ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 183 



noted by accident. It is evidently a West Coast fish, and a ground- 

 Shark, and if fishermen were stimulated to take note of their Dog-fish 

 and Shark captures when at the winter white fishing, we should prob- 

 ably find many records of its capture in the West. W. ANDERSON 

 SMITH, Ledaig. 



Some Singular Eels (Anguilla vulgaris) from the Isle of May. 

 At the meeting of the Scottish Microscopical Society on the 1 6th of 

 February last, Mr. George Sandeman called attention to some re- 

 markable Eels from a warm and stagnant loch on the Isle of May, 

 which has no communication with the sea. He remarked that it 

 was not known how long ago the Eels were placed in the loch, but 

 it did not appear to have been within the memory of man. They 

 are not known to breed, their ovaries and testes being somewhat 

 atrophied, though still apparently functional. In the specimens 

 examined, atrophy is also marked in the muscles and liver, and in 

 the muscles are many haemorrhages and leucocyte infiltrations. The 

 liver is reduced to one-third of its normal size, is very pigmented, 

 but not fatty. The spleen exhibits a peculiar waxy change, is small 

 and thickened, with the pulpy material reduced. The ovaries and 

 ova are very small, fatty, and the nuclei of the ova obscured. In 

 appearance these Eels are singularly bony. The specimens were all 

 about 26 inches long, but weighed only one-half the normal weight. 

 Perhaps the most interesting feature about them was their eyes, which 

 in some examples were eight times larger than normal. The cornea 

 is opaque, and attacked with Gregarines and other organisms. These 

 very remarkable abnormalities Mr. Sandeman believes to be due to 

 senility. Some ten years ago several of these Eels were caught and 

 cooked, with the result that those who partook of them were seized 

 with illness. 



On the Occurrence of Salpse in the Moray Firth. During the 

 early days of October last year, specimens of Salpce, were captured 

 by means of the surface tow-net in various parts of the Moray Firth. 

 Owing to the delicate structure of these Ascidians, the greater 

 number of those obtained were more or less injured from contact 

 with the sides of the net. Salpce have very seldom been captured 

 by us ; and, as a matter of fact, we have no previous record of their 

 occurrence in the Moray Firth or anywhere else on the East Coast 

 of Scotland, nor do I know of any records for the East Coast by 

 other observers, but there are a few authentic records of their 

 occurrence on the West Coast. Like many other marine organisms, 

 Salpce are almost perfectly transparent, so that the contents of the 

 alimentary cavity appear as a dark-coloured mass through the other- 

 wise transparent test. It may also be stated that I have had speci- 

 mens of Snipes sent to me from Shetland. THOMAS SCOTT, Leith. 



Euehloe eardamines in Moray. On 24th May last I saw a 



