546 Question of the Occurrence, in Ireland, of the Mole, 



fantail ; a name which has already met with partial adoption. 

 As yet, I have seen but one species that can rank with it, a 

 bird from the Himalayas, remarkable for having much yel- 

 low in its plumage, though its markings correspond with those 

 of the European bird. The Accentor Calliope of M. Tem- 

 minck is closely allied to it. — E. Blyth. Sept. 4. 1836. 



Insects. — Polyommatus Argiolus. — I have, on three or four 

 occasions, taken this small butterfly at the end of July and in 

 August, but never observed it to be as plentiful as in the spring. 

 — E. Blyth. Sept. 4. 1836. 



Acetate of Strychnine useful to Entomologists. — I lately re- 

 ceived, at Gibraltar, a hint from my friend Mr. Goldsworthy, 

 Assistant Surgeon, Royal Artillery. He had been collecting 

 fine specimens of Ph. Pavonia major, and tried various modes 

 of killing them, with the hope of finding a method whereby 

 he should avoid injury, and, at the same time, lengthened 

 pain. He accidentally tried acetate of strychnine, and was 

 agreeably surprised to find that, when inserted beside the pin, 

 it produced a slight flutter, with death never protracted be- 

 yond half a minute. I should be much gratified with knowing 

 the result of this experiment in other hands. I therefore 

 request that any of your correspondents who may be induced 

 to use it would favour us with the result of his trials. — 

 R. Templet on. Woolwich. 



Geology. — Important Discovery in Ireland. — A shark's 

 tooth was lately found by Mr. Whitla in the greensand near 

 Belfast. This is the first instance of such an organic remain 

 having been met with in Ireland. (From a Correspondent.) 

 [In Dale's Antiquities of Harwich, the author, in treating of 

 some fossil teeth of a large species of Carcharias, remarks 

 that, " when Mr. Ray wrote his Topographical Observations, he 

 had never heard of the Glossopetrae being found in England ; 

 how he mist them is greatly to be admired? — Ed. 



Art. IX. Queries and Ansxvers. 



[The Mole, Carrion Crow, Nightingale, Serpent, Toad: do 

 they occur in Ireland P (p. 482.)] — The first, according to Mr. 

 Bell (see account of the animal in British Quadrupeds), does 

 not: wherefore, as it is pretty uniformly distributed over 

 Britain, from Sunderlandshire to Cornwall, we can only ac- 

 count for its non-occurrence in the sister island, by assuming 

 that the origin of the species, or, at least, its diffusion over 

 Britain, must be dated subsequently to the existence of the 

 intervening sea, though prior to that gradual irruption of, 



