24 
PROCEEDINGS OP THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OP NATURAE SCIENCE. 
fed by its owner with milk and other nutritious food. He 
only called the attention of members to the instance, as 
he thought it a very wonderful thing how a dog could live 
21 days without any sustenance. 
The Secretary read the following letter, received by Mr 
Henry Coates, with reference to the paper which he re¬ 
cently read to the Society on pearl-mussels:— 
Alyth, 7th February, 1881. 
Dear Sir,—O ur mutual friend, Mr Thomas, has sent me a 
Perth newspaper containing the article contributed by you to the 
Perthshire Naturalist Society on mussels, which I have read with 
great interest,—I may say great personal interest. There is a 
stretch of the River Isla from its source down to its confluence 
with the Dean, a distance of about 11 miles, in which, so far as 
I have ever heard, there is no specimen of the Tay mussel to be 
found, This has astonished me, and some years ago (I have a 
reach of the Isla on my land extending to nearly two miles as the 
water runs) I set about making enquiry (I) whether the solum 
of the Isla along that country would suit for the plantation of 
the mussel; and (_,- how it could be done. 
Among others, I consulted Dr Buchanan White, and his opinion 
accorded with the possibility of having the Isla stocked with the 
mussel, and the probability also of its success. I was recom¬ 
mended for its practical application to consult and employ a 
person of the name of John Farquharson in Coupar-Angus, who 
is a heaven-born fisher of all the piscatorial species, and having 
had a long talk with Farquharson, I resolved to make the experi 
ment. At first the trial was seemingly to cost me £10, but in the 
end it cost less. John undertook to transport from Balquhidder 
3000 mussels, and have them placed in the Isla opposite my pro¬ 
perty all on the same day; and he having left a station on the 
Callander Railway with an early train, and I having a dog-cart 
ready for him with the arrival of the 10.30 train at Alyth, we 
were at the water-side by 12 o’clock. The mussels were placed 
in an ordinary box and well damped among themselves, but 
there was no moss or other material used to retain the water. 
I had the 3000 placed in the Isla in different places where it was 
likely they would naturalise, and the first place selected was 
heartily to the satisfaction of Farquharson, who displayed an 
extraordinarily intelligent acquaintance with the creature in all 
its habits. In one place where they could be seen many of them 
took at once to burrowing in the ground and standing in an 
erect position, evidencing life and adaptation; others again (and 
these were many) looked, to use a homely expression, “ as if 
them tongues were hanging out,” and never moved from the spot. 
This was all done in February or March of 1880, and during the 
summer of last year, though we did see a few dead shells, upon 
the whole, it cannot be said that there were many such,—lead¬ 
ing, I trust, to the hope that the mussels have found a habitat 
congenial to them in the Isla. 
You did not mention the Isla among the rivers that you had 
explored, and, as a scientific question, it has occurred to me that 
I ought to acquaint you with this experiment, and beg your 
opinion upon the probability of its being successful or the reverse. 
May I add that I am a member of the Perthshire Society 
of Natural Science, and this will be my apology for intruding.— 
I remain, &c., Wm. JAPP. 
H. Coates, Esq. 
May 5th, 1881. 
Rev. Dr Milroy, Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following books lately received by the Society were 
laid on the table:— Journal of the Royal Microscopical 
Society, February, 1881, April, 1881; and Verhandlungen 
der 7c. 7c. Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, vol- 
xxx., 2nd part. 
NEW MEMBERS. 
The following gentlemen were elected members of the 
Society:—Mr Thomas Hunter, Mr David Mackie, and 
Mr James Young. Dr Bendall, Perth Infirmary, and 
Mr Alfred L. Rowden, Perth, were nominated for election 
as members. 
The following papers were read:— 
1. “ Among the Trap-dykes on the Almond." By the Rev. 
Dr. Milroy, of MoBeydie. 
Any remarks that I may make on the trap-dykes that 
meet our view as we take a short stroll by the side of the 
Almond are not given as pqssessing a scientific value,—my 
chief object being to show by a practical example how those 
members of this Society who do not make science their 
special and exclusive study may yet contribute in some 
degree to the objects which the Society is designed to pro¬ 
mote. To communicate papers valuable in a scientific 
point of view is the function of specialists, and must be 
confined to a comparatively small number; but the great 
majority of members, though not scientists, can yet make 
use of their eyes, and can tell something about the plants, 
animals, or localities with which they are familiar. And 
such contributions I regard as an important function of our 
Association. One member may be conversant with certain 
objects or localities which are comparatively unknown to 
