earlier age, which the progress of paleontology may yet demonstrate to have a closer affinity to the Devonian than the true Carboniferous system.

IV. On the Occurrence of the Argentine, Anchovy, and other Fishes, on the Coast of Caithness; with a Note on the Termination of the Vertebral Column in the Tails of the Salmon tribe. By CHARLES W. PEACH, Esq., Wick.

(Muller's Topknot was exhibited, and also specimens of the tails of salmon, smolt, and trout, showing the upward terminal turn of the vertebral column.)

1. Scopelus Humboldtii. (Cuvier.) The Argentine.

A fine specimen of this really handsome little fish was picked up on Shaltigo beach, Wick, on the 15th January last, by Mr William M'Leod, pilot. He had kept it in his pocket for a day or two before giving it to me, and shown it to many as the young of the herring. It is somewhat injured in the fins by the handling, but, on the whole, is in pretty good condition. The spots on the lower part of the body are very distinct; the row above these not so clear; those on the head and gills perfect. Its length about 13 inch, depth nearly half an inch. When examining it to observe the fins, a great deal of oil oozed out of it, covering large spaces on my fingers. In the second edition of Yarrell's "British Fishes," 1851, pp. 161 to 168, I find that it has been taken at Orkney, Firth of Forth, Yorkshire, and Devonshire, also in the Mediterranean; and, although not abundant, it has a wide range. The dates of its capture are recorded in Yarrell,-viz., "Firth of Forth, April 1833; Redcar, May and March 1841;" now, in Caithness in January 1861. Thus it has been taken in the British islands, from midwinter to near midsummer. Mr Couch of Polperro, Cornwall, informs me that he has had four specimens sent him from a gentleman in Somersetshire, which he intends to publish coloured figures of in his new work on the British Fishes, now coming out in numbers.

2. Trachinus Draco. (Linnæus.)

The GREAT WEEVER has been taken off here in the drift

nets during the herring fishing season. I have seen two very fine specimens. This is considered a dangerous fish, and fishermen stung by it have been lamed for life. In some countries there is a law compelling the fishermen to cut off the dorsal fin before bringing them ashore, under pain of a penalty if they neglect doing so.

3. Trachinus Vipera. (Cuvier et Valenciennes.) Lesser Weever. Common in the sand at times at the back of the pier here, and as well in other localities. In Cornwall this is called a bishop." As people are often stung by these fishes, I hope it will not be considered trifling if I mention an excellent and almost instantaneous remedy for these wounds. Many boys were cured by me in Cornwall when they had caught these Tartars, by applying sweet oil with some laudanum mixed with it. I never knew it to fail. The belief there is, that any one thus wounded will get no relief from the pain and swelling until after the going down of the sun : this remedy has shaken the superstition. I have met with a similar belief in many other places, not only as regards the sting of the weever, but of the bite of snakes.

4. Engraulis Encrasicolus. (Fleming.) The Anchovy.

A fine specimen of this great delicacy was taken off here in a drift-net amongst herrings in August 1860. I am indebted to Mr David Gunn of this place for it. It is common in the Mediterranean, occurs occasionally on the coast of Norway, and in the Baltic, "but is not mentioned by Dr Johnston as having been taken on the coast of Berwickshire, nor does Dr Parnell include it in his fishes of the Forth." This capture adds another locality.

5. Monochirus Linguatulus.* (Cuvier.) The Solenette.

I have taken this pretty little sole out of the stomachs of fishes, both here and at Peterhead. Having often got it from trawl-boats in Cornwall and Suffolk, I am well acquainted with it. To be certain about those got in Scotland, I tested the scales under the microscope before admitting them to my list.

* This fish was added to the list of fishes taken in the Firth of Forth, in the last Report of the Committee on Marine Zoology of the Society.

6. Rhombus Hirtus. (Yarrel.) Muller's Topknot.

I am indebted to my friend Mr Dick for a fine specimen of this curious fish. It was taken in the Pentland Firth off Thurso. The under-side of the specimen is perfectly smooth. It measures 7 inches in length, by 4 inches in its greatest breadth.

7. Orthagoriscus Mola.

(Schneider.) The Short Sun Fish.

8. Lamna Cornubica. (Cuvier.) The Porbeagle.

Seldom a herring fishing passes without specimens of both being captured in the nets, &c. Last year the sun fish was rather abundant. It is often lifted by its fins into boats when basking in the sun.

