1902. Proceedings of Irish Societies. ^i 



The next paper was by Mr. Nejvin H. FostBR on " Feathers." Mr. 

 Foster concluded by appealing to the ladie.s to help the preservation of 

 rare birds by refusing to wear feathers in any form . The paper was illus- 

 trated by lantern slides showing structure of feathers. 



Mr. R. WEiyCH exhibited a number of slides on various subjects, includ- 

 ing Night-jars' eggs and young ; a slide of Xeiwphora from Japan seas 

 illustrating protective mimicry in molluscs. A number of views of the 

 Norber perched blocks were shown. 



The concluding paper was by Mr. \V. A. GreEn explaining the intro- 

 duction of foreign mollusca into this country. Bananas imported from 

 the Canary Islands afford a safe shelter for several species of shells, and 

 occasionally spiders are found when the bunches are opened up. A beau- 

 tiful little beetle occurs on Californian apples, whilst in currants, raisins, 

 flax-seed, and other imports, shells are sometimes found indigenous to 

 the exporting countries — the Greek Islands, Turkey in Europe, and 

 Turkey in Asia. An excellent photograph by Mr. R. Welch illustrated 

 the machine used by Messrs. Forster Green & Co. in cleaning and Avash- 

 iug imported currants, by means of which sand, stones, footstalks, and 

 other foreign material are effectually separated from the fruit. The lily 

 tanks of the Dublin Botanic Gardens also afforded a striking proof of the 

 introduction of mollusca on the stems of various tropical lilies. 



The election of three new members brought the meeting to a close. 



DUBLIN NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



February ii.— F. W. Burbidge, M.A. (Vice-President) in the Chair. 

 Professor Cole read a paper entitled "The Problems of the Con- 

 glomerate of Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh." He explained the relation 

 of this rock to the neighbouring sediments, by means of diagrams, and 

 mentioned the opinions of Portlock and others regarding their age. 

 The conglomerates in question are chiefly quartz conglomerates, with 

 some few pebbles of igneous rocks, chiefly granite, some of the latter 

 being occasionally several cubic yards in bulk. The microscope shows 

 the presence of numerous volcanic fragments (andesites, &c.), as if 

 contemporaneous volcanic action w^ere in progress. The conglomerates 

 occur along wdth highly-tilted sediments, which contain Upper Silurian 

 (Gotlandiau) fossils, and apparently rest on these, thus seeming to 

 belong to a still higher horizon, Professor Cole pointed out how any 

 evidence that would determine their age must also affect our ideas of the 

 age of the included granite blocks. He pointed out that the period 

 during which the greatest upheaval of granite took place in Ireland was 

 connected with the Caledonian movements (post-Upper Silurian), and 

 that the blocks thus pointed out the existence of pre-Silurian and, 

 possibly, Archaean granite. 



Mr. Seymour, in criticizing the paper, explained the older and the 

 most recent reading by the Geological Survey of these Lisbellaw con- 

 glomerates, which are regarded by Mr, M 'Henry as fairly high up in 

 the Upper Silurian, thus agreeing more or less with Prof Cole's opinion. 

 Though the conglomerates did appear to rest on the sediments, it was, 



