7. ~THE CENTRE.~--The area comprised in the field of operations of the Great Southern and Western Railway Company include the southern half of the great Central Plain of Ireland and the lower course of the Shannon, the largest river in the British Isles. Towards the east the counties of Carlow and Kilkenny include much picturesque ground, especially along the courses of the rivers Nore and Barrow; and as picturesque ground implies the existence of hill and valley, wood and rock, the naturalist will find himself at home here. The flora is rich, though without any very marked features; the Nettle-leaved Bell-flower (_Campanula Trachelium_) being the most characteristic species. Regarding the fauna much has still to be learned. In Tipperary, Queen's County, and King's County we are in typical central plain country--great tracts of slightly undulating drift-covered Carboniferous limestone, the surface including wide pastures, cultivated ridges, and large areas of peat bog and marsh. The bogs, which form so peculiar a feature of the surface of Ireland, may be studied here over many miles of country. The noble Shannon, which winds slowly southward across the plain, widens at intervals into great lake-like expanses, of which Lough Derg is the largest, a place of much interest to the student of natural history. One plant which grows here, the Willow-leaved Inula (_I. salicina_), is found nowhere else in the British Isles; other characteristic Shannon plants are the Water Germander (_Teucrium Scordium_) and the rare Stone wort _Chara tomentosa_. Further west, in Limerick, a more varied surface prevails. Like Waterford and Cork, Limerick is a great centre for animals of the "Southern" distributional type, such as the Wood White Butterfly (_Leptidia sinapis_) the Brimstone Butterfly (_Gonapteryx rhamm_), and the Purple Hair-streak (_Thecla quercus_). The small but handsome Ground-beetle, _Panogaeus crux-major_, is known in Ireland only from Finlough. This species has a typically "germanic" distribution in Great Britain. The Water-beetle _Pelobius Hermanni_, a very rare species, and the only British member of its family, occurs near Limerick and Cork. Cratloe Wood, by the Shannon near Limerick, may be specially recommended as a hunting-ground. [Illustration] SPORT. For sportsmen Ireland is a happy land, ready to supply their every want. Royal Meath, Kildare, Waterford, Tipperary, and Cork County are hunted by several good packs during-each season, and "the meets" are duly published in the local newspapers. In the large tracts of bog, moorland, river reaches, and mountain lands there is splendid shooting; in Kerry especially, where poaching is put down with a heavy hand, there are plenty of opportunities for sport. In most cases the hosts of the hotels have secured the shooting of many thousands of acres in their vicinity. When the weather is "hard," excellent sport can be had along the southern districts.