38 



The IrisJi Natiiralisf . 



March, 



J. N. H ALBERT exhibited a beetle, Trigonogenus globulus, Solier, found 

 recently amongst clover seeds imported into this country. The insect 

 belongs to the family Ptinidae, which contains many species liable, on 

 account of their habits, to dispersal through commerce and of almost 

 cosmopolitan range. The present species is a good example, having been 

 recorded from countries as far apart as Tasmania, America and Great 

 Britain. 



Dr. G. H. PETHYBRiDCiE exhibited germinating seeds and seedlings of 

 Cyclamen yceapoliianum. Seed had been produced by plants brought from 

 the Alban Hills, near Rome, early in 1914, and grown since then in Dublin. 

 On germinating the hypocotyl develops at once into a small round tuber 

 or corm. Roots develop from the bottom of the corm, while a single coty- 

 ledon, apparently, is found on top. The distal end of this remains within' 

 the seed for a time, functioning as a food-absorbing organ. Later it 

 appears above ground and develops a green lamina. Near the point of 

 attachment of the petiole of the cotyledon to the corm a small structure or 

 rudiment is present, the exact nature of which has only recently been made 

 clear (see A. W. Hill, Annals of Botavv, xxxiv., no. 136, Oct., 1920, 

 p. 417). This rudiment is, in fact, a pcjtcnlial second cotyledon. For, if 

 the first cotyledon be removed partially or wholly, or if its lamina fails to 

 escape from the seed coat, as sometimes happens, the rudiment develops 

 into a second cotyledon. Thus the aberrant type of seedling in Cyclamen 

 is not monocotyledonous, as some of the older observers maintained, but 

 truly dicotyledonous. 



BELFAST NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



Jan. iH. The President (S. A. Bennett) referred to the recent loss the 

 Club had sustained in the deaths of Canon H. \V. Lett, one of the great 

 authorities on Irish mosses, and a member of forty-four years' standing ; 

 Mr. Pirn, a well-known entomologist and a member for fifty-two years ; 

 and Mr. Hamilton, also a member of long standing. The President also 

 referred to the subscription that is being raised to defray the cost of 

 printing the new " Supplement to tlic Flora of the N.F. of Ireland," a 

 work which will rank high in the local scientific hterature. 



Professor Gregg Wilson lectured on " Frogs and their Relatives." 

 After describing the haunts and habits of the Common Frog, he gave a 

 brief account of the characteristics of the Edible Frog, the toads, the newts 

 and salamanders, and the caecilians. The amphibia haye not only invaded 

 the surface of the earth, but some, such as the caecilians, burrow into it; 

 others, such as Proteus, live in dark underground caverns ; many frogs 

 have taken to arboreal life, and one at least has developed a certain power 

 of flight. Drinking in the ordinary way is not a practice of the amphibia, 

 water being absorbed through the skin. In some cases the male carries the 

 eggs about for a time, and only puts them into the water when they are 

 nearly ready to hatch. . But the most striking of all modifications is when 

 the eggs are retained in the oviducts, and the larva not only develops there 



