1901. 



IRISH SOCIETIES, 



ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Recent gifts include a monkey from Mr. S. Johnson, a pair of Wild 

 Goats from Sir Douglas Brooke, a Pigmy Bull from Major Lambert, a 

 Polar Bear from Mr. A. B. Walker, a Yellow-fronted Amazon from Mrs. 

 Hall, a Sulpliur-crested Cockatoo from Mrs. Downs, a pair of Tanrecs 

 from Dr. C. B. Ball, a Civet Cat, a pair of Spotted Woodpeckers from 

 Mr. J. W. Lentaigne, and a Fox from Messrs. B. and D. Carton. 



4,962 persons visited the Gardens in November. 



DUBLIN MICROSCOPICAL CLUB. 



November i. — The Club met at Leinster House. Dr. Scharff showed 

 a transverse section of a new species of terrestrial Planarian worm. The 

 worm was discovered by him last year at Kaux Chaudes in the Pyrenees, 

 and recently described as Rhynchodemus Howesi (Linn. Soc. Journal, Zool., vol. 

 xxviii., 1900;. The section, which was cut at the anterior end of the body, 

 showed the structure of one of the eyes clearly, as well as the sensory 

 grooves — a characteristic feature of many planarian worms. The ciliated 

 epithelium is confined to a narrow tract on the lower surface of the body. 

 Sensory pits appear to be absent in this species. Rhynchodemus Howesi 

 has a length of no less than 5 inches ; it is therefore just twice as long as 

 the largest member of the genus hitherto known to science. Five other 

 species of Rhynchodemus occur in Europe, one of which is peculiar to 

 Ireland and another to the Pyrenees, while Rh. tcrrestris, to which the new 

 species is nearly related, has a much wider range. 



Mr. Moore showed on one slide various ornamental appendages from 

 the flowers of Bulbophyllum and Cirrhopetalum. These appendages mostly 

 take the form of hairs. They are brightly coloured, and as they are 

 very slender at point of origin, the slightest wind causes them to move 

 about, thus making the flowers conspicuous. In some cases the colour- 

 ing matter is in the cell sap ; in others the walls of the cells have 

 become stained. 



Mr. M'ArdeE exhibited Scapania omithopodioides, Dillenius and Wither- 

 ing {Scapania p/anifo/ia, Hook.), which was collected by himself and the 

 Rev. Canon Lett last June in a iocky gorge on the N-K- side, and near 

 the summit of Mount Brandon, Co. Kerry, probably in the same place 

 where it was first found by Dr. Taylor in 18 13, and some years later by 

 two celebrated bryologists, Messrs. Mitten and Wilson. Mount Brandon 

 is the only known locality in Ireland. This rare and beautiful Hepatic 

 has never been found in fruit. Mr. M'Ardle exhibited a specimen 

 showing how the plant reproduces itself by adventitious budding. 



Mr. Henry J. Seymour exhibited a thin section of a rock (horn- 

 blende-kersantite), occurring as a dyke on the east coast of Co. Down 

 The rock is of special interest, as it contains a blue amphibole not 

 hitherto known to occur in situ in Ireland, and which is an addition, 

 therefore, to the list of Irish minerals. It occurs as a secondary growth 

 in crystallographic continuity with the primary green hornblende of the 

 rock, and is probably arfvedsonite 



