pay te eet they we, ned aces ae Shotts ae : : SSN Tee bee ee pretaye ete: : ‘ 2 bi he ky PWS, CETL Dy Ge TETE NS = Phas pa hBAR AL. * , : , wotapahe he: 1 ee pase han rset ls Shara hog ead hs “ <1 Aes “ain . Pes 7 ck 7k ene 3 .! ‘toro bm nwtieipts Pe . at » - : ce 4 : : oes bs Ca eadaed eke #4 ay oi oe toe Setar ie Pete } " > Pa ° . re 3 * eo ole * abe be. eat tb : pas ae tha! os. - + 33 potest ~ a oo 7% ©. & ber oe elf “; ete ne re ee ee 4 es — +e ao 196 i f ; * = t r) bs b| a : ‘ eG + , wea \ \ \ : ; 4 ; bp tikes < ¥ : S " ‘ * . > * ; ; , . Fai . 4 ‘ ‘ \ . : : ’ ‘ . t . PPTTE A Cnn tee iE eT CU RT TULIP dena Sry eae aiike aide a es oe Blea MES RS ORES bi “ 8 ets Pte erererar oF ar SP trerevarnraret (re Ot Aire Srl CAREER 2 er teak = iF tel ae Bi ep onese 4? «+ oi Peewee phy 6 LH Imma get) iy Sitiorhirtreteapmabbbabal b+! Pipereese teserieeyeeterses 11 | F ‘ ; . a} ie sae f : i= *““ NEC TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE. Nn THE NATURALIST: Journal of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ nion: AND GENERAL FIELD CLUB’ RECORD. NEW SERIKS. Epitep spy ©. P. Hospxirn, F.L.S., anp G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. VOL. VIL; 1881-2. B. BROWN, PRINTER AND STATIONER, MARKET PLACE CORNER. INDEX TO VOL. VI. were ORIGINAL ARTICLES. PAGE. Baildon, A Stroll near, in February—W. West i sa 125 Bog Mosses, Systematic Arrangement of—G. Limpricht ... 127, 140 — Bradford, Entomological Notes from—J. W. Carter... * 137 British Association, Notes on Local Papers read at, in 1881 — 47, 58 Coleoptera of the Liverpool District—J. W. Ellis, L. R.C.P., &e. 105 Cryptogamic Report, Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, 1880—W. West 11,30 Entomological Section, Report for 1881—Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union—E. B. Wrigglesworth ... i ae ae 158 Field Botany in Scotland.—W. West... , ... bo, 94, 112 Functions of Plants, On the designation of Poa OT. Hick, B.A., B.Se. 122 Fungus sis, Local emis iy as Tees: Leal S., ona Ww. honk 61 Hemiptera of Lancashire and Cheshire—Benj. Cooke . 144 Ichneumonidze—Chas. H. H. Walker.. : ae 63, 74, 98 Insect Life, Scarcity and abundance of Beni Cocke Be MG BA ed NP Lepidoptera, A Physiological Arrangement of— A. H. Swinton 45 Mosses, Notes of some rare British—Hypnum Blandowi—J. Cash 189 Naples Aquarium, Methods of Microscopical research in use in the —Geo. Brook, Junr., F.L.S. ‘ sis 6, 33, 44 Neuroptera of faecalis and Shieh Te eae 110, 121 Ornithological Notes for 1880—Wm. E. Clarke Te ee 173 Puccima graminis, Notes on—George Massee ... Aes iG) 3 Thomas Hick, B.A,, B.Sc. oe se 195 Reptile Pets—G. P. Stather... 39 Rodrigues, and its Fauna—Rev. H. H. sinter, B. shes F.L. S. tee ey) 20 Rustic Bunting (Hmberiza rustica) occurrence of, in Yorkshire, Wm. E. Clarke ~ ale 5T Spring Migrants of Barnsley a South Men onine Pisbct Phos. Lister 1 Tricophyton tonswrans, On an Epidemic ofi—Wm,. i. A. Axon, M.R.S.L. ae At Twite’s nest at Pilmoor, Gee es a 5a H. net Slater, 'B. A., Us Me yal eo ae Ape 179 NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. Acherontia Atropos at Hathersage—E. Howarth a ste 161 near Huddersfield—C. Herbert Hobkirk 66 Acronycta eae Dy, Porritt, Fo: S. Bs ae ee 186 1v. PAGE Another Insect Pest—G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. is ae 16 Aplecta occulta near Bradford—J. W. Carter... re 356 66 Badger, Capture of a—Thomas Raine ... Si oss 146 Badger in Cleveland—W. Gregson ... ad 201 Bank’s Oar Fish and Deal Fish at Pidiington“=. ine Dobese 185 Black-cap Warbler, late, near Sheftield—E. Howarth Sis 101 Bombycilla garrula—N. F. Dobree oan ae se 82 Bottle-nosed Dolphin at Goole—T. Bunker i = 66 Clivina fossor—J. W. Carter... 28 ae 201 Coleoptera at Hornsea—E. B. Wrisgleewoun ae on 16 Dasypolia Templii—G. T. Porritt, F.L.S8. see : 82 near Pateley Bridge, Supposed occurrence of _w. D. Roebuck sc ae acts rae She 146 Early Lepidoptera— J. W. Ellis... 567 ae sf 146 Entomological Notes—G. T. Porritt Sis 2 eros a 2G Eupithecia extensarvia at Spurn—G. T. Porritt... 2) 117 Field Mouse at Masham—W. D. Roebuck _... ae sere 132 Fork-tailed Petrel near Beverley—N. F. Dobree ... sae 100 Gadwall and Garganey near Beverley—N. F. Dobree ... oe 185 Heron, Tern, &c., near Leeds—Thomas Raine ... ae 65 Hirundo rustica, Late appearing of —W. Gregson aoe Me. RO Hodder Dale, Notes on the Flora of—Rev. W. Fowler. M.A. 15 House Martin J ames H. Rowntree 5o5 nae 82 Jack Snipe resting in Barkisland—Caius C. Wanson i 17 Lepidoptera‘at Barnsley in October—W. E. Brady ... 83 Lesser Horse-shoe Bat near Ripon, an addition to the West Yorkshire Fauna—W. Denison Roebuck is ee 167 Little Bittern at Goole—Thomas Bunker site so 65 Local Records—Eds. Nat. . cae nic 65 - Long-eared Owl breeding at Ticoul =: Taiiie ~ 16 Meconema varia (Tree ag at Edlington Winds Jom ; Harrison 58 ae : 82 Ss he os “Ww. D. eatuck be fi bs ; », at Hackfall a af 146 Minium siting in fruit—G. A. Holt ie bee sa 186 Museum for Huddersfield Sas : ae Ee 36 ** Natural History ” Chair at Ranbenen aes he ee 168 Nightingale at Scarborough—Wnn. Benmncon 560 ae 185 Ornithological Notes—K. P. P. Butterfield ... Sh oe 147 Plagiotheciwm Borrerianwm in fruit at Douglas—G. A. Holt 15 Platypteryx sicula—G. T. Porritt ... aie ee 66 Procellaria Pelagica at Richmond—W. Groen see 100 Quail breeding near Snaith—Walter Raine ... ; 185 Racomitrium heterostichum at Marsden—C. P. aahiace F.L. S. 36 Ring-ouzel, Nesting of—E. P. P. Butterfield ae oh 199 @ Sand-martin, Curious Egg of—-Caius C. Hanson Scoparia conspicualis at York—Wm. Prest | Sirex gigas at Huddersfield—Rev. G. C. B. Madden, B. Al Sphinx convolvuli near Leeds—W. D. Roebuck : Spiders, Notes on a few common Yorkshire—W. D. Rochdale Spiders (Water)—John Grassham : Spring Migrants at Bingley, Arrival of—E. P. P. Butterfield ee in Kast Riding—J. D. Butterell Le in Ryburne Valley—F. G. 8S. Rawson Stenophylax cenosus at Marsden—G. T. Porritt Strensall Common, Rare Eggs at—W. Hewett Teal nesting at Riccall Common— Walter Raine Twite, Nesting of—F. G. 8. Rawson Torpedo (TZ. hebatens) on the Yorkshire Rake Wink Eagle Clarke Transactions of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union for 1880— N. F. Dobree oe Tree Grasshopper ( ccna varia at dlineton aren liad Harrison 3) 5 PP ae ins ONY, D. Bpebicl oe at Hackfall a Rikcstaar. Kerival of, in 1881—HE. P. P. Butterfield Whiskered Bat (Vespertilio mystacinus) near Ripon—W. D. Roebuck Bw oe 3) 99 in Yorkshire—W. D. R. RAINFALL. 1881. PAGE, 1881-2. PAGE. June, 19 December, 117 July, 36 January, 134 August, 54 February, 148 September, 64 March, 169 October, 81 April, 186 November, 101 May, 199 “REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. PAGE 201 66 66 54 83 84 200 185 168 83 185 16 199 167 147 82 ila We 146 168 132 65 Barnsley Naturalists’ 19, 37, 55, 67, 85, 102, 118, 135, 149, 170, 187, 202 Bradford Naturalists’ Society 19, 37, 55, 68, 85, 102, 119, 136, 150, 187 Beverley Field Naturalists’ and Scientific Society 149, 170, 187, 202 Elland-cum-Greetland Naturalists’ Society site Bac 20 Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society e 20, 38, 56, 86, 150, 171 - Hull Field Naturalists’ Society ee we ... 68, 86, 103, 151 Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society : 56, 68, 87, 108, 135, 151, 171, 188, 203 Leeds Naturalists’ Club and Scientific Association 56, 87 Vi. PAGE Manchester Cryptogamic 21, 39, 68, 88, 103, 119, 135, 151, 172, 203 Ovenden Naturalists’ Society e 69 Scarborough Scientific Society and Field Naturales Glue 172 Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.—Thorne Meeting uae ss 22 Do. Do. Richmond Meeting ies 40 Do. Do. Fungus Foray ef 69 Do. Do. Annual Meeting at Bradford 152 Do. Do. Beverley Meeting ae se 204 Do. Do. Snaith Meeting ... = 207 Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society 39, 104, 120, 152 OBITUARY. Mrs. Thomas Lister ssi 5 ets Bas se 118 Charles Darwin, Lu.D., F.R.S., ae me Ee cose 168 NOTICES OF BOOKS. Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society, Report, . 1880.. ak owe oa Les 18 Botanical echange Club, Report, 1880 . ae fas oT British Moss Flora.—R. Braithwaite, M. D., d thet PES a deoe = : 133 Geology of the Counties of England, and ‘ai North and South Wales.—W. Jerome Harrison, F.G.S. sae af nels} Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata.—W. E. Clarke and W. D. Roebuck.. . 1b North Stafgedshire N: aturaleee. Field Club and: ‘Avchwcolamest Association, Report, 1880 . sie a 18 Pocket Guide to British Ferns. cee S. Feleg 35 nae 84 Scientific Roll we Ut Topography and Natural HGiory of Teotihonne er Neighbour hood.—George Roberts... 168 Transactions of Hertfordshire Natural Eigetone Socictr: 1880 te 18 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE JOURNAL. Axon, William E. A., M.R.S.L. ... en = ane 41 Bunker, Thomas — sae ees i ee 65 Butterell, J. Darker |... Ee i Sh SES 3utterfield, E. P. P. ... aad ae «... 147, 167; 199, 200 Brady, William E. es ae ae ein So 83 Brook, George, F.L.S. Ee elses Sos So as ae Cash, J. ... ae ao se Ae ae eit se Carter, J. W. van Se ave mae -.. 66, 137,201 — Clarke, William Eagle se ok oat ee BY, L6r. ATS Cooke, Benjamin ae aes gaa the 121, 144, 163, 181, 197 | : 4 Hronree, No ¥ > ... ae Ellis, John W., L.R.C.P. Fowler, Rev. W., M.A. Grassham, John Gregson, W. Hanson, Caius C. Hewett, W. é Hick, Thomas, B. Fe, B. nae Hobkirk, C. Bahart Hobkirk, C. P., F.L.S. Holt, G. A. Howarth, E. Lees, F. Arnold, F.L. S. Limpricht, G. Lister, Thomas Madden, Rev. G. C. B., B. ne Massee, George Porritt, G. T., F.LS. Prest. William Raine, Thomas Raine, Walter Rawson, F. G. S. Robinson, William a Roebuck, William Denison Rowntree, James H. Stather, G. P. Swinton, A. H. Slater, Rev. H. H., B.A., FZ. es Walker, Charles H. is West, William , Wrigglesworth, E. B. Vii. PAGE 82, 100, 147, 185 105, 146 15 RS 84 81, 100, 201 17, 201 185 122, 195 66 36 15, 186 101 at 61 127, 140 il 66 191 “16, 30, 54, 66, 82, 83, 117, 186, 201 : 66 “65, 146 16, 185 168, 199 : 185 54, 65, 33, 7, 132, 146, 167 ; i 82 89 Pe 45 2, 25, 179 ; 63, 74 a 30, 61, 73, 94, 112, 125, 146 f 16, 158 N.B.—The Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their Papers. “ NEC TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.” goon FOURPENCE, POST FREE] NEW SERIES. Epitep sy Cras. P. Horxies, F.L.S., ano G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. No. LXXITI. AUGUST, 1881. VOL. VII. CONTENTS. Page. ORIGINAL ARTICLES, Kc. : — F Spring Migrants of Barnsley and South Yorkshire District.—TZhomas Lister 1 The Island of Rodrigues, and its Fauna.—Rev. H. H. Slater, B.A., F.Z.S.— - Continued 2 On the Methods of Microscopical Research in use in the ‘Naples Aquarium. -~ Geo. Brook. F.L.S. 6 Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union —Oryptogainie Report for 1880. Eek m. West— Continued 3 " 1 Nores, &c. :-—. Plagiothecium Borrerianum in Fruit at Douglas.—G. A. Holt ... 15 Notes on the Flora of Hodder-Dale.— Rev. W. Fowler Bs 15 Coleoptera at Hornsea.—Z. B. Wrigglesworth 16 Another Insect Pest.—Geo. T. Porrstt, F.L.S. 16 The Teal nesting at Riccall Common. Walter Raine 16 The Long-eared Owl breeding at Riccall.— Walter Raine 16 ‘Jack-Snipe nesting in Barkisland.—C. (. Hanson 17 REviEW S -— _ “ Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata ” AZ. “ The Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, 1880.” 18 *¢ The North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club, Report for 1880 ” 18 ** Birmingham Natural cigs sek and Sere ey Society, Foner, 1880 ” 18 feo he Scientific Roll ” : ne ry ; : 18 RAINFALL FOR JULY... ne: ; ae AS ae 19 REPORTS OF SOCIETIES :— ’ Barnsley Naturalists’ Society ..: 19 Bradford Naturalists’ Society é 19 Elland-cum-Greetland Natur. “ists Society. 20 - Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society 20 ' Manchester Cryptogamic Society 21 22 Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union... ILXUDDERSFIELD : 3 ‘ J e B. Brown, Market Piacr Corner. ~ Tie x eee, TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS. oy] 7 Vou. VI. ends with the. last number. _ Subscriptions. for Vol. VII. are now due, and the amount (4/-) should be forwarded — at once in either Postal Order, P.O.O, or Postage Stamps. 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MARSDEN, NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. Cabinets and apparatus of all kinds, of the best make on the lowest terms. British and European Macro-Lepidoptera, Preserved: Larve of rare British Lepidoptera. BOOKS.—New and Second-hand, on Natural History Subjects. The largest and best_stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Egesin England. Catalogues on application. 6d., - “Bijou List of British Butterflies,” Beautifully printed “in colours- “Graduated List of British Birds.” specially prepared for ~ reference and labelling, 6d.” *“ LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. ~ Interleaved, 5/- - RECENT STREET, GLOUCESTER. ae BS S fe ? Original Articles. SPRING MIGRANTS OF BARNSLEY AND YORKSHIRE DISTRICT, AND SOUTH DATES OF FIRST NOTICES FOR PAST AND PRESENT Chiff-chaff Do. 2nd notice Wheatear Swallow Tree pipit Willow warbler Ray’s, or yellow ise Redstart = Cuckoo (seen) (sang) Whitethroat House martin Grasshopper warbler Blackcap warbler Ring ouzel Whinchat Sand martin Sedge warbler Wood warbler (or wood Boa) Corn crake ... Nightingale Spotted or grey fyentcher = Sandpiper at Lesser whitethroat ... ~ Swift Garden warbler Goatsucker (or night-j aie N.S., Vou. vir.—Aue., 1881. SEASONS. By Tuomas LIstTeErR. —— (Very early.) Average 1881. 1880. date for 10 years. . Mar. 18 Mar. 14 Apr. 2 (Both dates early.) - Mar. 29 AE sig 2a Mar. 27 Mar. 29 awipr. Tf Apr. 1 Apr. 10 opt 2 SG pol as Mar. 19 pea 1 (Exceptionally duly: ) pats 1 Agr: “6 HS » 1d » 18 Ro Be sf LS eet ae? pr 14. (Exceptionally early.) mnie Apr. 8 (2nd date) gia 5 hips Apr. 25 rheced ae Mar. 29 nee (Very early.) oe G Apr. 18 Pe") rae es May 1 et ss Le Apr. 8 Ragen Fe » 23 PRN: » 20 7) 24 99 3 9 9 ey oe May 3 joh ot eee 2 Apr. 29 May 3 Res: ene Apr. 10 wi 2e Oy 26 May 8 at ou a aoe pon ali pag OAD May 1 ‘id ae. Magy 2 Apr. 29 ere ie. is May 14 EB hagheee) Be a Apr. 30 ENG A at oat ae a LS THE ISLAND OF RODRIGUES, AND ITS FAUNA, AS THEY WERE, AND AS THEY ARE.* By tHE Rev. H. H. Stater, B.A., F.Z.8., &ec., President Vertebrate Section, Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union; late Naturalist to H.M. Transit of Venus Expedition to Rodrigues, 1874, &c., &., Xc. (Continued.) Havine so far considered the island in its geographical, commercial, and social aspects, I wish now to direct attention to the fauna ; and, first of all, to the mammalia. The only indigenous mammal at present is a large fruit-eating bat, or flying fox, whose body is about the size of a half-grown rabbit. It has been described by Mr. Dobson under the name of Pteropus rodericensis. It is pretty common, and may be seen in the daytime hanging by its feet from the branches of shady trees, the wings being folded by its sides. At night it begins to fly about, and I twice shot it under the belief that it was an owl, so much did its flight resemble that bird’s. The natives are fond of them to eat. I should fancy, from this circumstance, that they would find weasels, polecats, and badgers delicious food, as this bat smells more abominably than they do. A most intelligent and trustworthy pair of natives of Mauritius— one a manager of a fishing station in Rodrigues,—gave me an account of an animal, a small herd of which had visited the island not many years before our visit, and of which herd one of them had killed nearly all, which makes me certain that the animal in question was the dugong. This animal is getting scarce now, and, as far as Iam aware, has not till now been recorded to occur in any of the Mascarene - Islands of late years. They described to me its figure, and its habit of browsing upon some weed beds in shallow water inside the reefs. There is a point, moreover, on the north-west of the island, named in old maps “ Pointe des Menatées,” which points to this animal ; and a. Dutch captain— William van West-Zanen—mentions sea-cows (Koeyen vander Zee) as existing on the island in 1601. Legnat, too, a very trustworthy observer, of whom [ shall have occasion to speak further on, mentions Lamentines (another name for manatees, or dugongs), as one of the good things of the isle which made him regret leaving it in 1693. This animal, the dugong, erroneously named in those parts the manatee, I may mention for the benefit of such as are not zoologists, is a large and rather unwieldly marine animal, which most writers now-a-days consider to be allied to the whale, dolphin, and porpoise, SLATER: RODRIGUES, AND ITs Fauna. 