50 The Irish Naturalist, May, 



a calcareous deposit, and fossils from Greensand, Magheramorne ; also 

 examples of three species of Pholas, from Cloghan Point. After tea Rev. 

 W. R. Megaw, President, expressed his pleasure at the continued progress 

 of the Society, now in its diamond jubilee year. Fourteen new members 

 were elected. Prizes were awarded to two Junior Section Members' — 

 Maurice R. Crawford for his collection of dried plants, and to Nora Stendall 

 for a large exhibit of freshly-collected spring flowers. 



DUBLIN MICROSCOPICAL CLUB. 



March 14.- — 'Dr. P. A. Murphy announced the discovery of a potato 

 resistant to Pink Rot {Phyiophthcra crythroseptica), and exhibited micro- 

 scopical preparations and specimens illustrating the resistance of this 

 potato, which belongs to the " Shamrock " variety, in comparison with 

 other well-known sorts. 



D. Mc Ardle showed Diphyscinni foliosuni, a curious moss which shows 

 little trace of a stem furnished with root-hairs. The mature fruit is rarely 

 if ever found in this country, and is described by Schimper as large as a 

 grain of wheat, and he alone seems to have described the rudimentary 

 teeth of the peristom.e. All our specimens, when collected on a bank by 

 the roadside at Connor Hill, near Dingle, Co. Kerry, bore apparently un- 

 fertilised capsules ; probably the dioecious character may account for this. 



NOTES. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Squirrel in Ireland. 



Are we not told in the Tain Bo Cuailnge that a squirrel and a pet hind 

 were slain by Cuchulain as they sat on Maev's shoulder ; and is this not 

 conclusive evidence that the squirrel is indigenous ? 



Belfast. Edward A. Armstrong. 



The matter is not quite so simple as would appear from our corres- 

 pondent's suggestion, on account of the difficulty of determining the 

 correct translation of the Irish word used for the animal which figures in 

 the episode. Dr. Best has kindly furnished the following note :■ — 



" The word rendered ' Squirrel ' in the passage cited from 

 Tain Bo Cuailnge is togmall, diminutive togmalldn, and togdn. It 

 occurs also in the Acallam na Sen orach, edited by Whitley Stokes 

 (Irische Texte IV. i.) who in his Glossarial Index (p. 431) remarks 

 ' some small animal, guessed by O'Curry to be a squirrel ..." 

 V\^indisch in a note to the passage in his edition of Tain Bo Cuailnge 

 (p. 180) remarks that the name of this animal varies in the MSS. 

 between togmall, togmalldn, and togdn, as given above. Togan 

 appears to be the more frequent. He compares taghan ' the 



iNlarten,' citing Ma -bain, Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic 

 Language, and translates accordingly ' Frettchen,' i.e.. Marten or 

 Ferret." 



