124 NATTJEAL HISTOEY SOCIETY OP DUBLIN. 



perfectly smooth, and divided into irregularly formed hexagonal com- 

 partments, the sutures of which fit smoothly into each other, the caudal 

 fin truncate or square, not rounded, and the true caudal fin being im- 

 mediately connected with the dorsal and anal fins. It has no natatory 

 bladder. In one of my rambles with Colonel the Hon. D. B. de Mo- 

 leyns, who is a keen and ardent observer of natural history objects, we 

 for some time noticed from the cliffs of Brandon Head the singular 

 action of a fine specimen of the short sun-fish. The fish, which was of 

 large size, appeared altogether of a whitish or silvery colour, and con- 

 tinued for a considerable time on the surface of the water, sometimes 

 floating with its side uppermost, displaying its large dorsal and anal 

 fins, at other times with its dorsal fin high out of the water. Yfe had 

 much delay in getting a canoe, and when we rounded the headland the 

 heaviness of the sea prevented our getting a glimpse of the fish. The 

 short sun -fish is not unfrequent on that part of the coast, and is known 

 by the native name of Lappeen, or Lappadan. 



Another rare fish, which scarcely appears fully recorded, although 

 noticed in the "Zoologist" as Pennant's Globe-fish (TetraodonPennantii), 

 was taken on the coast of Wexford in 1850. The fish was taken at 

 Curracloe in September, 1850. The original sketch, with the descrip- 

 tion, was sent to me ; it measured 2 feet 2 inches in length, and the 

 girth of the air- sac was 26 inches. 



In conclusion, I must allude to a singular species of Diodon, which 

 was washed onboard the brig " Ganges," of Boston, in the Atlantic. It 

 is the smallest of the genus, and is described and figured in the " Annals 

 of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York," 1828, as Diodon ca- 

 rinatus. 



Dr. E. Perceval Wright, F. L. S., said that the Natural History So- 

 ciety ought to be glad to receive notices of every well-authenticated 

 addition to the Irish Fauna, and it would be important to have the 

 record of any species of Tetraodon on our shores, even should it be T. 

 Pennantii. As to the Orthagoriscus ohlongus, he would like very much 

 to see the coloured drawing exhibited by Mr. Andrews appear in the 

 " Proceedings" of the Society. He had seen drawings of the species 

 such as those in Yarrell, which he believed to be correct in outline ; but 

 coloured drawings from the living specimen were of great importance. 

 At the time Mr. Andrews first exhibited this species, the Society did 

 not publish their " Proceedings" in any permanent form, and the record 

 of its occurrence would have been lost but for Mr. Thompson's work. 

 He trusted this would show the importance of having all the papers 

 read before the Society speedily published in its Journal, where they 

 would just as surely be noticed and recorded as if they were printed in 

 the Journals of the Berlin or Vienna Academies. He had heard a ru- 

 mour that the Council were rather opposed to spending the Society's 

 money on printing and illustrating papers. If this were true, then, as 

 Mr. Andrews himself remarked, they would not get papers of any value. 

 For his part, he would rather the Society were to die in producing one 



