sence of these tubercles; in the former the lateral line is said to be tuberculated above the pectoral fins, in the latter it is said to be smooth: but here we have a specimen which, when alive, exhibits the character of the Jàgo; when dead, that of the trifurcàtus; and hence I am induced to think that both are the same animal, having the tubercles more or less prominent and obvious according to the leanness, or other conditions, of the body. [Insects.] Since no communication has been laid before us relative to the entomology of Berwickshire, it is beyond my province to make any remarks on the subject; but you may permit me to notice one family, too beautiful, too generally distributed, and too obtrusive, not to have attracted our attention: I mean, the butterfly tribe. Of this, 85 species (including 11 that perhaps may properly be considered as varieties) have been ascertained to be natives of Britain; and of these we have, in Berwickshire, only 16 distinct species, or somewhat more than one fifth of the whole. Four belong to the family Papilionida; nine to the Nymphálida; and three to the Lycæ'nidæ *. None of the species are esteemed rare by experienced entomologists; but in Berwickshire I never observed the Hippárchia Sémele, until on our visit to St. Abb's Head, in July last, where we found this fine active insect in great profusion. The more common Hippárchia Ægèria, also, I have seen in one locality only in this county, viz., on the wooded banks of the Eye, below Ayton House, where it may be captured in the months of June and July. The Póntia cardámines is likewise a local species with us; it very rarely occurs in the neighbourhood of Berwick, but appears soon after passing the village of Paxton, on the road to Swinton, and abounds all along that low tract. It is also common on the road between Swinton-Mill and Coldstream; but I have not noticed it elsewhere in Berwickshire. [Exannulòsa.]- Communications relating to the exannulose invertebrate tribes have been made as yet only by myself, but I have now a zealous cooperator in our secretary, whose situation is peculiarly favourable for the investigation of these intricate and vastly curious creatures, among whose multitudes, it may be truly said, "We meet with forms and structures as varied and unexpected as if they had been the tenants of another planet." A collection of the zoophytes of the coast was exhibited at an early meeting, which I have *a. Papiliónidæ : Póntia brássicæ, P. ràpæ, P. nàpi, P. cardámines. b. Nymphalidae: Vanessa urticæ; V. Atalanta, Cynthia cárdui, Hippárchia Ægèria, H. Sémele, H. Megæ`ra, H. Janìra, H. hyperánthus, H. Pámphilus. c. Lycæ'nide: Lycæ'na Phla'as, Polyómmatus Aléxis, P. A'rgus. since described at length in the Transactions of the Natural History Society of Newcastle; and I flatter myself that no department of the natural history of Berwickshire is now so well known as this, in reference to species: their habits and economy require for illustration a person of more uninterrupted leisure. Our Actíniæ, or animal flowers, on which I read a separate paper, are remarkably interesting. I know no marine worm that, for beauty and elegance, can be compared with the Actínia plumòsa; and such of you as had the opportunity of seeing the specimen that I preserved for some time alive, will recall with pleasure the splendid spectacle. Actínia Tuèdiæ+ was still more interesting, to me at least, for the species was new to naturalists, and, fortunately, possessed characters that distinguished it decidedly from every other. The Actínia coccínea and viduàta of Müller are also denizens of our shores; but the first was considered as a smooth variety of the senìlis, and the other a small streaked variety of the equìna. A passing notice of some invertebrates which I have described and figured in the Magazine of Natural History for the present year [1832] may perhaps be excused, since the subjects of them were procured in Berwick Bay. The Pranìza fuscata [Vol. V. p. 521.] is a minute crustaceous insect, and the E`olis rufibranchialis [Vol. V. p. 428.], a molluscum new to naturalists; and the Planària cornuta [Vol. V. p. 344.] appears to be likewise an acquisition to the list of British worms. They afford a small sample of the many remarkable invertebrates that inhabit our shores, and which have found, to this day, no one willing to make known their singular forms and structure, that, through the medium of his intelligent creature, they may praise their Creator, and evidence still farther the endless variety in his works and wisdom. "Let the heaven and earth praise Him," says the Psalmist, "the seas, and every thing that moveth therein." [Plants.]—I turn now with pleasure to the vegetable kingdom; for here I have to speak of others' discoveries, and not of my own. It might, perhaps, be presumed that, because a flora of the district had been so recently published, there was little here to reward the student; but the fact is greatly otherwise: and I esteem the numerous discoveries which have been made of species, and of new stations for the rarer ones, as a proof of the utility of our club; for the zeal which led you on was surely kept alive by the knowledge that there *This valuable paper is noticed in our Vol. V. p. 702. — J. D. were around you some who interested themselves in your researches, and were ready to give you their meed of approbation and applause. The sternest stoic of us all, it has been observed, wishes at least for some one to enter into his views and feelings, and confirm him in the opinion which he entertains of his favourite pursuits. Since the publication of my Flora of Berwick, there has been added, exclusive of some naturalised or recently imported species, to the wild plants of Berwickshire, 20 dicotyledonous, 8 monocotyledonous, and 18 cryptogamic species, the names, stations, and discoverers of which are inserted in your minutes. By much the most interesting of these, whether we consider it in reference to its beauty or rarity, is the Saxifraga Hirculus discovered in the parish of Langton, by our ingenious colleague, Mr. Thomas Brown. Only two stations for this saxifrage have been recorded in our British floras, and both are in the south of England; so that Mr. Brown has had the good fortune and good fortune never waits but on the industrious and intelligent to make one of the most interesting additions to the Flora Scotica that has been made of late years. Another addition to that flora is due to Misses Bell and Miss Hunter, who have found, for