1922. ScHARFF. — Thirty Years' Work of the Irish Naturalist. 7 



Lichens and lower Algae, in which groups the Irish workers 

 have been too few in recent years, there is hardly a genus 

 in the whole Irish flora which has not come in for some 

 attention in the pages of the Irisli Naturalist. 



In Geology the record is not so extensive, as that 

 science has fewer votaries than zoology or botany. 

 Nevertheless, the geological contributions form a large 

 arra}^ when brought together. They reflect excellently the 

 field-work of the last thirty 3'ears, which has been largely 

 concerned with the elucidation of the surface deposits of 

 our country, and man}^ of them deal with the period 

 which ranges from the pre-Glacial raised beacli of the 

 South of Ireland to recent Kitchen-middens. Glacial 

 deposits and their contained fossils, or Glacial phenomena, 

 are discussed by Joseph Wright, Maxwell Close, Prof. 

 Sollas, Prof. Cole, Mellard Reade, Callagan, Kilroe, Hallissy, 

 W. B. Wright, A. Bell, Hinch and Praeger, and the succeeding 

 warmer period which culminated in Neolithic times is 

 discussed by Hinch and Praeger. There are contributions 

 on the older rocks by R. C. Carruthers, H. B. Muff, A. H. 

 Foord, R. Kidston, R. Welch, and others, and Prof. Cole 

 writes on the fascinating subject of meteorites. 



IRISH SOCIETIES. 



DUBLIN MICROSCOPICAL CLUB. 



December 14. — The Club met at Leinster House, the President in 

 the chair. Paul A. Murphy showed a rust which was found plentifully 

 on leeks in two cases during the month of December, 192 1. In spite of 

 the time ol the year only the Uredo stage was present. This, however, 

 agreed well with Puccinia Porri (Sow.) Wint., except that the spores 

 were found to have up to six germ pores. The size of the spores was on 

 the average 3ijLt x i^jx- This rust does not appear to be common or 

 to do serious damage, at least in the later stages of the host's growth. 



Sir F. W. Moore shovv-ed a section of the bark of Eucommia ulmoides 

 in which the solid particles of gutta in many of the cells were clearly 

 visible. The plant, which forms a small tree, comes from fairly high 

 altitudes in central and western China and is hardy in the British Islands. 

 It has received attention as a possible source of supply of gutta percha 

 W. F. GuNN showed a slide of radium salt and demonstrated the 

 disintegration of atoms by loss of helium particles. The emanation was 

 clearly visible against dark background with a No. 3 Leitz objective. 