3 though it has been classed near the elephant and hippotamus. It is shaped much like a seal; its fore limbs are a sort of flippers, and its hind limbs united into a sort of tail—not unlike that of a fish, but set upon the body in a horizontal and not a perpendicular position. The dugong, with its cousins the manatees (which are found on the American coasts and on the west side, only, of Africa), are supposed to have given rise to the fabulous sirens and mermaids. They are all harmless and unwieldly animals, and are gradually becoming extinct under the invariable persecution of man. One member of the family, the Rhytina, or northern sea-cow, which inhabited Behring’s Straits, is quite extinct, the last having been killed in 1768, only some twenty-five years after the animal had been discovered to exist. The other mammals of Rodrigues are, the semi-wild cattle which I have mentioned before, and the invariable brown rat and house-mouse ; rabbits exist on a small island off the coast, and afford the sojourner in Rodrigues a pleasant change in diet from the usual goat. Lastly, the Dutch, as they did everywhere, turned out when they first visited the island, goats, pigs, and cats ; about the worst thing for scientific posterity that they could have done, though they doubtless did it with the best intentions, possibly, that any brother Dutchmen, who might subsequently be wrecked there, might find plenty of food ; though, in that case, why they liberated cats is not so clear, possibly that music might not be wanting also. Of the effect of this proceeding, it is no exaggeration to say, as the botanist of the expedition did say in his report, that they bave completely modified the original flora of the island, and, it is next to certain, the fauna in great part also, to which I shall have reason to refer further on. Wild goats are still not uncommon, though the natives have much reduced them. Wild pigs, too, are much less common than they used to be. We used to go in search of them now and then, and on one occasion a rather ludicrous thing happened. I had been lucky enough both to shoot a fine young sow, and to capture two of her litter (which, by the way, after being fattened, were much appreciated by the ward-room officers of H.M.S. Shearwater, to whom I gave them). Whilst we were cutting up our pig, a native, attracted by the shot, came and watched us ; so I gave him a bit of pork, and apparently, he went off delighted. But a bright idea struck him afterwards, and he went off to the Port and complained to the magistrate that I had shot his tame pig, so, of course, he wanted dollars. Upon enquiry, however, he never had had a tame pig. But I had to stand numberless jokes on the subject from my friends, especially as some of them had gone after pigs and found none. 4 THE NATURALIST. The wild cats are numerous and large, and savage, but they howl at night, and swear, just like our own pussy on the tiles. If the ghosts of the Dutchmen, who discovered the island, ever re-visit it by night, they will be quite satisfied with the result of their efforts to supply a fund of music to the island. The birds are perhaps the most interesting feature of the island, especially those which are now extinct. The existing birds are as follows :— 1. Foudia flavicans ; a small orange-headed finch, represented by allied species in Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. 2. Drymeca rodericana ; a small short-winged warbler, belonging to a genus principally found in India. These are the only birds peculiar to the island, but we have in addition— 7 3. Psittacula cana; a small green love-bird, or little parrot. Introduced. 4. Acridotheres tristis ; the Indian mynah, of the starling tribe. Introduced largely into Mauritius to destroy insect life. 5. Munia oryzwora; the Java sparrow. Introduced by man. 6. Lrancolinus ponticerianus ; an Asiatic partridge, introduced by man, 7. Numida tiarata; guineafowl. Introduced. 8. ALgialitis Geoffroy: , a little ringed plover. 9. Strepsilas interpres; English turnstone. 10. Tringoides hypoleuca ; common sandpiper. 11. Totanus glottis ; greenshank. 12. Numenius pheopus ; whimbrel. 13. Phenicopterus erythreus : flamingo, I myself never saw this bird on the island, to which it is an occasional visitor ; but | I picked up an unmistakeable feather, and was shown in Mauritius two specimens of this bird, obtained in Rodrigues not long before our visit. ; 14. Butorides atricapilla ; a small heron. 15. Sterna Bernsteini; a grey tern. 16. Sterna Dougallii; the roseate tern. I only saw one pair of this bird, which I shot. They were remarkable as having © the bill jet-black. 17. Sterna fuliginosa; sooty tern, An occasional English visitor. SiateR: RopriGuEs, AND ITs Fauwa. 5 18. Gygis candida ; a pure white tern. The loveliest bird, I think, I ever saw—its plumage snow-white, with large black eye and bill. It used to hover calmly within a yard of our heads and inspect us, and we might have killed any number with a stick. Some one, I forget whom, has celled this bird ‘““a little fairy”—a very apt name, which just suits the small size, great beauty, and perfect self-possession of this charming little bird. 19. Anéous tenuirostris t ddy terns. 20. Anéus stolidus We PCa 21. Puffinus chlororhynchus; a black petrel, living in clefts of the rocks of a small island. Its noise, which it utters at night, is something between a yell and a snore, which has a strange and uiuearthly sound to a lonely stranger passing the island in a boat. 22. Pheton flavirostris; the yellow-billed tropic bird, called by sailors ‘‘ Bo’s’en bird.” 23. Fregata minor ; the smaller Frigate bird. When this bird meets a tern or a booby coming home in the evening with a good store of fish, it dashes at him like a falcon, till he drops his fish, which is what the Frigate bird wants. 24. Sula piscator; booby. Closely related to our gannet, or solan goose, and similar in habits and appearance. This is a list of the birds as at present existing. When I was in Rodrigues, however, there was another species in existence—a large ringed parrakeet, of which only one specimen existed in collections— afemale. I was going to the caves one morning to my daily work, with my Hindoos, and saw a large parrot with a longish tail, close to me. Had I had my gun with me,I could easily have shotit. I never saw it again, but I was able to report on my return that I had seen a male of this bird, for I was sufficiently near to it to pronounce on the sex. About a year after, a male was shot on the island and brought to England by a gentlemen of Mauritius who was collecting on the island, and now the bird, beyond doubt, is extinct. Rather a curious experience, is it not, to have had an opportunity of seeing the last bird of its kind, and to be pretty sure that it was the last ? Approaching the birds which have been far some time extinct, in the first place, the place of importance, we have the solitaire, a close relation of the dodo, which was confined to Rodrigues, as the dodo was 6 Tor NATURALIST. to Mauritius. Not many years ago the dodo was classed with the sea. serpent, the mermaid, and the griffin, and such like ‘“ fearful wild fowl.” But at last someone unearthed from a collection of rubbish in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford a genuine head and foot of the dodo, the remains of a stuffed specimen which had originally been in © the museum of the celebrated Tradescant ; the rest of the bird had been thrown away as worthless, being a little moth-eaten. A head was also discovered in a similar deposit in Copenhagen. Thése, with a foot in the British Museum, formed the sole relics in existence of this bird. ' Historical testimony was then sought for amongst the narratives of the earlier voyagers who had visited the Mascarene Islands, and a great amount of information, much of it of a very curious nature, was accumuleted, Amongst other books the journal of a certain Francois Leguat was studied, the commander of a party of French refugees who visited Mauritius and also Rodrigues, where he stayed two years, quitting the island in 1693. He gave a full account of the natural history of the place, and particularly described the solitaire with great minuteness. Search was then made to see if any remains of this bird were in Europe, and in 1830 a few bones were found to be in Paris which had been sent over in the end of the last century. Search was also made in the island, and specimens of the bones, mostly fragments, were found from time to time in the caves in the coralline limestone, which I have already mentioned. (To be continued. ) ON THE METHODS OF MICROSCOPICAL RESEARCH IN USE IN THE NAPLES AQUARIUM. SUMMARY (By GEO. BROOK, F.L.S.) or a Paper py Dr. Pavn Maver, 1x THE “ MITTHEILUNGEN A. D. Zootoc. Station, zu NEApEL,” vou. 2, part 1, 1880. (Continued. ) In the hurry of going over my notes of the first part of Dr. Mayer’s paper, I neglected to mention a very important item in the use of acid alcohol; that is, that the objects should not be allowed to remain in the solution after they have been completely penetrated by the liquid, but at once removed to 70 % alcohol. Neglect in this particular may cause serious damage to the specimens. For such objects as Pandulinus, and other Crustacea, in which the cephalo- thorax is at all times very apt to separate from the abdomen, perhaps it would be best not to use this medium at all, or at all events to only use say 5 % acid. , Brook: Summary oF Metuops oF MicroscopicaL RESEARCH. 7 STAINING MEDIA. The use of staining media in an aqueous solution has many dis- advantages. In transferring an object from alcohol to such a solution there is usually set up such a violent osmosis that whole groups of cells may burst, and the whole object be spoiled. Again, a vonsider- able maceration is liable to result from too long an immersion in Beale’s carmine. The staining media dissolved in alcohol, on the other hand, are not open to these objections ; they penetrate the object quicker, give a sharper and cleaner colour to the tissues, and besides an object may be left in them for a considerable time without fear of injury. Usually, therefore, an object preserved in alcohol should be stained in an alcoholic solution, and passed through oil of cloves to balsam for mounting, never from first to last being allowed | to touch water. Of course good results can often be obtained with aqueous staining media, and in some cases they appear to be indis- pensable, as, for instance, in the Zurbellaria, which according to Dr. Lang give a long way the best results when stained with picro- carmine, Kleinenberg’s Hematorylin—This medium has been in use in the Naples Aquarium for a long time, as it secures a good: staining of the nucleus, and requires but little trouble. Before staining, the object must be got quite free from acid by washing frequently in alcohol, and too much pains cannot be taken in this respect. The insufficient freeing from acid does not often show itself at once, but after the object is mounted in balsam, sooner or later it causes fading of the colouring matter, which may go on until the object is entirely dis- coloured. Dr. Mayer is of opinion that, with proper care in prepara- tion, objects stained with Hematoxylin get a little darker rather than lighter after mounting. There is one great drawback to the use of Hematoxylin, however, the solution loses its properties easily, becomes discoloured, and throws down a precipitate. A fresh prepared solution should be violet, with a decided leaning to blue, and must on no account have a red tinge. If left to stand for a considerable time it becomes slightly acid. In order to set it right again, the stopper of an ammonia bottle should be held over the mouth of the bottle containing the Hematoxylin solution, so that an extremely small quantity of ammonia gas mixes with the liquid. This, on shaking, will restore the proper colour again. A very little more ammonia would increase the precipitate, and make the liquid unfit for use. 8 | | Toe NATURALIST. Kleinenberg’s original prescription is as follows :— Sol. 1.—Add alum to saturation to a concentrated solution of chloride of calcium in 70 Z alcohol. Sol. 2.—Make a saturated solution of alum in 70 % aleohol. Mix solutions 1 and 2 in the proportions of 1 to 8, and add the Hematoxylin previously dissolved in alcohol. More recently Kleinenberg has simplified his method by taking only the first-named solution and diluting it with six to eight times its bulk of 70 % alcohol, and when wanted for use adds the requisite number of drops of Hematorylin dissolved in absolute alcohol. After staining, Kleinenberg allows his objects to remain in 90 % alcohol. By the bringing together of chloride of calcium and alum, a precipitate of gypsum is formed; so that probably it would be better to use chloride of aluminium in the first instance. The staming is best done, so far as small objects are concerned, in a very weak solution of Hematorylin. A longer time is of course required for the process, but the objects come out sharper and brighter than they otherwise would. If it is required to dilute a strong solution of Hematorylin, this must be done by means of solution ~ No. 1. Alcohol would cause a slight precipitate, which would interfere with the transparency of the objects when stained. The chloride of calcium is, according to Kleinenberg, only necessary to set up a circulation between the alcohol contained in the tissues and that outside. If one works with a strong solution, a little over- staining is apt to result, and this should be removed by:steeping in - acid alcohol. For this purpose Kleinenberg recommends oxalic acid or hydrochloric acid (§ %), and the objects must be allowed to remain in the liquid until a slight red tinge makes its appearance. On again placing the object in pure alcohol, it will assume its proper blue violet colour. Cochineal—This medium is very similar in most respects to Hematorylin. It supplies a dye similar to carmine, which may be used with advantage where the thickness of the walls, or other peculi-. arity of the object forbids the use of an aqueous solution of carmine. It is particularly suited for the Arthropoda, whose chitine it is well known, only allows the dye to penetrate with difficulty, but it is also suitable for all objects desired to be stained in an alcoholic solution, Its preparation as well as its use is most simple—ordinary com- mercial powdered cochineal is left to steep in 70 % alcohol for several days. For a gramme of cochineal take 8-10 cubic centimetres of Brook: SumMMARY OF Metaops oF Microscopical RESEARCH. 9 alcohol. This will give after filteration, a deep red liquid which is ready for use. It is only necessary to leave the object in the staining solution until the colour has quite penetrated. Of course, if the object has not been preserved in alcohol, it must be allowed to steep in it for some time before being transferred to the staining solution. For small objects, such as very thin sections, small worms, Protozoa, the lower Arthropoda, &c., ar immersion of quarter of an hour, some- times even less, is usually sufficient. For larger objects, particularly those which will be wanted afterwards for section cutting, and which must be stained very dark, the time will vary from several hours to several days, according to the nature and size of the object. In these ' cases it is always best to use a large quantity of the staining liquid. Thin sections, particularly of delicate objects, should be stained in a very weak solution, one which has been used before is often useful. The surplus dye must all be removed from the tissues by frequent washing in 70 % alcohol, and this must be continued so long as the alcohol comes away coloured. This washing process, with large objects, takes a long time, and a considerable quantity of alcohol. It may, however, be effected more quickly by using the alcohol warm. The tissues appear to be not in the least injured by it. In this way, only that portion of the cochineal which is chemically bound up in the tissues remains, so that all diffuse colouring is avoided. Objects are not often stained too dark, the affinity of the tissues for the colouring matter, being usually not so great as to interfere with the transparency of the object by too great an aggregation of dye in the nuclei or cellular substance. The colour which objects are stained by this process, varies very much, and seems partly to depend on the reaction of the tissues themselves, and partly on the presence or absence of certain salts. Naturally, on account of the great variety of substances existing in the cochineal insect in its dried state, extracts of the same with different strengths of alcohol, will give different results. The extract made with absolute, or 90% alcohol, is quite light in colour, and quite useless for staining purposes. As more water is added to the alcohol, the tincture becomes stronger in proportion, and I should - recommend that obtained by 50 % or 60 % alcohol for staining purposes, if easy penetration of the liquid was not an important qualification of a staining medium: and the greater percentage of water such a medium contains, the less suitable will it be in this respect. Each - separate extract gives, on further addition of stronger or weaker alcohol, or even of water, a cloudiness and precipitate containing material which is only soluble in alcohol of that particular strength. 