12 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



" Encyclopedic d'Histoire Naturelle," &c. Par Le Dr. Chenu. 

 " Coleopteres et Papillons." Royal 8vo, 2 vols., bound in one. Prom 

 A. H. Haliday, A.M., Y.P. 



" Manual of Mollusca." By S. P. Woodward. " The Supplement." 

 From "W. R. Tagart, Esq., Hon. Sec. 



" Entomologist's Annual for 1857." With coloured plates. Edited 

 by H. T. Stainton. From the Editor. 



" Natural History Review for 1856." Yol. III. From the Editors. 



" Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia." 

 Vol. YIIL, Nos. 1 and 2. And, " A Notice of the Origin, Progress, and 

 Present Condition of the Academy." By Dr. W. S. W. Ruschenberger. 

 1 852. From the Academy. 



" Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History." Yol. V., 

 Nos. 12 to 21. May, 1-855, to April, 1856. From the Society. 



A. H. Haliday then read the following Paper from "W. Smith, 

 F.L.S., Professor of Nat. Hist. Q,. C. Cork, Corresponding Member: — 



MEMORANDA, CHIEFLY BOTANICAL, OF AN EXCURSION TO THE PYRENEES IN 

 THE SUMMER OF 1856. PART I. 



The completion of an uninterrupted railway communication between 

 Paris and Bordeaux, and the opening of the line between this last city 

 and Bayonne, have brought the magnificent scenery of the Pyrenees 

 within the reach of a class of travellers to whom the time, expense, 

 and fatigue, formerly required by a long and monotonous diligence route 

 of more than five hundred miles, presented insuperable difficulties. The 

 access to these interesting mountains will be further facilitated by the 

 completion, in about two years, of the railway now in progress between 

 Bayonne and Pau ; so that professional men and naturalists, most of 

 whom fall under the same category as the travellers I have just men- 

 tioned, will be able, during the few weeks of their annual vacation, and 

 at a comparatively small outlay of labour and money, to explore the 

 valleys and scale the heights of a district full of natural beauty, teeming 

 with objects interesting to the student of nature, and possessing, in com- 

 parison with other mountainous districts of western Europe, what to 

 many will be the greatest charm of all — the recommendation of novelty. 

 To such persons the casual notes of a confrere may possess some interest 

 and value. Having experienced the difficulty of obtaining precise 

 and reliable information with regard to the districts most likely to be 

 productive to the naturalist, I venture to hope that those under whose 

 notice these memoranda may fall may, to some extent, be saved the 

 trouble of inquiry, or spared the mortification of disappointment. I 

 may mention, as a hint to those who may be doubtful as to the nature 

 of the accommodation to be found in the mountains, that clean, if not 

 very comfortable, lodgings may be met with in most of the valleys of the 

 Hautes Pyrenees ; and that ladies who can ride on horseback may tra- 

 verse the principal passes, and ascend to the most remarkable mountain 

 sites, without fatigue or danger. I was accompanied in the present 

 excursion by my wife, and we found no difficulties in our rambles that 



