PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 11 



neighbouring counties the smooth- tailed stickleback is plentiful. In addition to the 

 list offish which he had given with reference to the Dodder, he could now add the 

 introduction of the dace (Lenciscus vulgaris). Mr. Andrews exhibited some 

 recent specimens of fish, with reference to his paper on the harbour fish of the south- 

 west coast ; among them were fine specimens of Crenilabrus tinea, C. cornubicus, 

 and C. gibbus, which were all referable to one species that of C. tinea. These 

 were taken in Dingle and Ventry harbours, county of Kerry, and also specimens 

 of Crenilabrus microstoma, A plant of Scolependrium vulgare (var. marginatum) 

 was exhibited by Dr. Kinahan, found by him at Tinnehinch, county of Wicklow 

 being its first record as Irish. The peculiarities of the forms discovered in England 

 by Sir W. C. Trevelyan and Mr. Wollaston were mentioned, and a series of spe- 

 cimens, illustrative of the remarks, exhibited. In the month of April, Mr. Ffennell, 

 Commissioner of Fisheries, submitted very full details with regard to the salmon fish- 

 eries of this country, and dwelt very forcibly on the great importance of scientific 

 inquiry in the promotion of practical knowledge. He mentioned the interest taken 

 in the experiments he was carrying out in the growth of the young salmon fry, and 

 which induced a Dr. Merron, Professor of Anatomy in one of the London colleges, 

 to visit Dublin, for the purpose of understanding the system of those operations. 

 Dr. Merron was interested in the formation of a company for the object of trans- 

 porting the ova, and propagating the salmon in the rivers of New Zealand. In com- 

 menting on the failures last season of the experiments of the Messrs. Ashworth, he 

 alluded to some peculiarities in the habits of the male and female salmon in the 

 spawning season. Under the aid of the Board of Public Works, he had projected 

 a salt-water enclosure at Kingstown, and he doubted not but that the young fry 

 would there thrive, and reach mature growth when transported at the proper season. 

 He was satisfied that enclosures of inlets and estuaries on our coasts, might be con- 

 verted into valuable fish parks. Mr. Andrews made some observations on 

 the restocking of our rivers by artificial means, and alluded to the causes 

 affecting lakes and rivers, which might influence the seasons of the early and late 

 breeding fish, and of the periods of their condition. Mr. Andrews then made 

 some slight allusions to the Syngnathidas, or Pipe-fish family, and mentioned that 

 several that he had obtained on the south-west coast were identical with the species 

 occurring on the shores of Finland and in the Baltic, particularly the two varieties 

 of S typhle. Dr. Kinahan then read a paper u On the Abnormal Forms of 

 Ferns." In this statement he elaborately entered into the characteristics of aberrant 

 forms of variety and subvariety, of permanent and non-permanent continuities, and 

 of the peculiarities of venation, division of frond and fertility, submitting a very 

 extensive list of these forms of the several species of British ferns. At the meeting 

 in May, Mr. Williams, in presenting to the museum specimens of game fowl from 

 Ceylon, made remarks on the peculiarities of the breed, which differed in the 

 carriage of the tail from all the known varieties of domesticated poultry. He 

 noticed the distinctive characters of the Cingalese fowl ; and, if disposed tospeciilate 

 on that question, might be inclined to refer the Ceylon fowl to the Gallus furcatus, 

 which is wild in Ceylon. Mr. R. J. Montgomery made some remarks on the pecu- 

 liarity of locality of the nest of the cole-titmouse (Parus ater), and upon that of the 

 little grebe (Podiceps minor). Dr. Kinahan called the attention of the Society to 

 two bats presented by him, and upon which he had formerly made remarks, refer- 

 ring one obtained by him in the county of Clare, in 1852, to Vespertilio Dau- 

 bentonii ; the other, obtained in the county of Kildare, in 1853, to V. Nattereri ; 

 though, at the same time, he pointed out differences from the description of that 

 bat. He now, through the kind assistance of Professor Bell, could refer the one 

 captured in Clare to the Vespertilio mystacinus, a species new to Ireland, and the 

 other bats to V. Daubentonii. Thus the Society's collection included V. Nattereri, 

 V. mystacinus, and V. Daubentonii the two first being as yet unique as Irish. 

 Doctor Farran followed, with a paper " On Helix pisaua, audits localities." In 

 presenting a beautiful series of the shells of this local mollusca (designated cin- 

 genda) to the Society, he was anxious to clear up the vagueness of its hitherto- 

 named localities, by reducing to a certainty the extent of its distribution as an Irish 

 species. He gave some details with regard to this beautiful shell, and observed that 

 it may be obtained atLaytown, Bettystown, and up to Drogheda these places being 