10 Toe NATURALIST. Hence it follows, that to completely extract a cochineal of indefinite composition, the strength of the alcohol must be gradually increased throughout. Acid makes the tincture lighter and more golden red. Thus, by using acid alcohol (#4, % hydrochloric acid, or 1 % acetic acid), an overstaining can be easily corrected. On the other hand, ammonia and other caustic alkalies, change the dye to a deep purple. It is remarkable that the salts soluble in alcohol, give a blue-grey, green grey, or blue-black, precipitate with metals and alkaline earths. For instance, if one treats some woven fabric, which has already been dyed in cochineal and washed, with an alcoholic solution of iron or chalk salts, a more or less dark blue dye is always obtained. As in most cases, the salts existing in a living organism, are not altogether removed in the process of preservation, but, in some cases even increased ; it may often happen that, although the object may be put in a red fluid, it will come out of it stained more or less blue, so that it frequently happens that an object stained with cochineal, cannot be distinguished from one treated with Hematoxylin. The fact that the blue colour results from the action of inorganic salts, and not from the organic, is proved by the fact that powdered cochineal by being extracted with an aqueous or alcoholic solution of chloride of calcium, changes its colour, and the liquid has only a very slight red tinge. In the same way, the cause of the deep colouring of the nucleus in comparison with that of the remaining cell contents, must certainly be referred to the properties of the organic matter. Naturally such a precipitate in the nucleus cannot arise in the presence of acids; so that acid tissues, as well as those free from inorganic’ salts, will _ always stain red. In a given case one cannot, therefore, say before- hand what colour an object will be stained. Usually all crustacea with thick chitinous membranes are stained red. The remaining animals are nearly all stained blue—so, that, for instance, the Vorti- cellide which are found parasitic on the Amphipoda can be at once recognised in a stained preparation, as foreign objects. The tissues of one and the same animal often shew different colourings. For instance, Kleimenberg has found that in the embryos. of Zuméricus the cell walls stain deep red, while the cell contents become deep blue. In staining glands it will be found that either they or their secretions frequently become green, and on this account are easily recognisable. If it is desired to have the plasma strongly stained, the object must not be so thoroughly washed, but part of the colouring matter which is not chemically bound up in the tissues, must be fixed by immersion in strong alcohol. Slight remnants of acid appear to do less harm in this case EE West. CryptoGaAmMic REPorRT FoR 1880. 1G, than with Hematorylin, as a gradual fading does not, according to Dr. Mayer’s experience, afterwards take place. Objects preserved in osmic acid do not stain well unless they are previously bleached, as before explained. | In the endeavour to use other means of staining with alcoholic solutions, Dr. Mayer has @onducted a series of experiments on the ordinary dyewares of commerce, but has not been able to obtain very satisfactory results. Grenacher has found it necessary to dye with carmine in an alcoholic solution, and for this purpose he uses a fluid got by boiling carmine in alcohol and hydrochloric acid. According to Dr. Mayer's experience this fluid appears in many cases to dye stronger than cochineal, but without warranting the same precision. (To be continued. ) YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION.—CRYPTOGAMIC REPORT FOR 1880. By Wm. West, Cryprocamic SECRETARY. Explanation of initials—G. E. M., G. E. Massee ; H. T. 8., H. T. Soppitt : W. W., W. West. FUNGI—Continued. é; Tilmadoche nutans, Pers. Scarborough, G. E. M.; Madam Wood, Goole, T. Birks; Esholt, Heaton, H. T. 8. and W. W. T. mutabilis Rtfki. Scarborough, G. E. M.; Esholt, H. T. S. and os Comatricha Friesiana, D. By. Scarborough, G. E. M.; Esholt, H.T. 8S. and W. W. Craterium leucocephalum, Pers. do do C. vulgare, Ditm. do do Arcyria cinerea, Bull. Scarborough, G. E. M. A. punicea, Pers. Heaton, H. T. 8.; Esholt, H. T. 8. and W. W. Diderma vernicosum, Pers. Heaton, H. T. 8. D. nigripes, Fr. co do, D. nitens, Hdbk, 1113. Goole, T. Birks. D. cyanescens, Hdbk., 1115. do do , Didymium squamulosum, A. and G. Scarborough, G. E. M. Do do var. costatum do do Trichia varia, Pers. Saltaire, H. T. S. and W. W.; Scarborough, Go. Mr. 12 ; Tor NATURALIST. Trichia fragilis, Sow. Scarborough, G. E. M. '- Do var. Lorinsereana, Scarborough, G. E. M. T. fallax, Pers. Scarborough, G. E. M. T. chrysosperma. Bolton Woods, H. T. 8. Opiotheca chrysosperma. Esholt, Marley, H. T. S. and W. W. Prototrichia flagellifer, B. and Br. Scarborough, G. E. M. Leocarpus fragilis, Dicks. do do - Fuligo varians, Sommf. do do Spumaria alba, Bull. do do Tubulina cylindrica, Bull. do do Lamproderma arcyrioides, Sommf. do do Crucibulum vulgare. Scarborough, G. E.M.; Shi,ley Glen, H-T.S. Cyathus vernicosus, D.C. Goole, T. Birks. Spheerobolus stellatus, Tode. Bolton Wood, H. T. 5. Leptostroma spires, Fr. Scarborough, G. E. M. Phoma sticticus, B. and Br. do do P. samarorum, Desm. do do P. lingam, Desm. do do Diplodia tecta, B. and Br. do do D. vulgaris, Lev. Bolton Woods, H. T. 5._ Vermicularia atramentaria, B. and Br. Bridlington, G. E. M. Phyllisticta vulgaris, var. Loniceree, Desm. Castle Howard, G. E. M. Ceuthospora lauri, Grev. Scarborough, G. EH. M. Asterosporium Hoffmanni, M. and N. Scarborough, G. E. M. Pestalozzia lignicola, Cooke. Saltaire, H. T.S.; Shipley Glen, HTS. & Ws W. . ; - Nemespora crocea,*Pers. Scarborough, G. E. M. Torula pulveracea, Corda do do T. sporendonema, B, and Br. do do Bispora monilioides, Cda. Malham, H. T. §. Xenodochus carbonarius. Seamer Carrs, G. E. M. Triphragmium Ulmarie, Link. do do Phragmidium mucronatum, Link. Horton in Ribblesdale, H.T. 8. P. obtusum, Link. i? vido do Puccinia circez, Pers. Scarborough, G. E. M. P. glomerata, Grey. do do P. anemones, Pers. dome do P. umbelliferarum, D.C. do's acdo . P. arundinacea, Hedw, Goole, T. Birks. P. menthe, Pers. - do do P, striola, Link. Pollington, do | ee | ee ——7 West: Cryptocamic Report For 1880. 13 Puccinia malvacearum, Corda. Smeaton, H. T. S. P. polygonorum, Link. Morley, H. T. 8. P. variabilis, Grev. Bolton Woods, H. T. S. P. saniculz, Grey. do do P. primule, Grev. Settle, T. Birks. P. adoxe, D.C. Bingley, H. T. 8. Melampsora betulina, Desm. Scaroorouga, G. E. M. M. populina, Lev. Goole, T. Birks. Uredo bifrons, Grey. Scarborough, G. E. M. U, alliorum, D.C. do do Trichobasis petroselini, B. . do do T. suaveolens, Sev. Smeeton, H. T. 8. Lecythea lini, Sev. Scarborough, G. E. M. Uromyces appendiculata. Stainforth, H. T. 8. Coleosporium campanulze do do Aicidium leucospermum, D.C., Bolton Woods, H. T. S$. berberidis, Pers. Went Vale, H. T. S.; Thorner, W. W. albescens, Grey. Malham, H.T. 5. violz, Schm. Bingley, do . tubellum, Pers. Goole, T. Birks; Barlby, W. W. . epilobii, D.C. Wentvale, W. W. . ealthe, Grev. Scarborough, G. E. M. . primulz, D.C. do do Ustilago longissima, Ful. Goole, T. Birks. U. Salveii, B. and Br. Shipley Glen, H. T. S. Pachnocybe subulata, Berk. Scarborough, G. E. M. P. albida, Berk. do do Stilbum vulgare, Fode. do do S. tomentosum, Schrad. Saltaire, H. T. 8. & W. W. Fusarium heterosporium, Nees. (Goole, T. Birks. Epicoccum neglectum, Desm. do do The following, all from Scarborough, by G. E. M. :—Tubercularia granulata, Pers.; Stachybotrys atra, Corda; Helminthosporium stemphylioides, Corda.; H. obovatum, Berk.; Cladosporium epiphyllum, Nees. ; Aspergillus candidus, Link.; Peronospora tri- foliorum, D. By.; LP. grisea, Ung. ; Verticillium epimyces, B. & Br. ; Polyactis vulgaris, Link.; P. cana, Berk.; Zygodesmus fuscus, Corda.; Dactylium spherocephalum, Berk. Monilia tasciculata, Corda. Saltaire, H. T. S. Sporotrichum inosculans, Berk. Scarborough, G. E. M. S. chlorinum, Link. do do by fa By a Be Ba By 14 Tre NATURALIST. Sepedonium chrysospermum, Link. Saltaire, H. T. 8. Fusisporium bete, Desm. Scarborough, G: E. M. Zasmidium cellares, Fr. do de Goole, T. Birks. Mucor ramosus, Bull. do do Pilobolus crystallinus, Fode. ert sane do Saltaire, H. T. S. - Erysiphe martii, Link, do do Swinefleet, T. Birks. E. communis, Sehl. do do Chetomium elatum; Kze. do do Bradford, W. W. Morchella escuienta, Pers. Mannington, G. E. M. Helvella crispa, Fr. Castle Howard, G. E. M. Peziza cerina, Pers. Scarborough, G. E. M. . villosa, Pers. do do . tomipara, Phillips do do . calycina, Schum. do do . calycina, var. larias, do do . granulata, Bull. do do Goole, T. Birks. vitellina, Pers. do do fusca, Pers. do do coronata, Bull. do do cyathoidea, Bull. do do vinosa, A. and 8. do do atrata, Pers. do do virginea, Batsch. Goole, T. Birks; Saltaire, H. T. S. and W. W. rutilans, Fr. Goole, do cerea, Sow. Brough, T. Birks. umbrata, Fr. Morley, H. T. S. trechispora, B. and Br. Horton in Ribblesdale, H. T. S. . repanda, Whal. Frizinghall, H. T. 8. . scutellata, L. Esholt, H. T. S. and W. W. . stercoria, Pers, Bingley, H. T. S. and W. W. WHR . vesiculosa, Buli. Esholt, do do Helotium paliescens, Fr. Scarborough, G. E. M. H. acuum, Fr. Castle Howard, do The following, all from Scarborough, by G. E. M.:—Helotium claro-favum, Berk; H. xruginosum, Fr.; H. pruinosum, Jerd. ; H. alnidea, Nyl.; H. fructigenum, Bull.; H. serotinum, Fr.; H. virgultorum, F'r.; H. conigenum, Fr.; H. tuba, Fr. ; H. lenticulare, H. herbarium, Fr. Bolton Woods, H. T. S. a H. aciculare, Fr. Bingley, H. T. S.; Birstal, W. W. Tympanis conspersa, Fr. Scarborough, G. K. M. Ascobolus Pelletieri, Crouan, do do Or West: Cryprocamic Report ror 1880. 1 Ascobolus microsporus, B. & Br. Scorborough, G. E. E. A. saccharinus, B. and Curr. do do A. ciliatus. Scarborough, G. E. M.; Bingley, H. T. S. and W. W. A. furfuraceus, Pers. Goole, T. Birks.; Esholt, H. T. S. and W. W. A. immersus, Pers. Saltaire, H. T.S. and W. W. Bulgaria sarcoides, Fr. Bingley, H. T. S.; Heaton and Esholt, HT. 8. and W. W. B. inguinans, Fr. Dudley Hill, H. T. 5. Stictis versicolor, Fr. Scarborough, G. E. M. Phacidium ranunculi, Desm. Scarborough, G. E. M. Rhytisma acerinum, Pr. Scarborough, G. E. M.; Bolton Woods, 1 ne R. andromedez, Pr. Thorne Waste, H. T. S. The following, all from Scarborough, by G. E. M. ;—Hysterium pulicare, Pers. ; M. virgultorum, D.C.; Colpoma quercina, Wallr. ; Trochila lauro-cerasi, Fr.; ‘1. craterium, Fr.; Nectria peziza, Fr. ; N. sanguinea, Fr.; N. aquifolia ; N. epispheria. (To be continued.) Short Notes and Queries. Plagiotheciwm Borrerianum wx Froir at Doveras.—During a short visit to the Isle of Man, last month, I collected this moss near Douglas in beautiful fruit. The capsules were fully ripe, slight pressure removing the lids and so disclosing the characteristic pale yellowish peristome. The barren plant—as with us—is plentiful, but the fruit was confined to one spot, on a light leafy soil and in deep shade.—G. A. Horr, Manchester. Nores oN THE Fiora oF Hopprer-Date.—Encouraged by the state- ment on page 276 of ‘‘ West Yorkshire,” that ‘‘ The region of which Slaidburn is the centre, offers a fine field for investigation and discovery,” I set off on June 20th, and during that day and the four that followed, wandered up the Hodder Valley and those of its tributaries, from the point near Great Milton, where it empties itself into the Ribble, to its source on Catlow Fells. Most of the plants given in the ‘‘ West York- shire ” list were seen by me, and there would be no advantage gained by an enumeration of those already recorded ; I shall therefore mention only plants hitherto unrecorded for Hodder-dale—plants, that is, not included in the list on pp. 277-8 of ‘‘ West Yorkshire.” Phanerogams :—Carda- mine amara, Viola lutea, var. amena, Drosera rotundifolia, Genista tinc- toria, Trifolium medium, Geum intermedium, Asperula odorata, Solidago virgaurea, Vaccinwm oxycoccos, Digitalis purpurea, Veronica scutellata, Bhinanthus major, Melampyrum pratense (var. montanwm), Primula Ffarinosa, Lysimachia nemorum, Plantago media, Empetrum nigrwm, Salix 16 Tor NATURALIST. pentandra, S. aurita, Potamogeton polygonifolius, Orchis wcarnata, Habe- naria bifolia. Cryptogams : Equisetum sylvaticum. Mosses : Leucobrywm glaucum, Encalypta streptocarpa, Racomitriwm aciculare, R. fasciculare, R. canescens, Orthotrichum cupulatum, Atrichum crispum, Climaciwin dendroides, Hypnum undulatum, H. aduncum, H. ochracewm. Hepatice : Scapania undulata, Nardia compressa. Ten lichens, including Cladonia rangiferina, Usnea barbata, Parmelia caperata, Platysma glauewm. Fungi: Peziza stercorea, Bulgaria sarcoides. Alge : Mesocarpus scalaris, Ulothrix jloccosa. From the above list it will be seen that I did not meet with Cotylodon umbilicus or Circea alpina, which (according to ** West Yorkshire) are likely to be found in Hodder-dale ; nevertheless some contained in it, if not plants which can be called rare, are interesting as occurring in that district. Further search in the higher grounds would probably result in the discovery of species not included in either the ** West Yorkshire” List or the one given above.—W. Fowter, Liver- sedge Vicarage, July 11th. CoLEOPTERA AT HornsEea.—List of beetles captured at Hornsea, June 22nd :—Bembidiwm concinnum, B. nitidulus, Hister bimaculatus, Cercyon melanocephalus, Aphodus ater, A. prodromus, A. luridus, Athous hemorrhoidalis, Telephorus bicolor, Ischnomera lurida, Phyllobius Alneti, Erirhimus acridulus.—E. B. WRIGGLESWORTH. ANOTHER INsEcT PEst.—Some days ago Mr. Tolson of Dalton sent me for examination a box of sawfly larvee, which are occurring in immense numbers on the outskirts of this town, being noticed in hundreds even on the highroads, pathways, on walls, &c. Knowing but little of the hymenoptera I submitted them to Mr. HE. A. Fitch, F.L.8., of Maldon, Essex, who writes as follows :—‘‘ Your larve are I believe unknown larvee of one of the Doleride. * * * T have had the same larve as destructives to grass in great abundance this year from Rochdale, in Lancashire, and from Romford in this County ; here they are accom- panied by a plague of lepidopterous larvee, but I cannot get sufficiently good specimens to say whether they are H. popularis, C. graminis, or what ; both these I believe are represented.” —Guro. T. Porrirt. THe TEAL NesTiINc aT RiccatL Common.—On Whit-monday, my brother and I came across two nests of the teal at Riccall Common. They were both made of moss, feathers, and down, and were built on one of those small islands which are situated in the centre of the largest lagoon. Near to one of the nests, we found an egg of the teal, from which a young bird had evidently been hatched, which left us thoroughly satisfied as to the identity of the nests. Though teals are to be seen at Riccall all the summer through, I have not previously met with an instance of its breeding there. —WaALTER Raine, July 15th. THe Lonc-EARED OWL BREEDING at Riccatt.—While rambling through the fir woods to the east of Riccall Common, we met with the a a Saort Notes AND QUERIES. 17 gamekeeper, who informed us that during the week previous to our visit, he had shot a young horned owl. There was another one in company with it, but it succeeded in escaping.—Watrer Raine, July Ldth. JacK-SNIPE NESTING IN BArKISLAND.—In my first note I did not state that the female jack-snipe which was shot was a crippled bird, her wing had been broken before, the humerus, or arm bone, had been completely divided, but was perfectly healed with an overlapping or spliced joint, which shortened the wing, and incapacitated her for migration. Thomas Jagger, who first observed the birds, could have run her down and caught her any time, but he wanted both birds and the nest, but failed to find the latter. George Hey, in whose rough field the nest was, saw frum the window of his house, Jagger carefully searching about a particular place, where he had gone ; Hey went, flushed the maimed bird, and found the nest, containing four eggs ; Jagger came two days after, raised both birds, fired at the perfect one, missed it, but killed the lame one, which could not fly above fifty yards atatime. The jack-snipe not having been known to have bred in the British Isles, is no proof that it never has, nor that it never willdo. Mr. Crossley, bookseller, Union Street, Halifax, saw a pair of jack-snipes near Hebden Bridge, on the 24th ult. He is a good ornithologist, not likely to be mistaken.—C, C. HaANson. REVIEWS.—‘‘ Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata,” by Messrs. W. E. Clarke and W. D. Roebuck, Hon. Secs. Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. London: L. Reeve and Co. ; Leeds, R. Jackson, 1881.