DUBUN KATfT^^L HISTORT 80CIBTT. 149 



iDj? those fine specimens before the Society. I can safely say that no naturalist 

 wUl be disappointed in having it as bis companion when at sea, and I coQuder 

 that it must supersede all others. Dr. Farran then exhibited a splepdid series 

 of the Puetuuculi in all stages of growth, and pointed out the several fpecimens, 

 which, from diiTurent depths and positions in the bay, varied in size and in the 

 beauty of their markings. He also exhibited fine specimens of Venus cassina, 

 Cardium Norvegicum, and Solecurtus coarctatus. 



Hr. G. Sanders observed upon the correctness of Dr. Farran's remarks as 

 to the accumulation of the dead valves of the Pectunculi, which he attributed to 

 the set of the currents from the grounds where the molluscs were abundant in 

 the living state. On the south coast of England he had found the dead valves 

 in quantities in Whitsand Bay, but the living animals were rare. In shoal wa- 

 ter the shell appeared to be more covered with the villous coat ; in deep water 

 the shell was more free from it, and the markings wore more vivid. Off Plv- 

 mouth Sound the true habitat of the animal was, he considered, in sixteen u- 

 thoms. 



Mr. Andrews said, — Being aware of the great interest that the display of 

 such an unrivalled series of fine specimens of Pectunculus glycimeris would 

 create, and the importance of the discovery on the west coast of the living ani- 

 mals in such profusion as recorded by Dr. Farran this evening, 1 have been led 

 to offer a few remarks from my own notes of the south-w«8t coast of Ireland. I 

 fully concur in the statement made by Dr. Farran, as to the value of the admir- 

 able report drawn up by the late William Thompson, Esq. — valuable for the 

 scrupulous attention to details, and omission of all questionable or doubtful re- 

 cords of localities ; up to the period of its publication it is a standard reference of 

 the known distribution of the invertebrata of Ireland. This report, however, 

 can only be considered as a general review, for few at the time had any 

 very extensive local information of the zoology of the country, especially with 

 reference to the west and south-west coasts ; and this may account why Pec- 

 tunculus glycimeris, and Bulla hydatis, also recently recorded by Dr. Farran, 

 should have escaped being marked in Mr. Thompson's report as western species. 

 These molluscs, which Dr. Farran has established to occur in such abundance on 

 our west coast, with Venerupis irus and Kellia suborbicularis, have a most exten- 

 sive distribution, being found on the shores of Spain and Portugal, and off the 

 Canary Islands, and Madeira. Robert M'Andrew, Esq., a most practical scien- 

 tific investigator of the distribution of marine mollusca, obtained P. glycimeris 

 abundantly off the Canary Isles in fifty fathoms sandy soundings, r^ow that 

 marine investigations are assuming philosophic bearings, local Faunas must be- 

 come of great importance, as affording a more perfect survey of animal life, of 

 great importanci; to the study of zoology and physical geography. Hitherto our 

 investigations of the marine zoology of the western and southern coasts have 

 been limited, especially in deep water, where the different soundings afford 

 endless forms of animal organization ; forms, I may say, innumerable in beauty, 

 and in vividness of colouring; ;manyof the most delicate structure inhabiting the 

 greatest depths of the ocean where animal life can exist. Before bringing to 

 your notice one of these beautiful, yet fragile animals, which I obtained in the 

 deepest soundings off the coast of Kerry, and considered new to the Fauna of the 

 country, I would make some remarks on the soundings of the south-west coast. 

 AJU)ng that coast, and off the entrances of the Shannon, Dingle, and Kenmare 

 Bays, the soundings run gradually obt from forty to one hundred fathoms, and 

 where, as also inside, around, and off the Blaskets and the SkcUig Islands, the 

 soundings vary, with bottoms of fine sand, sand and mud, shelly and pcbblv, 

 coarse gravelly, rooky and corally grounds; and these constitute tnc di£> 

 furent feeding grounds of the cod, ling, haddock, turbot, and sole, as well as 

 many of tho more common kinds of our edible fish. Where the fish roost fre- 

 quent to seek the food suitable to their habits, there tbe marine animals most 

 abound ; and it is on the feeding grounds of the ling, the cod, and the haddock, 



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