56 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



and it is very difficult distinguishing the species of this group from 

 the females alone. The specimen last obtained was, however, a 

 male, and was easily distinguished by the strongly marked character 

 of having the first pair of coxal plates " produced to long horn-like 

 processes pointing forwards." This Amphipod is now for the first 

 time added to the British fauna. THOMAS SCOTT, Leith. 



On the occurrence of Paramunna bilobata, G. O. Sars, in 

 Loch Fyne. While examining recently a gathering of dredged 

 material from near Otter Spit, Loch Fyne, collected by Mr. F. G. 

 Pearcy in October last, I obtained two or three specimens of the 

 minute Isopod Paramunna bilobata. Though small, this is a well- 

 marked species ; the bilobed form of the front of the head and the 

 strongly toothed lateral margins of the caudal segment distinguish it 

 at a glance ; Professor Sars, in a recently issued part of his second 

 volume on the " Crustacea of Norway " (which is at present in 

 course of publication), says : " Out of Norway this species has not 

 been recorded " ; it seems therefore to be an addition to the British 

 fauna. THOMAS SCOTT, Leith. 



BOTANICAL NOTES AND NEWS. 



Viola tricolor (Z.) and its Allies. A very important con- 

 tribution to the study of the section Melanium of the genus 

 Viola has been recently made by Dr. Veit Wittrock under the title 

 of ' Viola-Studier : Morfologisk-biologiska och systematiska studier 

 ofver Viola tricolor (L.) och hennes narmare anforvandter ' ("Acta 

 Horti Bergiani," 1897, ii. pp. 3-142, with 14 partly coloured -plates 

 and 17 figures in text). In this paper the author distinguishes, 

 gives names to, describes, and figures the following " sub-species " of 

 V. tricolor (L.) and V. arvensis, Murray, each with subordinate 

 forms : 



Viola tricolor (L.), ex parte., genuina, a/nmotropha, coniophila, and 

 stenochila. V. arvensis, Murray, comuiuuis, snblilarina, patens^ 

 curtisepala, and striolata. Of these " sub-species " some ought to be 

 detected in Scotland, or in England. It is probable that some of the 

 names must yield to earlier names given by Jordan and other southern 

 botanists. Those to whom the original is not readily accessible or 

 intelligible will feel grateful for a review in the "Journal of Botany" 

 (November 1897, pp. 454-458), in which the new "sub-species" 

 are briefly described. Unfortunately, it is not easy to determine in 

 how far these are distinct from the forms already described and 

 named by Jordan and other specialists. 



Among other members of the section Melanium described in 

 this important paper are V. alpestris (DC.), an alpine or sub-alpine 