—The authors of this work, which is dedicated by permission to Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., D.C.L., President elect of the British Association for the current year, have spared no pains in rendering it as complete as possible, and we heartily congratulate them upon its production. It is the first time such a work has been published for this large county, and it has been done in a manner which leaves little to desire. Besides being a record of the fauna of the county, it is also a list of the whole British fauna, all the species being included, and those specially referred to which do now or have previously been recorded to occur in Yorkshire ; the extinct species being printed in old English type, to distinguish them. The mammalia, which include fifty of the seventy-two British records, are arranged substantially on the plan of the second edition of ‘‘ Bell’s History of British Quadrupeds” (1874), modified upon the writings of other zoologists. The nomenclature and classification of the birds has confessedly been a diffieulty, as Prof. Newton’s new edition of Yarrell is not yet ready ; eventually, however, the authors decided to adopt the the arrangement—with slight modifications—of Dresser’s ‘‘ Birds of Europe.” Of the 380 British birds, 306 (doubtful occurrences not included) are recorded for Yorkshire, which is a very large proportion. Many new county records are given, including the Dartford warbler, pine grosbeak, Lapland bunting, ruddy sheldrake, black-winged stilt, sooty tern, Wilson’s petrel, &c.; whilst much new and important inform- 18 THE NATURALIST. ation is given respecting the range, &c., of the red grouse, great bustard, avocet, &c. The reptiles and amphibia include twelve out of the sixteen British species, with one new county record, the Natterjack toad ; whilst of the fishes, 155 species are recorded for Yorkshire out of the 249 admitted British species. The general arrangement and records are eminently satisfactory, and we only regret that the space at our disposal will not permit us to enter more largely into the details ; but perhaps this is not necessary, as enough has been advanced to make it evident that all Yorkshire zoological students must have the book, and will then see them for themselves. The introduction forms a complete key to the arrange- ment, besides which there is a chapter on such physical and general features of the locality as are required for the work. We understand that the chapter on Yorkshire Zoology for the British Association Guide Book will.be from the pen of the same authors, and we are quite sure that it will lead many of the members of that body to purchase the more complete work. “‘The Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, 1880,” in four parts, contains some very useful and interesting papers, amongst which we may particularly mention, the address by the president, Dr. J. Gwyn Jefireys, F.R.S., J. E. Harting, ‘‘ On Animals which have become extinct in Britain within Historic times.”—Rev. G. Henslow, on ‘‘ Homology and Analogy of Plant Organs,” &c., &c. These Transactions show a very healthy and active condition of the above Society, and we cordially commend their example to the attention of © other similar societies, including our own Union. ‘“The North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club, &c. Report for 1880,” contains many interesting papers on both Natural History and Archeology, with records of the excursions during the year, and the discoveries made thereat. “Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society, Report, 1880.”” This is again a very interesting record of work done, including papers (with plates) on Dendrosoma radians, by J. Levick ; on Marine Infu- soria, by W. Savile Kent, F.L.S. ; Life History and Habits of Leptodora hyalina, by Prof. A. Milnes Marshall; British Lichens, by W. Philips, F.L.S. ; Life History of Volvox glubator, by A. W. Wills ; The Orypto- gamic Flora of Warwickshire by J. E. Bagnall, and many others. Altogether we must confess that the Midland Counties Naturalists seem to be doing more good and useful work than our own. This although a matter of regret for ourselves, yet should stimulate our members to increased activity and research, and also fully to record their observa- tions.—[ Eps. Vat. | . =giidiks D> Dianna Recrtvep.—‘“‘ The Scientific Roll,” by A. Ramsay. Want of space - alone prevents us giving a favourable notice of this new publication to which we wish every success : we hope to say more in our next issue. Amntall for Sune. 2 | Height Tora Faun | of .. | No. To Darts. Date of | Amount ‘gauge | Rain-| of heaviest of ‘above! fall. {pays Fall, nearer | “as 7 all. | level 1881. | 1880. Vee ttbe i) 6 day, HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ... 350 | 1°42 | 14 | 12°73 |* 14°45 4 0°27 (J. W. Robson) Hatirax...(F.G.S. Rawson) 360 | 2:30 | 18] 19.64 | 18.60 fr re WAKEFIELD (E. B. Wriggles- 100 | 1.50 |171] 10°64 ee 6 0°39 worth) STANUEY Si). .42.30 (doje! 250 | 1°41 | 15] 10°6 6 0°38 THORNES............ (Coe) Re ee! )0) | 1°48 | 16 | 10°61 iis 6 0°34 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) .... 350 | 1°55 116] 10°3 13°70 6 0°46 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... | 853 | 2:29 | 15 | 15°51 | 19°17 4 0°33 WENTWORTH CASTLE a 520 | 1:48 | 13 | 12:98 14°97 6 0°44 Goore ... (J. Harrison)... 25 | 169/14] 9°83 | 11°82 16 0:24 * This is the average to date for 15 years, 1866-80, Areporis of Societies. BarnsteEy Naturatists’ Soctery.—Meeting July 5th, Mr. A. R. Kell, president, in the chair: he gave brief notes of birds seen about Scaftworth Bawtry, on the estate of T. E. Taylor, J.P., Barnsley ; of water birds, herons, teals, wild ducks and redshanks, all of which breed there; of ‘land birds—great spotted woodpeckers, corn and black.headed buntings, spotted flycatchers, &c, were in abundance. Mr. T. Lister. in a walk from Ackworth on June 30, had noted all four of the swallow tribe, including the swift, which has been seen two or three times on Cocker- ham-road, Barnsley, where of late years it has been scarce. The few in song were—sedge-warblers, buntings, whitethroats, and corn crakes, so numerous as to prevent sleep. Mr. J. W. Salter, Ackworth School, had counted 120 calls in a minute. Some mineral specimens from the Isle of Man, consisting of masses of quartz and silurean pebbles, were brought for the Museum. A fierce animal was taken, in June, on the moors of W. 5S. Stanhope, Esq., near Dunford Bridge. It is since recorded as the martin cat (the beech cr stone martin). One was taken in his grounds at Cannon Hall, some years back.--T. L. Braprorp Naturauists’ Socrrty.—Meeting June 21st, Mr. J. Firth- in the chair.—Messrs. Carter and Firth exhibited a number of insects from Grange and Witherslack, amongst which were A. myrtilli, S. 20 Tar Natvuratist. belgiaria, DL. Alsus.and Alexis, and EH. glyphica. Mr. H. T. Soppitt described a botanical ramble to Penyghent, and exhibited Botrychiwm lunaria, Nephrodiwm rigida, Puccinia Betonice, and Aicidiwm geranii. Mr. B. Illingworth exhibited a fine living specimen of the barn owl (Striz flammea) and larve of D. ceruleocephala from Thorne. Mr. J. Faull exhibited several insects from Windermere, amongst which were O. pudibunda, H. dolabraria, &c. Meetine July 5th.—Mr. W. Jagger in the chair. A ramble to Bingley was described by Messrs. Soppitt, Carter, and Firth. Mr. Brook exhibited Drosera rotundifolia from near Bradford, and Geranium striatum. Mr. Terry anumber of insects, amongst which were A. fumata, A. luteata, and H. heporata. Mr. Soppitt Aicidium menthe, Uromyces concentrica and several other fungi. Mr. West some continental mosses including Dicranwm Muhlenbeckii, Hypnum Halleri (£t.), Grimmia montana (ft.), G. unicolor (£t.) Meetine July 19th, Mr. B. Spencer in the chair.—An interesting lecture on ‘‘The microscope,” was given by Mr. J. E. Wilson. Mr. IIl- ingworth exhibited a pair of merlin hawks. Mr. Bennett exhibited various objects from Thorne Waste, amongst which were the three British Droseras, Rhynchospora alba, and a number of insects, including C. Davus. Mr. Saynor Linaria minor and Onobrychis sativa from Bingley.—H. T. Soppirr. Ennanp-cum-Greerianp Narcrattsts’ Soctery. —Monthly meeting Ath July, Mr. C. C. Hanson, the president in the chair, who placed on the table 30 botanical specimens of the neighbourhood ; Mr. Crowther exhibited eggs of the kestrel ; Mr. F. Lumb, an egg of a jack snipe taken on Ringstone Edge Moor, which raised a strong discussion on the proba- bility of it not being the real jack snipe’s egg. The parent bird was shot two days after, near the place where the nest was found. —ALBERT FIELDING. HuppERSFIELD Naturauists’ Socrery.—Meeting June 20th, Mr. James Varley in the chair, the following botanical specimens were laid on the table by Messrs. Armitage, Wilkinson, and Woodhead :—Atropa Bella- donna, Erodium cicutariwm, Scilla nutans, Spergula arvensis, Myosotis palustris, Hieraciwum aurantiacum, Hippocrepis comosa, from the banks of the Dee, &c. Messrs. Mosley and Ellis showed the following entomolog- ical specimens :—Plusia bractea, P. festuce, P. chrysitis, P. pulchvina, P. iota, Notodonta carmelita, and cucullina, also a number of beetles taken at Harden Moss. Mr. 8. L. Mosley then gave an account of the last ramble to the Great Wood at Lepton: there was an abundance of life aud vegetation ; in entomology, the members on their return, were enabled to count upwards of 300 specimens on the sugar, which they were unable to take because of the quantity they had procured during the afternoon. Mr. Jno. Armitage then gave a lecture entitled ‘‘ The Law of Nature sowing her own Seed.” Reports OF SOcIETIES. a Meetine 2nd July, Mr. Jos Tindall in the chair: in entomology, Messrs. Mosley, Ellis, Midgley, and Raistrick, showed the following specimens taken recently in this district viz :—X. rurea var. combusta, M. fasciuncula, X. rwrea, var. borealis. This is a very rare variety for this district, and was exhibited by Mr. Mosley, who says that he has only seen one other taken about here ; Luplexia lucipara, N. festiva, N. plecta N. augur, S. belgiaria, H. pisi, H. thalassina ; also a very variable series of this moth ; H. oleracea, H. dentina, M. rivata, A. gemina, A. rumicis, elso var. salicis. Mr. J. Tindall laid on the table specimens of a longi- corn beetle—an exotic insect that was taken from the logwood imported into Huddersfield by Mr. Bedford, of Bradford-road. Mr. Jno. Robin- son gave a lecture entitled ‘‘ A few of the British Reptiles: or, the Farmer’s Mistake.” His remarks were rendered very interesting by the exhibition of a number of those reptiles which are the farmer’s friends, but which they (the farmers) so wantonly destroy. Mr. Mosley, in the course of a few remarks on the lecture, pointed out the advisability of naturalists generally giving more notice to those families of insects which are so injurious to our crops and produce of all descriptions. He also showed how the children of our large schools of to-day might be taught to know these insects, and also their destroyers. MancHEsTER Oryprocamic Socrety.—Monthly meeting, June 18th, Mr. Thomas Brittain (in the absence of the president, through indis- position) in the chair.—Mr. W. H. Pearson gave a report on the _ hepaticze collected by the members of the society during their excursion into Wales at Easter. The party ascended Cader Idris to a considerable altitude, in search of a rare Jungermannia, which, however, they were unable to find. On the way the commoner hepatic, such as Nardia emargimata, Scapania undulata, and others of rarity, were met with. At the highest point reached they met with, sparingly, Schisma adunca, an alpine species. Mr. Pearson continued :—‘‘ Saturday we spent at Tyn-y-groes, probably the richest locality for hepaticee yet known, in England or Wales. Here, in the woods, growing in moderate abundance, is Adelanthus decipiens—the only known station, except Ireland, for this great European rarity. Dr. Carrington first recognised it here, as Welsh, _ two years ago. On the precipitous banks of the little stream which flows through the wood, fifty yards from the inn, grows in rich luxuriance, _ hanging like delicate festoons from the larger hepaticee and musses, the Lepidozia which Dr. Spruce has published as L, Pearsoni—a compliment hardly deserved by the collector, who first passed it over as a strange form— ‘in linked sweetness long drawn out.’ On the soft sandstone on - _the walls near the inn grows the Nardia adusta of Spruce. Our party searched diligently the banks and rocks of Rhayadr Dhu, a spot peculiarly rich in hepatics. Here we collected Radula aquilegia, R. voluta, Lejeunia hamatifolia, L. ovata ; on the trees, Plagiochila tridenticulata, Mastigo- brywm deflecwm, and others of less rarity. On Monday, for a short time 4 22 Tae NATURALIST. we were botanising together at Barmouth, the most important species collected were the rare Riccia nigrella (the only station in the kmgdom for it), and R. tumida, another exceedingly rare species.” Mr. Pearson added that he had not been able to examine one-twentieth part of his whole Welsh collection, amongst which perhaps some beauty lay waiting, in good company, to be brought to light either in the immediate or distant future. Mr. George Stabler, of Levens, sent specimens of Lepidozia tumidula, collected lately by him at Clougha, Lancashire. This rare species has only previously been collected in Yorkshire (Idle Woods, Dr. Carrington) and the South of Ireland. He also sent for distribution from the same locality Tetradontium Brownianum. Mr. Axon read a paper “On an Epidemic of Tricophyton tonsurans in France.” A packet containing specimens of the rare Gymmnostomum calcareum, gathered in Chee Dale, Derbyshire, was received from Mr. Wm. West, of Bradford, and distributed, with best thanks to the donor. - On behalf of the hon. secretary (Mr. Rogers) and Capt. Cunliffe, who were upon a moss-collecting tour in the North, it was reported that at Castleton, Derbyshire, on the 30th of June last, they gathered three very rare mosses, viz., Seligeria tristicha, S. pusilla, and Anodus Donianus. ‘The discovery of the first-named in that locality is remarkable. In Schimper’s “* Synopsis,” (Ed. 2), under the head of ‘‘ Stationes nove muscorum non- nullorum rariorum,” there is the following note :—“‘ Seligeria tristicha, in rupibus caleariis pr. Castleton, Angliz (Whitehead).” Mr. White- head, however, in the pages of the Naturalist disclaimed the discovery of this moss at Castleton. Its occurrence in another part of Derbyshire, however, pointed to Castleton as a not improbable locality, and a careful search by Capt. Cunliffe and Mr. Rogers was rewarded by its actual discovery there, though in very small quantity. Mr. Cash mentioned the discovery by himself of Orthodontium gracile at Nant-y-Ffrith, near - Wrexham, in the month of June, and exhibited a specimen. The moss had fruited abundantly, but the capsules were old, and on that account only one or two small tufts were gathered. This is believed to be the first time this rare moss has been reported from the Principality. In the same locality Tetraphis pellucida was observed pasts freely : and the rare Gyninostomum commutatum was gathered. YorkKsHiRe Naturatists’ Unton.—The fourth meeting for 1881 took place at Thorne on Saturday, July 9th. Numerous parties had been arranged, and most of these were successful in their operations, which consisted in the full investigation of Thorne Moor, or Waste, as far as is practicable, the southern portion receiving perhaps the greatest share of attention, having been the least worked. Thorne Waste, as is well known, is a wild and extensive peat bed, varying from Gin. to 20ft. if thickness, and in many places unmistakable signs of a submerged forest exist ; the upright stumps of trees, with their roots embedded in the © sand, were distinctly seen exposed in the drains and cuttings. The strata Reports OF SocikErtiEs. 