Illumination of Objects 132 NOTICES OF SERIALS. under the Microscope, with relation to the Aperture of the Object Glasses — a paper of great interest to the practical observer. (Hepworth, John) On the Fly's Foot (Mitsca domestica) ; (Allmau, George Jas. A.) On the Involution Theory of the Starch Granule. This paper leads to the following conclusions:— 1st. That the Starch Granule consists of a series of lamellae, in the form of close, hollow shells, included one within another, the most internal enclosing a minute cavity, filled with amorphous (?) amylum ; that the concentric stria? visible in the granule indicate the surfaces of contact of these lamellae ; and that the so-called nucleus of Fritzsche corresponds to the central cavities. 2nd. That while the lamellae all appear to be identical in chemical constitution, yet the internal differ from the external in con- sistency, or other conditions of integration. 3rd. That the order of reposition of the lamellae is Centripetal. 4th. That while the Starch Granule is thus a la- mellated vescicle, it cannot be included in the category of the true vegetable cell, from which it differs, not only in the absence of a proper nucleus, but in presenting no chemical differentiation between membrane and contents. Translations ; Notes and Correspondence, &c. Zoologist. No. 138, April ; No. 139, May ; No. 140, June. 8vo. London : Van Voorst. Is. each number. Within the last three months the following, among other articles, have ap- peared : — No. 138, April :— (Birkbeck, Kobert) Notes on the Birds of Italy and Sicily, made in 1853 ; (Wourse, W. E. C.) Suggestions for ascertaining the Cause of Death in Birds and Animals ; ( Ashford, Charles) List of Fresh-water Mollusks found at Ackwork, Yorkshire; Notices of New Books; Proceedings of So- cieties, &c. No. 139, May : — (Smith, Kev. Alfred Charles) On the Manner in which Parent Birds occasionally remove their Eggs and Young ; a very interesting Paper, evin- cing much patient observation on a comparatively little known subject. (Spicer, J. W. G.) Notes on Hybrid and Gallinaceous Birds ; (Rodd, E. H.) Occurrence of the American Stint (Tringa pusilla) near Penzance ; (Gordon, Rev. George) List of Mollusca found in the province of Moray, and the Moray Firth ; this Paper is a continuation of the Fauna of Moray, previously appearing in the pages of the * Zoologist," &c. No. 140, June :— (Slaney, W. H.) The Corby Crows and the Rooks ; (Smith, R. H. S.) List of Land and Fresh-water Mollusks, found near Sevenoaks, Kent. In this list, which we have reason to believe was originally communicated to the Dublin University Zoological Assocation, we see by the author's remarks on Helix nemoralis and H. hispida, that he is not u an humble convert " to the views of modern Malacologists. (Hogan, A. R.) Catalogue of Coleoptera found in the neighbourhood of Dublin. We are glad to see this list of Dublin Coleoptera — the second which has ever appeared ; nor is its value at all diminished by the high authority on which many of the species are recorded. We hope its publication will serve to increase the diligence of Irish entomologists, as we are disposed to believe that many species found in the district are not as yet enumerated, of which we hope soon to see a supplemental list. Notices of New Books ; Pro- ceedings of Societies, &c. For the list see Proceedings of Dublin University Zoological Association, pp. 32, 88, and 98, as given in our reports of its pro- ceedings.— Eds. NOTICES OF SERIALS. 133 Phytologist. No. 155. 8vo. London : J. Van Voorst. Price Is. April : — (Mudd, William) Account of the Lichens of Cleveland. Proceedings of Societies — Linnean — Inflorescance of Cycas revoluta and Macrozamia spiralis ; Observations on the Parasitism of Rhinanthus Cristi-galli, and its injurious effects on growth of barley. These observations were made in a field, in the parish of Debden, Essex, consisting of about 170 acres, principally a clayey soil, such as is usually called heavy land ; 30 acres were under barley, and of these about 10 were destroyed by this plant. The Rhinanthus (according to Mr. J. Charke, by whom their memoir was read) effects this injury by the fibres of the roots attaching them- selves to the fibres of the barley, on which they form small, round tubers, or what may be more appropriately termed spongioles, which embrace the fibres so effec- tually as to suck the juices of the plant, so as to starve it, and, in most instances, ultimately destroy it. These spongioles are formed of a cellular tissue. The ordinary method employed to destroy weeds, by a summer fallow, does not avail, as the Rhinanthus does not grow in clean earth. The other method of destroying weeds, by green crops in rows, is equally unsuccessful, as it does not grow among green crops. As it is an annual, it should be pulled up before it seeds ; and as it grows on a clay soil, and to no great extent, except in a wet season, the land should be effectually drained. (Hooker, J. D.) On the Genus Hodgsonia; (Henfrey, A.) Remarks on the Eye— spot of Infusoria and Microscopic Algae. Dublin Natural History Society; Botanical Society of Edinburgh— (Balfour, Dr.) On the Pollen of Zamia horrida. The pollen, he stated, to be, in its ordinary condition, ellipti- cal, with a groove in one side, resembling very much a grain of wheat in appear- ance. The groove is formed by the folding inwards of the edges of the pollen grain, which, when fully expanded, under the action of water, becomes completely spherical. When water is applied, under the microscope, to the elliptic pollen- grains of Zamia, the two edges of the groove are seen to unfold and spread, so as to produce the circular grain ; when allowed to dry, the grain resumes the circular grooved condition. It is difficult to say which is the characteristic form — the one being the dry state of the pollen, while the other is the moist condition. (Brown, Rev. Thomas) Muscology of East Court of Fife, including a variety of Muium affine, not previously found in fruit in Britain, besides several other unusual species ; (Sanderson, J. S. B.) Note on the Supposed Antheridia of the Rhamnese ; (Lawson, G.) On the Anatomical Structure of Coniferae and other Gymnogens ; (Moore, Thomas) On Ophioglossum lusitanicum. The existence of this curious little plant, in Guernsey, was first discovered, in the January of the present year, by Mr. Wolsey, who met with it above the rocks, bordering on Petit Bot Bay, in that island. One remarkable feature of the plant, is the early period of the year at which its growth is made. By the middle of January, Mr. W. found the fronds fully developed ; and the fronds, no doubt, perish early in the spring. It is not improbable that a diligent search might be rewarded by its discovery in the western counties of England or Ireland. Its early development and decay should be borne in mind by those who undertake the search. Greenwich Natural History Club— The President, George Burk, .Esq., exhibited a series of leaves of the Bramble (Rubus fruticosus), which he had received from the Midland and Southern Counties of England and Jersey, and which were affected with a disease almost as general as the potato disease. The cause of this disease was a 134 NOTICES OF SERIALS. microscopic fungus, the Erigma (Phragmidiuni) bulbosum, of Berkley ; when mag- nified, it exhibited the appearance of a pedicle, supporting sometimes three, sometimes four (never more than four) sporidia, surmounted by a kind of button, representing an imperfect sporidium. The specimens of Erigma, examined by Mr. Curry, on Rosa}, generally possessed eight sporidia. Hooker's Journal of Botany. No. 63, April ; No. 64, May. 8vo. London : Lovel Reeve. Price 2s. each. No. 63, April :— (Hooker, Sir W. J.) On the " Argan" Tree of Morocco (Ar- gania Sideroxylori). This tree, or shrub, but very little known to European bota- nists, is highly esteemed by the Moors for its useful properties. Through the exertions of Lord Clarendon, seeds and living plants were procured for the Royal Gardens at Kew.* These were accompanied with a descriptive letter from H. Grace, Esq., of Mogador. From this letter it appears that the plant, which attains a great age, is propagated mostly by seed, which is well watered till it shoots ; after this, there is no further care required. When from three to five years old, it bears fruit, which ripens between May and August. When the fruit ripens the cattle are driven to the trees, which are beaten with a long pole, and the ripe fruit which falls is quickly devoured. In the evening, when the flocks are driven home, they commence to chew the cud and throw out the nuts, which are collected every morning, and opened by the women and children, who use a stone for the purpose. The kernels are then parched in a common earthen vessel, ground in the ordinary handmills, and the flour put in pans and kneaded, with a little cold water, until the oil supervates, which is used for many domestic purposes in lieu of olive-oil ; the cake, in which much oil remains, is used to fatten the cattle. Plates of the flowering specimen of the Argan, and various forms of the fruit, accompany this paper. (Spruce, Richard) Journal of a Voyage up Amazon and Rio Negro, con- tinued ; (Bentham, George) Florula Hongkongensis (continued) ; (Roe, J. S.) Report of Journey of Discovery, Western Australia (continued) ; Botanical Infor- mation ; Notices of Books. No. 64, May: — (Berkley, Rev. M. J.) Decades of Indian Fungi (continued), with 2 plates ; (Harvey, W. H.) Three new Algse, from shores of Ceylon — Van- voorstia spectabilis, Claudea multifida, Martensia fragilis. The genus Vanvoor- stia, just founded, and which is closely allied to Claudea, has been, with great propriety, dedicated to the well-known natural history publisher. (Roe, J. S.) Report of Journey of Discovery into Western Australia (continued) ; Botanical Information, &c. The Naturalist : conducted by B. R. Morris. No. 38, April ; No. 39, May ; No. 40, June. 8vo. London : Groombridge and Sons. Price 6d. each number. No. 38, April, 1854 : — Habits of the Fox ; Rare Animals, &c, occurring in Aberdeenshire ; House Sparrow ; Woodcock, remarks on ; Birds occurring near Richmond, Yorkshire ; Coleoptera round Exeter ; Land and Fresh-water Mol- lusca; Miscellaneous Notices ; Proceedings of Societies — Yorkshire Naturalists' * Plants have been successfully raised from seed in the Gardens of the Royal Dublin Society.