i88i-i88a.] 113 



and we understand it is intended that they should remain per- 

 manently in their present position. The Natural History and 

 Philosophical Society is certainly to be congratulated on pos- 

 sessing such an attractive collection as is here shown above the 

 bird cases and on the walls. It has been usual for the club on 

 similar occasions to select some subject for special illustration, 

 the members generally contributing towards it. This year it 

 was the ''Ammonite and its Relations," A long table at the 

 end of the lecture-room was devoted to this purpose, and a very 

 large and choice series of these beautiful and varied organisms 

 was displayed. Conspicuous among these might be seen a 

 gigantic fossil {Actinoceas giganteuin)^ from the Carboniferous 

 Limestone of Castle-espie, County Down, which, when perfect, 

 must have measured at least five or six feet in length. Of giant 

 ammonities two are worthy of special notice, one of them from 

 the Chalk of this neighbourhood and the other from the Eng- 

 lish Oolite. The latter, the property of the ex-president of the 

 club, Mr. William Gray, M.R.I.A., was on this evening kindly 

 presented to the museum. This subject was also well illus- 

 trated by specimens from the private collections of various mem- 

 bers, supplemented by examples taken from the museum cases. 

 The display showed that much attention had been given to the 

 study of this group. The argonaut, nautilus, and cuttlefish 

 were shown as representatives of this family in existing seas, 

 while a host of fossil forms of many genera, from formations 

 ranging from the Silurian up to Tertiary times, proved the im- 

 portance of the ammonite and its relations in geological times. 

 Messrs. Gray and Wright briefly explained the import of the 

 series of specimens displayed on the table. Mr. Gray also illus- 

 trated the process of mounting for the microscope, and much 

 interest was evinced by his audience in his simple but effective 

 methods, and in his lucid explanations. Dr. Malcomson showed, 

 under the microscope, living examples of Rotifera^ display- 

 ing the wheel-like organs from which they derive their names. 

 He also showed a number of Foraminifera from the Challen- 

 ger dredging expeditions. Mr. W. A. Firth had on view some 



