34 MR SELBY'S ADDRESS. 



lichens, and other cryptogamic plants, were observed in their secluded 

 and umbrageous recesses. To the excellent address of the President, 

 delivered upon that occasion, I need scarcely recall the attention of those 

 who had the satisfaction of hearing it in person ; and I am sure, those 

 who did not enjoy that pleasure, will rejoice with me, that the subsequent 

 publication of our Transactions has now placed it within their reach. 

 Among the communications read at the meeting, the first related to a 

 bird belonging to the genus Cataractes (Skua), killed upon the adjoin- 

 ing coast, and which, at that time, I could not precisely refer to any of 

 the described species, although I pointed out its near affinity to the 

 Cataractes (Lestris Richardsonii) of the Fauna Bor. Amer. I have since 

 ascertained, that it is identical with that kind, the under plumage being 

 subject to vary, and not always possessing the uniform brown tint, as 

 described in that work ; and further, that it is this species which annu- 

 ally resorts to the northern islands of Scotland, for the purpose of incu- 

 bation, and not the true Cat. parasiticus (Arctic Skua), as ornithologists 

 have hitherto generally supposed. Dr Johnston afterwards read an inter- 

 esting paper, on the Insects, Mollusca, &c., observed at the previous meet- 

 ing held at Holy Island, enriched with valuable and curious remarks on 

 their structure and functions. Among the insects I may particularise 

 the Phyllopertha Frischii, a beetle of rare occurrence in the north, and 

 very locally distributed, and which has only once been met with beyond 

 the northern boundary of the Tweed. Next followed a paper by our 

 worthy secretary, Mr Embleton, on the plants observed at the former 

 meeting, and a continuation of his interesting meteorological observations. 

 Mr Mitchell also read an account of the brown amethyst found in a 

 ravine near Cheviot, amongst the debris of the porphyritic trap-rock, ex- 

 hibiting a specimen of the gem, and a list of new habitats for rare 

 plants. This was succeeded by an ingenious paper of Dr Thomson's 

 on the Tormentilla reptans, and the genus Potamogeton ; and the 

 business of the meeting was concluded by a curious account of the 

 game of Ball, as played at Dunse on Pastern's Eve, by Mr Thomas 

 Brown. 



AB usual, the next meeting was held in December at Berwick-upon- 

 Tweed, where, in defiance of the short days and wintry blasts, a nume- 

 rous party assembled. The wetness of the morning prevented any 

 extended excursion ; but towards noon, when the mists and rain cleared 

 off, a ramble along the steep and rocky coast, to the north of the town, 

 as far as the lofty pinnacle-shaped rock, called the Needle Eye, from the 

 perforation at its base, delighted those who had not before visited the 

 environs of Berwick ; and the interest of the walk was increased by a 

 search along the shore for algae and other marine productions. At this 

 meeting I may mention, that the Club resolved to print the communica- 

 tions already read before it, a resolution I hold to be of great import- 

 ance, and which, I hope, will be repeated at regular intervals, not only 