— Eds. NOTICES OF SERIALS. 135 Club; Alnwick Botanical Society, by the report of which we are glad to see that it is proposed to publish its transactions annually, commencing at the close of the present year with a " Flora of Alnwick," a step which ought to be followed by similar societies, one of whose first objects should always be the careful prepara- tion of local faunas and floras, as in that way can we alone hope to form a correct estimate of the distribution of species. Natural History Society of Glasgow, con- taining a very interesting note, by C. W. Peach, Esq., of Wick, in answer to the ordinary assertion, that " the large Medusa preyed on fishes for food ;" from his observations made on Cyanea aurita and C. capillata, or C. inscripta, of Peron, it would appear that the small fishes rush, when attacked or alarmed, under the umbrella among the tentacnla, taking shelter in the large folds connected with the ova, and remaining there till the danger had passed, when they would emerge, and sport and play about their sheltering friend. So closely would they lie when under the umbrella, on seeing danger, that some young whiting were, at different times, taken into a bucket with their shelter, and when permitted to rest for a short time, they would come out and sport again as in the sea. These observations would cause us to doubt the fish-eating propensities ascribed to these water- framed creatures, and open up a most interesting field of observation for our sea-side naturalists, which, no doubt, they will avail themselves of. Retrospect ; Querist. No. 39, May, 1854 :— Man attacked by Polecats ; Feathered Residents in, or Visitants to, the grounds of Terrick House ; Birds occurring near Richmond, Yorkshire ; Birds, local names of, in North Riding of Yorkshire ; Ornithological Notes ; British Evergreens ; Miscellaneous ; Proceedings of Societies — Royal Society of Edinburgh ; Observations and Discussions on the Structure of the M Torbanehill Mineral, as compared with various kinds of coals," by Professor Bennet. Dr. B. was clearly of opinion that the Torbanehill mineral was a sub- stance distinct from coal, and not to be confounded with it by any one who paid a strict attention to the microscopical character of the two substances. Coal, he believed to be formed by coniferous wood, and the structure which coal exhibited under the microscope accorded with this idea, but in the Torbanehill mineral the wood fibres of Conifera were not seen. He particularly referred to certain bodies of a circular form, which were seen in transverse sections of all true coals, when examined under a high magnifying power. These bodies he considered to form the true marks of coal, and he never found them wanting in any specimens of true coal. But in the Torbanehill mineral they did not occur, and their absence showed it not to be a kind of coal, but a mineral having a different origin." In the discussion which followed, several members took an active part. Professor Balfour, who spoke at considerable length, was of opinion that the Torbanehill mineral was " a cannel coal nearly allied to brown Methill, formed from Acro- genous plants, containing scalariform tissue, and an abundance of yellow gas, giving matter apparently the altered contents of cells." Professor Gregory ap- proved generally of the observations of Professor Balfour, and proceeded to the chemical aspect of the question, and expressed his conviction that the general chemical characters of the mineral did not differ in any essential particular from Methill, and, perhaps, some other kinds of undoubted coals. Dr. Wilson called attention to the affinity that existed between the Torbanehill mineral and bitumi- nous shale. Dr. Douglas Maclagan inquired of Dr. Bennett, with regard to the 136 NOTICES OF SERIALS. structural peculiarities observed in brown Metbill and Torbanehill coals, which led him to conclude that the Torbanehill mineral was not a coal, while the brown Methill was the scattered vessel on which he relied being found in both. To this Dr. Bennett replied, that in the case of the brown Methill coal, the structures alluded to formed the organic basis of the coal, which was not the case in the Torbane mineral where they were purely accidental. Dr. Fleming considered the remarks of Dr. Wilson on bituminous shale as an attempt to draw attention away from the real subject under discussion, and, in reply to Dr. Bennett's statement, that * coal could not be formed of cellular tissue, without the intermixture of vas- cular to a large extent," mentioned, from his own observation, the formation of a bed of peat, many feet in thickness, by a single cellural plant, having no vascular tissue whatever, Tricortomum lanuginosum. Dr. Greville was desirous of correcting a misapprehension of some of his evidence at the trial, in regard to the yellow bodies seen in the Torbanehill mineral ; he was far from saying that they were actual cells in their normal condition ; but, in his own mind, he was perfectly satis- fied that the mineral had a vegetable basis. Seeing there was so much difference of opinion on this subject among scientific men, he thought it a great comfort to those of them who had been examined on the trial, that the decision was not founded on their evidence. Retrospect ; Querist. No. 40, June, 1854 : — (Donaldson, George) The Craig of Ailsa ; (Edward, T.) List of Raised Echinodermata, of Banffshire ; Notes on British Swallows ; (M'Intosh, J.) Injurious Insects — No. 1., The Earwig, Forficula auricularia ; Miscellaneous Notices ; Reviews ; Proceedings of Societies ; Retrospect. Journal of Industrial Progress. No. 4, April; No. 5, May; No. 6, June. Edited by W. K. Sullivan. 8vo. Dublin: W. B. Kelly. Price Is. each. The connection of industrial progress with the labours of the naturalist is much closer than is generally imagined, and the pages of this journal fill a blank long felt and acknowledged in Irish literature. With industrial resources richer than most coun- tries, Ireland has long been neglected by the man of wealth and enterprise ; the causes which led to so unfortunate a result does not fall within our promise to com- ment upon ; but we trust, from the appearance of such a periodical, and the ability with which it has been conducted, that a brighter prospect is now opening out in the development of its resources. The zeal and energy which cha- racterize our fellow labourers, will quickly prove, even to the most sceptical, that habits of observation are of importance, even in an economic point of view ; and before long we will see their importance more justly appreciated in any schemes of education which may emanate, either from our universities or those schools which may be regarded as preparatory to them. Among the papers of interest to the naturalist in these numbers will be found one on the artificial breeding of the Leech (Hirudo-medicinalis). j)r«rteb^ d j&roetb, BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. MAECH 8, 1854. Dr. Stevelly, V.P., in the chair. Dr. Andrews read a paper on the " Composition and Properties of Ozone." After taking a general view of the elementary bodies, and of the chemical relations, and referring to the remarkable fact, that three of the most widely-diffused in nature — oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen — are known only in the gaseous form, and, therefore, cannot be referred, with certainty, either to the group of metallic or of non- metallic elements, Dr. Andrews proceeded to describe the singular pro- perty possessed by some bodies of existing, at the same temperature, in different physical states, and which has received the name of allotrophy. Sulphur and phosphorus were cited as furnishing remarkable examples of the allotrophic con- dition. The latter has been obtained recently in the form of a red, opaque body, altered by exposure to the air, and requiring a much higher temperature to inflame it than ordinary phosphorus. Ozone is, probably, an allotrophic variety of oxygen, and is the only instance known of the allotrophic state occurring in a gaseous body. Recent experiments have, however, thrown some doubt on the identity of oxygen and Ozone, and appears to indicate that, at least, some varieties of Ozone contain hydrogen as a constituent. Dr. Andrews entered very fully into the discussion of this question, and described some experiments in which he has been for some time engaged for its elucidation. Ozone is characterized by its peculiar odour, its bleaching properties, its power of decomposing such salts as the iodide of potas- sium, and the facility with which it is decomposed, as well by the action of heat as by contact with certain chemical bodies. It is produced under a great variety of circumstances — as in the slow oxidation of some bodies in air or in oxygen, in the decomposition of water by voltaic action, and in the passage of an electric spark through oxygen gas. The chemical affinities are very powerful, and if it could be obtained in quantity, it would, probably, admit of many valuable applica- tions to the arts. In reference to the latter view, its bleaching properties were particularly referred to. It has been found in minute quantities in the atmosphere, where its presence is, probably, due to electrical action ; and it has been supposed to exercise an important influence on the spread of epidemic diseases ; but such views Dr. Andrews considered to be, at present, altogether conjectural. MARCH 22, 1854. Robert Patterson, Esq., President, in the chair. Mr. Joseph J. Murphy read a paper on " The Mountain Chains of Asia and Europe, in their Physical and Political Relations." Remarking that geographical structure has its laws as well as organic structure ; he described the greater part of these Mountain Chains as constituting one connected system of nearly parallel