50 February, 



IRISH SOCIETIES, 



ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Recent gifts include three Terrapins from Dr. Graham Kenshaw, a 

 Pigtailed Monkey from Sir Algernon Coote, a Ringed Snake from Mr. 

 W. Burke, a Rabbit from Miss D. Trotter, two Sulphur-crested Cockatoos 

 from Mr. J. P. JafFares, a Raven from Mrs. Curling, a Long-eared Owl 

 from Mr. J. A. Merne, fifteen Mice from Mrs. Hyde-Lex, an Australian 

 Piping-Crow from Miss Blunt, and a Hare from Messrs. Carton. 



DUBLIN MICROSCOPICAL CLUB. 



December 9.— The Club met at Leinster House. R. F. Scharff 

 exhibited an improved pattern of a dissecting microscope made by 

 Hachet of Paris. The advantages of it are that the object is not 

 reversed as in an ordinary instrument and that the field of vision is very 

 large. He demonstrated the principles of the instrument, and showed 

 several species of Irish freshwater leeches whose specific characters were 

 conspicuously visible under the lens. 



F. W. Moore showed flowers of Mormodes luxata ebiirnea^ a Mexican 

 Orchid, with very interesting mechanical arrangements by which the 

 pollen masses are rapidly thrown forward when the column is slightly 

 touched. 



G. H. Carpenter showed a larva of the ground beetle Lorocera 

 pilicornis irovii Co. Galway. This larva is remarkable for its powerful 

 mandibles and the excessive length of its feelers, maxillae, legs, and 

 cercopods, 



J. A. CivARKE showed sections through the growing-point of a Bean- 

 plant, demonstrating karzokinetic figures in the divisions of the nuclei. 



BELFAST NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



December 15. — \Vm. Gray, M.R.LA., in the chair. Mr. David C. 

 Campbei.1v, of Londonderry, lectured on " Birds : their Structure, Flight, 

 and Habits." Mr. Campbell first touched upon birds in general, and 

 showed what an important place they occupy in the economy of nature. 

 Although in point of numbers far short of the insects, birds comprised, 

 after them, the largest class of animals. So far as scientists had dis- 

 covered, there were between 12,000 and 13,000 different species of birds 

 found upon the globe. People in the British Islands were particularly 

 well situated for studying bird life, largely owing to their insular position 

 as the outpost of Europe, and also to their comparatively mild winters. 

 Out of a total of 700 European birds the British Isles could claim 371 

 species, and Ireland 290 species. Some of these had only visited our 

 land, it might be, a few times, while others were common and widely 

 distributed. Of the 371 British species 370 inhabited other parts of the 

 world, the one species limited to the British Isles being the common 

 Red Grouse. In examining a bird's structure one of the most striking 



