SCOTTISH SOCIETIES. 



Aberdeen Natural History Society, 15th. November.— Annual Meet- 

 ting.- -The following extract from the Secretary's Report will give an idea of the 

 business brought before the Society during the previous year. 



The principal papers read were :— " On the Structure of Fishes," by Professor 

 Nicol ; illustrated by a model, and by numerous preparations. "On Mush- 

 rooms, " by Rev. Alexander Beverly ; illustrated by diagrams and preserved 

 specimens. "A List of Fungi found in the Neighbourhood of Forres,'' by Rev. 

 James Keith. " On the Mollusca of Aberdeen, Banff, Moray, aud the neighbour- 

 ing Seas, " by Mr. Robert Dawson ; illustrated by maps and specimens of all the 

 rarer and more interesting species. " On the Sandstones at Lossiemouth, and 

 some of the Fossils recently found there," by Mr. James Grant. ' ' Zoological Notes 

 for 1869-70,'' by Mr. George Sim ; a complete List of the Stalk-eyed Crustaceans 

 hitherto found in this neighbourhood was appended, and specimens were exhibited. 

 "On Plants, chiefly Mosses, found in Braemar, in July, 1869, "by Mr. J. Roy; 

 specimens of the rarer species, including Grimmia montana, new to Britain, were 

 shown. "Notes on the occurrence of Andrea:* obovata, and A. alpestris, in 

 Braemar," by Rev. J. Fergusson ; specimens of these mosses, which are new to 

 Britain, were shown. Besides these papers, other subjects were brought under 

 the notice of the Society by Dr. Ogilvie ; one in particular, in which he showed 

 specimens of curious forms of growth, including spiral twisting in different 

 species of trees, under certain circumstances. 



The following gentlemen were elected office-bearers for 1870-71 :— Mr. W. 

 Williamson, President ; Professor Nicol, and Dr. Ogilvie, Vice-Presidents ; 

 Mr. J. Roy, Secretary. — (Tie-elected .) Mr. George Sim, Treasurer.— (Re- 

 elected); Dr. Struthers, Rev. Dr. Spence, Rev. Alex. Beverly, Mr. Alex. 

 Adams, Committee of Management. 



20th December.— Professor Nicol read a paper on the occurrence of the 

 Maigre f Scicena aquila, L. ) at Aberdeen. In the course of his paper he stated 

 that " this is a well-known fish of the Mediterranean. Formerly it seems to have 

 been common on the western coast of France, but about the middle of last cen- 

 tury became more rare. In 1803 ten were caught at Dieppe, but were not 

 known to the fishermen. In Britain the first, mentioned by Dr. Fleming, was 

 got in Zetland in 18 19, and described by Dr. Neill. Several have been caught since 

 on the coast of Cornwall, one, more than six feet long, in Cork Harbour, And a 

 small one in the Firth of Forth. The specimen shown was got on the coast 

 here on 1st December. The fish measured 5 feet 1 inch in length, and weighed 

 78 pounds. It has two fins with strong spines on the back. When first caught 

 it was of a bright silvery-grey colour, with a deep red tint on the fins. Some of 



