176 The Irish Naturalist. 



Early Spring Butterflies. — The small Tortoiseshell {Vanessa ur- 

 iicce), is usually the first Butterfly observed in spring, as it comes out of 

 its winter-quarters on the first warm days. This year, however, it has 

 been anticipated here by the Small Cabbage White {Picres rapce), a speci- 

 men of which appeared in my garden on starch 29th. V, urticcc did not 

 appear till April 7th, when I captured a specimen in very fair order. The 

 Orange Tip {Etichlo'e cardaniines), was seen by Mrs. Johnson on April 19th. 

 If the season goes on as it has begun, it should be a splendid insect year, 

 and I hope the " brethren of the net " will keep their weather eyes open 

 for rarities to swell Mr. Kane's Irish list. — W. F. JohNvSON, Armagh. 



Two specimens of Va7tessa atalaiita were seen by me at Tullow, Co. 

 Dublin, on April 22nd, and another in Rathmines on the following 

 day. They were all in fine condition, and appeared quite fresh. — Wm. 

 Starkey, Junr., Rathmines, Dublin. 



MOLL uses. 



Pleurophyllidia loveni, Bergh., in Ireland.— Among some 

 specimens trawled in Bantry bay this spring by Mr, A. R. C. Newburgh, 

 and sent up to the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, I lately discovered 

 six specimens of PleiirophylHdia loveni, Bergh., the sole British representa- 

 tive of the family Pleurophyllidiidce of the order Nudibranchiata (Sea 

 Slugs). Dr. J. G. Jeffreys in " British Conchology," vol. v., gives only 

 two British localities for this species, — viz., Shetland and Whitehaven, 

 Co. Durham. In Leslie and Herdman's " Invertebrate Fauna of the 

 Firth of Forth," a specimen is recorded as having been taken at Dunbar 

 by Prof. F. M. Balfour. Prof. Mcintosh records a specimen from off 

 Aberdeen in 1884; Mr. Holt, two specimens from St. Andrews; Mr. 

 Cunningham, one specimen from off the Bddystone; and Mr. Bles, six 

 specimens from l/och Striven, Clyde area, but it has not hitherto been 

 recorded as Irish. T. loveni is a north Atlantic form, occurring off the 

 coasts of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. — A. R. Nichoi^s, Dublin. 



FLSHES. 



A Fish New to Ireland, IVIotella cimbria, L.— Mr. A. R. C 



Newburgh last month secured the first Irish specimen of the " Four- 

 beard Rockling," in Bantry bay. As its name denotes, this fish has four 

 barbels on the snout, whilst the two common species of rockling have 

 five and three barbels respectively. This species may also be recognized 

 by the dark blotch on the posterior portion of the dorsal fin. It is a 

 northern fish, ranging as far south as Cornwall, where it is extremely 

 rare. — R. F. Scharff, Dublin. 



AMPHLBLANS . 



Arrested Development of the Frog's Tadpole.— Mr. Barton's 

 remarks on some cases of arrested development of the Frog's tadpole 

 are of very great theoretical interest, and I believe he is perfectly correct 

 in attributing them to the fact of the tadpoles living in running water 

 containing plenty of food. I am not aware of any experiments having 

 been conducted with the view to prevent the larva or tadpole from re- 

 linquishing its fishy garb, but there are some instances on record that 

 newts have had their transformation forcibly retarded for some seasons 

 by similar methods to those adopted by IVIr. Barton. But in these newts, 

 transformation, although delayed, did. finally occur. Perhaps the most 

 interesting case known of arrested metamorphosis is that of the Mexican 

 amphibian called Axolotl. In its own country the animal always re- 

 mains in the fishy state, that is to say, breathing by means of gills, but 

 in confinement it has been successfully transformed into a land animal 



