The hhh Aaturalist. 



Mav, 



ten, inclusive of the two conductors, J. de W. Hinch and G, R. Humphreys. 

 Leaving Amiens Street at two o'clock for Gormanstown, tlie party walked 

 from the latter station along the sea-shore to Balbriggan, their attention 

 being called on the ^vay to the remarkable series of dykes of diorite and 

 basalt traversing the sedimentary Ordovician rocks. Bird-life was some- 

 Avhat disappointingly scarce. After about two hours walking Balbriggan 

 was reached in time for tea before catching the 5.48 train home. 



Dr. F. A. Bather, f.k.s., has recently redescribed Pleurocystis anglica, a i 

 Cystidean species founded by O. Jaekel in 1899. Jaekel believed that 

 his specimen came from Scotland or S. Wales ; but Bather (Trans. R. ! 

 Soc. Edinburgh, vol. xlix., p. 473) concludes that its true habitat is the 

 Ashgillian Beds of Bardahessiagh, near Pomeroy, in the county of Tyrone. 

 The two " 3yntyf>es of the species, which have been personally examined I 

 by Bather, are in the collections of the ^'etenskapsakademi in Stockholm ; : 

 but the counterpart of one of them, doubtless from the Portlock Collection, 

 is in the ^Museum of Practical Geology in London, and its locality is re- \ 

 corded as Bardahessiagh. Since Bathers paper is entitled " Caradocian 

 Cystidea from Girvan,"' it is well to call attention to the inclusion in it of 1 

 this interesting correlation of three Irish specimens. How the better j 

 iialf of the example originally found by an Irish Surveyor made its way \ 

 to Stockholm is one of those mysteries that hang round all collections. \ 



I was surprised to learn from Mr. Baring's article in the April number \ 

 of the Irish Xafuraiist (p. OS) that over 2,000 reptiles and amphibians 



]>ad been turned out on Lambay. Although I am not favourably dis}X)sed j 



towards introductions as a rule, it must be admitted that these trials on | 



Lambay are of quite a special nature. The experiment will certainly be | 



watched with interest. That the Green Lizard and Wall Lizard have ] 



survived the dampness of the climate during successive winters is re- \ 



markable. The cold alone does not seem to affect them much, but I \ 



doubt whether they will breed on the island. Some of the emphibians, | 



on the other hand, ought to do well and breed. The Salamanders and 1 



-Newts arc all hardy and the larvae require very little water. The Toads, ; 



too, should breed, notably Biifo cnlamiin. But why should the latter • 



be im.ported from Scotland when it can be obtained plentifully in the j 



south-west of Ireland ? In answer to Mr. Baring's query whether tortoises , 



have ever been known to breed in the British Islands in the wild state, I ; 



believe they have done so occasionally, and I can see no reason why j 



NOTES. 



ZOOLOGY. 



A Cystidean from Co. Tyrone. 



Introduced Reptiles on Lambay. 



