PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 45 



moth" ("Cerura vinula"). The first caterpillar of this species which I found 

 was deemed a great prize, and, as such, had a division to itself. On going to look 

 at it the next day, to my indescribable dismay, I found it was gone, having easily 

 eaten through the gauze covering. In vain I searched for it, and had given 

 it up as lost, when, about three weeks afterwards, while removing the table-cover, 

 I found it firmly attached to one of the legs, and there, upon examination, I found 

 my long-lost larva. It had bored a snug berth for itself in the solid mahogany 

 leg, and finding the place cold, I suppose, had firmly glued the table-cover over its 

 cocoon. 



These few remarks may, perhaps, be of some use to beginners, and should they, 

 in any degree whatever, promote the study and pursuit of this branch of 

 Entomology in Ireland, I should most sincerely rejoice. I have only to add, 

 that I shall be most willing, at all times, to aiford, either in person, or by letter, 

 or by means of my own collection, any information in my power to those who 

 may desire it. 



A letter addressed, Rev. J. Greene, 49, Stephen's-green, Dublin, will always 

 find me. 



Mr. Greene stated, that in the "Entomologist's Annual," just published, Hama 

 furva, W. V., was noted as occurring only in Scotland ; whereas a reference to his 

 list of Irish Lepidoptera, published in the " Natural History Review,'' would 

 show that it had been previously recorded as Irish by more than one collector. 



FEBRUARY 3, 1855. 

 R. BALL, LL.D., President, in the Chair. 



The President gave a demonstration of the families Meropidaa and Upupidae, 

 being in continuation of a series illustrative of the collection in the University 

 Museum. 



Dr. Ball also laid before the Association the following facts relative to a specimen 

 of Lepidopus argyreus, the head of which he exhibited : 



ON THE PROBABLE OCCURRENCE OF THE LEPIDOPUS ARGYREUS IN DUBLIN BAY. 



About eighteen years since, Mr. Glennon, the well-known bird preserver of 

 Suffolk- street, gave me the head of a fish, stating that it had been then recently 

 taken by Mr. Massey, at the Pigeon-house. I submitted this head to my ever- 

 lamented friend, William Thompson, who was then engaged on his list of the 

 Fauna of Ireland ; he appears to have been misled as to the species, and having 

 failed to get any precise information on the subject from Mr. Massey, refused, with 

 his characteristic caution, to give the fish a place in his list. A few days since, on 

 turning over the first volume of the Wernerian Transactions, I found, at page 83, a 

 very fair figure, as if drawn from my specimen, but representing the head of a fish 

 described by Colonel Montague, under the name of Xipotheca tetradens, as having 

 occurred on the coast of Devonshire ; the Colonel was not aware that the fish had 

 been already described as a Mediterranean species. In Yarrell's excellent history 

 of British fishes, its occurrence is recorded in other places in the south of England, 

 and in the MSS. of Mr. Thompson, there is a notice of its having probably been 

 taken, if I recollect rightly, at Newcastle, in the county of Down. We have thus 

 reason to believe, that it may be found on this coast. It would seem here unneces- 

 sary to recapitulate the history of the fish, as stated in Yarrell ; but I may confirm 

 what he remarks, that the proper number of large teeth in the front of the upper 

 jaw is six, not four, as supposed by Montague, and hence his specific name. When 

 I got possession of the head, it had six sharp, lancet-shaped teeth in advance of the 

 regular row of smaller teeth, and singularly arranged two teeth standing parallel 

 to each other, at about one-sixteenth of an inch apart, close to the extremity of 

 the upper jaw ; two larger, at about the eighth of an inch behind these, also parallel, 

 and about one-eighth of an inch apart ; the two largest, one-eighth of an inch farther 

 behind, and about a quarter of an inch apart. These six teeth are singularly sharp and 

 lancet- like ; but the most curious part of their structure is, that they fold inwards, 

 like clasped knives, and are so adapted, that the fish apparently can use these 

 powerful implements for scarification or not at its pleasure. The diagram exhibited 

 will explain their position when folded back in the angular roof of the mouth. 

 VOL. ii. e 



