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Irish Societies 
29 
by the removal of the viscera, the cutting off of the head, and finally the 
chopping apart of the vertebrae. Every fragment of the animals is 
boiled down in large iron boilers, the end products being oil, and a residue 
which, when dried, forms a valuable cattle -food and guano. 
In the 1914 season about 3,000 barrels of oil were manufactured from 
86 whales. 
A brief account was given of the six species of whale taken on the 
northern stations. These are : — Balaena anstralis, Balaenoptera physalus, 
B. musculus, B. horealis, Megaptera longimana, and Physeter macrocephalns. 
Of these the three species of Balaenoptera and Physeter are usually taken. 
The other two species are now of only casual occurrence. 
The lecture was illustrated with a number of blackboard sketches and 
lantern slides of B. physalus, by Mr. R. Welch. 
DUBLIN NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 
November 16. — The first business meeting of the session was held in 
the Royal Irish Academy House, the President, N. Colgan, M.R.I. A., 
in the Chair. Professor A. Henry, M.A., delivered a lecture on " Trees 
and their varieties," illustrated by a series of lantern slides. The lecturer 
gave a very interesting account of the differences of form between the 
Austrian and Corsican Pines, and then discussed the causes which have 
probably produced these different species. Some remarkable examples 
of varieties of beech, elm, oak, and yew, which have been produced in 
the British Isles were also described and then a number of diagrams 
explaining the Mendelian theory as it effects " sporting " were placed 
before the meeting. A number of points mentioned in the lecture were 
discussed by the President. 
NOTES, 
ZOOLOGY. 
Spotted Rockling from Co. Down. 
Towards the end of August of last year I got at Ballywalter a fish that 
was strange to me, and it was identified in Dublin Natural History Museum 
as a Spotted Rockling {Motella maculata), with the observation — " The 
fish sent is a rare one, and I have not seen one before from the east coast. 
There are three specimens in the Museum from the west coast of Ireland." 
I got it from a fisherman, who told me that he caught it in a lobster pot. 
It was 17 in. long, about i lb. in weight, of a pinky bronze colour. It 
had feelers on the forehead and side of mouth, and was something the 
shape of a South African Barbel. 
J. FFOLLIOTT DARLING. 
The Bay, Athlone. 
