cxii. Proceedings. 



show what might be done, even in a short hoHday by any ot 

 our members, in adding to his collections and knowledge, and 

 especially so, if he left the beaten track and used a little 

 discretion in the selection of the locality— favourable and 

 unfavouable being found in close proximity. 



He was agreeably surprised to find that his idea that the cold 

 unfriendly north was sure to be disappointing in its Marine 

 Fauna, was entirely erroneous, for he found that at the Fame 

 Islands, Crustacea, Echinoderms, Molluscs, and other Marine 

 forms, not only attained to sizes quite equal to those from the 

 Channel Islands, with which he was most familiar, but in 

 colour and markings also they were by no means inferior. In 

 fact, of some Molluscs the largest known specimens have been 

 obtained from the Northumberland coast. 



Mr. LovETT then described the character of the Islands, 

 their names and number, stating that they consisted of a group 

 of seventeen rocky islets composed of Basalt, situate from 2 

 to 5 miles east by south of Bamborough. 



Proceeding to describe the Marine Fauna, he said, we landed 

 upon nine of the outer rocks and in the small space of time at 

 my command I collected a few examples of the local Fauna. 

 Patella viilgata and Patella athletica, though common 

 Molluscs, were of considerable interest owing to their abnorm.al 

 size, and it was worthy of notice that those which were exposed 

 to the full fury of the sea were of an elevated form, whilst those 

 fixed on the sides of gullies, up which the water rushed with 

 great force, vvere very much depressed. Purpura lapillus was 

 also of fine dimensions, and Halcion pellucida was abundant on 

 the fronds of the Laminaria. We also obtained several speci- 

 mens of a nudibranch mollusc as well as Pecten varius. Anemia 

 epJiippinm, Saxicava riigosa, Modiola barbata, Cliitoii discrc- 

 pans, Acmcea testudinalis, <S-c. Of the Echinodermata, we 

 found Ophiocoma rosnla, and some remarkably fine specimens 

 of Echinus sphccra (specimens of the latter are on the table). 

 At one point we sailed over a bit of sheltered water about 30 feet 

 deep, where we could see the bottom clearly, and there, among 

 gigantic Laminaria, their broad fronds waving in the current, 

 were numbers of this fine Echinoder?n, the delicate pink of their 

 densely set spines and pedicellaria contrasting with the bronze- 

 like tints of the stems of the Laminaria. Upon the latter were 

 dotted the fragile Halcion pellucida and numbers of Doris 

 were crawling over the fronds. 



Among the Crustacea we saw the edible crab Cancer pagurus, 

 the shore crab Carcinus moenas, the long-horned crab PorccUana 

 longicornis, and the hermit Pagurus bernhardus. 



Carcinus moenas and Porcellana longicornis were beautifully 

 marked specimens, and no doubt the locality was an extremely 



