268 Alexander Goodman More. [i877 



all from Kerry, collected by Mr. W. Andrews. . . . Then there is 

 Montagu's Blenny, B. galerita, a recent addition to the Irish list; 

 Gobius paganellus, and that rare species, Cepola rubescens, the red- 

 band fish, both from Kerry ; the Gillaroo trout, from Lough Melvin ; 

 that lowest in organization of all fish, Amphioxus lanceolatus, dredged 

 up by Mr. A. G. More in Bantry Bay; and Cole's char (Salmo colii), 

 formerly supposed to be confined to the middle lake, Killarney, but 

 recently obtained by Mr. More in Luggala, County Wicklow. In the 

 centre of the room is a fine mounted specimen of Selache maxima, the 

 basking shark, harpooned by the fishermen of Connemara, off Inish- 

 bofin ; it yielded 20 value in oil, and the species appears to be a 

 recognized object of pursuit on that coast. 



From the preserved fishes Mr. Saunders passes to the 

 plaster-casts, coloured after a process of Dr. Carte's in- 

 vention : 



Turning to the cases along the left wall, we find a portion of that 

 magnificent series of plaster casts of fish, which was commenced by 

 the late Dr. Ball, curator of the Museum of Trinity College, and father 

 of the present Astronomer Royal. . . . The casts were, however, left 

 uncoloured, until, under Dr. Carte's superintendence, some twenty years 

 ago, the operation of colouring them after nature was commenced, . . . 

 the result being an admirable reproduction of the natural sheen, 

 especially in those parts which would otherwise be of a dead white. 

 Conspicuous amongst all for gorgeous colouring is the Opah, or king- 

 fish (Lampris guttatus), of which there are two specimens, one from 

 Galway and the other from Wexford ; the rare Torpedo nobiliana, 

 from Dublin Bay, and Orthagoriscus mola, the true sunfish, which is 

 annually abundant on the west coast of Ireland, and from its high back- 

 fin must somewhat resemble the basking shark when in the water ; 

 indeed some of the fishermen call both these widely differing species 

 by the same name. A portion of these plaster casts are in cases at the 

 top of the principal staircase, near one of the skeletons of the Irish elk, 

 the latter portion containing the freshwater species as well as the 

 marine fish ; and such a series I had certainly never seen in my life 

 before, although familiar with all Mr. Frank Buckland has exhibited. 

 It would take up too much time and space if I were to enlarge upon 

 the individual specimens of this unrivalled collection ; but it is to be 

 hoped that many members of the British Association visited them with 

 profit. 



As might have been expected, a good deal is said of 

 the birds :-- 



The general collection of birds is rather exceptionally rich in Para- 

 diseidae, but the principal interest centres in the local collection of 

 Irish avifauna, in which all the native species are well represented ; 



