2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



these organs being upwards of four times the length of the body. 

 It burrows under the bark of certain kinds of fir trees, and as far 

 as yet ascertained, Perthshire seems to be the district where the 

 greatest number of specimens has hitherto been obtained. Mr 

 Young suggested that the specimen found in the pit may have 

 been carried down with Avood in the egg or Larval state, and there 

 hatched. The other specimen may also have been brought into 

 the district amongst wood. 



Mr Thomas Chapman exhibited the living larvse with cocoons 

 of Platysamia cecropia, a Xorth American silk moth, and gave 

 some interesting observations on the habits of the species. 



Mr Eobert Gray exhibited a second specimen of the Spotted 

 Sandpiper, (Totanus macularius), killed in Aberdeenshire in August 

 1867, and stated that this specimen is perhaps the third or fourth 

 British example. 



PAPERS READ. 



I. — On a fresh water Polyzoon belonging to the genus Alcyonella^ 



discovered in St. Germain's Loch, near Maryhill, in August, 1869. 



By Mr John Young, F.G.S. 



Professor Allman of Edinburgh, who has described all the known 

 British species of fresh-water Polyzoa, mentions but three species 

 of Alcyonella as having been found in Britain, only one of which 

 has hitherto been met with in Scotland, viz., A. fungosa. Examples 

 of the species found by Mr Young in St. Germain's Loch having 

 been forwarded to Professor Allman by Prof. Alexander Dickson, 

 an opinion has been expressed that they belong to a new and 

 undescribed species. Mr Young gave a description of the mode 

 of occurrence and the habits of this beautiful organism, stating 

 that he had found it growing in patches upon the bark, and 

 clustered round the twigs of dead trees thrown into the water of 

 the loch. Several specimens, which he had kept alive for three 

 weeks, had afforded him an opportunity of watching their move- 

 ments. The organisms when fully expanded gave the twigs on 

 which they were clustered an appearance as if covered with tlie 

 finest down of a pale yellowish- white colour. Their tentacles, which 

 are numerous, are arranged somewhat in the form of a crescent- 

 shaped fan -when seen in the expanded state through a glass. 

 They seem to be sensitive to strong sun-liglit, and they flourish 

 best when placed in a window with a northern exposure. On the 