23 over which the parties passed consisted ‘solely of warp, peat, sand, laminated clay, and new red sandstone formation. The moors, owing to the excessive heat, presented a most deplorable spectacle. Great patches of moorland, as far as the eye could reach, were completely devoid of vegetation, and destitute of anything save the dried and charred branches of the Ulex Europzus. The routes recommended to see the moors advantageously were those from Medge Hall Station and Goole. A party under the able leadership of Mr. Thomas Bunker proceeded from Goole by way of the Goole fields and Warpings ; Mr. J. Harrison con- ducted his party directly over the moors from Goole to Thorne ; the party led by Mr. Francis Casson, commenced operations from the Market Place, Thorne ; and a contingent under the guidance of Dr. Crowther started from Crowle station, and after spending some time in the quaint ‘old country town, proceeded by way of Medge Hall to cross the moors to the place of meeting. All these—as the Section reports will show—met with fair success. At 4-30 p.m. the parties re-assembled at the Red Lion Hotel, Thorne, for tea, and at 5-15 the sections commenced their opera- ticns, followed about six o’clock by the Rev. W. Fowler, M.A., presiding over the combined general meeting. Owing to the early hour of the trains leaving Thorne, the business was of a multwm in parvo character— the chairman remarking that in order to get through it with greater speed, he would suggest that the minutes of the Hornsea meeting be taken as read. The attendance was large, about 80 being present, representing 14 societies. The following gentlemen were unanimously added to the subscriber’s list:—Mr. J. Broadhead, of Barnsley, and Mr. W. B. Faweett, of Driffield. Mr. Lister asked if it was not the usual practice to appoint gentlemen to represent the Union at the meetings of the British Association. Mr. Roebuck stated that the president and secretary of the Union were admissible to the meeting of the B.A. to be held at York in August, but that the Union had no power to appoint any other delegate. Mr. E. Clark proposed a vote of thanks, seconded by Mr. Prest, for the various donations of valuable transactions received from several sources. The Halifax Scientific Society and Geoiogists’ Field Club, and the Doncaster Microscopical Society, were admitted into the Union. Dr. G. H. Crowther, L.D.S., Wakefield, proposed a vote of thanks to the local secretaries, Mr. Thomas Bunker and Mr. John Harrison for the very effectual and commendable arrangements for the day’s excursion. Thanks were voted, on the motion of Mr, T. Lister, to the various gentlemen over whose land they had passed, for permission to visit the moors, coupled with the names of Mr. Makin Durham and Mr. James Elmhirst, and alluded strongly to the necessity for protecting many moerland birds which were fast becoming extinct. The officers of the different sections reported as follows :—Vertebrate zoology by the Rev. H. H. Slater, B.A., F.Z.S., president of the section : Of mammalia only common species were seen; of birds, 50 species were seen and recorded, including kestrel, sparrow-hawk, * spotted flycatcher, * whin- 24 THe NATURALIST. chat, *grasshopper warbler, *sedge warbler, *garden warbler, *white- throat, “lesser whitethroat, *willow wren, wren, blue titmouse, marsh do. pied wagtail, *tree pipit, meadow do.; common bunting, blackheaded do. yellow do., lesser redpoll, greenfinch (and nest), carrion crow, rook, magpie, “swallow, “martin, *sand-martin, *swift, “night-jar, ringdove, partridge, lapwing, redshank, common snipe, curlew (and nest), heron, water hen, wild duck (and nest), wigeon and young, teal and young, blackheaded gull and young. The wigeon breeding was reported by Mr. Bunker, upon the information of a keeper. Considering that S0aUB} tufted duck, pochards, &c., go locally under the name of ‘‘ wigeon,’ occasionally, this statement cannot be received without grave doubts, though occurrences of this bird’s breeding are recorded from Derbyshire, Cheshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, and it breeds regularly in the north of Scotland. The twite and ring-ouzel are recorded to have bred, some time ago, on Thorne Waste; and the black-headed gull also breeds regularly on a small island ina marsh, at that place. Messrs. Harrison and Birks have seen at Rawcliffe what seems to have been a natterjack toad, but further investigation is desirable. The Conchological Section was represented by Mr. W. D. Roebuck, who reported nothing of especial interest, as only the commoner forms had been seen, and they extremely scarce. Entomological Section: Messrs. W. Prest and G. T. Porritt reported for the lepidopterists.. Very good work had been done, and Mr. Prest had detected one species new to the county, viz., Acidalia straminata ; it was taken not uncommonly on the Thorne side of the moor, and was in fine condition. Other species included Chortobius Davus abundant ; Hesperia linea, common ; Procris statices (or geryon ?) Zygeena filipendule and Bombyx quercus common ; Hemithea thymiaria ; Hyria auroraria not uncommon, and very fine; Macaria liturata ; Sco- diona belgiaria not uncommon ;: Larentia pectinitaria, Emmelesia alche- -millata ; Platypteryx falcula ; Anarta myrtilli common ; Crambus pascu- ellus and margaritellus, both abundant—the former on the dry, the latter on the damp parts of the Waste ; OC. Warringtonellus, just getting out ; Phycis carbonariella, common ; Eupzcilia angustana common ; &c., &. Mr. E. B. Wrigglesworth, of Wakefield, mentioned Carabus nitens, Lacon murinus, and Anthicus antherinus as amongst the beetles taken. In botany, the Rev. W. Fowler, M.A., reported the best finds to be—the three Droseras, Rhamnus Frangula, Empetrum nigrum, Glaux maritima, Rhynchospora alba, Andromeda polifolia, Hydrocharis morsus-rane, Utricularia vulgaris, U. minor, Callitriche platycarpa, Sanguisorba offici- nalis, Comarum palustre, Hottonia palustris, Scutellaria vulgaris, Typha angustifolia, Erysimum cheiranthoides and Osmunda regalis. No mosses or lichens worth recording. Fungi—Rhytisma andromede, Aicidium rubellum and AR. ranunculacearum. Nothing new to the district was found, and none of the rarer plants mentioned in the circular as having occurred, were re-observed.—The chairman having responded to the vote of thanks passed to him, the meeting was brought to a close.—E. B. W. a Rawle tes a REI REE 0 A i A Se ae * These are summer migrants. : | : ; 4 Diary.—Meetings of Societies. August 1. Bank Holiday.—Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.—Excursion to Richmond, Local Secretary, Mr. E. Brydges Walton, Richmond. . Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. . Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. . Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. . Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. . York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 3 . Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. —Paper by Mr. J. Mackenzie. . Manchester Cryptogamie Society. ; Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. . North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. — Excursion to Llangollen. . Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. 29. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. . Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. * ee ee) ARAnAwnNnow ww w bo =~] oN) So aa! TRANSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. PART Ff. FOR 1877, contains the commencement of ‘* The Birds of Yorkshire,” by Mr. W. E. Clarke, M.B.O U. ; of an “* Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- water Mollusca of Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on *‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera in 1877,” by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S.; one on ‘‘ Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera in 1877,” by Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. 8. L. Mosley, on ‘“ Yorkshire Diptera,” and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psyllide; and a report on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S. PARTS II. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’s Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Yorkshire ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr. Parsons; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora of the East- Riding”; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S.; on Yorkshire Jchneumonide, by Mr. 8. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; and on Yorkshire Hymenoptera, observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. : PART IV. FOR 1879, in _preparation.—Amongst papers in preparation for future parts is a Catalogue of Yorkshire Lepidoptera, to be written by Messrs. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., and W. Prest. THE TRANSACTIONS are supplied to subscribers of 5/- and upwards annually to the funds of the Union. Intending subscribers are invited to send their names to either of the Secretaries. y W. DENISON ROEBUCK, Sunny Bank, Leeds, ) 5 Wm. E. CLARKE, - SECS. 5, East View, Hyde Park Road, Leeds, THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST, A Magazine of Natural Pistory. commenced in 1871, | Edited by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D. F.LS. Subscriptions (paid-in advance) 4s. per annum, post free. . EDINBURGH AND LONDON: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND Sons. To Ornithologists, Entomologists, ‘Naturalists, XC. POST. OFFICE BUILDINGS, Northumberland Street, Huddersfield. x és in LIQUIDS TIAN—Re MOSHE BE SUMMON & oa WA FALL APS TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, BY At the Post Office Buildings, in } Wortiunberlant Street, On Wednesday, August 10th, 1881, At Two o'clock in the Afternoon, the whole of the extensive ~ and yey go De collection of IN SHC TsS. COSTLY BOOKS, &c. Collected by My. Alfred Beawmont, of Parkton Grove, Honley. The Birds present a unique collection of great variety, and are in the best state of preservation, The Moths number about 15,000, and include very rare and valuable specimens, The, Books comprise ;—‘ Family of the Pheasant,” 24in. by, 20in.; in AW volumes, by Daniel Giraud Elliott; © Family of the. é Gabiee. e By G. Elliott ; ‘‘ Birds of Great Britain. ? 1873, by John Gould, F.R.S., in five volumes, 22in. by iin. one yolume a Halconer s Favourites,” by W. Bicierick: and wheat 500. volumes of other valuable hooks, particulars. of, which will be given in catalogues, which are now ready and may be had gratis on. application to the Auctioneers, 1, New Street, Hudders field. \ «* NEco TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.”’ [PRICE FOURPENCE, POST FREE] Che Alaturalist: JOURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION, a GENERKL FIELD CLUB BECORD. AND MLE WwW S eRe S.. Epirep py Cuas, P. Hossirx, F.L.8., anp G. T. Porritt, PLS. No. LXXIV. = SEPTEMBER, 1881. VOL. VIL. corre ob ORIGINAL ARTICLES, &¢. : — ~~ The Island of Rodrigues, and its Fauna.—Rev. H. H. Slater, B.A., F.Z.8.— Concluded. ... 25 Yorkshire Naturalists’ Vidion. —Cryptogumie Report fas 1880. Wm. “West— Concluded ... 3 30 On the Methods of Mitcascopical Pgaearclia in use in ths Naples Aquarium.~ _— - Geo. Brook, F.L.S.—Continued .. yin oa oi i re 33 . RAINFALL WOR JULY: 3.9. i Bs Ponsa ie Fe tes a tae - Norrs, &c. :— Se icoiikrtaim heterostichum at Marsden.—C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S. rao rs 36° Entomological Notes.—Geo. 7. Porritt, F.L.S. ... wee me re ae 36. . Museum for Huddersfield... “ : ae ie oe i oat 36 ~ Norices or “Books, Mee. Cie Re a Ss a ree ree - Reports or Socteries :— _. ~ Barnsley Naturalists’ Society ... a a: Si in A ESA, ai 37 ___ Bradford Naturalists’ Society ee ve roe Nata So ree ee ASO | Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society ... ve $5, iP eee ie ae 38 _ ~~ Manchester Cryptogamic Society’ ....0 .. ... as epee ee), Wakefield Naturalists’ nae of ee ee sai be Se aioe 2 39 ve _ Yorkshire’ Naturalists’ Union.. sere 5 Me ee ie On een oe a Si perk HUDDERSFIELD : _B. Brown, Marxur Pracn Corner. Ley ~whom should be Sint all communications ; and to whom Po: should be forwarded ne once in eke Postal Dae P.0 x Postage Stamps. All communications tobe. addressed to TH anone care of Mr. B. BRown, Market Place Corner, - E dersfield. 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Catal g on ap pe : é Graduated | List of British Birds.” specially mo eC reference and labelling, 6d. | REGENT STREET, aLouces Original Articles. THE ISLAND OF RODRIGUES, AND ITS FAUNA, AS THEY WERE, AND AS THEY ARE.* By toe Rev. H. H. Suarer, B.A., F.Z.S., &e., President Vertebrate Section, Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union; late Naturalist to H.M. Transit of Venus Expedition to Rodrigues, 1874, &c., &c., &e. (Concluded. ) In 1865 the Hon. Edwd. Newton, then Colonial Secretary of Mauri- tius, obtained a large number of bones from the caves, which he described, in conjunction with his brother, Professor Newton of Cambridge, in 1868, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The truthfulness and accuracy of observation of Leguat, the original describer of the solitaire, came out very strikingly when the bones of the birds became known. [An enlarged copy of a represent- ation of the solitaire from one of the woodcuts which illustrate Leguat’s voyage was exhibited by Mr. Slater.] I here quote an abbreviated description of it from his own words :— “ Of all the birds in the island the most remarkable is that which goes by the name of the solitary, because it is very seldom seen in company, tho’ there are abundance of them. They have scarce any tail, but their hindpart covered with feathers, is roundish, like the crupper of a horse; they are taller than turkeys. Their neck is straight, and a little longer in proportion than a turkey’s when it lifts up his head. They never fly, their wings are too little to support the weight of their bodies. The bone of their wing grows greater toward the extremity, and forms a little round mass under the feathers as big as a musket ball. That and its beak are the chief defence of this bird. "Tis very hard to catch it in the woods, but easie in open places. because we run faster than they. Some of the males weigh 45 pounds. When these birds build their nests they choose a clean place, gather together some palm leaves for that purpose, and heap them up a foot and a half high from the ground, on which they sit. They never lay _but one egg, which is much bigger than that of a goose. The young bird is not able to provide for itself in several months.” Such is Leguat’s description. With regard to the “little round mass as big as a musket ball,” on the wing (which by the way has not been mentioned as occurring in the dodo), I will introduce to your notice a figure of the metacarpal bone of the solitaire, which bone in birds corresponds, as you will know, to those which are in the palm of the human hand, between the wrist and the fingers. You see N.8., Vou. vil.—Sept., 1881. 26 THe NATURALIST. distinctly the knob which Leguat described, which has the appearance of diseased bone. Now every one knows that pigeons when they fight, use their wings as weapons of offence, and the solitaire, who is an abnormally developed pigeon, is no exception in this. And there is little doubt that the solitaires, which Leguat describes as fighting with the wings, used by the force of their blows to raise a little callus or knob of diseased bone which in time became hereditary and increased to the size you see. The females had on their wings a small knob also, but it never presented the spongy, diseased appearance you see here, from which it is probable that Leguat was not quite correct in describing the females as fighting among themselves, as he did. Should you desire to satisfy yourselves why the dodo and solitaire come to be classed with the pigeons, I would refer you to Messrs. Melville and Strickland’s work, “ the Dodo and its kindred,” of which a copy will be found in the Library of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society; it is rather too technical a matter to be gone into in ~ this place. IT was fortunate enough to find a great number of bones of the solitaire, ineluding some of those few which had not been previously met with. I was also obliged to record my belief in the correctness of the opinion which Messrs. Newton advance in their excellent memoir on the solitaire in the Philosophical Tranctions, as to the cause which effected the extinction of this magnificent bird, viz: that man is simply and solely to blame. In the first place he punished the solitaire pitilessly himself, as many of the old travellers tell us. In the second, man’s carelessness or wantonness caused the fires which on several occasions laid portions of the island waste, and changed what used to be fertile and luxuriant parts of the island into little better than desert. Lastly, what man had so ably commenced was consummated by his camp-followers, the hogs and cats aforesaid, who would prevent the race of solitaires from being carried on by a continual persecution of the young, which Leguat tells us were produced singly and were helpless for months. As far as I could decide the question, the last solitaires must have perished a little more than a century ago. The circumstances under which most of the remains [ brought home were found pointed to the birds having crept into the cave mouths, possibly to avoid a fire then raging in the woods, and tumbled into a cleft in the rocks, from which: they could not get out, owing to their unwieldliness, and so died. in addition to the solitaire, remains were found in the caves (1) of an owl, Carine murwora, which, according to Leguat, lived on small SLATER: RODRIGUES, AND ITS Fauna. ait birds and lizards; (2) a starling, Necropsar rodericanum, (nearly allied to an extinct Bourbon bird), of which I was fortunate enough to be the first discoverer ; (3) another and a larger parrot, Necropsitiacus rodericanus ; (4) a pigeon, Zurtur picturatus, which also inhabits—or inhabited—Madagascar, Mauritius, and Bourbon, and which is almost or quite extinct in the two latter; (5) a-very remarkable rail, Aphan- apteryx lequati, flightless, and nearly allied to an extinct Mauritius form ; and lastly (6) a peculiar heron, Vycticorax, megacephalus, which, like the owl, had unusually small wings, though it probably had the power of flight when it chose to exert it. Its head and legs, however, were very large and strong. It is a remarkable circumstance to find birds of the pigeon, owl, rail, and heron, almost or quite without the power of flight. It poinis to the island having been much as it is at present for many centuries. Food was so abundant and easily obtained that two out of the four birds lost their flight altogether, from not having need for it, and the other two in a great measure. Of course when men, cats, and hogs did make their appearance, it made it all the worse for the poor birds, who, in a couple of hundred