chains, stretching east and west, and turning their steepest sides to the south. The southern chains of this system are the highest — among them are the Alps and Himalayas. From the south side of this system of parallel chains other chains VOL. I. L 138 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. strike off nearly at right angles, and, running out into the sea, form the Peninsulas of Spain, Italy, Greece, Arabia, Hindostan, and Further India. He then men- tioned the great Mountain Chains running east and west, and the deserts of Central Asia, as forming a natural barrier between the wandering tribes of Northern Asia and the civilized nations of the south ; in our times, between the Russian Empire and British India; and concluded by observing that Russia, notwithstanding its barbarian character in relation to the south and west, is doing good service to the cause of civilization in Northern Asia. APRIL 5, 1854. George C. Hyndman, Esq., in the chair. Mr. Patterson read a paper on the " Uses of Animals to Man." The paper commenced with a brief extract from Smith's " Wealth of Nations," in which it was pointed out that man, in a savage state, was a being absolutely dependant for his existence on the inferior animals. This dependance continued, in a greater or less degree, as he advanced in civilization, and still continues to a very considerable extent, although, in many cases, the animals may be regarded more as objects of luxury than of necessity. The use of animals, as furnishing food to man, was illustrated by numerous examples from the vertebrate and invertebrate kingdoms in nature ; also their furnishing raiment, either in the shape of furs and skins, or in that of wool and silk, to be afterwards spun and woven. For various arts they supply us with feathers, hair, horns, teeth, oil, and tallow, as well as with many substances for medicinal purposes— several important branches of trade depend entirely upon such supplies. In agriculture, their importance is most manifest ; not only are they indispensable to the farmer when living, but their dead bodies are valuable in their flesh and bones for manuring the land. As objects of luxury they furnish delight to the sportsman, in hunting, fowling, and fishing ; as sanitary police, from one kind preying on another, the accumulation of noxious creatures is pre- vented. They add beauty to the landscape, which would be very tame, indeed, without the addition of animal life; and the contemplation of such a variety of living beings, all fulfilling the intentions of the great Author of Good in each department of animal nature, has the effect of improving the moral nature of the observer, and of developing a pious feeling. APRIL 12, 1854. Robert Patterson, Esq., President, in the chair. Mr. William Millen read a paper on u The Rare Plants found in the neighbour- hood of Belfast." The following is a list: — Anacharis alsinastrum, cystopteris fragilis, triticum junceum, lysimachia nummularia, rubus saxatilis, epilobium angustifolium, orobanche rubra, ruppia rostellata, potamogeton pectinatus, pota- mogeton gramineus, equisetum Mackaii, equisetum Drummondi, equisetum hye- male, artemisia campestris, carduus acanthoides, erodium cicutarium, radiola millegrana, peplis portula, listera nidus avis, erodium moschatum, hippuris vul- garis, chara hispida, chara translucens, myriophyllum spicatum, statice spathulata, statice armeria, carduus tenuiflorus, medicago falcata, lathyrus aphaca, senecio viscosus, silene noctiflora, sinapis tenuifolia, vicia bithynia. DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. APRIL 7, 1854. Robert Caldwell, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the chair. The minutes being confirmed, Mr. Andrews presented to the Society a copy of Ralfs beautiful work on the British Desmidiae, and by Mr. Williams, from Mr. Edward Dombrain, four speci- PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 139 mens of the Siskin (Carduelis spinus), which were shot in the county Wicklow. Mr. Andrews said that there were several other donations which he hoped to record on the next night of meeting. Mr. Ffennell, Inspecting Commissioner of Fisheries, was then called on for his paper ON THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF THE OVA OF THE SALMON, AND THE PROGRESS OF THE EXPERIMENTS NOW CARRYING ON. Mr. Ffennell said that he had received the notice of his paper being on the list for this evening. At the last monthly meeting of the Society he was unavoidably absent on public duty, and he had now but very recently returned from London, where he had been hastily summoned. He was, therefore, not so fully prepared as he could have desired on the subject, and he regretted much that he had not been able to collect, so far, sufficient material, to render any paper of the kind of importance ; in fact, the experiments were not yet forward enough to give the full statistics he had from time to time been collecting, from the parties who were in different parts of the country, employed in such operations, and he would, as the season advanced, submit to the Society the progress made by them in those experi- ments. In whatever light this subject may be considered, it was one of vast im- portance, in a national point of view, and in the great value of its commercial tendency, and, therefore, valuable as to its economy, and its practical utility to man. In Ireland, these experiments were new and novel, and no knowledge had yet been obtained as to the results of their practical usefulness. He felt the neces- sity of bringing those inquiries before the Society, as those who were engaged in the experiments were practical men, without scientific knowledge, and who, there- fore, laboured under the difficulty of not being able to solve any new features that presented, that a knowledge of the natural history of the animal, and the aid of science might explain, and, consequently, enable them to take advantage of. He (Mr. Ffennell) did not understand the subject of the fisheries scientifically, but he had been practically engaged for many years. He was a practical man, but he was fully sensible of the importance of the study of natural history ; and that science must promote practical knowledge. The aid of those who made practical science their study would be of great value in carrying out the work of public or official bodies. Without such knowledge, in the infancy of such undertakings, failures must be expected. The great interest created in the progressive growth of the salmon fry, which were daily seen by the public in the Exhibition, and of the explanation of their artificial development from the ova, induced a Doctor Merron, Professor of Anatomy in one of the London colleges, to come over to witness, and to learn the system that had been pursued throughout, as he was much interested in the proceedings of a company that had been formed for the object of conveying the ova, and stocking the waters of New Zealand, where, although a climate almost similar to that of England, salmon were not found in its rivers. The Messrs. Ashworth were the first to introduce the artificial propagation of the ova of the salmon in this country, and there were now several parties that had taken up the subject, and were carrying on such operations — Mr. Doherty, at Bush- mills ; Mr. Cooper, of Markree, at Ballina, in Mayo ; at Galway, by the Ash- worths ; and at Lismore, in the Blackwater, by the Board of Conservators of the Fisheries. When the results of all their experiments (of which he regularly received reports) were perfected, he would feel most happy in submitting them fully, and in detail to the Society. The Messrs. Ashworth had not been so fortunate this year in obtaining the quantity of impregnated ova as in the first year. The habits of the fish must be more studied to insure certain success. On the grounds in the Cong river, where the salmon were in the habit of spawning, the Messrs. Ashworth, at the latter end of November last, at the time they considered the fish to be in a fully-developed state for spawning, took a quantity of fish for the pur- pose of obtaining the ova for artificial impregnation, and they were surprised to find that all the fish taken were male salmon. Mr. Foley, at Lismore, who has charge of the salmon fishery in the Blackwater, experienced a similar result, on the 1st of February last. He was anxious to obtain the fish for a similar purpose, but not a single male fish was captured — they were all females, and full of ova. 140 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. The facts were — the male salmon always ascend the rivers at the approach of the spawning season, before the females. They repaired to the spawning beds, where they knew the females would come, waiting their arrival ; the desires of the male fish being accomplished, they selfishly deserted the females, returning to the sea, and leaving the females on the beds to complete the operations of spawning — hence the causes why the male fish were always to be found in the commencement of the season on the spawning grounds, and in the latter part of the season the meeting only the female fish. Mr. Ashworth's experiments had, in some degree, failed this year. Much attention was also required in the transport of the ova. Some had been sent to him from Galway, this year, in damp moss, and, although the ova had been placed in a most favourable deposit-bed, had altogther failed. Mr. Ffennell was happy to say, that all the little fish shown in the Exhibition were lively and well, and had wonderfully grown. The ova he had obtained during the last spawning season, and which he had been watching the development of at the Custom-house, had very recently produced the young fry, and they were to be seen in numbers sporting among the gravel, with the yolk still attached. The period of the ova coming to maturity to the extrication of the young fry was 80 days. He wished that any of the members and their friends would call, and he would be most happy to show the whole process of the experiments. He was glad to say, that under the aid of the Board of Public Works, he had formed a salt-water