234 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Fauna and Flora of the neighbourhood, so far from being impo- 

 verished, have in fact been enriched, and that while "no rare 

 plant has suffered through the Society, many new localities and 

 several new species have been added to the lists." The Society 

 is, moreover, endeavouring to improve the natural Fauna and 

 Flora by encouraging its members to take on the excursions 

 "any surplus roots and seeds they may possess, especially of 

 native plants brought from a distance, and also living fresh- 

 water mollusca, and depositing them in places where they would 

 be likely to become permanently established. 'No confusion," 

 the Society thinks, "would thus be caused, since the Fauna and 

 Flora of the neighbourhood are now both well known, and the 

 introduction of new species would be a set-off also against any 

 possible lessening of the abundance of those produced spontane- 

 ously. Members are invited to collect seeds, &c, for this espe- 

 cial purpose when at a distance from home, and also to enrich 

 the neighbourhood by a judicious sowing of the seeds of exotic 

 plants." 



I quote these extracts from the regulations of the Manchester 

 Society at the special request of the Secretary, but I must at the 

 same time distinctly disclaim, for my own part, any wish to re- 

 commend a similar course of action (as to the introduction of new 

 species) to the members of the Tyneside Club. The botany and 

 zoology of our neighbourhood are certainly not known with suf- 

 ficient accuracy to warrant the artificial introduction of new 

 species. — George S. Brady, Sunderland, June, 1866. 