years, succumbed to their adversaries, and were numbered with the great auk and the -Philip Island parrot. So much for the birds. . In reptiles, we have existing one or two small lizards, and remains of a large one occurred in the bone-caves. Leguat described this animal as being of a “‘ villanous appearance,” as long and thick as a man’s arm, and—a truly French remark—not bad to.eat. Remains of large extinct land tortoises are very abundant in Rodrigues, related to a less abundant Mauritius species, and, also, remarkably enough, to the huge ones which are found in the Galapagos Islands off South America, as Dr. Gunther tells us. They were plentiful in Leguat’s time, who used to see flocks of two or three thousand together. Now, alas, they have followed the solitaire—their ancient companion—to the happy hunting grounds. Their shell, or carapace, was, in adult males, some four feet from back to front, but I found fragments of some that must have been still larger than this. There is, as above-mentioned to you, an orange-headed finch, Youdia, in Rodrigues ; there is a scarlet-headed one in Mauritius; a more scarlet one still in Madagascar, and another in the Scychelles, all very nearly related. You have the starling, Necropsar, in Rodrigues, and the Fregilupus in Bourbon; the Aphanapterya leguati in Rodrigues, and A. broeckw in Mauritius; the solitaire in Rodrigues, the dodo in Mauritius, and their hitherto undiscovered kinsman in Bourbon ; the tortoise in Rodrigues, and his cousin in Mauritius. Here we see a 28 Tae NATURALIST. number of allied species apparently illustrating in the clearest manner the theory of the survival of the fittest, and of the modification of species to suit their circumstances. Without going so far as Dr. Hartlaub, and inventing and subsequently submerging a new continent in the interests of this fanua, we see here a number of foci from which these allied species have arisen. This process of modification has undoubtedly taken a considerable period to perfect ; so long, that the pigeon and rail representatives have had the time to lose the power of flight altogether, and the owl and heron in great part. And those accidental variations which have benefited the representatives have become permanent characteristics, and been inherited and added to till the naturalist finds the dodo and solitaire differing from one another in a variety of ways, though still more closely related to one another than hitherto any other forms; and as with them, so with the rest. And this close alliance holds good, not only amongst vertebrates, but in the other branches of zoology, and in botany also. A very few years ago it would have been considered most unbecoming and improper for a clergyman to have dared to countenance in public, even in the smallest degree, the shocking (because misunderstood and misrepresented), theory of natural selection. Without, however, going to the extravagant lengths which some of the disciples of the Evolutionist School would lead us, we must speak with respect of its general doctrine, as of a theory which enables us to explain many of the more difficult problems in biology, if not fully and conclusively (which, after all, may be only due to our want of knowledge of all the links in the chain of argument), at least more so than any other explanation as yet brought forward. Religion and science have been almost universally considered of late years to be wholly incompatible. Surely this is not the case! Religion is the acme of truth. Science, too, surely, is truth, though as yet science has hardly attained her majority, or got as clear from the errors with which all systems are liable to be imbued at their birth. We live, however, in an age of progress, and it will not do for the advocate of religion to stand aloof from the general advance, and say, ‘‘ Because I cannot explain the views of science by the light of my religion, therefore I ignore it.’’ Science is truth, and for that reason religion can explain it, and will explain it, when our vision becomes sufficiently educated for the purpose. I am confident that before long religion and science will stand quite on another footing, and that the further we advance in our knowledge of science, the more we shall find out that religion revealed and science SLATER: RODRIGUES, AND ITS Fauna. 29 revealed agree with one another, and supplement one another and explain cne another. No doubt there are discrepancies between the twe at present, as far as we are acquainted with science ; but I feel certain that the time is not far distant when the two will go hand in hand, and not, as at present, in ill-concealed hostility. Passing from the extinct fauna to that which is still in existence, there are two or three branches of the insect and allied classes which Lave the power to force themselves on the attention of all who visit Rodrigues, whether naturalists or not. These are the centipedes, ants, and mosquitoes. The centipedes, which are seven or eight inches long, are certainly the most villanous-looking creatures I have met with, though before I left the island I had got to regard them with comparative indifference. ‘They don’t enter buildings much, but, when camping out, they used at night to crawl all over my tent, and the noise of all their legs, when I had retired to bed, crawling on the canvas floor was horrid. Hardly a night used to pass at first without my hearing a how! of anguish from the Indian quarters and receiving a call for medicine (which was ammonia), for centipede’s bite. They used to have a regular hunt for them after a little time of this kind of thing, and kill all they could find before they went to bed, and then they slept better. These creatures used to get into one’s sponge, if not carefully hung up by a string, as one of our party found to his cost, for on feeling the cold water it came out in a rage and bit him in the face. He thought that was not a likely thing to happen again, so he continued to leave his sponge about, but it did happen again, and this time he got bitten on the nose, which for a day or two was almost the size of a moderate turnip. After this he thought he might as well hang his sponge up, as the rest did. The ants are a dreadful nuisance, as they swarm in houses, and shew a great partiality for sugar and jam. At tea-time you find that your sugar is about half ant; so the only way is tou put into your cup twice as much of the mixture as you would do if it was pure sugar, and skim the ants off the top of the tea, as you collect foraminifera from sand. The mosquitoes are very troublesome ; but one soon gets not to mind them; still, if sound sleep be an object, the traveller in Rodrigues had better have a mosquito curtain with him, especially from December to May. In spite of insect plagues and no accommodation of any civilized kind, however, a visit to Rodrigues may be made a very pleasant affair, either to a naturalist or a sportsman. For the former, I have 30 Tue NatTuRAList. attempted to lay before you some of the treats which he may have the good fortune to fall in with; and there are nearly 500 species of plants known, whilst the marine zoology is wonderfully rich. For the sportsman there is a little shooting, partridge and guinea-fowl being fairly abundant, and sea-fishing being without end. With a bamboo | for a rod, and small fry for bait, he may catch four dozen or more good- ) sized fish in an hour, within the reefs, and if he goes upon the deep water beyond them, as he may do in calm weather in a good-sized boat, he can catch hammer-head and other sharks, and plenty of big fish. My own recollections of the island are very pleasant ones, and I should be far from considering any fate unwelcome which led me to pass another six months there. YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION.—CRYPTOGAMIC REPORT FOR 1880. (Concluded. ) By Wa. West, Cryprocamic SECRETARY. Explanation of initials—G. E. M., G. E. Massee ; H. T. 8., H. T. Soppitt : W. W., ; W. West. FUNGI Continued. Nectria mammoidea, Phil. and Plow. Scarborough, G. E. M.; Hawksworth, H. T. 8S. and W. W. N. Ralfsii, Br. Goole, T. Birks. - Hypoxylon coccineum, Ball. Scarborough, G. E. M. -H. multiforme, Fr. do do Hypoxylon fuscum, Fr. do do Nummularia Billardi, Tul. Scarborough and Castile Howard, G. E. M. Eutypa flavo-virens, Tul. Scarborough, G. E. M. E. spinosa, Tul. Scarborough, G. E. M. Dothidea graminis, Fr. do Gordale, W. W.; Saltaire, ie ied bars Bs D. filicina, Fr. Scarborough, G. E. M. Bingley, H. T. 8. & W. W. D. strieformis, Fr. do do Melanconis longipes, Tul. Scarborough, G. E. M. . Valsa ambiens. do do : V. tiliae, Tul. Scarborough and Castle Howard, G. E. M. Y. leiphernia, Fr. do G. -E. M. West: CryproGamMic REPORT FoR 1880. 31. V. suffusa, Fr. Scarborough, G. E. M. V. prunastri, Fr. do do U. platanoides, Berk. do do Cucurbita spartii; De Not. Filey, G. E. M. C. berberidis, Grey. Ayton, near Scarborough, G. HE. M. Sphaeria dolioluni, Pers. Scarborough, G. EH. M.; Bolton Woods, 2 ee Wh S. setacea, Pers., var. petiolz do do S. spermoides, Hoftm. do do North Dean, W. W.; Horton-in-Ribblesdale, H. T. 8. S. acuminata, Sow. Scarborough, G. HE. M. S. acuta, Moug. Bingley, H.T.S. and W. W. S. ruborum, Lib. Shipley Glen, H. T. 8. S. moriformis, Tode. Scarborough, G. E. M. S. pellita, Ir. do do S. lirella, Fr. do do S. pulvis-pyrius, Pers. Castle Howard, G. E. M. S. phzostroma, Mont. Scarborough, do S. apiculata, Curr. do do S, racodium, Fr. Castle Howard. do S. planiuseula, B. and Br. Scarborough, do S. bovilla, Cke. do do S. complanata, Tode. do do Bolton Woods, Ts, S. hirsuta, Fr. do do Spheerella isariphora, De Not. do do S. ostruthu, Fr. do do S. rumicis, Desm. do do MARINE ALG. We are indebted to Mr. G. HE. Massee entirely for the following list. “S” means Scarborough, and ‘‘ B” Bridlington. Halidrys siliquosa, Lyng. S$ | Laminaria bulbosa, Lam. Fucus vesiculosus, L. Sand B L. saccharina, Lam. -F. serratus, L. Sand B L, phyllitis, Lam. 8S _ Fucodium nodosum, L. Sand B Dichota dichotoma, Lam. § F. canaliculatum. S$ Dictyosiphon foeniculaceus, Grev.S Himanthalia lorea, Lyng. SandB | Chorda filum, Lam. S Desmarestia aculeata, Lam. 8S | Mesogloia vermicularis, Ag. S and B M. virescens, Carmichael. S D. viridis, Lam. S and B Myrionema strangularis, Grev. § Laminaria digitata, Lam. Sand B' Elachista fucicola, Fries. S 32 THe NATURALIST. Cladostephus verticillatus, Ag. S Ectocarpus siliculosus, Lyng. 8 &B E. tomentosus, Lyng. 8S E. littoralis, Lyng. S and B Sphacelaria radicans, Harv. S Polysiphonia urceolata, Grev. 8S and B P. fibrata, Harv. S P. nigrescens, Grev. S P. atrorubescens, Grey. S P. fastigiata, Grev. S P. formosa, Suhr. S$ Dasya coccinea, Ag. S Laurencia pinnatifida, Lam. § Lomentaria ovalis, Endl. 8 Corallina officinalis, L. S Melobesia verrucata, Lam. S. M. pustulata, Lam. S Delesseria sinuosa, Lam. D. alata, Lam. Sand B D. angustissima, Griff. § D. hypoglossum, Ag. S$ Calliphebaris ciliata, Ktg. C. jubata, Ktg. § Wormskioldia sanguinea, Spr. S and B Plocamium coccineum, Lyng. S and B Gymnogongrus Norvegicus, J., Ag. S Cystoclonium purpurascens, Ktg. Sand B Callophyllis laciniata, Ktg. § Chondrus crispus, Lyng. S _ Chylocladia articulata, Grev. S Furcellaria fastigiata, Lyng. S and B Schizymenia S and B Sand B Sand B edulis, Stackhouse. | Ceramium rubrum, Ag. S C. botryocarpum, Phyc. Brit. S C. Deslongchampsii, Chauv. §S ©. diaphanum, Roth. S$ C. nodosum, Phyc. Brit. $8 C. fastigiatum, Harv. Sand B C. echionotum, J., Ag. S C. acanthonotum, Carmichael. $8 and B C. ciliatum, Ducluz. S Ptilota plumosa, Ag. S and B P. elegans, Bonnemaison. § Griffithsia setacea, Ag. S and B Callithamnion pluma, Ag. §S C.roseum, Lyng. $8 C. byssoideum, Arnott. § C. Rothi, Lyng. § Porphyra vulgaris, Ag. S Bangia fusco-purpurea, Lyng. §S Enteromorpha intestinalis, Link. S$ EK. compressa, Grev. S Ulva lactuca, L. S U. latissima, L, S U. linza, L. S Cladophora rupestris, Ktg. S C. letevirens, Ktg. §S C. lanosa, Ktg. §S C. fracta, Ktg. S C. uncialis, Harv. S - Conferva verea, Ktg. §S Rivularia atra, Roth. S Oscillatoria spiralis, Carm. B Licmophora argentescens, Ag., var. flabellata, Ag. S Schizonema Dillwynu, Ag. S Grammatophora marina, Ktg. §$ Podosphenia tenella, Kte. §S Rhabdonema arcuatum, Ktg. S FRESH-WATER ALG. Cheetophora endiveefolia, Ag. Scarborough, G. E. M., new record. 3 ; e Hydrodictyon utriculatum, Roth. Spirogyra nitida (Dillw.) Link. S. quinina (Ag.) Ktg. Mere, Scarborough, do. do G. E. M. do do > Brook: Summary oF Metuops oF MicroscopicaL RESEARCH. 33 Cladophora glomerata, L. Mere, Scarborough, G. E. M. Ulothrix rivularis, Ktg. Morley, near Bingley, W. W., new record Tolypothrix lanata, Desv. Harrogate, T. Hick, new record. Oscillaria autumnalis, Hook. Scarborough, G. E. M. O. nigra, Vauch. do do O. limosa. Ag. do do Chantransia Hermanni, Roth. Shipley Glen & North Dean, W. W. Tetmemorus Brebissoni, Relf. Near Halifax, W. W., new record. Staurastrum dejectum, Breb. Mere, Scarborough, G. E.M. do Euastrum didelta (Turpin), Ralfs. do do Pandorina morum, Bory. do do Pediastrum Rotula, Braun. do do do Closterium Liebleinii, Ktg. do do do C. lunula (Muller), Ehrb. do do do Cymbella gastroides, Ktg. Morley, near Bingley, W. W. Pleurosigma attenuatum, Sm. do do Ceratoneis arcus, Ktg. Goathland; Howgill Fells, W.W. do Appitions AND Corrections.—The following species may be added to the list of West-Riding algz already published :—JLeptothrix parasitica, Ktg., Bradford, Baildon; Oscillaria Frélichii, Ktg., Eld- wick; Pinnularia oblonga, Rabenh., Adel, Bingley; Xanthidium armatum, Breb,, Adel; Closterium Diane, Ehrb., Bingley, Baildon ; C. striolatum, Khrb., Baildon. The Plagiochila tridenticulata reported from Miller’s Dale last month is a small tridenticulate form of P. asplentoides. ON THE METHODS OF MICROSCOPICAL RESEARCH IN USE IN THE NAPLES AQUARIUM. SUMMARY (By GEO. BROOK, F.L.8.) or a Paper py Dr. Paut Mayer, In THE ‘ MITTHEILUNGEN A. D. ZOOLOG. Station, zU NEAPEL,” VoL. 2, PART 1, 1880. (Continued. ) Carmine and Fucro-Carmine, §c.—With regard to the aqueous solutions of staining media, they are, generally speaking, only used when those dissolved in alcohol are of no use. ‘The chief detriments to their use have already been mentioned. ‘The interpretation of the results obtained by carmine staining is not always satisfactory. For instance, in his work on the nervous system of Aguilla, Bellonci describes peculiar halfmoon-like structures in the ganglion cells ; Dr. Mayer is of opinion that these are entirely artificial productions, 34 Tar NATURALIST. and owe their origin to the carmine solution in which they were stained, for with careful preservation and staining they do not appear. Grenacher does not think much of Beale’s carmine, and draws atten- tion to the great variety in the composition of commercial carmines. Picro-carmine, however, perhaps on account of its containing picric — acid, is much more certain in its results, and in some cases it will give better specimens than can be obtained by any other medium. Itisa pity that in commerce one can not always get it of the same quality, and it often contains too much picric acid. It is therefore better to make a solution for one’s self. for this purpose take an ordinary strong solution of carmine (about two grammes to 25 cubic centi- metres of water), the ammonia of which has been allowed to evaporate by long exposure to the atmosphere, and add strong picric acid in water until no precipitate is formed. ‘This will take about four parts of picric acid to one of carmine. This mixture is then ready for staining purposes. Of course with Arthropoda, in which the chitine - is not very thin, the picric acid only penetrates, and not the carmine. Recently Dr. Lang has recommended a mixture of equal parts of 1 % picro-carmine and 2 % eosin in water, specially for the planarians. The object, previously hardened in alcohol, should remain in the staining fluid from 4 to 4 days, and should afterwards be washed in 70 %, 90 %, and 100 % alcohol, until the picric acid and superfluous eosin are removed. In this way it is not only the nuclei of the ganglion which are stained, but also the continuations of them, and the nerve fibres become distinct if only lightly stained. Aniline Colours.—The use of aniline dyes in the Naples Aquarium has been entirely given up—not because they are not sufficiently durable (Dr. Mayer possesses a preserved section of decalcified bone, stained with fuchsin and preserved in balsam, which has lost none of its intensity in seven years), but because they give diffused colours. Dr. Mayer is of opinion that this holds good also for the much- praised eosin. In general, what one mostly wants is to get the nucleus properly stained, and this can be done better and more certainly by the alcoholic solutions already. mentioned than by the aniline derivatives which have lately come into use. Their colouring matter has so little affinity for animal tissues, that deeply-stained objects may have the colouring matter entirely dissolved out by soaking in alcohol. Bismark-brown is in this respect an exception, — and although it does not dye deeply, the preparations are durable. ~ As long, therefore, as one does not wish to make evident the difference between membranes, or the various grades of ossification, &c., it is as well to avoid this group altogether. Brook: SumMaAry oF Metsops oF MicroscoricaAL RESEARCH. 