288 Proceedings of the Eoyal Physical Society. 



instantly grasped and carried with unerring precision to the 

 oral aperture. The oesophagal portion of the stomach, easily- 

 recognised by its longitudinal plicae, whitish colour, and 

 semi-translucency, is gradually extruded, and the morsel of 

 food slowly disappears. Two brilliant turquoise-like tubercles 

 are now seen at each edge of the oval-shaped orifice of the 

 mouth. They are slightly larger than those surrounding the 

 base of the tentacula, and each has a minute yellow spot at 

 the junction of the oesophagal ring. Whether these pig- 

 mentary tubercles are subservient to the function of vision 

 is at present uncertain. The oral aperture is distinctly oval, 

 indicating bilateral symmetry in the actinise, as exhibited 

 in living specimens at a meeting of this Society by our late 

 distinguished Fellow, Dr Tlios. S. Wright, in 1856, and pub- 

 lished in the Proceedings of the Society, vol. i., p. 168. 



No distinct nervous system has been as yet satisfactorily 

 traced in the actinise. The definite movements from the 

 stimulus of food and other agents seem to point to special 

 lines of nerve force, which recent experiments, so ably con- 

 ducted by Mr Eomanes, have shown to exist in their allied 

 congeners, the medusae. Tliis physiological problem, how- 

 ever, with details of the anatomical structure, histology, and 

 classification, is beyond the scope of the present notes, which 

 are simply meant to record the general outline of the life- 

 history of the Dalyellian actinia from its captivity in 1828 

 to 1878, a long period of fifty years. 



IV. Note on the Occurrence of the Stockdove (Columba senas) in 

 the South of Perthshire. By John J. Dalgleish, Esq. 

 (Specimens were exhibited.) 



The stockdove {Colum'ba <^'?ias), although common in some 

 parts of England, such as Norfolk and SuffoUc, where it is 

 found breeding in rabbit burrows, has not, except in one or 

 perhaps two instances, been hitherto recorded from Scotland. 

 The first of these is in a " List of Birds of Caithness," by the 

 late Dr Sinclair of Wick, which was communicated to this 

 Society by R. J. Shearer, Esq., and published in the Proceed- 



I 



