NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. Ixxxiil 



30th March, 1886. 



Dr. James Stirton, F.L.S., President, in the Chair. 



Mr. James Robertson, 5 Mauldsiie Place, Partick, was elected 

 an Ordinary Member. 



Mr. W. Craibe Angus exhibited two Hybrids between the 

 Blackcock and Capercaillie, on which he made some remarks. * 

 He also showed an example of the Great Crested Grebe, 

 Podiceps ci'istatus, L., in fine plumage, and read some notes 

 descriptive of the species and its habits, f 



Rev. James E. Somerville, B.D., Corresponding Member, 

 exhibited some beautiful examples of the Shells of South 

 African Bulimi and Achatlncv, and made some interesting 

 remarks on the habits and distribution of these genera of 

 MolluHca. 



Mr. D. A. Boyd exhibited specimens of the following Mosses : 



Didyniodon cylhidrlcus, Bruch. — Moist rocks, Loch Ard, 

 Perthshire ; barren. 



Barbula jynpdlosa, Wils. — On the trunk of a tree. Loch Ard, 

 Perthshire ; barren. 



Fissidens uicurvus, W. and M. — Moist shady banks near Sea- 

 mill, West Kilbride ; in fruit. 



Bryuiii roseiun, Schreb. — On a shady bank, Biglees Glen", 

 West Kilbride ; barren. 



Brachytheciinn albicans, Neck. — Sandy ground, Chapelton, 

 West Kilbride ; in fine fruit. 



Hypnum resit j)inatuni, Wils. — On walls and trees, Seamill, 

 West Kilbride ; in fruit. 



The Chairman (Dr. Stirton) made some remarks on the re- 

 production of certain Mosses which have never been found 

 with capsules. In most of such species the usual reproductive 

 organs— antheridia and archegonia— are absent; but a compen- 

 sating principle is afforded by little clusters of roundish bodies 

 known as p>'opo<7^t/(y, usually found at the tips of the leaves, 

 which are capable of independent growth when detached from 

 the parent plant. 



Mr. Rochfort Connor, Greenock, exhibited some Micro-photo- 

 graphs in the form of Lantern • slides, illustrative of the 

 Diatomaceai, Polycistina, and interesting phases of Pond-life. 

 He also showed a series of beautifully executed pen-and-ink 

 drawings of vegetable structures as revealed by the microscope, 

 and referred to the aid which that instrument affords for the 

 detection of foreign substances in flour, pepper, tea, coffee, &c. 

 Such substances are not usually distinguishable by the naked 

 eye, but can at once be observed by the microscopist. 



The following papers were read: ''Scaphander lignarlus, L.," 



* Transactions, I 380. flj., i. 3S5. 



