NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 103 



remarked that the ravages committed by this minute insect were 

 becoming wide-spread — so much so, indeed, as to cause most 

 persons to root up their black currant bushes and abandon the 

 cultivation of this fruit entirely. 



Dr Scouler exhibited specimens of the Crocodihis frontalis — a 

 species recently described by Mr Murray, from specimens sent 

 home by the Rev. Mr Thomson, from Old Calabar, on the West 

 Coast of Africa. Mr Murray's description chiefly referred to the 

 external characters; but an attentive study of the cranium tended 

 to bring out more clearly the distinctive marks of the species. 

 Tlie new crocodile differed from all the others which Dr Scouler 

 had an opportunity of examining, in having a bony septum 

 wliich divided the nostrils. This peculiarity existed, however, in 

 tlie alligator of the Mississippi. The bones of the head were also 

 very massive, especially those of the lower jaw. It is likewise 

 remarkable from the shortness of the snout, and in this respect 

 approaches more to that of an alligator than of a crocodile. In- 

 deed, it is more obtuse than that of the Alligator sclerous of South 

 America. 



PAPER READ. 



The Secretary then read a communication on the crab and 

 herring fisheries at Dunbar, by Mr John Jaffray, one of the 

 society's corresponding members. This paper contained a some- 

 what graphic description of the Dunbar Drave, and included many 

 valuable and interesting statistics connected with the fisheries there, 

 involving one or two questions of public utility. 



January 21st, 1865. 

 John Scouler, M.D., LL.D., F.L.S., President, in the chair. 

 Mr William Ellis was elected a resident member. 



SPECIMENS EXHIBITED. 



Mr Edward E. Alston exhibited a specimen of the Kittiwake 

 gull (Larus tridactylus) , which was shot, out of a flock near Girvan, 

 on the 4th of January ; and made some remarks on the occasional 

 occurrence of the species on the Scottish coasts during winter. 

 The Kittiwake has hitherto been considered a strictly migratory 