35 Methods of Injection.—Prof. Emery, who has lately studied the methods of injection, recommends the following :—(A) For injection of thick carmine he follows the prescription of Ranvier, in his “ Traité WVhistologie technique,” but neutralises the mass in a more simple way. Acetic acid is added by drops until the smell of ammonia becomes very faint. ‘The reaction of the vapour is then tried with litmus paper. Sufficient acid has been added when the litmus paper begins to get red. Often, on stirring, the alkaline reaction will return, but this must be removed by another drop of acetic acid. In use it will be found that with a neutral or slightly acid mass, a diffusion of the medium through the cell walls is scarcely likely to occur. (B.) As acold fluid mass, Emery recommends the carmine solution prepared with 10% ammonia, to which, while continually stirring, acetic acid is added until the carmine begins to be precipi- tated, and the liquid has a blood-red colour. The clear liquid only must be used, and after injection, the objects must be at once placed in strong alcohol, to fix the carmine. (C.) For injecting the capil- laries, good results are often obtained by gradually mixing 10% carmine solution with acetic acid, until part of the carmine is precipi- tated. The solution must be shaken shortly before use, only allowing it to settle for a few minutes, so that the coarser grains do not get into the syringe. In injections from the arteries a considerable quantity of fine sediment remains in the capillaries, while only a light finid enters the veins. Thus the veins can easily be distinguished from the arteries, which are dyed dark red. Mounting Methods.—The great object aimed at, in preparing per- manent preparations for the microscope, is to entirely get rid of the water in the tissues of the object, and supplant it by a preservative medium. Hence, at Naples the aqueous mounting media such as glycerine, glycerine jelly, acetate of potash, &c., are in little favour. After the water has been forced from an object and supplanted by alcohol, the process is usually completed by passing through oil of cloves and mounting in balsam. Usually there is little trouble with this method. The oil of cloves, or other similar oil, is slightly heated, and as a rule it will penetrate the tissues without trouble. With larger objects, however, and particularly those with thin but not easily permeable walls, the alcohol will often leave before the oil can enter, and there will be a collapse of the walls. Creosote has been used to prevent this shrinking, but it appears to render no permanent good, (To be continued. ) 36 THE NATURALIST. Raintall for Huly. Height ToraL Faun of - | No. To Date. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest | UE above | fall. |pDays Fall. viva: ee 1881. | 1880. Ft. | In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...} 350 | 2°48 | 9] 15:21 |* 17°35 26 0°93. (J. W. Robson) HAtirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 4°02 | 19 | 23.66 | 23°86 es ies WAKEFIELD (E. B. Wriggles-| 100 | 2:19 | 11 | 12°83 = 31 0°70 worth) STANDEY, Vi tsec..0s- (dos), cee. 250) | -2 02 aA 19°08 ae 5 0°55 MLHORNES eects (dot) 90>) 2:20 ON 12:82 eis 5 0°64 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...| 350 | 1°40 | 12 | 11:73 2°76} 31 0°46 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 3°79 | 15 | 19°30 Ze 5OPse ok 1°68 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...) 520 | 1:33 | 12 | 14:31 20°39 31 0°31 GooLE ... (J. HARRISON)... 25 | 1:76] 11] 11°59 | 16°58 5 0°40 * This is the average to date for 15 years, 1866-80, + (sie) Short Dotes and Queries. Racomitriwm heterostichum av MarspEN.—On 6th inst., I gathered a tuft of this moss alongside Red Brook, Marsden, near Huddersfield, on some rocky boulders. I believe this is the first time it has been recorded for the Colne with Calder area, and certainly the first for this portion of it. It was not in fruit, but the leaf structure is sufficient to distinguish it from fasciculare and sudeticum, the only other species with which it could be confounded in a barren state.—C. P. Hopxirk. EntomotocicaL Norrs.—I have, this season, had the pleasure of rearing, from eggs, several larvee of Acronycta alii; they are now spinning up, but their gradual developement has been of the greatest interest to me. I have also a few larvee of the local Acidalia ochrata, from eggs sent from Deal, by Mr. W. H. Tugwell; these show signs of hibernating whilst still very small. And I have also received a batch of eggs of the Folkestone speciality, Lemiodes pulveralis, which hatched a few days ago. To my cabinet I have added a series of Scoparia alpina, recently taken in Scotland. And Mr. Fletcher informs me that a yellow form of Zygena meliloti has been taken this year in the New Forest.—Gero. T. Porritt. Museum For HUDDERSFIELD.—We are glad to be able to announce that the splendid collection of British Birds (295 cases), belonging to Mr. Alfred Beaumont, have been purchased for £200, as the nucleus of a 3 . Reports or Societies. 37 public museum for Huddersfield. They are at present in the rooms of the Literary and Scientific Society, where they will be publicly exhibited, as soon as the arrangements are completed. NOTICES OF BOOKS, &c.—“ Botanical Exchange Club of British Isles.—Report for 1880.” The recorder regrets that the number of plants for this year’s distribution falls short of last year’s, being 3,300 as against 4,800. Among them is a new variety, Ruppia rostellata, var. nana, Boswell, from Orkney Islands, along with a considerable collection of other plants from same province. Mr. G. Webster sends a number of Rubi from near York. Linnea borealis has been gathered in another wood in Berwickshire —being a second locality for this rare plant : and Messrs. H. and J. Groves send a new Spartina, S. Townsendi, Groves, from mudflats, Hythe, 8S. Hants. The report is a very interesting one.— Reports of Societies. Barnstey Naturawists’ Socrery.—Meetings Aug. 2nd and 16th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—On the resignation of Mr. C. Bellamy, corresponding secretary, Mr. W. E. Brady was appointed. Mr. Drury, of Tankersley Rectory, presented a number of eggs from the Farne Islands for the museum, including those of the Sandwich tern, black-headed gull with varieties, eider duck’s egg and silky down, guillemot with several varieties, cormorant, sparrow hawk ; and the chairman the Handbook of Pontefract, with sketches of the antiquities, soil, and geological forma- tions, prepared for the Yorkshire Mechanics’ Union’s late visit ; also Cook’s ‘‘ Micographia Restaurata,” published in 1745, from the original edition of 1677. The entomological section’s report was read by Mr. W. E. Brady. Several species of lepidoptera were recorded for the month in this district, among them being Dicranura bifida, Agrotis tritici, Zeuzera cesculi, Urthosia suspecta, and Xylophasia scolopacina. Mr. J. Harrison gave a list of 70 species of lepidoptera he noted in the New Forest on a recent visit. A box of insects and a few fossils were exhibited. Several communications were laid before the meeting—one from Mr. C. Wemyss, Cannon Hall, August 1st, that the marten (the largest of the Mustelide) which was taken on the moors beyond Peni- stone, had escaped, and could not be re-captured by the keeper’s dogs. Mr. G. H. Teasdale wrote that he had purchased a hawfinch, which was rescued from a sparrow-hawk.—T. L. Braprorp Natvuratists’ Socrety.—Meeting August 2nd, Mr. B. Spencer in the chair.—A paper was read on ‘“ Natural History Observa- tions,” by Mr. Terry, who exhibited a number of objects in illustration of hisremarks. Mr. Firth exhibited a black variety of X. polyodon from 38 : THe NATURALIST. Bingley, P. chrysitis, B. perla, and A. incanaria; Messrs. Andrews and Brook, a number of botanical specimens ; Mr. Saville, ephr odiwm rigidum from Ingleborough ; Mr. West, Hippocrepis comosa, Endocarpon miniatum, var. complicatum, Physcia stellaris (ft.), P. tenella, Splachnwm ampullaceum, Hypnum rugosium, and Aicidiwm crassum from Malham, Umbilicaria cylindrica from Ben Lawers and Ben Macdhui. Meetine Aug. 16th, Mr. B. Spencer in the chair.—Microscopical evening.—The chairman exhibited twelve slides of vegetable preparations thoroughly illustrating vegetable morphology ; Mr. West, a large number of slides, amongst which were some fine sections, and a number of algee, including Polysiphonia byssoides, with tetraspores, it not having been found in that state before in Britain. The specimen was collected by Mr. G. Massee, of Scarboru’. Mr. Rogers, some beautiful stained sections of Hippuris, Clematis, &c. In Widen to the above, Mr. Terry exhibited a number of insects, including C. graminis and O. suspecta, from Shipley Glen; and Mr. H. T. Soppitt, a number of interesting plants from Scarboro’.—H. T. 8. HUDDERSFIELD NaTuRALISTS’ SocreTy.—Meeting July 18th, Mr. James Varley in the chair.—In botany a large number of specimens were laid on the table by Messrs. Bartlam, Varley, and Beaumont, among which were the following :—Ranunculus Lenormandi, Silene inflata, Atropa Bella- donna, Hyoscyamus niger, Stellaria glauca, Plantago media, Eupatorium cannabinum, Hypericum androsemum, H. quadrangulum, H. dubiwm, H. perforatum, H. hirsutum, H. humifusum, H. pulchrum, Lepidium ruderale, L. campestre, Lamiwm album, L. purpureum, L. intermedium, Melilotus officinalis, Epilobium hirsutum, Senebiera coronopus, Lycopus europeus, and Secrophularia nodosa. Mr. Mackenzie exhibited the following geological specimens from Tilton-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire, where they -are making a new railroad. They were, three weeks since, cutting through the middle lias, from which strata these specimens were pro- cured :— Ammonites Bucklandi, A. communis, A. margaritatus, and Rhynchonella placatissima. Messrs. Mosley, Ellis, and Bickerdike showed — the following entomological specimens, taken at Wharncliffe recently :— M. margariiata, A. nebulosa, A. herbida, T. derasa, T. batis, C. fluctuosa, N. C-nigrum, P. V-aureum, and C. corylata. Mr. Bickerdike also showed a specimen of the American cockroach (Blatta gigantea). Merertine August 6th, Mr. J. Varley in the chair. Mr. J. Mackenzie laid on the table some bones of a Saurian, from the middle lias, Barrow- on-Soar, Leicestershire, also a very fine specimen of fibrous gypsum from the same locality ; Messrs. Fisher, Bartlam, and Varley, a number of botanical specimens, among which were Veronica agrestis, V. polita, Fedia olitoria, Galium uliginosum, Convolvulus seprum, Solanum dulcamare, Pastinaca vulgaris, Scabiosa arvensis, Scandia pecten, Cigopodium poda- graria, Pimpinella saxifraga, Prenanthes muralis, Galeopsis tetrahit, Scutellarva galericulata, and Senecio viscosus. | 4 / -¥ ) ; - Reports oF SOcIgTIES. 39 Meetine 15th August, Mr. 8S. L. Mosley inthe chair.—In entomology Mr. A. W. Whiteley laid on the table a hemipterous insect taken from among some bilberries imported from Hamburg. Mr. F. Ellis exhibited a number of lepidoptera taken recently in this district ; the following were among the number :—C. fulvata, C. populata, N. baja, L. cesiata, and P. bipunctidactylus ; Mr. George Bickerdike, a number of entomo- logical specimens from Blackpool, viz:—A. Aglaia, S. Janira, 8S. Titho- nus, and Z. filipendule. The next ramble will be to the Deyne Woods, Netherton. MaAncurstER Cryprocamic Society.—Meeting, August 15th, Capt. Cunliffe, F.R.M.S., in the chair, in the absence of Dr. Carrington, president, whose continued indisposition still prevents his attendance. The members are, however, glad to learn that there are now hopes of his recovery from a long and protracted illness. A number of mosses which had recently been collected during the excursion to the Grampian and Breadalbane mountains were exhibited, amongst them being Arctoa fulvella and Gidipodinm Griffithianum, which latter species was found fruiting abundantly on Ben Cruachan, on the ascent from Loch Awe station. Leskea rufescens was frequently found in fruit on Ben Lavigh and other mountains. Hypnum crista-castrensis, Dissodon splachnoides, and Brywm alpvvwm were found plentifully in fruit in the neighbourhood of Loch Tay. A tuft of Tetraplodon mmnioides, from a large patch, that would have filled a hat, and containing many thousands of capsules, was found growing on the fur of a dead mountain hare, on Meal Tarmechan. Most of the mosses exhibited had also been mounted microscopically by Mr. Cunliffe, the series being very much admired as specimens of micro- scopical mounting. Mr. Cunliffe also exhibited specimens of Splachnuwm ampullacewm and Fissidens polyphyllus, from North Wales. ‘Specimens of the latter were liberally distributed to the members. Mr. W. H. Pearson announced having found two new stations for the rare Jungermannia myriocarpa (Carr), on Langdale, Westmoreland, whilst botanising in company with Mr. George Stabler, and also on Clogwyn dur Arddu, in North Wales, August, 1881. This very distinct species, which Dr. Spruce characterises as the happiest discovery of our president, was found in Italy by Prof. Massalongo. Amongst the Westmoreland and Welsh specimens were found the male plants, these not having been hitherto observed.—T. Rogers, Hon. Sec. WAKEFIELD NATURALISTS’ AND PHILOSOPHICAL Socrety.—Meecting July 6th, Dr. Crowther, vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. Wright gave a description of the following insects, and exhibited the larvz and imagos : C. flavicornis, O. antiqua, and S. popult. Dr. Crowther explained to the meeting a process of preserving the brain of deceased animals, by which putrefaction may be avoided, though the brain be exposed to the direct heat of the sun, and exhibited the brain of a large sheep-dog prepared in this manner, in a perfect state, and free from decomposition. 40 THE NATURALIST. The adder recorded on page 190 of the Naturalist was produced at the meeting.—K. B. W. YorkKsHIRE Narurauists’ Unton.—The fifth meeting was held at Richmond on Bank Holiday Monday, the 1st of August. Owing to the inaccessibility of the place for many societies, only those of Leeds and Halifax were represented, about thirty members being present. Under the guidance of Mr. E. B. Walton the secretary, W. D. Benson the vice- president, of the Richmond Club, Mr. James March, and others of the members, the party walked down the north bank of the Swale to the ruins of Easby Abbey. A party of geologists, headed by Prof. Green, drove to the locality in which the Woodocrinus is found, and to the Gallow Fields, and other sections. Other places were also visited, including the Temple Grounds. The meetings were held in the Museum of the Richmond and North Riding Naturalists’ Club, which contains a very nice series of collections and some interesting specimens, including one of Banks’ oarfish (Regalecus Banksii), which had been taken at Seaton. The general meeting was presided over by the Rev. H. H. Slater, B.A., F.Z.S., vice-president. The minutes having been taken as read, votes of thanks were passed—to Dr. H. W. T. Ellis, of Crowle, and Rey. A. E. Wright, president of the Richmond Naturalists’ Club, for becoming subscribers ; to Miss Barclay, of Richmond, for the donation of £1 to the funds, and for various transactions and other donations to the library. Similar votes to the local secretary (Mr. E. Bridges Walton), to Mr. Smurthwaite for admission to his grounds, and to the Richmond Club for the use of the room, were passed. The reports of sections were then given. The chairman reported for the Vertebrate Section. The Conchological Report was not given, in consequence of the absence of the officers of the section. The Rev. M. S. Dunbar, M.A., of Leeds, reported for the Entomological Section that none but common insects had been obtained. Mr. Jno. Jackson, of Wetherby, in the absence of the officers of the Botanical Section, reported that although they (the botanists) had not found anything particularly rare, they had seen a profusion of good plants, and had enjoyed exceedingly the walk by the banks of the Swale. The best plants seen were as follows :—Berberis vulgaris, Saponaria officinalis, Silene inflata, ditto, var. puberula, Arenaria serpyllifolia, ditto, var. leptoclados, Alsine verna, Malva moschata, ~ Geranium lucidum, G. sylvaticum, Prunus Padus, Pyrus aria, Sedum acre, Saxifraga tridactylites, Gigopodium Podagraria, Myrrhis odorata, Conium maculatum, Valeriana officinalis, Solidago virga-aurea, Vinca minor, Linaria cymbalaria, Veronica montana, Salvia verbenaca, Symphy- tum officinale, Echium vulgare, Daphne laureola, Allium oleraceum, Carex sylvatica, C. remota, Melica uniflora, Hordeum murinum, Asple- nium trichomanes, A. ruta-muraria. and Polypodium vulgare. Mr. W. Cheetham reported on the results of the Geological Section, which had been very successful. A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the business. oe = a Ake oe. t Sent. 5 Tastee Naturalists’ Socisty. : ae |e _» 6. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. RR et se - , ~ -. