136 



The Irish Naturalist, 



July, 191 5 



Kilkenny Plants. 



When exploring Co. Kilkenny for the purposes of " Irish Topographical 

 Botany," the only bogland I came across lay in the extreme noith-west, 

 towards Urlingford, close to the Tipperary boundary, and almost the 

 rnly records of bog plants from the county appertain to that visit. Lately, 

 in company with Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Wright, I visited one of the few 

 bits of bog which occupy the higher parts of the Kilkenny coal field, neat 

 Castlecomer. Here Andromeda polijolia, Vaccinium Oxy coccus, and 

 Lasirea spinulosa, all very rare in Kilkenny, were seen. Two plants 

 new to the county were noted — Crepis biennis about Kilkenny and Castle 

 comer, and Equisetum sylvaticum about the latter place. Three other 

 species — Ranunculus Lenormandi, Botrychium Lunaria and Equisetum 

 maximum — with only one previous county record, were seen about 

 Castlecomer ; also plenty of Crepis paludosa. 



R. Lloyd Praeger. 



Dublin. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Callidium violaceum introduced in Belfast. 



My friend, Mr. James Orr of Garfield Street, Belfast, sent me a speci- 

 men of the above beetle which he had found among goods sent from 

 Sheffield. As the goods were packed with sawdust, the beetle had quite 

 a congenial resting place. It was quite a fresh specimen, so that it may 

 have been as a pupa in the wood of the packing case. It is easy to see 

 how this beetle, had it come under a less observant eye, might have made 

 good its escape and causea an incorrect record of its prevSence as a denizen 

 of the North of Ireland. 



W. F. Johnson. 



Poynt2pass. 



GEOLOGY. 



Analysis of a Chlorite found in Cumeengeera Valley, Co. Kerry. 



Professor Cole has identified the mineral as an Aphrosiderite. Its 

 composition proved to be as follows : — 



Per cent. 



Loss on ignition .. .. .. lo.o 



Silica . . . . . . . . 24.8 



Alumina . . . . . . . . 23 .4 



Ferrous oxide .. .. .. 30.6 



Lime . . . . . . . . 0.7 



Magnesia .. .. .. .. 11. o 



Colour, a dark green. Softness — i. It consists of a mass of small 

 crystals whose optical properties could not be determined. 



Municipal Technical Institute, Limerick. 



H. M. Atkinson. 



