natural history society of glasgow. 89 



April 26th, 1864. 



Hugh Colqulioun, M.D., in the chair. The following gentlemen 

 were elected members:— Mr Alexander B. Stewart, resident; and 

 Mr John JafFray, Dunbar, corresponding. 



specimens EXHIBITED. 



Dr Scouler gave an account of the remains of a whale found at 

 Cornton, near Stirling. The remains belonged to genus Balcenoptera, 

 and were probably those of B. rostrata, a species still found in our 

 seas. The specimen occurred in brick clay, at about eight feet 

 below the surface. No part of the whale was found except the 

 cranium, wliich Dr Scouler exhibited; whence it appeared that 

 after being stranded and decomposed, the bones of the skeleton 

 had been separated and scattered by the action of the tides or 

 currents of the river. The whale had not been of great size, as 

 the head was but seven feet in length, which would give about 

 twenty-eight feet for the entire skeleton. The head had not been 

 transported, but still remained in the place where it had been 

 decomposed, for one of the small bones of the internal ear was 

 found within the tympanic cavity of the temporal bone. The 

 brick clay in which the bones occurred was not a glacial bed ; at 

 least no shell characteristic of the glacial beds was found in it. 

 From the elevation at which it was found, the whale in this instance 

 was probably of older date than the canoes found in the river 

 deposits of the Clyde near the Broomielaw; but this remark 

 applied only to these instances. 



PAPER READ. 



An account of a visit to the sliores of Dunhar in February last, tvith 

 Descriptive Notes on the Natural History of the District. Part I. 

 By the Secretary and Mr David Eobertson. 



This paper was illustrated by numerous specimens of the 

 various objects collected. The zoological lists furnished by these 

 gentlemen possessed great interest, as affording comparison with 

 similar catalogues prepared in the West of Scotland, many strik- 

 ing differences being apparent. These will be more appreciated 

 as the investigation proceeds, the present paper being but the 

 commencement of a series from which, it is expected, much 

 curious information will be elicited. In the Ornithological Sec- 



M 



