NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 343 



found it in the dredge among the roots of Laminaria, but always 

 of small dimensions (6 or 7 inches), while the specimen exhibited 

 is fully 16 inches in length. It was first noticed with 3 or 4 

 inches of its body wriggling out of the sand, and this it continued 

 to do until the whole of it had gained the surface, when it moved 

 slowly along wdth an undulating motion. Another was found 

 close by, on the soft sand, travelling seaward. From the trail, it 

 was noticed to have burrowed through a sand ripple in preference 

 to moving over it, although the obstructive ridge did not exceed 

 2 inches in hei2;ht. About 4 inches of the anterior end of another 

 was found at a little distance, still in life, and to all appearance as 

 full of vivacity as its unmutilated neighbours. Fourteen days 

 later, at the next spring tide, which was exceedingly low, the sands 

 were traversed from end to end without finding another specimen; 

 nor had he met with these worms before, although for the last 

 dozen years he had been a regular visitor to these sands at low 

 water. Whether some exceptional state of the weather, or mere 

 accident, was the cause of the turn-out of this species at the time 

 may be hard to determine. There is no doubt, however, that some 

 animals appear in far greater abundance at a particular time than 

 they do again throughout the season. 



Mr Peter Cameron, jun., exhibited a head of Indian corn, 

 brought to this city from the United States, and which had the 

 interior of a considerable number of the grains consumed by the 

 larvae of a moth (GelecJiia cerealella), an American species, which 

 has done great injury to the crops in that country. It was first 

 heard of in 1750, and about that time began to spread over France, 

 causing much damage to wheat, barley, and maize. A number of 

 the moths had emerged in Glasgow, and it seems not unlikely they 

 may spread in this country, and produce damage among the 

 cereals. 



Dr James Stirton, V.P., exhibited a number of new Lichens, 

 collected by Mr George Thomson at Fernando Po, and by Mr 

 Grant at Bonny Eiver, and remarked that "the flora of South- 

 western Africa is a typical one, and corresponds very closely with 

 that on the opposite side of the Atlantic. He then described the 

 specimens in detail, and stated that he had named one of them in 

 honour of Mr Thomson, who had obtained it at a considerable 

 elevation on Clarence Peak, a mountain which reaches an altitude 

 of over 10,000 feet. 



