II 
MEETING ON 7th OCTOBER, 1869. 
The monthly meetuig was held in the Glovers^ 
Hall, on Thursday last—Dr Buchanan White, Presi¬ 
dent, in the chair. There was a good attendance of 
members. Three gentlemen were balloted for and 
elected, and one proposed for election. On the 
reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, a 
discussion arose as to the time of the appearance of 
the death’s-head hawk moth—the President, in his 
paper, hawng stated that the caterpillar is found in 
August and the moth in October. In support of his 
views the President mentioned the names of Stainton, 
Doubleday, and Newman, while Mr John Stewart, 
in maintaining that the moth was found in July and 
August, and the caterpillar in September and Octo¬ 
ber, adduced his own experience and that of nume¬ 
rous local authorities. After considerable argument, 
the question remained unsettled, the general opinion 
being that there was no stated time for the appear¬ 
ance of the insect in either of its stages of develop¬ 
ment, and that there was much to be done in the 
Avay of observation before any definite conclusion 
could be come to. The Council reported that they 
had secured a very suitable storeroom at the Kirk- 
side for the Society’s collection, and which would 
also serve as a library for the exchange of books fort¬ 
nightly. They also laid on the table a syllabus of 
seA^enteen papers, most of which Avere of local charac¬ 
ter, to be read at the monthly meetings for the nine 
months ending in June, ; and intimated that they 
expected to be able to preserA~e the reports of these 
papers in the shape of “ Transactions.” 
Mr John Stewart read a paper of ‘‘Observations 
on the Natural History of the Estuary of the Tay,” 
which he treated in a very popular manner, describ¬ 
ing the birds, fishes, crustaceans, shell-fish, sea¬ 
weeds, &c., met Avith during a stay last summer at 
Carnoustie. The paper was illustrated by numerous 
preseiwed examples of the families described, which 
he generously handed oA'er to the Society’s museum. 
