7H 



NATURAL HISTOKT SOCIETY OF DUBLIN. 



of them in the year 1855, in the mountains ahout Caherciveen, county of 

 Kerry. On the 1 1th of July, Mr. L. Taylor, of Portumna, while flapper 

 shooting in the callow, on the south of that village, shot two young of 

 the Blue-winged Shovel-hill (Rhynchaspis clypeata), out of a flock of 

 seven. He gave them to me the same evening, but, unfortunately, they 

 were so mangled by the retriever that brought them in, that it was im- 

 possible to get them preserved. I cannot find any previous record of 

 these ducks breeding in this country. The Golden Plover {Pluvialis 

 aurea) breed in great quantities in the hills on the north of Mount Shan- 

 non, county of Galway. Lastly, George Leech, Esq., of The Abbey, 

 Rathkeale, has discovered a new locality for the Trichomanes on his pro- 

 perty, in the west of Kerry. It is situated about four miles east ofWa- 

 terville. The plant he sent me seems to be the var. Andrewsii ; and 

 I sent it to Mr. Bain, of the College Botanical Gardens, who informs me 

 that, as it was not in fructification, he could not be certain about it. 



Dr. E. Perceval Wright, F. L. S., exhibited specimens of a new spe- 

 cies of Teredo, inhabiting fresh water, and found near Fereedpoor, in 

 India. From some peculiarities of the valves and siphonal palettes, he 

 felt inclined to establish a new subgenus to receive this form, which was 

 allied to Xylotrya {Leach). It would therefore be provisionally regis- 

 tered as Nausitora Dunlopii (Wright). 



The following paper was likewise read : — 



Observations on Micrasterias Mauabuleshwarensis (Hobson), and 

 on Docidium Pristid^; (Hobson). By William Archer. 



Having for some time made the species of Desmidiacese an object of 

 study, I naturally take an interest in any literature upon that Family of 

 Algae from any part of the world, with which I may have the pleasure 

 to meet. 



In the " Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,"* Mr. Julian 

 Hobson, Bombay Staff Corps, Mahabuleshwar, has lately described, and 

 figured by woodcuts, two species, natives of that district, one belonging 

 to the genus Micrasterias (Ay.), the other referred to Docidium (Breb.), 

 both of which, however, as it appears to me, have been previously de- 

 scribed — the former by Dr. Wallich, but, as I venture to conceive, with 

 an erroneous view as to its specific claims, and consequently, as I should 

 be disposed to hold, under an incorrect designation ; whilst the latter, 

 I think, is more than likely to be identical with a species of the late 

 Professor Bailey's, — belonging, however, rather to Triploceras (Bailey) 

 than to Docidium (Breb.). 



It may seem rather premature, and argue somewhat of temerity in 

 one who has never seen a specimen of either of the forms in question, 

 to venture an opinion ; but, as I have made myself acquainted with the 



* " Quart. Journ. Mic. Science," N. S., vol. iii., No. 11, July, 1863, pp. 168-9. 



