NATURAL HISTORY' SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. / 



As for the method of roasting I have adopted, it is very simple. 

 I take an ordinary tin canister, place the larvae to be mounted in 

 an open pill-box, which is then placed in the canister, and the 

 whole kept over the gas for one or two minutes, according to the size 

 of the larvae. The larvae have to be tested at the expiration of 30 

 or 40 seconds to see how the hardening proceeds, and if they are 

 not sufficiently hard then, great care must be taken with the further 

 roasting. A little experience, however, will soon give one an idea 

 of the exact time required for the various sizes of larvae. 



For the cabinet the larvae are best kept on cardboard, through 

 which a short pin is passed, on the head of which the larva is 

 stuck, care being taken not to cause the pin to project through its 

 upper side. With a little care very interesting and instructive 

 preparations may be made by drying a specimen of the leaf on which 

 the larvae fed, showing its manner of eating, &c, and the pupa or 

 cocoon being preserved, so that in this way the life history of the 

 species may be very effectually illustrated. 



The same method of roasting preserves Aphidae admirably. 

 These are first killed and mounted on cardboard before being held 

 over the flame. Care, however, is necessary in manipulating them, 

 as they shrivel up on the application of a too intense heat. 



II. — On the Shell Mounds of the North- of Ireland. 



By Mr. James A. Mahony, Corresponding Member. 



The British and Irish coasts are marked by "links" and sand 

 dunes which occupy well-deiined regions, and possess a fauna and 

 flora peculiar to themselves. Of such are the Western shores of 

 many of the Hebridean islands and the coasts of Morayshire, Fife- 

 shire, and Ayrshire, in Scotland ; a considerable tract of the Eastern 

 coast of England; with many parts of Donegal, Sligo, and Mayo, in 

 Ireland. Their general characteristics are well described by Page, 

 who says: — "The superficial or blown portion of these sandy tracts 

 is chiefly composed of hue sand and comminuted shells, with 

 occasional bands of decomposed vegetation or soil. Many of them 

 would seem to indicate a gradual uprise of the land from the waters 

 of the ocean. The organic remains of the drift portion are partly 

 terrestrial and partly marine, (the shells of the Helix occurring with 



