﻿6 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



is, as yet, too meagre to permit of safe conclusions. Of the 

 many circumstances detrimental to our fauna, the smoke and 

 dust of the mining districts, and the ashes and other refuse 

 from the ever increasing shipping in the Firth, are probably 

 among the worst. 



As has already been said, the investigation of the fauna of 

 the Forth area has proceeded in a more or less haphazard 

 manner, and not as the even work of any organised scheme 

 for the purpose.! A detailed historical review of the subject 

 as a whole, which might be tedious, seems hardly necessary 

 seeing that the stages in our knowledge of each group of 

 animals will be separately traced when we come to deal with 

 each in order. A brief sketch may, however, be here given. 



In the main, the marine and terrestrial sections of the 

 fauna have been investigated independently. The good pro- 

 gress made in the former has been largely due to the influence 

 of the Chair of Natural History in our University, several of 

 the occupants of which have been eminent marine zoologists; 

 while the Museum has been more a source of encouragement 

 in the other field. Passing over a few 15th and 17th century 

 records relating to the birds on the Bass (see under Aves), we 

 may start with Sir Eobert Sibbald's list of "Animals or 

 living Creatures " in the Firths of Forth and Tay, published 

 in 1710, in his History of Fife and Kinross, along with 

 which may be mentioned his Phalainologia Nova of 1692.^ 

 During the remainder of the 18th century, there are practically 

 no records other than a few relating to mammals and birds 

 in the old ' Statistical Account of Scotland.' Early in the 

 19th century, the Wernerian Natural History Society, with 

 which the names of Prof. Jameson and Dr Patrick Neill are 

 so intimately linked, came into existence ; and for several 

 decades did much to foster the investigation of our local 

 fauna.3 Among the papers contributed to its Memoirs were 



^ At the suggestion of Sir John Murray, the Scottish Natural History 

 Society a few years ago undertook a scheme for the investigation of the Forth 

 valley, as explained by Dr Marion Newbigin in the Scot. Geograph. Mag. for 

 Dec. 1901, but no direct effort to draw up or extend faunal lists was, it 

 appears, to be made. 



2 In his HistoTia Animalium in Scotia, (1684) localities are seldom given. 



^ For a notice of the Wernerian Society, see Address by Prof. J. H. Balfour 

 in vol. ii. of our Proceedings. From 1807 to 1817 Neill contributed 

 " Monthly Memoranda in Natural History" to The Scots Ifagazine. 



