40 DUBLIN NATURA.L HISTORY SOCIETY. 



species is to be met with around Spanish Point in every pool, and ad- 

 hering to the rocks high and dry. They are of every shade of green 

 and red, and sometimes nearly white. I kept quantities of Anemones 

 alive in vessels in which the water was constantlj^ changed ; but, even 

 with the constant changing, a little sea- weed is indispensable. It is 

 interesting to watch them while eating raw meat — first bringing it by 

 means of their tentacles towards the mouth, where it gradually disap- 

 pears with the tentacles themselves. After an hour or two the animal 

 disgorges the meat in the form of a white mass, from which the nutri- 

 ment has been extracted. 



Ecliinodermata. — The bottom of almost every pool is studded with 

 Echinus lividus, varying in size, and either of a bright purple or olive- 

 green hue. They inhabit hemispherical cavities made by themselves in 

 the rocks, adhering by their suckers or ambulacral organs. I only met 

 with two other species of star-fish, Uraster rubens, small specimens of 

 of which are to be had in most pools by lifting up the sea- wrack and 

 examining carefully. 



Luidia fragilissima. — I found a specimen of this star-fish half out of 

 the water, and moving almost imperceptibly by means of its ambalacral 

 organs, at the edge of the large pool north-east of Spanish Point. It 

 measured twelve inches in diameter, that is between the tips of the 

 opposite fingers. It was of a greenish hue, and the suckers of a pale 

 orange yellow. I brought it home in safety, and endeavoured to pre- 

 serve it, but one of the fingers broke across in the drying process. 



I also captured a fine specimen of the Holothuriadse in a small pool, 

 close to low- water mark. It was upwards often inches in length, and 

 was moored by its suckers to the shady side of the pool, evidently lying 

 in wait for whatever prey might be unfortunate enough to come within 

 its reach. Its colour was dark purplish-brown above, and dull gold- 

 yellow, or rather the colour of the belly of a bog trout, beneath. I use 

 the terms "above" and "beneath" according to the horizontal position 

 in which I first remarked it. The ambulacral organs seemed to be 

 thickly dispersed all over the body, and apparently not in regular rows. 

 "When placed in a vessel of sea- water, it several times expanded its ten- 

 tacles, which were of an orange colour, and presented a most singular 

 and beautiful appearance. It was constantly changing its form and 

 size, so that sometimes it was not more than six inches in length. I 

 sent the specimen up to the Royal Zoological Society's Gardens in 

 Phoenix Park, but it unfortunately disappeared on the journey ; proba- 

 bly it died and shrivelled up so much as to be undistinguishable from 

 the algfB in which it was packed. It appears to be S. niger. My sea- 

 shore researches were very cursory, as I had other duties to attend to ; 

 but I have no doubt that a skilful collector, who had plenty of time to 

 devote to this fascinating branch of natural history, would find himself 

 well rewarded by a visit to Spanish Point. 



After some discussion a ballot took place, and the Chairman declared 

 the following duly elected : — 



I 



