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THE NATURALIST^ JOURNAL. 
Var : canigonensis , Boubee,=Var: repellini, Taylor. What is Taylor’s 
Yar : of that name? There is the well-known variety Repellina, Charp: 
with the shell more flattened, thin, transparent, and pale. Again, var: 
fuscescens, D. and M.—var : marmorata, Taylor. We know the variety mar- 
morata Roffr., with the shell similar to type, but destitute of bands. Yar : 
cincta , Taylor, = var : pallida , Taylor. Taylor’s variety pallida is 
described as “ shell yellow or whitish yellow with bands *’ and might be con¬ 
sidered as a form of the type approaching the variety flavescens, Moq., with 
the shell yellowish, nearly unicolour —E. W. Swanton, Bratton St. Maur. 
PLANTS. 
The absence of fruit on the Rowan .—It is a remarkable incident of the 
season of 1893, that there was an almost complete absence of berries on the 
rowan, or mountain Ash in this part of the country. It is the only case of this 
which has ever occurred during the whole course of my observations. This 
plant having on all other occasions, whether in a warm, or in a cold season, 
always produced abundance of fruit. There are various shades of this plant to 
be found here, differing more or less in various ways, and some of these are 
naturally more prolific than others and vary in quantity and quality of fruit, 
and they might produce more or less, varying in degree with the seasons as 
these were suited for their peculiar conditions. In the present case the most 
likely cause for the failure is to be found in the peculiarly severe heat and 
drought about the time that the plants weie in blossom. The fecundity of the 
produce haring been destroyed at that stage.— William Wilson, Alford 
Aberdeen. 
FISHES. 
A large sunfish. —The Los Angeles Herald records the capture of what it 
describes as the largest specimen of the sunfish known. A party were fishing 
recently some five miles off the coast of Redondo, California, when their at¬ 
tention was arrested by what they at fust supposed to be a small whale. On 
approaching it, however, it was discovered to be a large sunfish lying on its 
side, evidently enjoying the warmth of the sun. On the nearer approach of 
the party it dived beneath the boat, coming to the surface a few yards on the 
other side. The boat was turned, and bore down on it, when the fish was 
struck by the bow and thrown upon its side. A jew-fish hook was stuck into 
its mouth, and, gaining its equilibrium, the fish sped away till it had taken out 
150 fathoms of line. After a long struggle a rope was made fast under its 
fins and attached to the mast. The boat was nearly dragged*down by the 
throes of the fish, but finally it was towed to Redondo and landed on the 
beach. It measured lift, from the dorsal to the anal fin, was 8ft. 2in. in 
length, and weighed nearly 1,Sooths. If these measurements are accurate 
this is the largest of the species ever caught. The largest heretofore recorded 
is in the British Museum. This latter example measures 7ft. 6in. in length, 
and was captured off the coast of Dorsetshire in 1846. 
FIELD CLUBS AND SOCIETIES. 
Hastings and St. Leonards’ Natural History Society —A meeting 
of the members of the above society was held on Thursday evening, January 
25th, in the Brassey Institute, when an interesting paper on “ Mollusca ” was 
given by Mr. A. G. Alletsee, M.c.s. The subject was illustrated with speci¬ 
mens and diagrams. 
