DUBLnr NATXJHAL UlSTOltY SOCIETY. 75 



FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 4, 1857. 



Egbert Callwell, Esq., M. R. I. A., in the Chair. 



The Minutes of the preceding meeting having been read and con- 

 firmed, — 



Mr. Richard P. Williams, on behalf of G. A. Pollock, Esq., of Oai- 

 lands, announced the donation to the Society of a nearly perfect ske- 

 leton of the gigantic Elk {MegacerosUihemicus), found at Dunshaughlin, 

 county of Meath ; presented by Richard Bamewall, Esq. 



It was proposed by Mr. R. P. Williams, seconded by the Rev. Eu- 

 gene O'Meara, and carried by acclamation — 



" That in consideration of this very valuable donation, R. Bamewall, 

 Esq., be constituted a Life Member of the Society." 



Peofessor J. Reay Greene, Queen's College, Cork, read — 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ACTINOIDA, WITH A LIST OF IRISH 

 SPECIES RECORDED. 



TniSE remarks on the distribution of the Actinoida (Helianthoida) 

 are made with a view of drawing the attention of the members to the 

 great numerical discrepancy which at present exists between the Iriuh 

 and British lists of these Zoophytes. Upwards of sixty species have 

 already been found on the shores of Great Britain ; whereas, the number 

 which has hitherto been obtained on the Irish coast amounts to no more 

 than twenty-two. Several of the more remarkable "non- adherent'* 

 genera, such as Peachia, Edwardsia, Arachnitis, are totally unrepresented 

 in Ireland, though the geogi'aphical position of that country cannot be 

 considered as in any way the cause of this deficiency, which seems due 

 rather to the want of attention of Irish naturalists to this branch of 

 Zoology than to any real scarcity of the animals in question. A correct 

 list of the Irish Actinoida is very desirable, those hitherto published 

 having been either incomplete, inaccurate, or both. 



In voL iv. of the late W. Thompson's " Natural History of Ireland," 

 the number of species given is only eighteen, and the notes of the dif- 

 ferent localities in which these have been observed are rather scanty, 

 and by no means indicative of the relative distribution of the various 

 species around the coast. We must remember, however, that the well- 

 ^own accuracy of Mr. Thompson forbade him to publish the name of 

 any locality of the existence of which any doubt could be entertained. 

 It should be mentioned, that the name Actinia gemmacea in Mr. Thomp- 

 son's list is meant to designate, not the Zoophyte now so called {BunotUs 

 gemmacea of Mr. Gosse), but rather the common Bunodet craticomity 

 of which it is a weU-known synonym. Nine species of Actinoida are 

 found on the Dublin coast, the neighbourhood of Howth furnishing 

 the greater number of them. Sagartia tiduaia has been taken more 

 than once in this locality, and the individuals of S. dianthm here ob- 



