OBkSERVATIONS. 



223 



posed in the entrance' to tliis quarry, and 

 under this a succession of massive beds of 

 sandstone. From this quarry was obtained 

 some of the usual fossils lately found in the 

 Millstone grit. The party now walked up 

 the slope of the hill to where the same 

 beds are worked in another quarry, then 

 traversed the whole series of underlying 

 beds to their junction - with those ' of 

 the Mountain Limestone above the Trevor 

 quarries, as seen by the club in the last 

 excursion at Sweeney and Treflach, The 

 uppermost beds of limestone on tlie sum- 

 mit of the Elyseg rocks were next visited, 

 and numerous fossils obtained. A descent 

 was then made down the precipitous escarp- 

 ment of these rocks to the lowest beds, 

 where Productus Llangollensis is found. 

 The Wenlock shale was then rapidly tra- 

 versed. After dinner a very admirable 

 paper on Entomology was presented by Mr. 

 J. Parrott. Appended is a list of some of 

 the plants collected during the year. — 

 Dianthus plumarius, Ornitliopus 2Jerpusil- 

 lus, Sedum Te lejyJimm ,Lysimachia vulgaris, 

 Mhamnus frangula, Paris quadrifolia, 

 (Enanthe fistulosa, Scutellaria galericulata, 

 Comarum palustre, Listera ovata, Angelica 

 sylvestris, Trollius Europeus, Aquilegia 

 vulga^ris, Fumaria {Corydalis) claviculata, 

 Oymnadmia conopsea, Orchis pyramidalis, 

 Euphorhia exigua, Myriopliyllum mrticil- 

 latum, Euonymus Europceus, Rosa riibigi- 

 nosa, Fontinalis antipyr&tica, Echium 

 vulgare ,Ceteracli officinarum, Lastrea or cop- 

 teris, Botrychium lunaria, Aspleniumviride, 

 Polypodium calcareum. 



The Geologists' Association. 

 The Committee of the Geologists' Associa- 

 tion have issued a circular to their members, 

 announcing that at the next meeting, to be 

 held on Tuesday, the 5th of December, a 

 series of propositions received from Mr. 

 Highley will be brought under their consi- 

 deration, which are calculated to enlarge 

 the sphere of the society's usefulness. 

 The propositions are seven in number ; the 



first proposes that " it is desirable to obtain 

 papers on subjects having a wider range of 

 interest than those to which attention has 

 hitherto been directed, especially in bran- 

 ches of Natural History, illustrating the 

 types of anci-ent organic life. " 



" That for this purpose efforts must be 

 directed for enlisting in its ranks students 

 of all branches of Natural Science, especi- 

 ally men whose professional studies have 

 led them to cultivate those pursuits." 



That lists of desiderata be prepared and 

 extensively circulated, showing the Mem- 

 bers of the Society, and those who may be 

 willing to co-operate with them, what are 

 the subjects upon which information is 

 particularly sought, either by way of papers 

 to be read or lectures to be delivered — 

 either singly or in courses." 



The remaining propositions refer to the 

 organisation of the Field excursions, and 

 of reporting to the Association the result 

 of each excursion, and also that members 

 be requested to report their own personal 

 observations, &c. 



Occurrence of the Short Sun-fish in the 

 Shetland Seas. — About the end of August, 

 a fine specimen of the Short Sun-fish, 

 Orthagorisciis mola, was caught in deep 

 water off the island of Hoonie, and brought 

 to me as a great curiosity. When first seen 

 it was lying upon the surface fiat on its 

 side, and it not only allowed the boat to 

 pull close up, but scarcely made any resis- 

 tance to the four ' ' huggie staves" or short 

 gaffs by means of which it was brought on 

 board, the dimensions were as follows — 



Feet. Inches. 



Length 3 4^ 



Breadth from tip of dorsal 



to tip of anal fin ... 4 lOi 



Do. exclusive of fins ... 2 1^ 



Greatest thickness ... 0 7 



Length of pectoral fins ... 0 7 

 Length of dorsal and 



anal fins ... ... 1 4^ 



