312 December, 



IRISH SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Recent gifts include a Golden Pheasant from Mr. W. S. Bagg, a pair 

 of Barn-owls from Mr. F. Coppinger, two Linnets, two Larks, two 

 Meadow Pipits, two Twites and two Redpolls from Messrs. Williams, 

 eight Barbar}' Doves from Mr. J. Angus, a Kestrel from Mr. W. R. Green, 

 two Himalayan Bears from Mr. C. W. Dunn, and a Baboon from Mr. 

 P.J. Fox. A glass screen has been added to the Giraffe house which 

 enables visitors to see the animals while sheltering from, the cold 

 weather. The new arrangement of the Monkey-house now in progress 

 will largely add to the comfort and convenience both of the inmates and 

 their human visitors. 



DUBLIN MICROSCOPICAL CLUB. 



October 17. — The Club met at Leinster House. Mr. Moore exhibited 

 an inflorescence of the rare and curious Orchid, Megaclininm triste, from 

 tropical Africa. The flowers are crowded together at the apex of a 

 stout rachis some eighteen inches long, each flower enclosed in a 

 bract. These bracts are closely imbricated, and of a bronzy-green colour, 

 so that the unopened part of the inflorescence strikingl}- resembles the 

 body of a lizard. The flowers are black, and the labellum is very 

 delicately hinged, the vslightest disturbance causing it to move up 

 and down. Segments of the flower were also exhibited under the 

 microscope. 



Me. McArdIvE exhibited a Hepatic which he detected among specimens 

 sent to him by Mr. Hunter of Belfast, who collected it on schist rocks 

 at RathmuUan, County Donegal, in September last. No fruit, as yet, 

 has been found. Considerable diversity of opinion exists among 

 experts as to its name. Comparison with Norwegian and other specimens 

 will be necessary to establish its identity. The branching and cell 

 structure was shown under the microscope, and it is an interesting 

 addition to the Irish cryptogamic flora. 



BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL 



SOCIETY. 



November 3. — The eighty-third Session opened, and the incoming 

 President, Professor J. Symington, M.D., F.R.S., delivered an inaugural 

 address on "John Grattan : an Appreciation of his Scientific Work." 

 The President gave an interesting account of the pioneer work which 

 John Grattan had accomplished in craniology, and exhibited and 

 explained the actual machine w^hich Grattan invented and made for 

 the purpose of accurate measurement of skulls. Grattan's w^ork was 

 practically unknown owing to his papers having been chiefly published 

 in an unsuitable journal, and also owing to his work being unfinished 



