1897-98-] 4 2 7 



in the legends connected with the raths and souterrains we have 

 a reminiscence of a dwarf race. After giving Mann 

 Hai binson's opinion that the souterrains "have been constructed 

 by a diminutive race, probably allied to the modern Lapps," 

 Miss Andrews referred to the views of Mr. D. MacRitchie, that 

 the Fians, fairies, and Picts belonged to similar, if not identical 

 dwarf races. The description of the men of Spy given by Dr. 

 Monroe in " Pre-histonc Problems " was compared with the 

 picture of the "Wee, wee man " in the old ballad, and the 

 conclusion was drawn that in the fairy legends we may see 

 traces of a struggle between a primitive race of small men, 

 whose gods may have been, like themselves, of diminutive 

 stature, and their more civilised neighbours. 



Mr. Welch described those curious little " pockets" of small 

 shells, many of them rare and local, which one may find collected 

 together by the swirling action of the wind round the dunes 

 which fringe the beautiful Whitepark Bay, so close to the 

 Giant's Causeway, and so seldom visited by the tourists who 

 crowd 1.0 the latter. He also described the larger "pockets" 

 in the Portstewart dunes, which yielded a shell, Hydrobia 

 Jenkiusi new to the Irish fauna lately, and other scarce 

 species, including the Albino variety of Vertigo pusilla i 

 first found by Mr. Standen, of Manchester, in a similar 

 ''pocket" at Portsalon. A curious mixture of land shells 

 and sea sand on the low bluffs at Portsalon was next 

 referred to, and tne fact that these modern deposits may 

 help to explain the manner in which much older ones were 

 found. A large number of shells collected in the " pockets " 

 were shown, including those whose sudden appearance on short, 

 grassy swards, after rain, gives rise to a firm belief in some 

 localities in " snail showers." Helix virgata on the short sward 

 at Ballycastle, and Helix acuta, at Portrush, were instanced, 

 as products of these showers, and regret expressed at the fact 

 that the golfers' big feet, there, as in other places, were rapidly 

 diminisning the " showers." 



