1899-1 24; 



PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Recent gifts include a pair of Kestrels from Mr. J. Tutty, four Doves 

 from Mr. D. E. Kirkpatrick, Redshanks from Dr. C. J. Patten and Mr. 

 W. D. Latimer, a Monkey from Major Byres, a pair of Axolotls from 

 Mr. V. W. Brown, a pair of Gulls from Dr. J. A. Baird, a Razorbill from 

 Mr. R. Warren, five St. Kilda Sheep from Dr. C. Norman, two young 

 Seals from Sergt. M'Goldrick, and a pair of Hares from Constable H f 

 Murphy. Three Lion cubs were born in the gardens on Sept. 26th, and 

 three more on October 12th. A Malayan Bear, a white Jackdaw, and 

 three Land-crabs have been bought. 



12,900 persons visited the gardens during September. 



Belfast Naturalists' Field Club. 

 August 12.— Excursion to Toomebridge. — An early train brought 

 the party to Toomebridge, where the river banks and site of the ancient 

 ford, famous for the splendid flint implements which it has yielded, were 

 explored. The supply of antiquarian objects is not yet exhausted, for 

 members of the Field Club party collected worked flakes during their 

 survey on the 12th inst. The party was conducted by Mr. Grant over his 

 Kieselguhr works, near the hotel. The well-known Bann clay is now 

 known in commerce as Kieselguhr, and is used for a great variety of 

 economical' purposes, chiefly through the practical skill and enterprise 

 of the Messrs. Grant, of Toome. Very fine pure-white clay occurs in 

 large quantities on both banks of the Bann for several miles along its 

 course, and for a considerable distance inland over the fiat country around 

 Toome. The thickness of the deposit varies from two to six feet thick. 

 The clay is a pure silicate of alumina, the average analysis being as 

 follows : — Silica, 72 per cent. ; alumina, 9 per cent. ; iron oxide, 5 per 

 cent. ; lime, 1 per cent. ; water and organic matter, 13 per cent. Its 

 specific gravity is about '5422, so that when dry it will float on water like 

 peat. It is a non-conductor of heat and sound, and may be made into 

 bricks which will float in water. It is used in the manufacture of 

 dynamite and polishing preparations, and for a variety of purposes on 

 board ship and public structures, where its extreme lightness, fire-proof, 

 deafening, and non-conducting properties render it so valuable. It is 

 prepared by Messrs. Grant in various conditions, but chiefly in bags of 

 pure-white powder of the very finest texture. Although so very highly 

 silicious it is of a vegetable and not of a mineral origin. It is, in fact, 

 made up of the silicious flinty or glass cases of extremely minute single- 

 belled plants, such as are at present living in and around the Bann — the 

 plant organisms are known as Diatoms, the most abundant, indestructible, 

 varied and beautiful forms known in the organic world. A cubic inch of 

 the earth would probably contain seventy million separate organisms. 



