Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. 3837 



of Pteris aquilina, or of Cryptogramma crispa, are those of true roots, it was, notwith- 

 standing, not a true root, but merely a congeries of subterranean stems, that sent forth 

 from the centre at which they converged, a thick subaerial trunk, richly sculptured, 

 and covered with a foliage of which every trace has long since disappeared. There 

 was but one other plant of the coal measures, said Mr. M., to which he would at pre- 

 sent call the attention of the Society. It was evidently a fern, but presented at first 

 sight more tbe appearance of a Cycadaceous frond than any other vegetable organism 

 of the carboniferous age yet seen. From a mid-stem, about a line in thickness, there 

 proceed at right angles, and in alternate order, a series of sessile lanceolate leaflets, 

 rather more than two inches in length, by about an eighth of an inch in breadth, and 

 about three lines apart. Each is furnished with a slender mid-rib ; and, what seems 

 a singular, though not entirely unique feature in a fern, the edges of each are densely 

 hirsute, and bristle with thick, short hair. The venation is not distinctly preserved. 

 In conclusion, Mr. M. took the liberty, he said, of urging on such of the members of 

 the Society as possessed unique fossils of our carboniferous flora, — unique either from 

 the circumstance of their being positively new, or of throwing new light on the forms 

 or structure of plants already known in part, — the importance of exhibiting and de- 

 scribing them for the general benefit. The authors of both Fossil Floras and Fossil 

 Faunas, however able or accomplished they may be, have often to found their genera 

 and species, and to frame their restorations, when they attempt these, on very inade- 

 quate specimens. For, were they to pause in their labours until better ones turned 

 up, they would find the lougest life greatly too short for the completion of even a small 

 portion of their task. Much of their work must of necessity be of a provisional cha- 

 racter, — so much so, that there are few possessors of good collections who do not find 

 themselves in circumstances to furnish both addenda and errata to onr most valuable 

 works on Palaeontology. And it is only by the free communication of these addenda 

 and errata that geologists will at length be enabled adequately to conceive of the by- 

 past creations, — of, in especial, the faunas of the palaeozoic and secondary periods, — 

 and of that gorgeous flora of the carboniferous age, with some of whose organisms 

 Mr. M. had been attempting to deal, and which seems to have been by far the most 

 luxuriant and wonderful which our emphatically ancient earth ever saw. 



The third was a " Notice of the Octopus octopodia," by John Stewart, Esq. Mr. 

 Stewart referred to the description given in Fleming's ' British Animals,' p. 254 ; and 

 stated that the specimen he exhibited was caught on a hook in the Bay of Luce, Oc- 

 tober 26, 1 852. Its dimensions were as follow : — Length of body, about 3| inches ; 

 breadth, 2f inches; length of head, \\ inch ; breadth, If inch ; length of arms, 9 

 inches ; but the lowest arm on the left side was only 7 inches long. He had taken 

 three specimens last year in Loch Kyan, and two in Morecambe Bay, North Lanca- 

 shire. Mr. Stewart also stated that Mr. George Wilson, who had sent him this spe- 

 cimen, informed him that an albicore had been taken last year in a salmon bag net at 

 Strathaven, which was 25 inches in length, 17 in girth, and weighed 10 lbs. 



James C. Howden, Esq., M.D., then read a communication, entitled " Notes on 

 Marine Zoology." Dr. Howden said that of the star-fishes which occur in the Firth 

 of Forth, by far the most common on muddy bottoms between Inch Michry and Gul- 

 laneness, is the little Ophiura albida ; below that point, again, Ophiura texturata is of 

 frequent occurrence. Ophiocoma neglecta appears to have a wide range, living in 

 pools, at low-water mark, under stones, and especially among Corallina officinalis ; he 

 had found it at Joppa rocks, Prestonpaus, Crail, &c, and also in mud, in four or five 