inclosure at Kingstown, where there was a regular flow of the tide, and of sufficient depth, and where he proposed, at the proper season (this month), to transport the young fry, and he was sure that plenty of natural food would be found there for them, brought in by the tide. In fact, as he had been so successful in the growth of the young fry in the fresh water, he fully anticipated their more complete development in the salt water, and that he could be able, at the end of the season, to produce salmon of many pounds in weight ; and he saw no reason why such enclosures might not be generally practised, and that the estuaries and inlets of our coasts might be converted into fish parks as naturally as enclosures are formed into deer parks. He hoped the Society would excuse his not being prepared with a paper, but lie would, before the session was over, lay very full statistics before it. The Chairman said, that it was unnecessary for him to make any remarks on the importance of such a subject ; its value was well known. He would, as Mr. Ffen- nell had, in so complimentary a manner, alluded to the usefulness of the Society in such investigations, put the question to the members to offer their opinions upon the subject. Mr. Williams begged to propose a vote of thanks to Mr. Ffennell, for the great interest of the communication made by him, which, being seconded by Doctor Farran, was unanimously responded to. Mr. Andrews, as one of the honorary secretaries, said, that he considered it due from him to thank Mr. Ffennell for the kind manner in which he came forward to give this statement, particularly as his time had been so occupied by his public duties. He had followed Mr. Ffennell throughout, and saw, step by step, how impor- tant were such operations, and how valuable the results, to the extent at present witnessed. He considered that Mr. Ffennell deserved the highest credit for so perse- veringly carrying on those experiments, and which may probably result in great public benefit. The re-stocking of our rivers with valuable fish by artificial means, must, for food, and in a commercial point of view, be enormously beneficial. That excel- lent philosopher, the late Sir Humphrey Davy, who was a good, practical fisher- man, suggested the practicability of conveying the ova of the more valuable kinds of fi6h of the Continental lakes and rivers, and propagating them in the barren waters of other countries. The difficulty of transporting the impregnated ova in a healthy state to remote distances is now comparatively trifling. To keep the water in the tanks of as cool and even a temperature as possible, and the water pure by the growth of acquatic plants, particularly the Charae, are all that seem necessary for the safe preservation of the ova. In about ninety days the young will be liberated from the capsule, and for, at least, thirty days more the fry will be independent of nourishment, until the vitelline-sac is absorbed. Thus, in the present days of quick transit, the ova could be transported to our remotest colonies in that state, requiring but little attention, before the time of reaching their destination. The temperature PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 141 of the water more or less influenced the earlier or the later development of the ova. The ova deposited in the beds of some rivers did not produce the fry for 120 to 130 days. Mr. Samuel Gurney, jun., of Carshalton, had successfully impregnated and distributed the ova of the fine trout of the river Wandle, and had also intro- duced the trout of other rivers of England to the Wandle. He had successfully sent the ova to New Zealand ; and the trout of the Wandle were now flourishing in the rivers of that country. Valuable experiments in science might be worked by the enclosure (where practicable) of a salt-water inlet at the mouth of a river in which the ova would be propagated, and allowing the fry, according to instinct, to take their course to the salt water. Mr. Andrews did not clearly understand Mr. Ffennell as to the habits of the salmon on the spawning beds, nor did he concur in such views. Our northern and eastern rivers appeared to produce earlier fish than our western rivers. Much depended on the temperature of the waters, and those rivers connected with extensive lakes have a much higher temperature than Alpine rivers. Mr. Andrews did not think that the periods of spawning were the same in all rivers ; that there were early periods as well as late periods of spawning, and that clean fish are earlier in some rivers, and of a later run in other rivers — that in some rivers in Wales and in Scotland, salmon are in prime marketable condition very early in the season, and the greater part of the year— such as the Usk in Wales, and the Kirkaig in Scotland. Mr. Andrews noticed the instance of the River Caragh in Kerry, where years since he had seen the salmon in abundance and in the primest condition in the month of January. In the Slaney, that he had often fished, he had seen salmon in prime condition in October. The River Bandon he had heard was a late spawning river, and that salmon were in good condition late in the season. He could notice many cases in the western rivers relative to the habits of the salmon, and he certainly was of opinion that a difference existed in some lakes and rivers with regard to the periods of the condition of the fish. Mr. Ffennell said he did not agree with Mr. Andrews ; he, however, was aware that prime fish had been obtained in the Caragh in the month of January, and at periods when they were not in condition in other rivers ; but he supported the views of the same periods of the close season throughout the country — that in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the periods of spawning were uniform, and that no differ- ences as to the season occurred. Mr. Andrews asked Mr. Ffennell when he supposed the clean fish, known to occur in the Caragh, in the month of January, spawned. Mr. Ffennell said that the fish remained in the lake throughout the summer, and spawned the following November. Mr. Williams put the question, did those fish remain in the fresh water through- out the year ? Mr. Ffennell said they did. Mr. Andrews could not believe that salmon could be in a healthy condition for spawning in November, remaining in the fresh water throughout the summer. Mr. Ffennell said he was responsible for the opinions he put forward, as they were all grounded upon his own actual observations. Mr. Andrews said he had intended making some observations upon the Sygna- thidas, or pipe-fish family, and particularly with reference to the habits and spawn- ing states of Sygnathus typhle. The lateness of the evening would prevent his entering into the remarks at present. Mr. Andrews had obtained, in Dingle Har- bour, the two varieties of S. typhle, known on the shores of Finland, in the Baltic and the Cattegat. It was there denoted Tongsnallor, on account of their quick mo- tions among algas. Many of our harbour fish, on the west coast, were identical with those on the shores of Finland, and many that we reject are used by the poorer classes m Russia. Sand smelts, which in Russia are termed Snetky, are thrown into brine, then dried in an oven, being placed on straw to prevent their being burnt; these, with other fish similarly dried, are made into soup, thickened with barley grits, and form the food of the lower orders in the Isle of Cronstadt. Minnows and gudgeons are dried in a similar manner, and sold at twenty- five copecks per lb. — a copeck is the eleventh part of a penny. These are used with salted peas and beans by the poorer classes during the protracted winters, and in the long fasts prescribed by the Greek religion. 142 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Dr. Kinahan then read a paper ON THE ABNORMAL FORMS OF FERNS. When, on a previous occasion, I called the attention of this Society to the sub- ject of abnormal forms among the ferns, I stated my suspicion that some general law or laws would be found governing them in their entirety, as a class, and thereby enabling us to group them. I then laid before you a sketch of the groups into which, in conformity with these supposed laws, forms might be divided. This scheme, crude at that time, has, thanks to the contributions of specimens by friends, and additional opportunities of examination afforded to myself, since been confirmed in most of its details, so that the following may be set down as esta- blished : — 1st. That the aberrant forms of ferns obey certain fixed laws of form. 2nd. In accordance with these laws, that they may be divided into two great groups, bearing certain relations to each other, similar, and yet perfectly distinct. 