2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



coasts. He shortly described the appearance it presented when 

 found, and contrasted its small size with the huge examples of 

 the same family he had often seen at St Vincent and the Canary 

 Isles. Professor Young then made a few remarks descriptive of 

 the habits and structure of the cuttle-fish family. The specimen, 

 which was in fine condition and had been well preserved, was 

 presented by Dr Flemyng to the Hunterian Museum. 



Mr John Young, F.G.S., exhibited some portions of the edible 

 . bird's-nest, and prepared fins of sharks, both of which are used by 

 the Chinese in the preparation of certain soups, the specimens 

 being sent for exhibition by Mr Alexander M'Gregor of the 

 Clydesdale Bank, Glasgow. Mr Young stated that the edible 

 bird's-nests are formed by a species of swallow belonging to the 

 family Cypselidae, which have the power of secreting in their salivary 

 glands the glutinous material of which the nests are composed. 

 The sharks' fins, he stated, are prepared for the market by being 

 subjected to a process of maceration in water. 



Mr Young also exhibited some specimens of finely-preserved 

 Carboniferous Polyzoa from Dykehead pit, High Blantyre. Two 

 of the species belong to the genus Ceriopora, viz., C. similis and C. 

 interporosa. Shrub-like fronds of the latter occur in the shale, from 

 three to four inches in length, and show their habit of growth 

 more clearly than any that have hitherto been met with in our 

 limestone strata. One of the other Polyzoons belongs to a newly 

 described species, Hyphasmopora Baskii. This beautiful form is 

 rather rare. Specimens from the Blantyre shale show that it 

 grew in little plant like fronds, the branches bifurcating from the 

 main stem at intervals. It has hitherto been only met with in 

 fragments in the washings of the limestone shale. 



Mr Peter Cameron exhibited a number of insects captured 

 during the excursions of the Society this season. The collection 

 comprised examples of Naucoris ciinicoides, a water-bug new to the 

 Scottish list, taken in the Clyde, opposite Carmyle ; two species 

 of Nematus, new to the British fauna, viz., N. apicalis, Hartig., 

 taken on 5th May in Cadder Wilderness, and N. dorsatus, Cam., 

 bred from a l)irch-feeding larva got last July at Bishopton ; 

 Cladius Brullaei, Dahlbom, bred from larvae found feeding on the 

 raspberry at Cadder ; Femisa albipes, Cam., beaten out of a rose- 

 bush at Cadder; and Hemichroa rufa. The last-named specimen 

 was very small, and was bred from a larva got at Bishopton. It 



