98 REPORT—1868. 
two giltheads, mailed gurnard, swordfish, pilotfish, sea-horse, trumpetfish, gem- 
meous and sordid dragonetts, anchovy, Ray’s bream, plain bonito, opah, blue and 
fox-sharks, hammer-headed shark, sawfish, flyingfish, and many others. Of the ham- 
mer-headed shark, the head of the only specimen obtained in Europe of late years 
is now preserved in the Norwich Museum, and a single specimen of the sawfish 
was obtained off Lynn, in the time of Sir T. Browne, this being apparently the 
only instance on record of the occurrence of this species in the British seas. The 
flyinefish, Zxocetus volitans, have on several occasions been observed in the British 
seas, and in about three instances have been captured, the last capture being off 
Yarmouth this last season; one of the pectoral fins of this specimen (now in the 
author’s possession) was exhibited at the reading of this paper. 
He next enumerated some singular malformed varieties, viz. double-headed had- 
dock, whiting with three eyes, and a malformed basse. 
A brief account of the river-fish, with remarks on some varieties of sticklebacks, 
&c., brought the paper to a conclusion. 
The total number of species enumerated is 125, leaving a reasonable hope that 
when the subject is more fully investigated several further additions may be made 
to the Norfolk list. 
On the possible introduction of South European Plants in the West and South 
of Ireland. By Professor Hennussy, F/.2.S. 
The author’s inquiries into the climatology of the British Islands had led him to 
examine the physical conditions which affect the distribution of vital phenomena 
in Ireland. So far back as 1860 he had already called attention to the relations 
between the peculiar distribution of the flora in the western districts of Ireland 
and the position of the isothermal lines in the map which he had previously pub- 
lished*. These relations have been pointed out more recently, and with more pre- 
cision, in the map appended to a paper by Dr. David Moore and Mr. A. G. More, 
“On the Climate, Flora, and Crops of Ireland,” in the Report of the International 
Horticultural Exhibition and Botanical Congress, held in London during May 1866, 
The author briefly presented geological and geographical grounds for rejecting the 
hypothesis of the late eminent naturalist, Professor E. Forbes, and he also adduced 
similar criticisms from other inquirersf. 
The author next presented a summary of all the South European plants found 
in the West and South-west of Ireland, specifying minutely their localities both in 
Ireland and on the Continent. The former are limited to two coast districts bor- 
dered by numerous navigable inlets and fishing-grounds; namely, first among the 
maritime baronies of the counties of Galway and Mayo; and secondly, a part of 
Kerry, together with the south-western extremity of Cork. On the Continent 
the plants in question are abundantly found, as already remarked by Forbes, in 
the northern part of Spain, and especially the province of Asturias. The author 
calls these plants, for brevity, the Asturian flora; and the two districts where 
they are found in Ireland, the West Asturian and South-West Asturian districts, 
respectively. It has been admitted by Forbes that there does not seem to be 
evidence of any local assemblage of animals in these districts corresponding to 
the Asturian flora, and the inquiry is therefore entirely limited to discover the 
origin of the plants, The physical conditions accompanying the growth of the 
Asturian flora, both in Spain and in Ireland, are fully discussed. The climate of 
the province of Asturias is characterized by great moisture and a mild winter tem- 
perature ; thus, at Oviedo, which is about the centre of the province, the mean an- 
nual fall of rain is nearly 75 inches, and the wettest months are April and May. 
The mean annual temperature is 55°4 F.; the mean winter temperature, from 
45°-4; the mean summer temperature is 65°-2; the mean yearly maximum is 88°; 
the mean yearly minimum from 31° to 34°. 
The prevalent geological formations are stated to be Devonian and Silurian, and 
* Atlantis, vol. i. p. 396. 
t+ See D’Archiac’s “ Hist. des Progrés de la Géologie, publiée par la Société Géologique 
de France sous les Auspices du Ministre de Instruction publique,” vol. ii. pp. 128-137; 
also Darwin's ‘ Origin of Species,’ p. 354. 