As it is not my intention now to give a list of all the fishes observed by me on this coast, I shall conclude, by way of tail-piece, with a few words on some of the last joints of the vertebral column of the salmon tribe, for they, like the tail of Luath's dog, have an "upward curl." Some months since I was eating for breakfast a trout, when, to my surprise, I found that it had a crooked tip to its vertebral column. Since then I have found this to be constant in trout of all sizes, whether from rivers, lochs, or the sea; and that salmon, from the smolt to old age, have it also, as may be seen by the tails herewith sent. The three last joints of the vertebral column take a turn towards the edge of the upper lobe of the tail, the tip of the last joint is pointed, and from it a strong cartilaginous cord is continued. into the upper lobe, and thus these fishes have a true heterocercal tail. I refrain from further remarks on the other peculiarities connected with these turned-up joints, or offering any comparison with the heterocercal fish of the Old Red Sandstone, being now only concerned for the turn in the recent fish. Not finding any information on the subject in the various works on fishes that I have access to, I forwarded a series of tails to Professor Huxley. I believe he had observed this peculiarity, but had laid it aside: he is now working at it; and although I know that the subject is in excellent hands, I am desirous of laying it before my brother members, in order that, should it already be a wellknown fact, they may instruct me where to search for infor

mation, and, if new, examine for themselves. I ought to observe, that I am quite aware that this upward turn is, as a fœtal one, well known: it is of adult fish that I now speak. Whether new or not, it appears to have escaped Cuvier's notice, for he says, "The one-sided condition of tail exists in no recent osseous fish known to naturalists, except the bony pike, a Sauroid fish of the warmer rivers of America." Such is no longer the case, for the trout and salmon of our coast must be added to it; not having had an opportunity of examining any other of the Salmonidæ, I cannot say whether this peculiarity runs through the whole family.

The Secretary exhibited several diagrams in illustration of some of the various degrees of change, which appear to have taken place in the caudal termination of the vertebral column of fishes, from the Silurian periods to those of our own day.

It was stated that Professor Goodsir had been in the habit for many years of exhibiting and describing, in his lectures on comparative anatomy, the upward terminal curve* of the vertebral column in the tail of fishes. It was a fact long known to Knox and to other anatomists here. Mr Peach, however, had the merit of discovering a fact, previously unknown to himself, and of calling special attention to it, in relation to the fossil fish of past ages.

V. Ornithological Notes.

(1.) Larus glaucus. Glaucous Gull. By P. A. Dassauville, Esq. Mr Dassauville exhibited a specimen of the glaucous gull, Larus glaucus (Temm), sent by Mr Small, bird-stuffer. It was recently shot by R. J. Hebden of Eday, Esq., Orkney, and appears to be in the pale yellowish grey mottled plumage of its second winter. The bird is rare, and is not known to breed in any part of the British Islands.

(2.) Cygnus Bewickii. Bewick's Swan. By JOHN ALEX. SMITH, M.D. Dr Smith exhibited a fine specimen of our smallest British swan, Cygnus Bewickii (Yar.), which was killed on Loch

* Vide Handbuch der Zootomii von V. Siebold und von Hermann Stannius. Berlin, 1854.-ED.

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Lomond in the beginning of January last. The bird was sent by Sir James Colquhoun of Luss, Bart., to Mr Small, bird-stuffer, for preservation. Bewick's swan is distinguished from the other swans by its smaller size, and by the yellow spot on the base of the bill, which colour, however, does not reach to the nostrils. Irides orange-yellow. Bewick's swan does not appear to be common in Scotland, or it may not have been distinguished in many cases from the common wild swan or Hooper.

Of the four swans noticed in Britain, two-the Hooper and Bewick's swan-have the base of the bill yellow, and the front black; and have the trachea elongated, and a loop of it enclosed in the dilated keel of the breast bone. The other two -the Mute swan and the Polish-have the base of the bill black, and the front yellow, and have apparently no elongation of the trachea, and no enclosure of it in the breast bone. Wednesday, 27th March 1861. THOMAS STRETHILL WRIGHT, M.D., President, in the Chair.

The following gentlemen were elected Members of the Society :— Mr HUGH FULTON, Deputy Harbour-Master, Granton; JAMES STRUTHERS, M.D., Charlotte Street, Leith; JOHN WILSON, Esq., Janefield House, Duddingston; ALEXANDER LOGAN, Esq., Teind Office, H.M. General Register House.

As Non-Resident Members :-ROBERT LOGAN, Esq., Surgeon, Lanark ; and Rev. JOHN STRUTHERS, Minister of Prestonpans.

The following donations to the Library were laid on the table, and thanks voted to the donors :

1. The Canadian Journal, New Series, No. XXXI., January 1861.From the Canadian Institute, Toronto. 2. A Lunar Tidal Wave in Lake Michigan. Demonstrated by Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. GRAHAM, U.S. Top. Engineers (with Plates). Chicago, 1860.-From the Author.

The Communications read were as follow:

1. Note on the Occurrence of Vanessa polychloros and Cheimatobia borearia in Edinburghshire. (Specimens were exhibited.) By R. F. LOGAN, Esq.

Mr R. F. Logan exhibited two additions to the entomology of Mid-Lothian, Vanessa polychloros and Cheimatobia borearia, the former a single specimen, taken in a garden at Duddingston-the latter found in the larva state, on birches, at the base of the Pentlands, in June 1860, and re