186 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 8. 
distinctly visible tlmt definite and unerring line where all 
vegetation ceases ! a narrow barren zone is then observable; 
and this is succeeded by eternal snow, the inferior limit of 
which, in this latitude, seems to bo about 15,000 feet above 
the level of the ocean .—(Horticultural Society's Journal.) 
DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
The members of this society held their monthly meeting 
on Friday evening, the 12th of May, at their rooms, 212, 
Great Brunswick-street, Doctor Choker, M.R.I.A., in the 
chair. 
Mr. R. P. Williams presented to the museum specimens of 
yame fowl from Ceylon, for the first time exhibited in 
Ireland. The cock was a bird imported direct; the hen 
bred from him and a hen, also an imported bird. Mr. W. 
begged to call attention to the peculiarity of this breed, 
which differs in the carriage of the tail from all the known 
varieties of domesticated poultry. In the varieties with . 
which we are acquainted the planes of the tail are brought 
together, and carried erect over the back, the sickle feathers 
covering them on each side; while in the Cingalese the tail 
is carried on a level with the back, as in the wild species, 
the long feathers of the tail drooping so as to sweep the 
ground when the bird stands erect, the feathers of which 
are much narrower and more abundant than those we are 
accustomed to, and turn outwards at the extremities. The 
breed is also peculiar from having no wattles, and the 
throat naked for about one-fourth of its length ; the comb 
is very small and indented, resembling the Malay. Mr. W. 
alluded to the many theories as to the varieties derived from 
domestication of the wild breeds, and if disposed to 
speculate on that question, might be inclined to refer the 
Ceylon fowl to the Gallos Fncatus, which is wild in Ceylon, 
and to which it bears some resemblance in the points 
referred to, but particularly in the carriage and formation 
of the tail. He also presented, beautifully preserved in a 
case, the skeleton of the long-eared bat —Plecotus audios. 
By It. J. Montgomery, Esq., was presented the nesl and 
eggs of the long-tailed Titmouse, Paros Oaudatus, and the 
eggs of the little Grebe, Podiceps Minor. Mr. Montgomery 
exhibited the nest of the Cole titmouse, Paros Ater. This 
beautifully formed nest, he met with at the foot of a tree, 
but it was placed so far in from the aperture, that he had to 
excavate 3 j feet before he reached it—with regard to the 
nest of the little Grebe, he mentioned that at Beaulieu, in 
the county of Louth, the bird had been for several years in 
the habit of breeding under the bank at the edge of the 
water, but the nest having been frequently destroyed by 
rats, the bird had formed it at a distance of thirty yards 
from the bank, attached to the stems of aquatic plants. 
It bad, however, broken adrift, and he found the nest with 
the eggs floating about the pond. 
Dr. Kinahau begged to present a specimen of the common 
Shrew, Sure.x rusiicus (Jen.), found dead at Donnybrook, 
county Dublin; at the same time he called the attention of 
the society to two bats presented by him, one obtained in 
the county Clare in 1852, presented on the 10th February, 
1853, and referred in doubt to V. Daubentonii; the other 
obtained in the county Kildare in 1853, and presented at 
the December meeting of the same year as V. Natiereri, 
though at the same time pointed out as differing in some 
respects from the description of that bat. He now called 
the attention of the society to them for the purpose of 
correcting an error of nomenclature into which lie was led, 
and which he has been enabled to correct through the 
kindness of Professor Bell, who carefully examined the 
specimens, and states that the bat captured in Clare is 
I'csp. nvystacinus (Leisl.), a species new to Ireland, and a 
species the resemblance of which to Dr. Ivinahan’s specimen 
he had himself before called attention to. The other bats 
Professor Bell refers to V. Daubentonii, a species captured 
some years ago in Londonderry, but no Irish specimens of 
which were until now extant. Dr. Kinahan has carefully 
compared, as far as possible, his specimen with those in the 
British Museum, and entirely coincided with Professor 
Bell’s judgment, and begged to congratulate the society 
on possessing such a fine series of Irish bats, as then' 
collection now inoluded V. Natereri, V. Mystacinus, and V. 
