144 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



is yet uncertain ; our only concern now is to make known our 

 determination to stand open to any proposal whereby our pecuniary 

 interest shall cease, so that we may rest from the periodical anxieties 

 of the past two decades." 



Dr. Cook's volume on British Desmids, published in 1887, is 

 offered at the reduced price of £2, including postage, in order to 

 dispose of a small number of copies still in hand. Upwards of 

 1600 coloured figures are given on the 66 coloured plates. The 

 present opportunity should be taken advantage of by Natural History 

 Societies and libraries not already possessed of the work to procure 

 it at so low a price. Communications should be addressed to Dr. 

 M. C. Cooke, 146 Junction Road, London, N. 



CURRENT LITERATURE 



The Titles and Purport of Papers and Notes relating to Scottish Natural His- 

 tory which have appeared during the Quarter — January to March 1892. 



[The Editors desire assistance to enable them to make this Section as complete as 

 possible. Contributions on the lines indicated will be most acceptable and 

 will bear the initials of the Contributor. The Editors will have access to the 

 sources of information undermentioned. ] 



ZOOLOGY. 



Polecat in Aberdeenshire. G. Mackay. The Field, 5th March 

 1892, p. 313. — " Recently killed" in the Forest of Glenmuick. 



On the occurrence of Hybrids between the Red Grouse and 

 Ptarmigan. By Walter Chamberlain, F.Z.S. The Zoologist (3), 

 Vol. xvi. (February 1892), pp. 41-51. — No unimpeachable record of 

 such a hybrid, and only one probable example — a specimen shot at 

 Kintradwell, in Sutherland, on 1st September 1878, by Captain 

 Hauston, and now in the University Museum, Cambridge. 



Hybrid Blackcock and Red Grouse. G. M. The Field, 2d 

 January 1892, p. 2. — Shot at Sandside, Caithness, in November 

 1891. 



Berniele Goose at North Berwick. F. Coburn. The Zoologist 

 (3), Vol. xvi. (Jan. 1892) p. 33. — Female shot on 8th Oct. 1891. 



An Investigation into the Variations of the Viper in Great 

 Britain. By G. A. Boulenger. The Zoologist (3), Vol. xvi. (March 

 1892), pp. 87-93. — Several Scottish specimens are alluded to, and 

 their peculiarities described. Its distribution is also sketched. 



Note on a New Species of Onyehodus from the Lower Old Red 

 Sandstone of Forfar. E. T. Newton, F.G.S. Geol. Mag. (3), 

 Vol. ix. (February 1892), pp. 51-52. — Description and figures of the 



