112 The Irish Naturalist. [April, 



BoTANiCAi, Section. 27TH February. — The whole time was taken 

 up with the stud}' of the extensive order Leguminose. Rev. C. H. 

 Waddell drew attention among other features to the tubers formed on 

 the roots by which some of these plants obtain supplies of nitrogen, and 

 showed some on the roots of the bean. 



BEI.FAST Naturai, History and Phii^OvSophicai, Society. 



March 2. — The following papers were read:— " Ireland: Its ancient 

 Civilisation and Social Customs," by Mr. SeaTon F. Mili^igan, M.R.I. A., 

 and " Boulder Clay — a marine deposit, with special reference to the 

 * Till' of Scotland," by Mr. Joseph Wright, F.G.S. Professor Everett 

 occupied the chair. 



Mr. Wright, after describing the chief characteristics of boulder clay, 

 said that geologists all agreed that this clay, which formed the greater 

 part of the subsoil of the British Isles, was the result of ice action, and 

 that it was deposited at a time when an Arctic climate prevailed some- 

 what similar to that at present existing in Spitzbergen. But geologists 

 were not so unanimous in their theories explaining its formation, some 

 holding that it was the result of the action of land ice, and others that 

 it was of marine origin. Special attention had been given to this sub- 

 ject by geologists in the North of Ireland. Major-General Portlock's 

 opinion was that these clays were of marine origin, and in his report on 

 the geology of Londonderry, published in 1843, he gave a list of fossil 

 shells found by Messrs. Bryce and Hyndman in boulder clay which was 

 cut through when the reservoir for the Belfast Waterworks was being 

 excavated. Mr. S. A. Stewart, the curator of the Museum, published in 

 1880 a list of moUusca from Irish boulder clay, in which he recorded 

 sixty- nine species of shells. 'E'^simples of Leda pernula and Leda pygmcta 

 were obtained both at Woodburn and the Knock with their valves in 

 juxtaposition, which proved that they must have lived on the spot where 

 found. Mr. Wright then proceeded to describe his examination of 

 boulder clay from the vicinity of Glasgow, and expressed his indebtedness 

 to Mr. James Neilson, vice-president of the Glasgow Geological Society, 

 or his kindness in supplying him with samples of typical Scottish 

 boulder clay. Material from eleven different localities had been 

 examined, and in all of these Foraminifera were found. These specimens 

 were all of the same species as those found at present in shallow water 

 off the Irish coast, and, with the exception of Discorbina parisiensis, had 

 all been found in Irish boulder clay. Rotalia Beccarii, Nonionina depressula^ 

 and Polystomclla striatopunctata were the most abundant in the clay, and the 

 same species were the most common amongst our shallow- water forms. 

 Mr. Wright concluded by saying that the result of his examination of both 

 the Scotch and Irish boulder clays, and the finding in them of many 

 shallow-water organisms, forced him to the conclusion that the boulder 

 clay both in Scotland and Ireland was of marine origin. 



March 17.— A Special Meeting was held, when the following Paper 

 was read by John FinnEGAn, B.A., B.Sc, "The History and Properties 

 of Rontgen Rays," fully illustrated with special experiments and 

 lantern photo-slides. 