Daubentonii, of which the first two were as yet unique as 
Irish. 
Dr. Farran then gave his paper on Helix pisama and its 
localities. He said,—“ I consider a favourable opportunity 
occurs in presenting a few specimens for the acceptance of 
the society, of bringing forward a notice of the beautiful 
and extremely local shell Helix pisani, or, as it was formerly 
designated, “ Cingenda.” I am particularly anxious that 
this record should be identified with the proceedings of our 
society, and that the vagueness of its recognition as an Irish 
shell should be reduced to a certainty. I am led to this, 
by having lately read in Mr. Gray’s edition of “ Turton’s 
Manual of Land and Fresh Water Shells of the British 
Islands ” the following observations relative to Helix 
pisana:—‘It is one of the most beautiful of our snails, 
and extremely local; it is common in the South of Europe 
and Northern Africa, but is not found in the northern 
countries; Wales may be considered its northern limit. 
According to Montague, no mean authority, it is one of our 
most rare species; he only found it in one place—on the 
land west of Tenby, where it is confined to a small space; 
and Mr. Rackett has found it at St. Ives, in Cornwall,’ 
Mr. Gray concludes by observing, ‘ It has also been said to 
be found near Dublin ’—if from fifteen to twenty miles he 
meant as near Dublin, I can answer, with perfect safety, 
that such is the case. In early life I frequently visited the 
strand of Knockangin, about a mile and a half north of 
Balbriggan, in pursuit of wild fowl, which were abundant 
there at certain seasons. On one of those visits, fatigued 
with watching for the flight of game, I sat down on the 
grassy bank bounding the tide; my attention was soon 
attracted by the appearance of numbers of a beautiful 
snail. Being an inexperienced concliologist at the time, I 
thought the best thing to be done was to bring them under 
the notice of those better acquainted with the subject. 
Accordingly, filling my pockets with them, I presented them 
to my lamented friend, the late James Tardy, an enthusiastic 
naturalist, to whom we are all indebted as giving the first 
impulse to natural history in Dublin. Mr. Tardy subse¬ 
quently brought tho shell under Dr. Torton’s notice, and 
I had the pleasure, in a short time afterwards, of pointing 
out the locality to Mr. Tardy. I regret to saj r , that on 
visiting Knockangin on Monday, the 3rd of April last, I 
found that the cuttings of the Drogheda Railroad had 
completely obliterated the favoured locality of this shell, 
and when, before this occurred, I could have obtained them 
in any number, a couple of dozen of rather inferior 
specimens were my only reward; however, I should say 
they may be procured “ longo intervallo ” at Leytown, 
Bettystown, and up to Drogheda; those places being 
continuous with Knockangin may be considered as one 
locality—and except, this we have no authentic record of 
any other in Ireland. The late Mr. M‘Alla informed me 
he had seen the shell in Bunowen, one of the extreme 
points of Connemara, but he did not exhibit a specimen ; 
and my friend, Mr. Andrews, has lately informed me that he 
has had the shell from Kerry. Reasoning bv analogy, both 
those localities would be very likely to produce it, as they 
contain many species of plants, molluces and shells, found 
on tho southern shores of Europe. Connected with this 
shell, I should allude to a singular fact—the impossibility 
that exists of preserving the animal when taken from its 
native soil, at least so far as the experiment has been tried. 
I collected twenty dozen of the finest and most vigorous 
specimens for the late Butler Byran, Esq.; half of those 
he distributed on his property in the county Meath, and the 
remainder in the demesne lands of Ferns, comity Wexford, 
the scene of his appalling murder. Mr. Bryan distributed 
them himself, assimilating the soil as closely as possible to 
their own, but without success—he wrote me that the experi¬ 
ment was a total failure, but he was determined to give it a 
more extended trial on a future occasion. I tried the 
experiment at Feltrim, near Malahide, with the same results, 
although I succeeded in rearing Helix pomatia, or edible 
snail, in a degree. I most carefully watched them, but 
within a month or two they invariably declined and melted 
away. The last locality I placed them in was Portmamock, 
one in every respect similar to their own. Here failure 
again occurred. Whether they were picked up by the 