3rd. That these great groups may be subdivided into parallel subgroups, each sub- group in the one representing a subgroup in the other, totally irrespective of generic or specific distinctions. To examine and illustrate these laws will be my task to-night. First, a few words to remove a misapprehension which I find many labour under with regard to former remarks made on this subject. It is not the object of this scheme to establish new species — far from it ; with species, as such, it has nothing to do, solely dealing with the morphology of the plants under consideration, totally irrespective of species or genus. These two great classes, as was before stated, possess strong analogies both to one another and within themselves, yet are perfectly distinct, never running into or producing one another, though we may find a group of the one class in accidental combination with one of the other. These two groups, for which I proposed the names, variety, and subvariety, will be found to possess the following distinctive characters : — Variety is universally a permanent aberrant form, affecting all the fronds of the plant — i.e., uniform ; under all circumstances of cultivation preserving its distinctness, and occurring generally in isolated plants ; if fruitful, often pro- ducing its own form. Subvariety, an aberrant form, seldom permanent under cultivation, affecting only a few fronds, often occurring in numerous plants of a district, and from its spores producing the normal form — this is sometimes perma- nent under cultivation, but never uniformly so. The essential difference between these two classes then, in brief, is — variety, a permanent, uniform monstrosity, and subvariety, a monstrosity not necessarily permanent nor uniform — ex. gr., in Lomaria spicant, var. ramosum, every frond each year dichotomously rounded at the apex, while Lorn, spicant, subvar. multifidum, though much resembling it in gene- ral character, has some years all the fronds dichotomous, other years, perhaps, a single frond dichotomous, and other years none at all — in fact, in this the great difference consists between the two divisions ; in the first, the monstrosity depend- ing on some radical change in its nature, once imprinted on the plant is nearly indelibly so, extending often even to the produce of the spores (as we see in some monstrous forms of Athyrium), while in the subvariety, the monstrosity depending on some mere local or climatal influence, is liable to change as these are modified or removed. It is not meant to be asserted that varieties will not sometimes change under cultivation into another seemingly different variety, or that the spores will not produce plants of the normal type, but that this much may be taken as proved — that variety never changes into subvariety, or subvariety into variety; therefore, the statement put forward, to the effect that variety ramosum is but a form of subvariety multifidum, is based on error. Another grand distinction between the two, in a state of nature, is, that seldom or never do we find the variety in more than one or two plants at most, while the subvariety is often found more or less pervading the plants of a district— ex. gr., there is a little stream glen at the base of the greater Sugarloaf, where L. spicant, subvariety multifidum, may always be found, some years every plant bearing fronds more or less divided, in other years you will only get single plants so affected, while the variety ramosum was found affecting only a single plant. The same might be said of the variety ramosum, and subvariety multifidum of Ath. incisum ; and all varieties found in collections will be found to have had their origin from a few isolated plants found PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 143 in various localities. There are some characters, the uniformity of which, of primary importance in considering genera and species, are but secondary in con- sidering variety — such as character of venation, division of frond, fertility ; these are variously modified, according to the type of variety or subvariety, and, of course, to a certain extent, modify it in return. More generally we find the variety barren than the subvariety, but this may arise from some mistake of manipu- lation in cultivation. Indeed, for my own part, I believe most varieties may be made to produce fertile fronds, at least in the two forms under consideration to- night. All the groups thus formed are capable of general definitions, though it must not be expected that this general definition will detail every minute feature of variety found in the many analogous forms necessarily included under it, any more than the definition of species describes every minute feature of the individual plants com- prised, these being of little importance, provided the general characters are adhered to. To each of these groups a name is proposed to be given, by which it may be known, so that, for most species, it will suffice to quote this name to show what the form of the variety is. When two or more distinct forms of the same variety occur under a species, it will be but necessary to mark them in some way, as with Greek letters, &c, after each, and describe the salient points of difference. Ex. gr., under Ath Filix faemina, we find three forms of a variety which we will call ramosum ; these could be thus described — Ath. Filix faemina, var. ramosum (three forms). A, rachis branched ; pinnules decurrent ; apices of segments curled. B, rachis split into numerous linear segments; pinnae contracted ; apices of pinnae split into linear segments, tasselled. G, rachis and pinnae multifidly crisped at apices, and tasselled. This is the only species in which the forms of this variety cannot be re- ferred to one description, and when the species of Athyrium are definitely arranged, possibly the forms will be found to belong to different species. ( Vide second part of paper.) To enter into all the subvarieties and varieties would detain you too long. I shall, therefore, content myself with one of each, taking those which are the commonest, and which, fortunately, also happen to be the most fully worked out. These are — var. ramosum and subvar. multifidum. These both consist in a repetition of the various parts of the normal frond — this is a true duplicature, not a mere modification of other organs such as we see in double flowers. Every part of the aerial organs is found doubled ; some more commonly than others. In simple fronds we find it in the stipe, the rachis, and the apex of the frond. In compound fronds, in addition, it is also found in the pinnae and the pinnules — in fact, it may be found in every axis of the plant, primary, secondary, tertiary, &c. It is also found in the sori, though more difficult to demonstrate, as in some forms of Phyllitis scolopendrium ; I met, myself, with a wild specimen of Trichomanes speciosum, which I now show ; when I got it almost all the thecae were in pairs. Perhaps it is wrong to call the organs doubled, as they are not strictly so all through, but arise single, and then split into two, obeying a law of nearly universal occurence in nature, in accordance with which we find that the aberrant forms of the higher groups copy closely the normal type of those below them ; thus, the dichotomy, which obtains in these forms, is the normal state of some, at least, of the Lycopodiaceae — ex. gr., Selago, and is also seen in the seed lobes of some exogens. Some have proposed to separate into different groups the forms placed at the head of these groups — i.e., where the division affects the stipe, but this appears con- trary to analogy. They ground their opinions chiefly on its rarity of occurrence among species, but even they allow that it is not a constant character ; we will find it is rare, but not so rare as either the division of pinnule, or sori, or thecae ; and if we do not make any distinction between the rachis and stipe — which division, after all, is an arbitrary one — we will find the form not so rare at all — in fact, the nearer we go to the apex of the primary axis, the commoner will we find this division ; and it is what might be expected, the modifying causes not having an opportunity to develop their action till the frond is partially developed, for if it acted previously, we would have two fronds instead of one. If we examine a simple frond we will find this well shown, as the rarest specimens are those divided deeply, and the commonest those having merely the apex split, often multifidly so. The 144 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. subvariety is much commoner some years than others ; the rule I have not yet satisfactorily established, and, therefore, I shall content myself with enumerating the species, leaving it to some other hand, or some other time to explain the laws. The variety ramosum, as, indeed, may be said of all varieties, is uniform, much rarer, and is found in fewer species than the subvariety. It is thus defined : — Variety, ramosum ; constant ; stipe, often bifid or multifid ; rachis, do., do. ; segments rounded at edges and apices ; confluent often curled and crisped ; veins generally terminating in a lash of branches ; generally fruitful. Examples — Phyllitis scolopendrium, var. ramosum (auc.) ; Lomaria spicant, var. ramosum (Mei) ; Athyrium Filix Fajmina, var. ramo- sum (three forms)— Alpha, Beta, Gamma (as before), &c. All these forms are allowedly fruitful. The variations of this form are numerous, from the simple, curled, almost undi- vided apex of one form of Ph. Scolopendrium, to which the name Crista galli has been given, up to the extreme divisions seen in the forms of Phyll. Scolo- pendrium, var. multifidum. The subvariety multifidum is very extensively repre- sented ; out of the twenty-four genera of British ferns, enumerated by Newman, being recorded in all but seven — viz., Adiantum, (vide list at end), Pseudathyrium, Hemestheum, Cystopteris Woodsia.* It runs through every stage from simple lobing of the apex of the frond, or of the ends of the pinnae or pinnules, down to the division of the stipe itself. In some species it is very common, in others very rare. Character — Subvariety multifidum ; not uniformly constant ; stipe sometimes dichotomous ; rachis bifid or multifid ; segments, following usual outline of frond, confluent or distinct, never curled or crisped ; midvein terminating in a point at apex of each segment ; generally fruitful. Examples of group — Ph. scolopendrium, subvariety multifidum ; Lomaria spicant, subvariety multifi- dum ; Ath. Eilix faemina, subvar. multifidum. There can but one form of this occur, and we can, hence, easily distinguish in description what axis of the plant is affected, using X to represent the primary, and Z the secondaiy, &c, axis ; if thought proper, marking the divisions of the rachis as X 1, the division of the stipe as X 2. The same divisions might also be made in the variety ; but they are particu- larly well shown in the subvariety (vide list). The form Z is most striking in compound fronds ; but even in simple fronds something, to say the least, strongly analogous i3 to be found, at all events, in the variety in a form of Phyl. scolopendrium, called endivifolium by its discoverer, Mr. Young; and also, though in a less degree, in the form named undulatum or crispum, which is said to be merely a degenerated form of ramosum. ( Vide second part.) In Mr. Young's plant, we find the veins prolonged and thickened, and almost converted into branches, rendering the fern multifid along its edges. The same form is also seen in a more exaggerated state in another form, also forwarded me by G. B. Wollaston, Esq. (thanks to whose kindness I am enabled to illustrate this subject so well by specimens) ; he calls it Diyitatum. In it we find regular midribs proceeding from the main midrib, and giving the frond a regular branched pinna- tifid appearance, yet manifestly but a modification of the ramose type. Indeed, for any one wishing to study these two forms there can be no better species than Scolo- pendrium. The subvariety multifidum is, as might be expected, found in many foreign genera and species. I show specimens of Mohria thuri fraga, and an exotic Asplenium and Polypodium, thus affected. The system pursued in naming these forms has been, when practicable, adopting the name given to the forms when first described, choosing the most typical. These were, in the two classes, considered Phyll. Scol. ramosum, and multifidum. For the first it has been suggested to use cristatum. This, though a most expressive and applicable name, was considered inadmissible, as being borne by a species; if Newman's name of Lophodium callipteris is generally adopted for the species under consideration, this form should be called cristatum. I lay before you a list of the species in which these two forms occur, with their synonymes, as far as I have been able to trace them, so that you can judge of the * Newman figures a frond of Woodsia ilvensis, which appears to be multifidum.