THE FLORA OF IRELAND. 51 



And to Professor M'Weeney for the following : 



Gyrodon riibellus, McVV. ; Nyctalis parasitica^ Fr. ; Clo)iostacJiys arau- 

 caria, Ca. ; Stysa?ius idmariae^ McW. ; Tilktia rauzvcnhofii, F. v. W. ; 

 Plasniopara pygmaea\ de By. ; P. deiisa, de By. ; Peronospora arbores- 

 icns, Bk. ; P. affijiis, Schroet ; P. trifoliorum , de By. ; P, grisea, Ung. ; 

 P . lamii, de By. ; P. Schleideni, Ung. ; P. allioriun (Cooke and Massee) ; 

 P. sordida, Bk. ; Gyninoasciis reesii, Baran. ; TJiccospo7-a bifida^ Hark. ; 

 Ophionectria paludosa, Sacc. ; Acrospcniiuvi graniiniiuiy Lib. ; Hypomyccs 

 aiiraiitius, lul. ; H. lateritins, Tul. ; Plypocopra viaxivia ; PhyllacJiora 

 podagra ria, Roth. ; Dothidea ribesia ; Sordaria copropJiila ; Cordyceps 

 militarise Fr. ; C. ditmari ; Pcziza subiivibrina^ Boud. ; P. bninneoatra^ 

 Desm. ; Geopyxis ainmopliila ; Sclerotijiia sderotiorum^ Massee; vibrissea 

 Guernisact, Crouan ; V . viargarita, White ; Cicinnobolus tesatii; Plioma betac, 

 Frank; Mycetozoa: — Trichia serotina, 7". cJirysospernia ; Arcyrea cinerea; 

 CoJiiatj'icha Friesiatia, de By. ; Didenua cyanescois ; Didyniiimi squamosuvi^ 

 D. squavinlos7im ; Physarum leucopjts, Rost. ; Plasviodiophora brassicae, Wor. ; 

 Cldorospleninvi {Helotiuni) aerugiiiosum and Accidiiim grossulariae, occur 

 abundantly in fruit in Ireland, a rare occurrence in P^ngland or Scotland. 



Dr. M'Weeney sends me the following notes on the Bacteria of Ireland : — 



" The results of the parasitism of bacteria on men and animals are of enor- 

 mous economic importance. The common saprophytes occur in Ireland 

 with the same frequency as they do elsewhere. Amongst species character- 

 ised by some remarkable property may be mentioned the fluorescent 

 bacilli, both the liquifying and the non-liquifying forms of which abound 

 in water. Bacillus prodigiosiis occurs, though very seldom, in the air, and I 

 have lately isolated an allied species Bactcninn Kdicnse (Fischer and Breu- 

 nig), from the water of a well at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. It produces a 

 gorgeous red pigment. On the other hand, out of the many hundreds of 

 water analyses I have made, I have never encountered B. violaceus. Turn- 

 ing to the parasitic (disease-producing) species, by far the most destructive 

 to human life is Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, L. and N., which is now usually 

 classed amongst the lower Hyphomycetes. Cattle suffer severely from 

 bovine tuberculosis, and I have also met with the avian variety amongst 

 pheasants on an estate near Arklow, County Wicklow. Its ally, the lep- 

 rosy bacillus (JMycobacteriiim LeprcF, L. and N.), is no longer found in 

 Ireland, save occasionally in imported lepers. This was not the case during 

 the Middle Ages when leprosy was endemic in Ireland. It has left its 

 trace in a few place-names like Leopardstoiun, where there was formerly a 

 hospital for lepers. The ' acid fast,' pseudo-tubercle bacilli found lately in 

 milk, butter, on Timothy grass, etc., on the Continent, are not known to 

 occur in Ireland. Aciiitomyces is not a common parasite here. A few cases 

 have been recorded in the ox. Only two instances of human Actinomy- 

 cosis have occurred so far as I am aware, one having been observed by 

 Dr. Dargan, on a patient in St. Vincent's Hospital. Corynebacterium 

 Diphtherice (L. and N.) was very rare in Ireland some twelve years ago, but 

 is steadily on the increase, especially in towns along the east coast whither it 

 has probably been introduced from England. A closely allied but non- 

 pathogenic form, occurs in the epidermis of calves. My attention was 

 first drawn to ic in the analysis of vaccine lymph. A detailed account of the 

 distribution of the disease-producing bacilli would be out of place here. I 