the first time in Scotland, the Sison Amòmum growing at the Hirsel Lough, near Coldstream; and these ladies, who are members of this club, deserve our best thanks for their contributions, and still more for their devotion to botany; as their example and success cannot fail to recommend it powerfully to popular attention. The Hieracium aurantiacum, the discovery of Miss Hunter; the Hieracium mólle, and Càrex fúlva, both detected, in the first instance, in Berwickshire, by Mr. Brown; the Hypnum stramíneum (in fruit), another of his interesting additions to our list; and the Lathyrus sylvéstris, and the Càrex distans, lately discovered near Berwick by Mr. Dunlop, deserve to be particularised on account of their rarity: the Pulmonària marítima restored to our shores by the researches of the Rev. J. Baird and Mr. Carr, and the Myosotis sylvática of Langton woods, are preeminent for their beauty; and the Chenopodium úrbicum is interesting as the subject of a strange story, which purports that this weed could by cultivation be turned into a real strawberry, and relative to which there is a curious letter from the hapless Josephine to *"Hírculus, a diminutive from hircus, a goat. Now look at the hair which beards our plant, and you will see why Linnæus calls it a little goat.' It is just like that happy playful fancy which he possessed so remarkably." Mr. Brown, in litt. her gardener, in her lately published Memoirs, for a knowledge of which, as of the plant itself, we are indebted to Mr. Embleton. While, on the one hand, the Scottish flora owes two good additions to this club; on the other, it has contributed two also to the floral catalogue of Northumberland; and both of these are the discoveries of our secretary. It was long believed that the vernal squill was peculiar to the western coasts of England; but the discovery of it by the Rev. A. Baird on the coast of Berwickshire removed this their peculiar ornament and boast; and Mr. Embleton has extended its eastern range, for he finds it in abundance at Dunstanborough Castle. Aspidium Thelypteris is the other new Northumbrian plant; and it is not a little curious that this fern, which is stated by Dr. Hooker to be abundant in Scotland, should not be found at all in Berwickshire, and is so rare in the north of England that it has escaped the notice of the many acute botanists who have botanised there, until this late date, when Mr. Embleton drew it from its lurking-place in Learmouth bogs, on the very verge of the kingdom. May I urge those members of the club who devote themselves more exclusively to botany, to continue the researches which have been so productive during the past year? for the field is not exhausted so long as there remains a corner of the county unexplored; and there are, I ween, not a few 66 spots that seem to lie Sacred to flowerets of the hills," where no one has yet wandered, and where no one will wander, "save he who follows nature." There is too much to learn of the habits and properties of our common plants; and I may mention, as an illustration of the remark, the observation which was made on the butterwort (Pinguícula vulgàris) during our excursion to Cheviot. It was then accidentally observed, that, when specimens of this plant were somewhat rudely pulled up, the flower stalk, previously erect, almost immediately began to bend itself backwards, and formed a more or less perfect segment of a circle; and so, also, if a specimen is placed in the botanic box, you will in a short time find that the leaves have curled themselves backwards, and now conceal the root by their revolution. Now, the butterwort is a very common plant; yet I am not aware that this fact of its irritability has been ever mentioned. [Geology.]-In illustration of the geology of the county, a very elaborate paper was read to us, at an early meeting, by our zealous colleague, Dr. Thomson. He has described, in a clear and interesting manner, the geological structure of the parishes of Eccles, Greenlaw, Polwarth, and Longformacus; and thus has made a valuable addition to the sketch of the geology of Berwickshire which Mr. Baird has given in the introduction to my Flora, and which had more peculiar reference to the eastern parts. I feel myself unqualified to estimate the merits of this paper; nor is it necessary to enter into any analysis of it here, since it has been printed in the last Number [September, 1832] of the Magazine of Natural History [Vol. V. p. 637–646.]. Such, Gentlemen, is a rapid indication of the results of our first year's exertions; and, in my opinion, they do not discredit, but rather justify, the expectations of those who moved the institution of this club, which, I doubt not, will work still more efficiently in future years. But, when I estimate the advantages of our association by the acquisitions it has made to the natural history of the county, I do it great wrong; for I hold it to be more useful, as affording a point of rendezvous for the naturalists of the district, where they may cultivate mutual acquaintance; where they may talk over their common pursuit and all its incidents; where they may mutually give and receive oral information; where each may nourish his neighbour's zeal; where we may have our "careless season," and enjoy "perfect gladsomeness:" and, assuredly, the good feeling and humour which have hitherto characterised, and will continue to characterise, our every meeting, vindicate me in assigning, as the distinctive character of this club, its social character. I cannot, I must not, conclude this address, without an expression of, I trust, our united gratitude to the Preserver of all and the Giver of all good. That fatal disease which has walked over the length and breadth of the land, with fear in its front and mourning in its rear, has not left this county altogether unvisited; and we cannot yet think of its ravages in the place where we are now assembled, without deep feelings of pity for the loss sustained by the survivors, and without gratitude that here its desolating course was stayed. No member of the club has been removed by death; neither has misfortune visited any of us, save only one, who has been afflicted with a severe and lingering sickness, and has, in consequence, been hindered giving us that attendance and assistance which none was more willing and none more able to give. Gentlemen, it is unnecessary to add any plea to induce you to continue your efforts in favour of this club. The pleasure attendant on our pursuits is so pure and genuine, and so |