12 PnOCEEDINGS OP THE 



aquatic Hymenoptera, viz. Carafliracius ductus, Haliday (syn. 

 Polynema nutans, Lubbock), which uses its wings in swirauiing. 

 The other, Prestwicliia ag^uatica, Lubbock, usiug its legs for 

 propelling itself in the water, the wings being kept closed. This 

 insect has not been recorded since its first capture in 1862. 



Mr. H. M. Bernard exhibited preparations under the micro- 

 scope of hermaphrodite glands of Apus, showing what he assumed 

 to be the formation of sperm in the ovaries of four diiferent 

 species, or varieties, and the condition of the eggs, which in two 

 cases were being resorbed. These, he suggested, may have been 

 parthenogenetic females in the process of losing the female and 

 assuming male functions; possibly to ensure the presence of 

 males in times of emergency, when "resting e^gs" were required 

 in order to tide over periods o£ drought. 



Dr. H. A. Cummins, on behalf of Prof. M. M. Hartog, exhibited 

 some hybrids of Saraca grown in the Botanic Gardens of Queen's 

 College, Cork, from the collection of the late Win. Crawford, of 

 Lakelands. They were raised by fertilizing S. indica with pollen 

 from a plant now dead, which was probably /S. triandra. These 

 hybrids are remarkable for free flov\ering, sometimes continuing 

 in bloom duriiig a period of three months. 



Messrs. H. & J. G-roves exhibited specimens of Ranunculus 

 tripartitiis, DC, recently discovered by Mr. E. A. Phillips in a 

 small lake near Baltimore, co. Cork. Mr. J. Groves remarked 

 that they were probably the most satisfactory examples of the 

 true JR.. tripartitus which had been collected in the British Isles. 

 A form of the variety, or subspecies, R. intermedius, had been 

 found in Hampshire, which had a few much-divided submersed 

 leaves, but the segments of these were slightly flattened, not 

 truly capillary. A plant collected by Mr. Tellam in E. Cornwall 

 was much nearer the type, and the Cork plant was almost 

 identical with the Continental tripartitus. Neither R. tripartitus 

 nor R. intermedius appear to have been jjreviously recorded from 

 Ireland, and the discovery was an interebtiug one, adding another 

 of the characteristic Western European types to the Irish Elora. 



On behalf of Mr. W. E. Hoyle, Prof. Howes exhibited some 

 Eontgen-ray skiagraphs, showing the position of a mouse when 

 partially and completely swallowed by a snake, and showing the 

 displacement of the jaws of the reptile during deglutition. The 

 specimen of the snake was further interesting by way of showing 

 a " half vertebra," about which in the Ophidia considerable 

 discussion had arisen. 



Dr. J. E. T. Aitchison, CLE., exhibited some specimens of an 

 Indian Woodpecker, Dendrocopus liimalayensis, obtained on the 

 Murree Hills at an elevation of 7000 feet, for the purpose of 



