TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 97 
This second variety, which appeared to grow to a larger-sized and more robust tree, 
he discovered on the margin of the Torc Lake, or as it is also called, the Middle 
Lake, whilst the narrow-leaved form he gathered on the side of the Lower Lake: both 
shores in those spots are of the same formation, viz. a compact limestone. Doctors 
Mackay and Steele make no mention of these variations of the leaves of the straw- 
berry tree in their respective floras of Ireland. 
Contributions to Vegetable Teratology. By VY. MaxweLt MAsteErs. 
On the forms of Diatomacee found in Chalk. By the Rev. E. O'Meara. 
_ The four specimens of chalk on which my experiments were made were taken 
from the cliffs in the County of Antrim ; and having been well washed for the pur- 
pose of removing such forms as might be attached to the surface, were dissolved in 
hydrochloric acid, and when thus disintegrated were boiled in dilute sulphuric acid. 
In all the preparations diatomaceous forms were found, a few of which I was un- 
able to identify with any of those figured by Mr. Smith in his ‘ Monograph of the 
British Diatomacee ;’ but all the rest, forty-two in number, were identical with those 
described by him as existing species. 
They may be distributed into the three following classes :— 
Species inhabiting fresh or brackish water . . . . . - 4 
VEEEINE Species rs Se oe He Se ERO, SONS FL 
Hreshwaier species! sh. SL LE NUN G8 k Yew OO eS 
Total 42 
It may be necessary to add, that the specimens selected were perfectly clean and 
free from any coating of vegetable matter, and that the one which yielded the greatest 
number of forms and of species had been repeatedly washed with hydrochloric acid, 
and the disintegrated portion removed previous to treating the remainder, which was 
subjected to examination. 
Observations on the Plants which, by their Growth and Decomposition, form 
the principal part of the Irish Turf-Bogs. By D. Moore. 
It was observed that, although much has been written on this subject, and many 
able reports made on it, strange to say, no one had yet given any intelligible account 
of the species of plants which enter principally into the formation of the turf-bogs of 
Ireland, although so large a portion of the surface of the country is covered with them, 
and bog labour constitutes no inconsiderable item of productive economy in Ireland. 
The varieties of bog were divided into red bog, brown bog, black or turbary bog, 
and mountain bog, which, although not very scientific, these being the names they 
are best known by, are retained. The differences of colour and consistences of matter, 
of which each variety is composed, were considered to depend chiefly on the localities 
_ where the substances are produced, according as they vary in different degrees of 
moisture, temperature, and altitude, whereby the growth and decomposition of vege- 
tables are affected. Iron, and some other mineral substances which are generally 
found in peat-bogs, had no doubt something to do with the colouring, but the former 
combination of causes produced the effect principally. 
By far the greatest portion of the bogs in Ireland consists of the kind called red 
bog, which varies in depth from 10 to 40 feet, or even more. This variety is the 
least valuable for fuel, owing to its soft fibrous consistency. It is supposed to have 
been formed on the sites of extensive ancient lakes, or very wet morasses, which may 
be inferred from the small quantity of wood found mixed up with it; besides the 
_ roots and trunks of trees being mostly found near the edges of the bog, the por- 
_ tions towards the centre being composed of nearly a uniform mass of the debris of 
_ the list of plants mentioned. Narthecium ossifragum, Eleocharis cespitosa, Carex 
_ stellulata, Schenus nigricans, Erica tetralix, and Myrica gale, might be considered 
_ the phanerogamic plants which form the framework to bear up the mass of Sphag- 
he nums and other cryptogamic species which fill up the interstices on the higher and 
- drier spots, whilst Menyanthes trifoliata, Comarum palustre, and Eriophorum angusti- 
é folium, mix their decumbent and running stems over the surface of water, which 
1857. 
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