70 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



found, the distinguishing characters of it and of D. Scoticum can 

 be better compared. 



During the course of an excursion last summer, and while pro- 

 ceeding from Cunningham Baidland to Dairy, attention was 

 directed by Mr. John Smith, of the Eglinton Ironworks, to a 

 bed of shale lying exposed alongside one of the pit railways, 

 and which he stated contained some rather rare Entomostraca. 

 Among other organisms obtained from this shale it was interesting 

 to find a species of Dentcdium which Mr. Young considered new, 

 and which he had pleasure in naming after a district which has of 

 recent years yielded many interesting groups of fossils. D. Dcdrij- 

 ense is a little curved tapering form, and may be described as 

 having its surface ornamented by fine, sharp, regular lines of 

 growth, which have an oblique curve around the shell. It seems 

 to have seldom exceeded \ inch in length by - f V inch in diameter at 

 its anterior end. It has the same curvature as I). Scoticum, but 

 is easily distinguished from that species by its fine sharp annular 

 lines of growth and by a rather more rapid tapering of its shell. 

 This species is only known to occur in the bed of shale at Dairy 

 which lies in the upper limestone series of that district, but it will 

 probably be discovered in other localities. Mr. Young concluded 

 by stating that while the Scottish species of Dentalium range from 

 the lower to the upper marine beds, yet they do not occur, so far 

 as he was aware, in any of the purer beds of limestone. All the 

 species of the genus which he had found were obtained from the 

 shales, which indicated that they lived in seas of lesser depth than 

 those in which the purer limestones were deposited. This con- 

 clusion therefore agrees with what Mr. Young has already recorded 

 regarding many other Carboniferous gasteropod shells which are 

 likewise chiefly obtained from the shale beds. 



IV. — Notes on the state of Vegetation in the Public Parks, and 

 Observations regarding the Weather during 1878. By Mr. 

 Duncan M'Lellan, Superintendent of Parks. 



Last season will long be remembered as one of the most genial 

 and fruitful of the present century. The spring months were all 

 that could be desired for starting anew the vegetable world. The 

 soil was in perfect condition during the month of March for 

 receiving the precious seed, and April with its sunshine and 

 showers brought out a flush of vegetation which has rarely been 



