286 The Upper Elf Loch, Braids. [Sess. 



fly, classified according to the shape of the tube or case 

 which the larva constructs to dwell in. The tube of the Upper 

 Elf Loch species is either made of a leaf rolled up cylindri- 

 cally, or of a hollow stalk, which are the forms adopted by the 

 common genus of the Phryganea ; or it is nest-shaped, and 

 constructed of little bits of moss, &c, as is the fashion in the 

 equally common genus Limnephilus. Whether the shape of 

 the tube and the material composing it furnish correct data 

 for classification is doubtful, at least in some cases, for the 

 Caddis- worm seems simply to use whatever material comes 

 handiest, or is most plentiful, for the construction of its tube. 

 Experiments have been tried where the larva has been pushed 

 out of its tube and dropped into a vessel of clear water con- 

 taining beads or small pieces of coloured glass, and the " worm " 

 at once proceeded to build a very pretty house from these 

 materials. But this is by the way. 



The Mollusca call for very brief notice. Though these are 

 moderately frequent in the Upper Elf Loch, they have not 

 been found specifically numerous, only four, or at most five, 

 species having been observed, the names of which are as fol- 

 lows — viz., Sphmrium corneum, Pisidium nitidum, P. milium, 

 P. pusillum, and . Limncea peregra. The only molluscan species 

 that calls for special remark at this time is P. milium (Held). 

 This is the species described in Dr J. Grwyn Jeffrey's ' British 

 Conchology ' as P. roseum (Scholtz) ; but which, according to 

 the compilers of the Conchological Society's list of British land 

 and fresh- water shells for 1892, is not now considered to be 

 Scholtz's P. roseum, but is referable rather to P. milium of 

 Held (see 'Journal of Conchology' for April 1892, p. 64). 

 In recording this, and the other species of Mollusca from the 

 Upper Elf Loch, it is but right to state that all these three 

 species of Pisidia, as well as Sphcerium corneum, have been 

 recorded from " a marsh on the Braid Hills " by Mr W. D. 

 Eoebuck, F.L.S., from specimens forwarded to him by Mr 

 Wm. Evans ; but whether the " marsh " referred to is iden- 

 tical with the Upper Elf Loch or not we do not know. 



The Vertebrata need not detain us long, for only the Fishes 

 and Amphibians are represented — the former by the ubiqui- 

 tous minnow and stickleback, and the latter by the frog 

 and the newt. In a paper by Mr Wm. Evans, read before the 



