PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 83 



there ; and a careful search on my own part, during six weeks sojourn, failed to 

 discover it — a fact the more singular as a great part of the district is bog, in the 

 pools in which, in some of the neighbouring counties, the smooth-tailed stickle- 

 back is plentiful ; neither could I find the minnow there, though both perch and 

 trout abound ; and in Loughgraney I was told bream were found ; but I did not 

 see any myself. In my former notes on this fish I gave a list of the fishes of the 

 Dodder. To these I may now add the dace (Leuciscus vulgaris), which has lately 

 been introduced into the ponds connected with the river, into which latter they will 

 probably eventually find their way. 



Mr. Andrews said that every fact of interest bearing upon new features in the 

 natural history of animals and plants were useful records, and it was the principle 

 of this society, in all its scientific inquiries, to connect every information of prac- 

 tical importance. At a recent meeting Mr. Andrews had given a review of the 

 harbour fish of the south-west coast, among which he had mentioned several 

 species that were considered extremely rare, and of local occurrence on the coasts 

 of Great Britain. He now exhibited specimens that frequented the harbours 

 of Dingle and Ventry, and among them were fine specimens of the red mullet 

 — Mullus surmuletus. No branch required more practical investigation than that 

 of our marine ichthyology ; and the numerous opportunities that Mr. Andrews 

 had of forming accurate notes, proved to him that much additional information 

 had been obtained of the marine fish of this country, beyond what had been 

 noticed in Mr. Yarrell's work on British fishes. He had every respect for Mr. 

 Yarrell, and considered his book a valuable reference ; still, however, species 

 had been described upon too Blight grounds, Mr. Yarrell, probably, not having 

 had the opportunity of examining recent specimens, or of being supplied with 

 information of sufficient accuracy. The Labridae, or Wrasses, present very varied 

 features of markings and form, which have led to the describing of one species 

 under those of Crenilabrus Tinea, C. Cornubicus, and C. Gibbus. Mr. Andrews 

 had obtained numerous specimens in Dingle harbour, at different seasons, in all 

 stages of growth, and he was perfectly satisfied that those several species could not 

 be separated from that of C. Tinea Mr. Andrews exhibited a fine specimen of 

 C. Tinea, with the black spot at the termination of the lateral line, at the base of 

 the caudal fin, and which Mr. Yarrell considered to be the constant and distin- 

 guishable characteristic of C. Cornubicus. A small specimen of C. Tinea had 

 also the same mark, and specimens possessing all the characteristics of C. Cornu- 

 bicus were destitute of that mark. Mr. Andrews considered that the black mark 

 was not strictly peculiar to either the character of C. Tinea or of C. Cornubicus, 

 but was occasionally present or absent in both. This species is very plentiful in 

 Dingle and Ventry harbours. It was named Cornubicus as local on the coast of 

 Cornwall. The habits of these several named species are the same. Mr. Andrews 

 also exhibited specimens of Crenilabrus Microstoma, taken in Dingle harbour. 

 The Crenilabri, are separated from the Labri by the pectinated or toothed 

 character of the preoperculum. 



Dr. Kinahan exhibited a plant of Scol. vulgare (var. marginatum), found by 

 him at Tinnehinch, county Wicklow, March 2, 1854, its first record as Irish. 

 This variety (first discovered in England by Sir W. C. Trevelyan) is remarkable 

 for having the epidermis on the back of the frond raised into a membraneous ridge 

 or tuck, running in a wavy line along it, at some little distance from the edge of 

 the frond ; the fronds are scolloped and serrated along the edges, the sori either 

 continuous over the ridge to the edge of the frond or stopping at it, when we find a 

 second set of sori arising outside the hem ; or, thirdly, the sori are only produced 

 external to the hem. The form is further remarkable for having several modifica- 

 tions—firstly, that under consideration ; secondly, a form named bimarginatum, in 

 which there is a hem on both faces of the frond ; thirdly, a form named suprali- 

 neum, where the hem exists only on the upper surface of the frond; and, fourthly, 

 in a form named dubium by its discoverer, G. B. Wollaston, Esq., by whom it 

 was raised from seed, in which we find the free margin running along a frond 

 with multifid apices. In all these forms we find an irregularly serrated margin to 

 the fronds, showing that probably the deficiency of the substance at the edge of 

 the frond and of the epidermis ; or, taking another view of the case, the irregular 