— Brit Ferns, p. 137. Second edition. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 145 extent of them for yourselves ; many other species, doubtless, will be found to par- take of these characters when the subject is more attended to. I also show you specimens of many of them, mostly gathered by myself, and hope, at a future meeting, to state a few more facts connected with the subject, and to bring before you other classes which are as well defined as this. LIST OF SPECIES OF BRITISH FERNS. Variety Kamosum (Cristatum) ; and Subvariety Multifidum. [Explanation of Marks — Species in brackets, not recorded as Irish, thus [(Woodsia)]. Marked thus, (?) I am in doubt concerning. X 1 shows rachis divided ; X 2, stipe, do. do. ; Z, pinnae, or pinnules.J Adiantum Capillus Veneris (Linnasus). X 2, cultivated plant from Ireland ; G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Eupteris aquilina (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei) ; Phyt., 1853, p. 1,036; X 1 and 2, scarce ; Z, rare (a diminutive specimen from top of Three-rock Mountain, County Dublin ; has rachis divided to within half an inch of ground). Not very uncommon about Ballinteer, in this county. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq., Epping Forest (Kin). Lomaria spicant (Desv.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei) ; Phyt., 1853, pp. 892 and 1,036. X 1 and 2, rather rare ; Z, rare. Clare and Dublin ; very fine at foot of Great Sugarloaf, County Wicklow ; generally grows in moist situations. Kerry : W. Andrews, Esq. England. Figured Deakin, Fl. Br., p. 52. Very fine specimens of Z forwarded me by G. B. Wollaston, Esq., as bifidum. Jersey, M. Piquet. Phyt., 1853, p. 1,135. Var. Ramosum (Mei) ;* Phyt., 1853, pp. 892 and 1,036 ; proc. Dublin Nat. Hist. Soc, 1853. Lough Breagh, County Wicklow. Notolepeum Ceterach (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum ; Phyt., 1853, p. 1,036. X 2, rare. Specimen, from Lucan, co. Dublin, given me by W. H. Luscombe, Esq. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Phyllitis Scolopendrium (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Ray). X 1, very common; X 2, rare ; Z, rare. The commonest of the group in Ireland (Mack. Flor. Hib., 343) ; very fine near Chapelizod, County Dublin. England, common — vide Newman's British Ferns, &c. Synonyms. Lobatum ; ramosum. Jersey, M. Piquet, ut antea. Var. Ramosum (Mei) ; England (Newm. Br. Ferns, 289, &c). I am not aware of the extreme form having been found in Ireland. Undulatum, by some called enspum, has ; fine specimens of it from Colin Glen, Belfast, were shown to me by A. Crawford, Esq., and form Birenniforme (W.) given me by W. H. Luscombe, Esq., from Dublin. Syn. Ramosum (Moore, 179) ; multifidum (ib.) ; crispum, No. 176 ; daedalea (Koch) ; Crista Galli (Wol.) ; Digitatumj (Wol.) ; Undulatum ? Endivifolium Young (vide remarks), furcatum (Wol), Birenniforme (Wol). Amesium Ruta muraria (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei) ; Phyt. ut antea. X 2, very rare. Dublin and Louth. A specimen also given me by W. H. Luscombe, Esq. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Var. Ramosum (Mei) (?) ; England. Forwarded me by their discoverer, G. B. Wollaston, Esq., by whom they were named cristatum. % Asplenium viride (Lightf.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). X 2, rare. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Syn. ramosum (Linn.) (?). * Barren fronds, rnultifidly dichotomous; segments of apex confluent at their edges, and curled; veins terminating in apices in lash of branches. Fertile fronds, hermaphrodite, branched ; their apices similar to barren fronds, 1854. t Crista galli (Wol.), apex of frond entire, curled on itself, and resembling a cockscomb, Digi- tatum (Wol.); secondary midribs arising from main midrib; divisions rnultifidly crisped and con- tinous with main portions. Birenniforme (Wol.), apex of frond kidney-shaped; midrib running along inner edtre of segments. t Cristatum (Wol ), primary divisions of iroud, split and curled at their apices. 146 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Aspm. Trichomanes (Linn.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut supr. Local ; scarce. Very fine and abundant at Quin Abbey, County Clare, in 1852 ; many plants nearly uniform, but not permanent. England (Moore Brit. Ferns, 164) : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Syn. monstrosum (collectors). Var. Ramosum (Mei). England : discovered by G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Simply multifidly crisped at apex. Syn. cristatum (Wol.). Aspm. marinum (Linn.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut supr. X 1 and 2, rare ; Z, very rare. Ardmore, County Waterford. A curious little specimen from Dunlicky, County Clare, has the pinnae biserrate, and the stipe cleft. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq., forwarded me as ramosum. Aspm. Adiantum nigrum (Linn.) •. subvar. multifidum (Mei), ut antea. X 1 and 2, not uncommon ; Wicklow, Waterford ; sometimes nearly uniform. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. [Aspm. Lanceolatum] (Huds) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt., 1853. M. Piquet. Var. Ramosum (Mei) ? Described to me as occurring with the stipes uniformly bifid ; never seen, therefore, inserted in doubt. [Aspm. fontanum (Br.)] ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut supra. Common in cultivated plants. X 1 and 2. Phyt., M. Piquet. Channel Islands. Athyrium molle (Roth) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut sup. X 2. Clare. Ath. incisum (Newm.); subvar. multifidum (Mei) ut supra. X 2 and Z, scarce. Clare, Wicklow. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. ; as multifidum, and also in combination with subvar. truncatum as ramosum. Var. Ramosum (Mei) — vide remarks. Three forms ; A rachis branched ; pin- nules decurrent ; apices of segments curled. Fruitful. Query, Ath. molle, var. ramosum. Ireland — Antrim, Mr. A. Smith. Scotland — Hill of Oran, Sir W. C. Trevellyan. Syn. crispum, Moore Br. Ferns. Smithii of gardens.* B. rachis, split into numerous linear segments ; pinnae contracted, apices similar to apex of frond, pinnae decurrent, apices tasselled. Fruitful. Joyce Country, Mr. R. Gunning. Query, Ath. convexum, var. ramosum. Fig. Newman's Brit. Fern. Syn. Ramosum (Moore's Brit. Ferns, page 141). — Vide note.* G rachis and pinnae multifidly crisped at apices ; sparingly fruitful. Query, Ath. incisum, var. Ramosum. Killarney (Ogilby), Wicklow (Newman), Clare (Mei Phyt., 1853, page 893, very abundantly fruitful), England, Chatsworth (J. Bain). Syn. viviparum (Steele), multifidum (Moore), furcatum (Gardens). Polystichum angulare (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut antea. X 1, rare; X 2, not uncommon in Co. Dublin ; Z, very rare ; a fine specimen of the three forms, obtained April 2, 1854, in King William's Glen, Co. Louth, had seven out of twelve fronds multifid ; one had five branches arranged in a cup- like form on apex of fronds, which was two feet high. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Polys, aculeatum (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut antea. X 2. Specimen, Gort, Co. Galway. Polys. Lonchitis (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei) ? Miss A. Gissing. Phyt., 1854, p. 81. Lophodium Fcenesecii (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut antea. X 1 and 2, Z, rare. Ardmore, Co. Waterford. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Loph. multiflorum (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei) ; ut ant. X 1, 2, and Z very rare. Loph. Filix Mas. (Newm.); subvar. multifidum (Mei). Phyt. ut antea. X 1, 2, Z, common. Found also in a form, said to be Erosum of Schkuhr. England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. * Var. Laciniatum in combination with Ramosum. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 147 [Var. Ramosum (Mei). England, Cornwall ; fruitful. Syn. cristatum (Moore, Br. Ferns, p. 109). Lophodium fragrans (Newm.) ; [subvar. multifidum, Wol.] England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. [Loph. spinosa] (Newm.) ; subvar. multifidum (Wol.). England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Gymnocarpium Phegopteris (Newm.) ; subvar. [multifidum (Wol.)] ; specimen com- municated by G. B. Wollaston, Esq. In combination with subvar. Sinuatum (Mei) q. v. Cystopteris fragilis (Newm.) ; var. multifidum (Mei). England : G. B. Wollaston, Esq. [Cystopteris Dickieana] (Sims) ; var. multifidum (Mei). Cultivated plants, Col. Bot. Gardens. Cultivated plants, G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Ctenopteris vulgaris (Newm.) : subvar. (multifidum) (Mei) ; ut antea. X 1 and 2, common; Z, rare. Fig. Newm. Br. Ferns, p. 111. Clare, Wicklow, Dublin; occurs here generally in only one frond of a plant. England : Newm. Brit. Ferns. G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Syn. bifidum (Moore) ; proliferum (ib.) ; multifidum (col.). Trichomanes speciosum "(Wilden) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei) ; ut antea. Z. One frond in cultivated plant. Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense (Smith) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). A fine speci- men of X 2, among plants of this fern brought from Killarney, by James Haughton, Esq.,jun., 1853. Hymen. Wilsoni ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). X 2 ; Killarney. G. B. Wollaston, Esq. Dr. H. Allchin. Very fine. Osmunda Regalis (Linn) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Z, very rare. I have seen but one specimen ; on a plant brought from Killarney, by Professor R. W. Smith. Botrychium Lunaria (Smith) ; subvar. multifidum (Mei). Ireland : X 2 ; Mack. Flor. Hib., 346, and Kilnasantan, 1854. England: Newm., Br. Ferns. T. Buchanan, Esq. G. B. Wollaston,Esq. Syn. Ramosum (auct). Lunaria minor ramosa (Ray). Ophioglossum vulgatum (Linn); subvar., X2, multifidum (Mei). Ireland : Kilnasantan, 1854. Newm. Brit. Ferns. Deakin's, Flor. Brit., p. 33. Syn. Ramosum (auct.) BRITISH SPECIES REPRESENTED IN FOLLOWING : — Multifidum. Ramosum. Not represented. Not represented. One species. Not represented. One species. One species. Three species ; two doubtful. Three species (?) Not represented. One species. Not represented. Genera unrepresented— Pseudathyrium, Hemestheum, Allosurus, Gymnogramma. * Including Fontanum as British. Adiantum . . . One species. Eupteris ... One ,, Lomaria ... One „ Notolepeum ... One „ Phyllitis ... One „ Amesium ... One „ Asplenium ... Six* „ Athyrium ... Two „ Polystichum ... Three „ Lophodium ... Five „ Gymnocarpium ... ... One „ Cystopteris ... Two „ Woodsia? ... One „ Ctenopteris ... One „ Hymenophyllum ... Two „ Trichomanes ... One „ Osmunda ... One „ Ophioglossum ... ... One „ Botrychium ... One ,, 148 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Owing to the lateness of the hour the remaining papers were postponed. R. P. Maxwell, Esq., Groorasfort, Bangor, was elected a member of the Society. The meeting then adjourned to the 12th of May. MAY 12, 1854. Dr. Croker, M.R.I.A., in the chair. The usual introductory business having been disposed of, the following donations were submitted to the Society by the Honorary Secretary, William Andrews, Esq. : — Journals of the Geological Society of Dublin, for 1852, '53, '54, from the Society ; Proceedings of the Royal Society, March and April, 1854 ; Anniversary Addresses to the Entomological Society, London, presented by the President, J. O. Westwood, Esq., F.R.S. ; and the Natural History Review, Nos. I. and II., by the Editors. Mr. R. P. Williams presented to the Museum specimens of game fowl from Ceylon, for the first time exhibited in Ireland. The cock was a bird imported direct ; the hen bred from him and a hen, also an imported bird. Mr. Williams begged to call attention to the peculiarity of this breed, which differs in the carriage of the tail, from all the known varieties of domesticated poultry. In the varieties with which we are acquainted the u planes" of the tail are brought together, and carried erect over the back, the "sickle" feathers covering them on each side ; while in the Cingalese the tail is carried on a level with the back, as in the wild species, the long feathers of the tail drooping so as to sweep the ground when the bird stands erect, the feathers of which are much narrower and more abundant than those we are accustomed to, and turn outwards at the extremities. The breed is also peculiar from having no wattles, and the throat naked for about one-fourth of its length ; the comb is very small, and indented, resembling the Malay. Mr. W. alluded to the many theories as to the varieties derived from domestication of the wild breeds, and if disposed to speculate on that question, might be inclined to refer the Ceylon fowl to the Gallus Furcatus, which is wild in Ceylon, and to which it bears some resemblance in the points referred to, but particularly in the carriage and formation of the tail. He also presented, beautifully preserved in a case, the skeleton of the long- eared bat — Plecotus auritus. Mr. R. J. Montgomery presented the nest and eggs of the long-tailed titmouse, Parus caudatus, and the eggs of the little grebe, Podiceps minor ; he also pre- sented the nest of the cole- titmouse, Parus ater. This beautifully-formed nest he met with at the foot of a tree ; but it was placed so far in from the aperture, that he had to excavate 8} feet before he reached it. With regard to the nest of the little grebe, he mentioned that, at Beaulieu, in the county of Louth, the bird had been for several years in the habit of breeding under the bank at the edge of the water ; but the nest having been frequently destroyed by rats, the bird had formed it at a distance of thirty yards from the bank, attached to the stem of aquatic plants. It had, however, broken adrift, and he found the nest with the eggs floating about the pond. Dr. Kinahan begged to present a specimen of the common shrew, Sorex rusticus (Jen.), found dead at Donnybrook, county Dublin ; at the same time he called the attention of the Society to two bats presented by him — one obtained in the county Clare, in 1852, presented February 10, 1853, and referred, in doubt, to Vespertilio Daubentonii ; the other obtained in the county Kildare, in 1853, and presented at the December meeting of the same year as V. Nattereri, though, at the same time, pointed out as different in some respects from the description of that bat. He now called the attention of the Society to them for the purpose of correcting an error of nomenclature into which he was led, and which he has been enabled to correct through the kindness of Professor Bell, who carefully examined the specimens, and states that the bat captured in Clare is Ves. mystacinus (Leisl.), a species new to Ireland, and a species the resemblance of which to Dr. Kinahan's specimen he had himself before called attention to. The other bats Professor Bell refers to V. Daubentonii, a species captured some years ago in Londonderry, but no Irish specimens of which were until now extant. Dr. Kinahan had carefully compared, PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 149 as far as possible, his specimens with those in the British Museum, and entirely coincided with Professor Bell's judgment, and begged to congratulate the Society on possessing such a fine series of Irish bats — as their collection now included V. Nattereri, V. mystacinus, and V. Daubentonii, of which the two first were as yet unique as Irish. The thanks of the Society having been given to the several donors, Mr. Andrews read a letter from William Compton Domville, Esq., dated London, expressive of the usefulness that the " Natural History Review" would be to the Society, and that he had placed the proceedings upon the table of the Zoological Society of London. Mr. Andrews noticed the great interest of the collection in the grounds of San try House, formed by Mrs. Domville, and which contained many rare birds among the waders and natatores, in the finest condition and plumage. The arrange- ment extended over a space of five acres. It is hoped that any of the members that have the opportunities of obtaining living specimens would assist Mrs. Dom- ville by adding to her collection. Dr. Farran then gave his paper on HELIX PISANA AND ITS LOCALITIES. He said, I consider a favourable opportunity occurs in presenting a few specimens for the acceptance of the Society, of bringing forward a notice of the beautiful and ex- tremely local shell, Helix pisana, or, as it was formerly designated, " Cingenda." I am particularly anxious that this record should be identified with the proceedings of our Society, and that the vagueness of its recognition as an Irish shell should be reduced to a certainty. I am led to this by having lately read in Mr. Gray's edition of u Turton's Manual of Land and Fresh-water Shells of the British Islands," the following observations relative to Helix pisana : — w It is one of the most beautiful of our snails, and extremely local ; it is common in the South of Europe and Northern Africa, but is not found in the northern countries ; Wales may be considered its northern limit. According to Montagu, no mean authority, it is one of our most rare species ; he only found it in one place — on the land west of Tenby, where it is confined to a small space ; and Mr. Rackett has found it at St. Ives, in Cornwall." Mr. Gray concludes by observing, u It has also been said to be found near Dublin." If from fifteen to twenty miles be meant as u near Dublin" I can answer, with perfect safety, that such is the case. In early life 1 frequently visited the strand of Knockangin, about a mile and a half north of Bal- briggan, in pursuit of wild fowl, which were abundant there at certain seasons. On one of these visits, fatigued with watching for the flight of the game, I sat down on the grassy bank bounding the tide ; my attention was soon attracted by the appear- ance of numbers of a beautiful snail. Being an inexperienced conchologist at the time, I thought the best thing to be done was to bring them under the notice of those better acquainted with the subject. Accordingly, filling my pockets with them, I presented them to my lamented friend, the late James Tardy, an enthusi- astic naturalist, to whom we are all indebted as giving the first impulse to natural history in Dublin. Mr. Tardy subsequently brought the shell under Doctor Turton's notice, and I had the pleasure, in a short time afterwards, of pointing out the locality to Mr. Tardy. I regret to say, that on visiting Knockangin on Monday, the 3rd of April last, I found that the cuttings of the Drogheda Railroad had com- pletely obliterated the favourite locality of this shell; and where, before this occur- red, I could have obtained them in any number, a couple of dozen of rather inferior specimens were my only reward | however, I should say they may be procured 11 longo intervallo" at Laytown, Bettystown, and up to Drogheda ; those places being continuous with Knockangin may be considered as one locality — and, except this, we have no authentic record of any other in Ireland. The late Mr. MkAlla informed me he had seen the shell in Bunowen, one of the extreme points of Con- nemara, but he did not exhibit a specimen ; and my friend, Mr. Andrews, has lately informed me that he has had the shell from Kerry. Reasoning by analogy, both those localities would be very likely to produce it, as they contain many species of plants, molluscas, and shells found on the southern shores of Europe. 