26 The Scottish Naturalist. 



3d November.— Dr. Buchanan White, Preside?it, in the Chair.— The 

 Chairman exhibited specimens of Limncea glabra, found near Perth. This 

 shell had not been detected in Perthshire before. Mr. T. Marshall read a 

 Paper entitled "Is a Parr a young Salmon?" The author traced the 

 history of the young salmon from the time when the ova were taken out of 

 the adult fish, up to the period when, as a smolt, it went down to the sea. 

 He noticed the curious fact that the young male parr had often fully- 

 developed milt, but that the young female parr had never been seen with devel- 

 oped roe, though several anglers (not naturalists) had stated that they had seen 

 parr with developed roe. So sure was he of this, that he had no hesitation 

 in offering half-a-sovereign for every specimen of parr with mature roe. As 

 for the parr bred naturally in the rivers, they were zoologically identical 

 with the parr bred artificially, and were one and the same species. In Mr. 

 Marshall's opinion, it was fully proved that a parr was a young salmon. At the 

 conclusion of his paper, Mr. Marshall pointed out, in recent examples, the dif- 

 ference between a parr and a young yellow-trout. In reply to enquiries as to 

 whether parr had ever been seen in rivers to which salmon had no access, Mr. 

 Marshall stated that he knew of no instances in which it had been proved that 

 parr had ever been seen in rivers where there were no salmon, though such had 

 been stated. In the Tummel, above the Falls, parr were found, and salmon 

 were said not to be found, but he had himself watched salmon getting over the 

 Falls. Mr. J. M'Farlane read a Paper upon "Certain Fungi found near Perth." 

 He remarked that Fungi, in addition to the interest which they possessed in 

 common with all plants for the botanist, had a special one of their own,— namely, 

 the esculent properties of many species. Mr. M'Farlane then proceeded to give 

 the names, localities, and properties, of several species which he had found in the 

 neighbourhood. Among those mentioned were, —Agaricus rubescens, A. cam- 

 pestris, A. procerus, Coprinus comatus, Boletus edulis, Hydnum repandum, 

 Lycoperdon giganteum, and Lactarius deliciosus, most of which he had eaten, 

 and thought highly of. 



Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, 29th November, 1870.— Pro- 

 fessor Duns, President, in the Chair.— The retiring President, Professor Duns, 

 gave his valedictory address, in which he traced the history of the Society 

 from its commencement, and mentioned the names of many illustrious men 

 of science who had been members. He referred to the loss the Society had 

 sustained in the death of Sir James Y. Simpson. In conclusion, Professor 

 Duns made some remarks on the methods of pursuing the study of Natural 

 Science. 



Natural History Society of Glasgow, 29th November, 1870— E. R. 

 Alston, Esq., F.Z.S., in the Chair. — Mr. Alston exhibited a specimen of the 

 Barbastelle Bat from Norfolk, and a Black Tern ( Sterna Jissipes J from the Firth of 

 Forth. In the opinion of Mr. Gray, this bird was a regular spring and autumn 

 visitant to our shores. It had been obtained in the following counties in 

 Scotland, — Dumfries, Berwick, Haddington, Fife, and Aberdeen, The Secretary, 

 Mr. Gray, exhibited a young Red-necked Phalarope ( Phalaropus hyperboreus) 

 shot near Aberdeen. M. J. A. Harvie Brown exhibited two specimens (females 

 in breeding plumage) of the Purple Sandpiper ( Tri?iga maritima) obtained 

 in May last, in the Outer, Hebrides, by Captain H. W. Fielding, who thought 



