Ill 



an Irish Otter, which he at the same time presented to the Society 

 in the name of Miss Anna Moody of the Roe Mills near Newtown 

 Lemavaddy, by whom it was preserved and mounted. On ac- 

 count of the intensity of its colouring, which approaches nearly 

 to black both on the upper and under surface ; of the less extent of 

 the pale colour beneath the throat as compared with the common 

 Otter, Lutra vulgaris, Linn., as it exists in England ; and of some 

 difference in the size of the ears and in the proportions of other 

 parts ; Mr. Ogilby has long considered the Irish Otter as constitut- 

 ing a distinct species ; and he feels strengthened in this view of the 

 subject by the peculiarity of its habitation and manners. It is, in 

 fact, to a considerable extent a marine animal, being found chiefly 

 along the coast of the county of Antrim, living in hollows and caverns 

 formed by the scattered masses of the basaltic columns of that coast, 

 and constantly betaking itself to the sea when alarmed or hunted. 

 It feeds chiefly on the salmon, and as it is consequently injurious to 

 the fishery, a premium is paid for its destruction ; and there are 

 many persons who make a profession of hunting it, earning a liveli- 

 hood by the reward paid for it and by disposing of its skin. Mr. 

 Ogilby stated his intention of comparing it minutely with the com- 

 mon Otter as soon as he should be enabled to do so by the possession 

 of entire subjects, and especially of attending to the comparison of 

 the osteological structures. He added that he proposed to desig- 

 nate it, provisionally, as the Lutra Roensis, in honour of the lady by 

 whom it was presented. 



Mr. Owen read a " Description of a recent Clavagella," founded on 

 the examination of an individual brought home by Mr. Cuming and 

 imbedded in siliceous grit. The portion of rock contained the whole 

 of the expanded cavity excavated for the abode of the animal, to- 

 gether with the fixed valve of its shell and about an inch of its cal- 

 careous tube : the loose smaller valve was detached from the soft 

 parts. Mr. Owen describes in detail the fixed valve, which cor- 

 responds to the left side of the animal's body ; the attachment to it 

 of the adductor muscles, two in number ; its passage into the cal- 

 careous tube by a continuance of the shelly substance ; the tube it- 

 self, which communicates with the posterior part of the chamber 

 next the side which corresponds with the ventral surface of the ani- 

 mal ; and the free valve. He regards it as probable that the animal 

 of this species, having penetrated into the rock for a certain distance, 

 then becomes stationary, and limits its operations to enlarging its 

 chamber to the extent required for the development of its ovary : 

 this enlargement takes place in the dorsal, dextral, and anterior 

 directions. 



The soft parts of Clavagella form an irregularly quadrate mass, 

 convex anteriorly, rather flattened at the sides, and slightly naiTOW- 

 ing towards the posterior end, from which the smooth rounded si- 

 phon is continued. This contains the anal and branchial canals, 

 which are separated by a strong muscular septum, but do not pro- 

 ject as distinct tubes : in this respect Clavagella agrees with Gastro- 