150 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Connected with this shell I should allude to a singular fact — the impossibility that exists of preserving the animal when taken from its native soil, at least so far as the experiment has been tried. I collected twenty dozen of the finest and most vigorous specimens for the late Butler Bryan, Esq. ; half of those he distributed on his property in the county Meath, and the remainder in the demesne lands of Ferns, county Wexford, the scene of his appaling murder. Mr. Bryan distributed them himself, assimilating the soil as closely as possible to their own, but without suc- cess— he wrote me that the experiment was a total failure, but he was deter- mined to give it a more extended trial on a future occasion. I tried the experi- ment at Feltrim, near Malahide, with the same results, although I succeeded in rearing Helix pomatia, or edible snail, in a degree. I most carefully watched them, but within a month or two they invariably declined and melted away. The last locality I placed them in was Portmarnock, one in every respect similar to their own. Here failure again occurred. Whether they were picked up by the naturalists who frequented this interesting spot, or that the locale was unfavour- able, I cannot say, but I could not again find them ; that they never increased is quite evident. In referring once again to Knockangin, I should observe, that it was on this strand where Scalaria Turtoni was first noticed, and which was named after Doctor Turton, who had done so much to elucidate the science of conchology. Dr. Kinahan laid before the Society a series of specimens obtained near Baltrae, on the north side of the Boyne, in March last, in company with Mr. Montgomery. On that occasion he traced the shells about a mile north of the Boyne. Dr. Kinahan corroborated Dr. Farran's statement of their extreme local occurrence, the slip on which they were found in many places being only a few hundred yards wide. Some of the finest were obtained on the south side of the Boyne ; many of them were pure white, or bearing translucent instead of coloured bands. Dr. Kinahan had at this present time, alive and thriving, specimens taken in Meath, so far back as the latter end of March. The young shells were many of them carinated, and among the specimens were some equalling in size Continental speci- mens in the British Museum. Mr. Andrews said that the thanks of the Society were due to Doctor Farran for his notes on this beautiful shell, and for the perfect series he now presented to the Society. Some years since, when making a botanical ramble in the county of Kerry, he (Mr. Andrews) found a number of specimens of Helix Cingenda, firmly attached by a kind of deposit, or incrustation, to the leaves of the yellow water- iris — with these, on the same plant, were found specimens of Succinea putris. The animal of H. pisana is of a pale ash colour, with eyes intensely black'; but the shells present such variableness of character— some yellowish and white, altogether want- ing the bands — that he communicated with the late eminent zoologist, William Thompson, expressive of the views that ardent zoologists might entertain of form- ing specific differences, for sometimes the labour was great in separating varieties, or in proving their affinities. Mr. Andrews read Mr. Thompson's reply, dated April, 1845 : — " You did well not to trouble yourself about the species of the shells, for it is a most critical study, and I should be most sorry now to spend the time on it that I once did. The species is most interesting, being Helix pisana (H. Cin- genda), hitherto known only in one locality." Doctor Kinahan then gave his paper ON THE ABNORMAL FORMS OF FERNS (CONCLUDED). Since I last had the honour of addressing you, I have, through the kind- ness of its owner, had the opportunity afforded me of examining a most extensive collection both of growing plants and dried specimens in the possession of G. B. Wollaston, Esq. ; this has enabled me to add several species and even genera to the two divisions treated of at our last meeting. The genera are Cystopteris and Adiantum, to the subvar. Multifidum (including under them three species), to which Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, is also added by him. To the number of species in the variety Ramosum (Cristatum), I have not obtained any additions ; but in his col- lection may be found a most perfect series of forms illustrative of this monstrosity, PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 151 and well worthy of study, exemplifying in a beautiful manner every gradation of it in almost all the organs of the plant, from the mere simple renate division of the frond, up to the extreme forms of division recorded on the last day. To-night I propose to conclude the subject, by considering the analogies of the remaining abnormal forms of Filices. Since I first attempted this arrangement, so many additional species of these have been brought forward, that without any difficulty we can accomplish a division only hinted at then — viz., separate them into four classes — i.e., two varieties and two subvarieties, instead of one of each. For these I intend to suggest names other from those used on that occasion, as there were many objections to the names then used. The first, comprised under my old name Cambricum, I mean to call Dis- sectum, the subvariety I call Sinuatum still, but limit its definition : Dissectum variety ; frond generally more developed than normal ; edges both primary and secondary, crenately or irregularly lobed and symmetrical ; segments rounded at ends ; their edges curled, and crisped, and confluent ; generally barren ; nervures terminat- ing within leafy expansion and distinct throughout their whole course. Examples — As Trichomanes, var. incisum; Cten. vulgare, var. Cambricum (Linn.). (This division includes so much of my variety Cambricum as had the parts of the plant in excess.) Sinuatum, subvar. ; frond mostly more luxuriant than normal; seg- ments irregularly lobed and serrated, pointed, and distinct, generally unsymmetrical; outline pointed and distinct ; fruitful ; nervures terminating within leafy expan- sion. Examples — As Trichomanes, subvar. Sinuatum (Mei) ; Cten vulgare, var. Hibernicum or Mackaii (Auct.). These forms are essentially modifications of a secondary axis (generally the veins and venules, which we find multiplied and di- vided, but not symmetrically as a whole), and consists in the excessive unsymme- trical development of some one or other. It is often difficult to separate this variety from the variety Ramosum (Cristatum), especially in simple fronds ; but we have a valuable guide in one character which prevails almost through the entire — the barren- ness of the frond — a character so universal in the class, it might almost be adopted as distinctive. In some species this may be explained by the modification the veins undergo ; the vein, which should be merely forked and bear the spore case, becoming branched and barren, as is seen in Ctenopteris vulgare. The number of species in which it is found is rather limited, though, doubtless, if investigation be made, others will turn up. The subvariety is fertile, the same modification not taking place in the venation. There is a great latitude of modifications in the forms com- posed under Sinuatum, from the simple irregularly crenate frond up to divisions as well marked as those with which you are familiar in the Polypodium cambricum of Linnaeus. Under this group we find an illustration of a previous ob- servation, that a subvariety and a variety are sometimes found in accidental com- bination, with this limit, that, as far as I know, the parallel subgroups are never found so. For example, you will find variety Dissectum in combination with sub- variety Multifidum, but never Dissectum in combination with Sinuatum, or Ramo- sum (Cristatum) in combination with Multifidum. How far varieties combine with one another I am not prepared to state.* The next subgroup comprises the latter portion of my old Cambricum, or that in which the parts of the original type are found contracted. For this and its subvariety it is proposed to use the names Laciniatum and Truncatum — both names suggested to me by Mr. Wollaston. They consist essentially in the absence of some organ or part of the plant, and bear the following definition: — Laciniatum, variety; frond less developed than normal, often reduced to a mere midrib ; pinnae and pinnules con- tracted, often reduced to a mere line, or absent ; epidermis, normal or puckered, sinuated and thickened at its margins, often ending in a hem within the edge of the frond ; edges of the frond generally waved and cut ; nervures ge- nerally produced beyond, or else terminating abruptly in the margin of the leafy expansion ; outline linear, not curled or crisped ; "veins often very irregular in * The varieties are found combined with one another, The following are examples— Vars. Cristatum and Laciniatum, in Ath Filix Faemina R. Gunning's variety. The same vars. in Phyl. Scolopendrium Guernsey form, but vide list. Subvarieties obey the same law— ex. gr., Lophodium Filix mas. Ramosum (Wol.) is subvar. multifidum combined with subvar. sinuatum,