

NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 227 



Mr. D. A. Boyd exhibited specimens of Ruppia maritima, Lin., 

 sub-sp. rostellata, Koch. Mr. Boyd stated that in a small marsh 

 on the seashore, directly below the farm of Chapelton, West 

 Kilbride, he had observed last summer, in several of the stagnant pools 

 among the turf, considerable quantities of a submerged aquatic 

 plant which at first sight resembled one of the smaller species of 

 Potamogeton. On a closer examination, however, he found the 

 plant to be the above species, which is rare in the West of Scotland, 

 and had not, so far as he had been able to learn, been hitherto 

 reported from the district. In the New Statistical Account of 

 Scotland (1845), vol. iv., p. 671, the late Rev. Dr. Landsborough, 

 a well-known Ayrshire botanist, includes Ruppia maritima in a 

 list of the rarer plants found in the parish of Dundonald. In 

 the census of the British Flora, contained in Watson's "Topo- 

 graphical Botany," vol. ii., p. 407, Ruppia maritima has been 

 reported from 48 of the 112 " counties " in Great Britain, 

 of which 15 are Scottish, and include, on the West coast, 

 Kirkcudbright, Ayr, Westerness, Cantyre, South Ebudes, and 

 Hebrides. It must be kept in view, however, that in these 

 reports Ruppia maritima is treated as a single species, and no 

 reference is made to the two sub-species, spiralis, Hartmann, and 

 rostellata, Koch, into which it has been divided. The former is 

 reported from 6 "counties," of which Kirkcudbright is the sole 

 Scottish representative; while the latter is reported from 21 "counties," 

 7 of which are Scottish, and include Kirkcudbright, Cantyre, 

 and South Ebudes on the west. Of these 21 "counties," only 7 

 were vouched "by the cited names of personal authorities." 

 The seventh edition of the "London Catalogue of British Plants" 

 does not record any further addition to these numbers. 



Mr. Boyd also exhibited a teratological specimen, shewing 

 phyllody of sepals in Primula vulgaris, on which he made 

 some remarks. 



Mr. Mason exhibited several miscellaneous specimens, amongst 

 them being mounted specimens of Gnaphalium leontopodium ; mal- 

 formed fruits of the Walnut, Juglans rrgia; fruits of the Nutmeg 

 tree; also a Scorpion, Scorpio afer, and several specimens of 

 Coleoptera from Penang; which he had from time to time received 

 from members of the Society. 



The Chairman exhibited a large Fossil Nautilus, and also a 



