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PROCEEDINGS OF IRISH SOCIETIES. 



ROYAI, ZOOI^OGICAI, SOCIETY OF IRBI/AND. 



Two Silver Foxes have been presented to the collections by H. A. Lett, 

 Esq. ; a cockatoo by Miss Norman; three Quails by H. M. Burton, Esq., 

 and a Long-eared Owl by R. Brennan, Esq. A male Yak has been 

 deposited in the gardens by Mr. W. Cross, and a Black-headed Lemur 

 by P. Mahony, Esq. Thirty-four monkeys and a Japanese Salamander 

 have been purchased, but the amphibian has unfortunately died. 



A portrait of the late Dr. R. Ball, who was Hon. Secretary to the 

 Society from 1837 to 1857, ^^s been presented by Mrs. Ball. 



DUBININ MICROSCOPICAlv CI^UB. 



June i6th.— The Club met at Mr. F. W. Moore's, who showed a 

 liverwort, Cephalozia francisci, collected at Howth by Mr. McArdle. This 

 species is probably new to Ireland. In Moore's " Irish Hepaticae," it is 

 stated that it had been found near Bantry by Miss Hutchins. Dr. Spruce, 

 to whom the specimen exhibited had been submitted, states that it was 

 the first true Cephalozia francisci which he had seen from Ireland. Those 

 sent from the Bantry locality were all forms of C. divaricata, and he con- 

 sidered that Miss Hutchins' plant was also that species. Mr. McArdle's 

 discovery, therefore, forms an important and interesting addition to the 

 flora of Co. Dublin, if not of Ireland. 



Dr. E. J. McWeeney showed a Bacillus isolated from measles. 



Professor A. C. Haddon showed specimens of the foraminifer Biloeulina 

 depressa from the east and w^est coasts of Ireland. Those from the latter 

 locality were much the larger. 



Professor Cole exhibited sections of Heynitrijpa Hibernica, McCoy, pre- 

 pared from fine specimens collected by Mr. R. Kirwan in Co. Galway. 

 It has been stated of late that Hcmitrypa is merely a Fenestella encrusted 

 by another organism ; but these specimens suggest that it may be 

 necessary to re-establish Phillips's Hemitrypa as a genus. 



BEI.FAST NATURAI.ISTS' FIEI.D CI.UB. 



June i8th. — Excursion to Islandmagee and the Gobbins. The party, 

 fifty in number, took train to Ballycarry, and drove thence some two 

 miles, and then walked to the shore south of the Gobbins, where the 

 Secretaries announced that a prize would be given for the best collection of 

 flowering plants made during the day. Some of the members visited the 

 outcrop of Chalk and Greensand to the southward, and the whole party 

 then walked along the top of the magnificent range of cliffs to Port 

 Muck and thence to Larne, where tea was provided, and the railway 

 brought them back to town. Of plants, the best species collected was 

 JSjnlobiuin angiisti folium ; the prize for best collection fell to Miss Rea, whose 

 series numbered 11 1 species. The ornithologists found interest in the 

 large colonies of Herring Gulls that tenanted the cliffs, and in the nest 

 and 5'oung of a pair of Peregrine Falcons, were plainly visible at one 

 point of the path. The best find of the entomologists was the male and 

 female of the pepper-and-salt moth {Amphidasys hetularia). 



June 24th and 25th. — Special two-day mountain-climbing excursion to 

 the Mourne Mountains. The members took first train to Newcastle, and 

 drove to Trassey Bridge, where the vehicles were left. The route lay up 

 the glen of the Trassey Burn to the Hare's Gap, and on to the Diamond 

 Rocks on the southern slope of Slieve-na-glough, where quarrymen were 

 in waiting to blast the hard rock and break up the material obtained. 

 Good crystals of smoky quartz, orthoclase, mica, and topaz were 

 obtained, and fragments of beryl. The ascent of Slieve Bearnagh 



