194 proceedings of the 



November 26th, 1872. 

 Mr James Ramsay, Vice-President, in the chair. 



SPECIMENS EXHIBITED. 



Mr William Johnston exhibited a Hving specimen of the Four- 

 horned Sheep of St Kilda, a very curious breed, about which little 

 appears to be known. It is mentioned by Martin in his work on 

 St Kilda, published in 1698, and also by Dr Walker in his 

 " Economical History of the Hebrides," 1809. The last named 

 author says that the original breed had come from Norway, 

 between the eighth and twelfth centuries, and states that the 

 colour of the animals varied from a bluish-grey to russet, and in 

 some cases deep black, which is the prevailing hue at the present 

 day. From its goat-like aspect it is evidently fitted for living in 

 such a place as St Kilda, where herbage is scanty, and in some 

 parts of the cliffs only to be reached by sure-footed animals of a 

 slender make. Its body is much compressed, and does not appear 

 to accumulate flesh in the same way as other breeds, a fact probably 

 due to the want of feeding in its isolated haunts; yet such is the 

 force of habit in these animals, that when placed in spots where 

 they can obtain abundance of good grass, they almost reject it, 

 and instinctively search for particular wild plants which our 

 southern sheep turn from with aversion. 



Mr John Kirsop exhibited, I. Some specimens of Tertiary shells 

 from the Waipara River, Canterbury, New Zealand, which had 

 been forwarded by Mr John Stewart of Kilmarnock. Mr John 

 Young, F.G.S., said that some of the shells had been enclosed in a 

 sandy mud, others in a coarse gravelly conglomerate, and as they 

 were found at a considerable height above the sea-level, they in- 

 dicated a rise of the land in that district since the Tertiary period. 

 II. A specimen of a cryptogamic plant from New Zealand, 

 parasitic on the caterpillar of a moth which feeds under ground. 

 This plant, as was explained, grows from the back of the grub, 

 and gradually deprives it of life. III. A fine pair of horns of the 

 Great Rusa [Rusa Mppelaplius), from Bengal, which, with the shells, 

 were presented by Mr Kirsop to the Hunterian Museum. 



Mr Chapman exhibited several specimens of the Japanese 

 Silkworm (Bomhyx yama mai) and cocoons, which had been bred 

 in England, and stated that this species was subject to great 



