176 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



had found it in the same condition years ago at Possil Marsh, but 

 though Mr. King searched there he found it very little in fruit. 



Mr. Kichard Mackay exhibited Callitriche autumnalis, Lin., from 

 Johnston Loch, Gartcosh. This plant, although found near Edin- 

 burgh and elsewhere in the East of Scotland, has not yet been 

 recorded as a native of this district. 



Mr. James J. King exhibited the following species of Caddis- 

 flies taken at Carluke, viz.: — Stenophylax infumatus, M'Lachlan; 

 Stewphylax rotundipennis, Brauer ; and Hydropsy che lepida, Pict. ; 

 also AEcetis cchracea, Curtis, taken at Lanark. These insects, Mr. 

 King stated, were all new to Clydesdale, S. rotundipennis being 

 new to the Scottish fauna. 



Mr. J. B. Low, M.A., exhibited a specimen of Black Coral, 

 Antipathes spiralis, Lin., from Manilla; also some Barnacles, Lepas 

 anatifera, Lin., from the Kiver Tay. 



Mr. Peter Cameron exhibited a Hymenopteron and a Bug from 

 South America, which in appearance closely resembled each other, 

 and in the course of his remarks on the causes of their similarity, 

 referred to the theories of "Mimicry" and "Protective Resem- 

 blance." 



Mr. John Kirsop, E. S.A.Scot., Y.P., exhibited a number of 

 miscellaneous natural history objects from Berbice, on which the 

 President made some remarks. 



PAPERS READ. 



I. — Notes on a Short Sun-fish, Orthagoriscus mola, Lin., caught in 

 the Firth of Clyde. By Mr. John M. Campbell. 



The Sun-fishes, which belong to the order Plectognathi of Cuvier, 

 are fishes whose skeletons are cartilaginous or incompletely ossified, 

 having a small number of vertebrae, and mostly with rough scales 

 or scutes. The gill-openings are narrow, the gills pectinate, the 

 mouth small, and the jaws modified into a hard beak. 



The genus Orthagoriscus is, according to Gunther, represented 

 by three species, two of which are British, the Short Sun-fish and 

 the Oblong Sun-fish, 0. mola and 0. lanceolatus, the former being 

 the more common. They are found in all the seas of the tropical 

 and temperate regions. They are evidently sluggish in their habits, 

 and can be easily approached when they appear, as they often do, 

 on the surface. At such times they swim very slowly, and such 



