Dublin Natural-History Society. 307 



the Committee appointed for the purpose of Exploring the Coasts of 

 the Hebrides by means of the Dredge," in almost every instance 

 gives the habitat of the new genera and species described as " Shet- 

 land Isles ! " a lapsus certainly calculated seriously to mislead those 

 who do not refer to the original paper. We notice also, in this 

 report on the Crustacea, constant references in cases where, on turn- 

 ing to the original {e. g. to the papers of Goes, Heller, Sars, &c.), we 

 find no information beyond that given by the Recorder, viz. the 

 name and locality. Such references to the commonest of species, 

 as " Cancer pa gurus (L.), Sars, I. c. p. 10," or " Pagurus hernhardus 

 (L.), Sars, I. c. ; Sp. B., Brit. Assoc. Rep. 1865, p. 52, and Ann. Nat, 

 Hist. vol. xvii. p. 25," are worse than useless, when, on turning to 

 the original papers, we find nothing but the name. In dealing with 

 catalogues it is surely the better plan to give a short abstract of 

 results in a note following the title of the paper, mentioning the total 

 number of species recorded, and adding the names of such as seem 

 peculiarly interesting from the fact of our knowledge of their geo- 

 graphical range being thus materially extended, or other circum- 

 stances. In one case, " Gorophium bonelH (Edw.), Heller, I. c. p. 51," 

 we cannot find even the name ; the species is not mentioned by 

 Heller either on that page or in any other part of his work. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



DUBLIN NATURAL-HISTORY SOCIETY. 



The monthly meeting of this Society was held at the Royal Irish 

 Academy, on Thursday the 5th of February, the Rev. Prof. O'Mahony, 

 A.M., in the Chair. 



Mr. Bradshaw read a paper " On the Habits of some Irish Birds." 



Dr. Macalister read a paper "On the Myology of the Otter (Zaitra 

 vulgaris)." 



Mr. W. Andrews, M.R.I.A., Chairman of the Natural-History 

 Committee of the Royal Dublin Society, stated that he was anxious 

 to have placed on record several species of rare Irish Sponges that had 

 been noticed at the early meetings of the Society, but which had not 

 been mentioned as Irish in Dr. Bowerbank's recent work on British 

 Spongiadae. Very fine specimens of Grantia nivea of Johnston 

 {Leuconia nivea, Bowerbank) were exhibited by Dr. Scouler, in May 

 1844, obtained from Roundstone Bay, Connemara. The singularity 

 of the species from that coast does not appear to have been noticed . 

 by Bowerbank, who gives no record of any Irish locality ; by 

 Thompson the name is merely given, " west coast of Ireland, M'Calla." 

 Dr. Scouler, at a meeting early in 1846, gave the characteristics of 

 Halichondria hispida. This rare species had not been obtained since 

 it was recorded by Montagu, in the Wernerian Transactions, as met 

 with on the south coast of England, — this discovery being its first 

 record as Irish, it not having been until then found since the time of 



