1903. Prae;g:^r. — Botafiizmg in the Ards. 265 



1793. The former is very likely there still, but as regards the 

 latter, it has probably been destroyed by the drainage and 

 total reclamation of the bog. 



My best thanks are due to Mr. Arthur Bennett, Prof E. 

 Hackel, Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, and Mr. Frederick Townsend 

 for their opinion on a few of the plants collected. 



National Library, Dublin. 



IRISH SOCIETIES, 



ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Recent gifts include a Blue-fronted Amazon and a Californian Quail 

 from Miss Telford, a Grass Parrakeet from Miss F. Duffy. The outdoor 

 section of the Nesbitt Aviary has been entirely rebuilt, and will be used 

 foi the hardy kinds of Parrots. Ten pairs of Grass Parrakeets, and six 

 pairs of Weaver-birds, lately purchased, are now on view in these open- 

 air cages. The young Giraffes are in excellent health, and prove, as 

 might be expected, a great attraction to visitors. 



BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL 



SOCIETY. 



JuivY 3.— Annual, Meeting.— The chair was occupied by John Brown, 

 F.R.S. (President). The Hon. Secretary submitted the annual report of 

 the Council, in which it was stated that the winter session was opened in 

 the Museum on November 5, 1902, when the President, Mr. John 

 Brown, F.R.S., gave an opening address, taking as his subject "The 

 Liquefaction of Gases," illustrated b}- numerous experiments. Six other 

 business meetings were held at which seven papers were read. At all 

 these meetings the attendance of members and of the general public 

 showed no diminution. Mainly as a result of the suggestions made by 

 Professor Gregg Wilson in his lecture on " Recent Fishery Research " 

 on 2nd December, the Ulster Fisheries and Biology Association.has been 

 established. Already good work has been done, and much interest 

 aroused for its future welfare. The "natural history collections in the 

 Museum have received a great amount of attention during the year, and 

 the much-needed work of revision and rearrangement has to a large 

 extent been carried out by a number of volunteer experts. The Irish 

 fossils have been taken off the old tablets and remounted on a new 

 system by Mr. Swanston. The important set of County Down graptolites 

 is not yet in place^ but is being renamed and classified by Professor 

 Lapworth. The collections representing Irish vertebrate zoology have 

 been taken in hand effectively by Mr. Robert Patterson. Seven 



