270 The Irish Naturalist, [November, 



All interested in Irish fish and fisheries will be glad to know that Mr. 

 E- W. I/. Holt has returned to this countrj' to undertake a five years' 

 research on the life-history of Mackerel, under the auspices of the Royal 

 Dublin Society- His headquarters will be at Berehaven, where a ship 

 is to be fitted up as a floating laboratory. 



BOTANY. 



Records of Irish Plants. 



We have received the Reports of the Botanical Exchange Club of the 

 British Isles for 1S96 and 1897, the former delayed by the illness of Mr. 

 Arthur Bennett. Both reports contain notes of some critical Irish plants 

 collected by Mr. Charles Baily, Rev. E- S. Marshall, S. A. Stewart and 

 Rev. E. F. Linton, in Antrim, Mayo, Wexford and Westmeath. 



Additions to the Flora of Howth, 



Two plants of Lathyrus Aphaca were found on the railway bank near 

 Sutton Station by Miss Ethel Moore in July last, and I have found 

 several plants of Hottonia pahistris in the cuttings in swampy ground on 

 the top of the hill above Baily Post Office. 



Howth. RacheIv M. MahaFFY. 



[Can any of our readers account for the appearance of the Water Violet 

 on the Hill of Howth ? It must have been deliberately introduced at 

 a recent date. The Yellow Vetchling presumably came with imported 

 seed. — Eds.] 



SIsyrlnchlum angrustifolium at Coosheen, Co. Cork. 



In June of this year, M'hile staying at Coosheen, near Schull, Co. Cork, 

 we found a small colony of Sisyrinchium angtist 2 folium. The plants were 

 growing a few inches from the side of a very wild country' road, on the 

 margin of a bit of waste ground, which sloped down to a stream ; they 

 were few in number, and almost hidden by a spray of bramble which 

 drooped over them. It is highly improbable that the Sisyrinchium can 

 here be other than wild, as the district is mountainous, verj- desolate, 

 and sparsely inhabited, while the by-road beside which it grew is little 

 used, and quite remote from cultivation, even the nearest cottage being 

 at a considerable distance. 



As the plants were few, it is probable that S. avgustifolium may only 

 recently be located there, a view which is rendered the more likely by 

 our failing to find any other specimens, although we searched the neigh- 

 bourhood. We carefully left it undisturbed, and hope to find the little 

 colony increased on our next visit. As the station is at a distance from 

 the other spots in which the plant has been recorded, its location at 

 Coosheen is of interest. The plant was identified for me by Prof. 

 Johnson. 



Dundalk. Lii,iAN M. Swan. 



