174 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



crystal, and the following precious stones : — Hyacinth and Cinnamon stone, from 

 Ceylon ; Chrysoberyl and Chrysolite, from Brazil ; Garnets, from Bohemia ; an 

 Oriental Ruby, from the East Indies ; specimens of Topaz, from Brazil, Bohemia, 

 and New Zealand ; an Emerald, from South America ; a Berryl and Aqua 

 Marina, from Siberia ; Tourmaline, from Switzerland ; and Amethyst, from 

 Bohemia ; Calcedony, from Iceland ; a Cornelian, from Persia ; Hyalite and 

 Opal, from Germany ; Cats-eye, from Ceylon, &c. The collection also included 

 fine specimens of native gold and silver ore, from Transylvania and Norway. Mr. 

 Graves pointed out the great value and interest of this collection, and concluded 

 by moving a special vote of thanks to the right honourable donor. 



The motion passed with acclamation. 



The Rev. James Mease forwarded, on the part of George Broomfield, Esq., of 

 Maryborough, two specimens of native gold from Australia, embedded in the 

 quartz matrix. 



Dr. Cullenan, Freshford, contributed a nodule of clay-slate iron ore from that 

 locality. 



Mr. William Little, Dublin (late of William-street, Kilkenny), presented, " as 

 a contribution to the Museum of his native city," a specimen of cloth manufactured 

 by the natives of the Feegean Islands, from the bark of a tree. 



The Dublin Statistical Society presented a pamphlet, containing the paper of John 

 E. Cairns, Esq., A.B., " On the best means of raising the Supplies for War 

 Expenditure," read before that society. 



Thanks were voted to the various donors. 



THE VINEGAR PLANT. 



The minutes of the last meeting having been read, Mr. Graves proceeded to 

 read the following communication from Dr. Keating, Callan, on the subject of the 

 Vinegar Plant : — 



" I see in the Moderator a good article, from Mr. Molyneux, about the Vinegar 

 Plant. I have been much gratified at reading it, and the more so that I have been 

 engaged for several months in making observations on one in my possession. I 

 fully agree with him as to the purity of the vinegar, and am the better judge of 

 the matter from having been for several years in France, where, of course, I 

 .used vinegar almost daily. I have even used that produced from the vinegar plant, 

 for pharmaceutical purposes, and found it to answer admirably, and for family use 

 it cannot be equalled, at least in these countries. My experience teaches me it is 

 not so delicate a plant or fungus as is generally supposed. I have given away 

 some, and, in parting the new from the old, have torn the mother plant (this was 

 when I got it newly). Still the old plant did well — nay, more, about a month 

 since, I placed some of the vinegar in a common jar, and, to my great surprise, a 

 day or two ago, having occasion to use it, in decanting the liquid I found a young 

 and healthy plant in it. I do not know how this occurred ; but I suppose it must 

 have been a young offshoot which passed into the jar with the vinegar at the 

 time." 



Mr. J. G. Robertson then read the following supplementary observations, com- 

 pleting the subject of his former paper on 



THE CAVE OF DUNMORE. 



At our last general meeting I had the honour of reading rather a long 

 description of the Cave of Dunmore, having derived my information chiefly from 

 the notes of the late William Robertson, Esq. Many of you will recollect that 

 Mr. Robertson expressed his doubts of the existence of either dead men's bones, or 

 of a well and running stream in the Cave ; these remarks induced the Rev. James 

 Graves and Mr. John G. A. Prim to state their belief that Mr. Robertson had not 

 visited or, at least, inspected that chamber of the Cave in which human bones and 

 the well are to be found. In consequence of these doubts, and with a desire to 

 illustrate more accurately this wondrous work of nature — the greatest curiosity of 

 our county — Mr. Graves suggested that we should make a close examination of 

 the different chambers, and, if possible, clear up some points connected with its 

 formation which are in general not so well understood. 



