122 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



the bark of a rather young poplar, at a height of six feet 

 from its base, a curious variety of Hypmtin triquetrmn, whose 

 leaves are undulated transversely much as in Dicranum 

 nndulatum, or as in those of Neckera puinila (Hdw.j, which 

 grew in apposition to it, or, indeed, intermingled with it. 

 Apart from the unusual habitat, the appearance of the moss 

 differs from the common form inasmuch as the branching is 

 irregular and not pinnate, while the short branches are not 

 deflexed nor attenuated. An examination of the leaf under 

 the microscope revealed near the base areolation larger 

 and more separated ; while, in the same region, the cells 

 appeared to communicate with each other by lateral and, 

 occasionally, by apical pores. There were seen, besides, 

 one or two rows of large red cells quite at the base, which 

 often extended right across. Neither of these peculiarities 

 have I observed in normal specimens, but merely at times 

 yellowish cells near the nerves. Meanwhile I distinguish 

 this variety by the name corrugatulum. 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



A Supposed Instance of the Occurrence of the Wild Cat in 

 Midlothian. When I wrote my " Mammalian Fauna of the Edin- 

 burgh District " I was unable to cite a single record of the occurrence 

 of the Wild Cat in Midlothian, but pointed to the banks of the Esk 

 as a locality in which it was just possible a few might have lingered 

 till the opening years of the present century. Not long after, 

 namely, in October 1892, Mr. Thomas Gordon, Banker, Edinburgh, 

 informed me that his father, who lived at Temple, shot a " Wild Cat" 

 at Arniston on the southern branch of the Esk in 1830, and that its 

 stuffed skin remained in the family till a few years ago, when it was 

 destroyed. I suggested that perhaps it was only a domestic cat 

 run wild, but this Mr. Gordon would not admit ; and certainly his 

 description of it was quite in keeping with that of the present race of 

 Scottish Wild Cats. WILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



Marten in Sutherland and Inverness-shire. Messrs. Mackay 

 received a Marten (Mustela martes), a very fine specimen, from Mr. 

 D. Morrison, Scourie, Sutherland, on i2th January 1897; and 

 another equally fine from Kenneth Kennedy, Inverie, Knoydart, 

 Inverness-shire, on nth February. T. E. BUCKLEY, Inverness. 



