143 



MAY 3, 1850. 



ADDITIONAL M0TB8 OH TBBKDO NOBVAOICA. BT CBABLB8 rABBAH, M.D. 



Before I bring under the notice of the Society the capture of a very rare bird, 

 the Black Tern^Stema fissipes) — vide ante, page 70— permit me to say that I re • 

 gret there should hare been an? ambiguity in the description I gave of the situa^ 

 tion of the timber in which I had the good fortune to discover the Teredo, or 

 shipworm. The remains of the tree were ia si'/i/, the very spot where it grew 

 ana iluurished in ages past, and where it met the fate that levelled not it alone, 

 but countless numbers of others, which were visible on the day I was so fortu- 

 nate in visiting the strand. Any person conversant with the appearance of a 

 bog in the turNcuttin^ season, or after the removal of a quantity of turf, must 

 have observed how thickly studded the bog is with the butts and roots of trees, 

 the shai'ts of which are generally to be found in the immediate neighbourhood, 

 and which appear to have been prostrated by some violent hurricane. This is 

 the exact state of the submerged bog under Clonea ; and it was in the root of 

 one of those trees, and attached to the butt, that the colony of Teredos had lo- 

 cated itself. 



Now, in respect to the Teredo which I had the pleasure of submitting to the 

 consideration of the Society, I should mention that 1 most unfortunately mislaid, 

 in the hurry of the moment, the only portion of the animal by which I could cri- 

 tically determine the species. In this genus the extremity of the animal is fur- 

 nished with two plates of shell, termed the •• palettes," or caudal appendages. In 

 the Teredo navalis those are deeply notched, while those belonging to T. Norva- 

 gioa are entire. The animals in both species are so much alike, that without this 

 very clear anatomical difference, it would be hard to distinguish one from the 

 other. 



Since this communication had been drawn out, Dr. Farran stated that he had 

 been most fortunate in finding the palettes of the Teredo, which were attached to 

 one of the animals. I obtained them (says Dr. Farran) in the root of the fir, and 

 which at once determined the species to be Teredo Norvagica. I had a note 

 from Mr. Thompson on the subject, who states that he found the same species 

 years ago in the neighbourhood of Belfast, where it was also met below the 

 streets of Belfast, of ver^ large size, in oak, &c. It is, however, of interest to 

 observe my obtaining it in the south, showing the extent of its distribution. I 

 found one portion of a large root on the shore, which was completely perforated 

 by the Teredo, generally in the direction of the fibre of the root. In addition, 

 Pholas crispata had also been perforated, but at right angles with the Teredo, 

 across the grain. It is an interesting specimen, and on the first opportunity I 

 will forward it to be exhibited to the Society. 



JUKE 10, 1853. 



ON THE D18C0VBBT OF BULLA HTOATI8. BT CHABLE8 FABBAN, M.D. 



On the last occasion, when I had the pleasure of bringing before the notice 

 of the Societv some notes on the Turnstone, the subject was so intimately asso- 

 ciated with the memory of the late William Thompson, that I availed myself of 

 the opportunity of recording the high estimation in which it is held by the luvcrs 

 of natural history. A similar melancholy task now falls to my lot in mentioning 

 the name of William M'Calla, a most distinguished and enthusiastic naturalist, 

 who, with indomitable zeal, unaided by fortune, has achieved a reputation in the 

 science of natural history seldom equalled, certainly never surpassed : the se- 

 veral recent standard works on the various branches connected with that science 

 attest this most amply. I select the following incident (from a multitude) to 