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. — >, . 7%. Entomological Society of London, 7-30 p.m. y 9. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 5, 12. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.— “ Snow naper § Mr.J. BL ee Crossley, 8 p.m. 18. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—Microsopical nveaiae Mr. W. ee West, 7-30 p.m. 4, 14. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. t 5, 19. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. ~~ 4, 20. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. — Excursion to ~ Dale Abbey. Local Secretary, Rey. T. W. eee ae Bios E.L.S. 24, Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.— “Reptiles,” Mz, G. P. Stather. >, 26. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. » 26. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.— ‘‘ Geological Time,’ Mr. W. Jagger. TRA NSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. PART I. FOR 1877 contains the commencement of ‘* The Birds of Yorkshire,” ee - by Mr. W.-E. Clarke, M.B.O.U. ; of an “‘ Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- ee water Mollusca of Yorkshire, ” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a oa - complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that _ order, by. Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a 4s Daper on ‘* Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera “in 1877, is -by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S.; one on ‘‘ Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera in 1877, i by Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. S. L. Mosley, on “‘ Yorkshire Diptera,” — ~ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psyllide ; ; and a : aehet on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G:S. PARTS If. AND ILI. FOR. 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’s - - Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs, Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water _ hag a Mollusca of Yorkshire ; ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by ae le > Dr. Parsons; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora of the Hast- a neem ee ~ Ruling ” ; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. armas Perea _-- Yorkshire Ichneumonde, by Mr._8. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; and on Vorkahive .: Sen Loe Hymenoptera, observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. F PART I V. FOR 1879, in preparation.—Amongst papers in repaint for ~ fature parts is a Catalogue. of Yorkshire Lepidoptera, to be written by Messrs. . -G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., and W. Prest. 5 es THE sete corions are supplied to subscribers of 5/- and Be pees i “to the funds of the Union.- Intending subscribers are invited. to send their names © asa sae pieres of: the Secretaries. raRG : =e i ~ W.. DENISON RoEBUCK, teres Bank, Leeds, Wa K. 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The volumes commence with the Ju une - The early volumes are out of print, but can be Aacuonalie obtained by purchasers. of the entire series. In this case the price of vols. 1. to-V, is 10s. per vol. The succeeding vols. Peel, bound in cloth) can be had separately or tog gether at = 5 per vol. LONDON: JOHN VAN: VOORST, 1, Paternoster Row. Se if N.B. a eenindions &c., should “ae sent to the eee at the above. ndldress Just + Published, ee a bow ae = THE INSECT HUNTER'S COMPANION, By the REv. JOSEPH GREENE, MA. gee instructions for Collecting, _ Rearing, ‘Setting, and Sree Btberties and Moths, Beetles, Bees Flies, and other ieee THIRD ‘EDITION. ee ie 2 REVISED. AND EXTENDED Spy AS ~B. FARN. 2 ae THE CHAPTER ON poe ‘BY EDWARD NEWMAN. eee CONTENTS.—How to obtain the Eee by: Ogee Supess female ae ) pairing insects. _How to obtain Lary by beating : the Bignell tray ; sweepin searching by night; how-to rear the larva; : “sleeving ; hybernating larvee parasites ; preser ving larvee. PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pupe ; forcing pupz THe Prrrecr INsEcr. —Localities; net ; mothing : honeydew ; res light ; indoor light ; grouting ; smoking : ; killing ; relaxing 5 ‘setting 7 er y mites : ; moulds cabinets and’ store boxes ; ; painting = ‘arrangement and no clature ; uitmber of specimens and manner of placing ; transmsssion by entomological diary; books. © Mrcro- TEPIQUF IRE? COLEOPTERA; Ce, SREEDING OF GALL-FLTES:; PRICE ONE SHILLING. a aa LONDON : SONNENSCHEIN & ALLEN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, OR “AND = FIELD OLUB RECORD. — JEW SERIES. Me thods of Microscopical. Resear cha in use in the Naples Aquarium. — ne L. 8. go ees ; ae. our : SUBSCRIBERS. should be forwarded at once in- either Poder Drees FOO Postage Stamps. All communications to be addressed’ to Epitors, care of Mr. B. Brown, Market Place Corner, u dersfield. os x TO CORRESPONDENTS. 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British and European Macro- -Lepidoptera, Preserved Larve of rare Britis Lepidoptera. ae BOOKS.—New and Second-hand, on Natural History Sulicere The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and oa Eggs in peu Catalo e on eee 6d., “ Graduated List of British Birds.” specially pooped reference and labelling, 6d. ae ‘* LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CALENDAR,” ” Limp Cloth, 36. Interleaved, : REGENT STREET, > Original Articles. ON AN EPIDEMIC OF 7RICOPHYTON TONSURANS#* By Wii1iam E. A. Axon, M.R.S.L., F.S.S., Corresponding Member of the Caracas Society of Natural and Physical Science. Some years ago I knew well a person who was in the habit of being shaved by a barber, and who on one occasion noticed that the operator had not been very particular in cleaning the instrument with which he had just mown the face of another client. A word of remonstrance was addressed to the Figaro, but without avail. A man with his mouth covered with soap and lather, with a person flourishing a lethal weapon in his face, is not advantageously placed for argument. The victim in this case had reason to regret, for shortly after, ringworm developed on his chin, and it was not without much difficulty that he got rid of the troublesome visitation.. Ever afterwards he trusted his own razor alone. This circumstance has been brought to my memory by a recent epidemic of ringworm in France, the particulars of which were brought before the May meeting of the French Academy of Medicine by Dr. Gerlier, of Ferney-Voltaire. A servant of the college at Ferney, after being shaved, developed rings of Herpes circinatus on his chin. Ten other customers of the same barber were attacked in the same way between October, 1879, and April, 1880. There were also five persons to. whom the disease was communicated in the household of a client, who himself had four Herpes circinatus and one Tinea tonsurans. The son of the barber went to a school at Sacounex, where fourteen children were attacked by Tinea tonsurans, and eight by Herpes circinatus. It was the common opinion that this epidemic had originated from the child of a horse-shearer, whose father had cut his hair with a pair of horse-shears. The doctor advised the people to shave themselves, or, if they went to the barber’s, to have instruments and linen for their own special use. This counsel the village hairdresser resented, and posted a placard in the market- _ place, in which the doctor was denounced as a libeller. The police, as a matter of course, interfered on the wrong side, and protected the barber’s calumnious poster. The Academy of Medicine was informed N.S., Vou. vit.—Oct., 1881. * Read before the Manchester Cryptogamic Society, July 17th, 1881. Oe Tur Natoraist. of the epidemic, and the sous-préfet summoned the Conseil d’ Hygiéne to take action, and in consequence it is announced that this curious epidemic has now entirely disappeared. The term is loosely used, but the real ringworm is caused by a cryptogamic fungus which was first described by Malmsten in 1845. An extensive literature of herpetic eruptions is chronicled by Dr. James Copland, in his Dictionary of Practical Medicine (London, 1858). The result of more modern inquiries is given in Aitken’s Science and Practice of Medicine (London, 1872), from which the following description of the parasite is taken: “It consists of oval transparent spores or globules zg, part of an inch in diameter. Many of these are isolated ; others constitute, by their juxtaposition, articulated filaments. | Comparatively few cryptogamic tubes are visible—a character which distinguishes the ringworm affections from the vegetable structures seen in other diseases of the skin. Its anatomical seat is in the interior of the roots of the hair. The hairs and fungi simultaneously increase; the former seem larger than usual, are paler in colour, lose their elasticity, soften and break off when they have risen some one or two lines above the surface of the - scalp. In the short cylinder of hair left, the fungus grows still more rapidly, so that the normal structure of the small stump soon becomes undistinguishable. Sometimes the hair breaks off before emerging from the skin, and the fungus, epidermis and sebaceous matter fill the ends of the piliferous conduits and form the little prominences which can be seen by the naked eye in this disease, and which gives to the skin a rough anserine appearance. The sporules and mycelium of the plants can sometimes be seen in the form of a white powder on the roots of the broken hairs; sometimes the cutis becomes congested and thickened, and then the plant becomes mixed up with the scales of the epidermis, with fatty and albuminoid granules, with pus and serous exudation, and so crusts are formed of greater or less thickness in which the growth of the fungus can go on. It exists in the Herpes tonsurans of Cazenave, which is the Porrigo scutulata of Willan, the Tinea tonsurvans of Bazin, and the Trichosis furfuracea of Erasmus Wilson and Dr. Wood.” The article from which we have quoted is illustrated by some figures illustrative of the action of this curious fungus upon the hair. The only additional researches of moment known to me are oat by Dr. Thin and Dr. Gerlier. Dr. Thin has been noting the growth of Tricophyton tonsurans under the microscope. The only successful method was by moistening the hairs with vitreous humour, when the r rs fg + —e Se = SS pee oe a Axon : TRICOPHYTON TONSURANS. 43 Spores on the sides of the hairs placed in the cells were seen to grow into a mycelium, and free growth took place when the hairs were floated on the surface of this fluid in test tubes. It did not grow in cells when the hairs were immersed in a large drop, nor in test tubes when the hairs were kept at the bottom of the tube. The growth observed was the formation of mycelium from the spores in the hairs, and the formation of spores in the newly-formed mycelium. It was shown that Aspergillus, Penicillium giaucum,and other fungi grew around the hairs, whilst the spores of Zricophyton remained sterile, and that the latter is essentially distinct from the common fungi, whose spores are present in the atmosphere. Dr. Thin concludes, from the fact that the spores will not grow when immersed in vitreous humour, but only when moistened by it, that this explains why inflammatory exudation from the blood vessels cures ringworm of the scalp. Dr. Thin’s paper appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. Xxx, p. 501-2; and an abstract is given in the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society for June, 1881 (p. 496-7). Dr. Gerlier took advantage of the outbreak to observe the disease closely. He thinks that when of bovine origin it is not so difficult to treat nor so likely to spread as when it is developed from an equine source. There is a hygienic as well as a scientific value in these observations which shavers and others should make a note of. P.S.—Since the above was written, Mr. Thos. Rogers has called my attention to two papers on “ Z7ricophyton tonsurans” in the proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, 1871-2, vol. xi, pp. 29-61. In these Mr. John Barrow, amongst other interesting details, mentions that he was quite unable to obtain mycelium from the skin of the face in the case of an adult attacked by ringworm, although one hair follicle of the upper lip was filled. This he believes to be the cause of the obstinacy of the disease, as the mycelium burrows so deep in the skin as to be beyond the reach of the usual parasiticides. Hence he thought that the best way of attacking the life of the plants would be to seal them up, and so keep them from the action of light and air. Three rings of several months’ standing, which had resisted applications of carbolic acid, nitric acid, and ammonia-chloride of mercury, were painted over with a thick coating of tar, which in two days, after partial removal by washing and wear, was taken off with benzole. ‘The skin resumed its natural condition, and no appearance of a return of the ringworm showed itself, ON THE METHODS OF MICROSCOPICAL RESEARCH IN USE IN THE NAPLES AQUARIUM. SUMMARY (By GEO. BROOK, F.L.S.) oF A PAPER BY DR. PAUL MAYER IN THE ‘“* MITTHEILUNGEN A. D. ZOOLOG. STATION, ZU NEAPEL,” VOL. 2, PART 1, 1880. — (Concluded. ) Dr. Mayer meets the difficulty in the shrinking of the larger objects, by making an insertion with a fine pair of scissors in an unimportant part of the body cavity, so as to allow the oil to enter at once. This answers very well, and can be used with very small objects, such as Auricularia and other larvz, if a fine flattened needle be used. If this should fail, and especially when the number of objects to be transferred to balsam is large, the alcohol may be supplanted gradually. Dr. Mayer has thus prepared very young larva of Echinoderms. ‘The specimens were taken up in a capillary tube, with the surrounding alcohol, and then placed in a tube, with a drop of oil of cloves at the bottom. After the lapse of half-a-day the larvee, which at first swam on the top of the oil, had got to the bottom of it, and could be easily removed again by the same tube. Objects may be left in oil of cloves for months without any apparent detriment. Recently Kleinenberg has recommended the use of Colophonium instead of Canada balsam. ‘The solution in absolute alcohol is not suitable, as under certain circumstances the finished preparations will show large bundles of crystals. Turpentine should be used as a solvent; this, however, has the disadvantage that the preparations dry very slowly, The solution in chloroform seems to answer well, — but must be filtered before use. Further experience is required with this medium before its use can be strongly recommended. A solution of Sandarac in absolute alcohol, which at first appeared to answer well, has not, on further trial, proved satisfactory. Methods of Dissection —The dissection of single organs by means of needles, scissors, &c., from fresh animals, is generally carried on in weak alcohol, or an aqueous solution of chromic acid. By this process a certain maceration of all the tissues takes place, so that afterwards it is often impossible to be certain of the histological character of the respective parts. | With large objects which cannot be preserved whole, it is as well to carry on the dissection in picro- sulphuric acid, regardless of the damage done to the cutting instrument. The fluid should be changed as soon as it gets thick, and the preparations well washed in alcohol afterwards. If it is desired to harden the tissues, chromic acid may be added to the picro- sulphuric acid. The preparations thus obtained of parts of large Brook: SumMMARY OF Metsops of MicroscopicaL ResEArcH. 45 objects or of smaller whole ones, should be transferred to oil of cloves before proceeding to the minute dissection. The objects being more transparent, it is easier to carry on the work in this medium than in alcohol. The brittleness which is caused by oil of cloves is in most cases advantageous, but can easily be reduced by the addition of creosote. The tendency to collect in small drops, which is peculiar to oil of cloves, may be counteracted by the addition of oil of bergamot. Imbedding Methods.—Imbedding, for section cutting, is usually done in paraffin, either pure or mixed with lard. Instead of the latter, however, one often uses a paraffin, which in summer time becomes soft, on account of its containing liquid hydrocarbons, and is preferable to lard, because it is not lable to become rancid. The imbedding takes place in the usual way, after the object has been passed through a warm bath of paraffin and turpentine, or paraffin and creosote. With a microtome one can always cut dry, and the curling up of the section is prevented by a small spathula, which, without any pressure, is held over the cutting part of the knife. The paraffin is afterwards dissolved out by means of turpentine. The method given by Calberla and Selenka, for imbedding in a mixture of albumen, has not proved satisfactory. Tissues which have been preserved in alcohol, suffer greatly by being transferred to albumen and water, or even to pure albumen. Gelatine is a convenient imbedding medium, and Dr. Mayer has devised a process by which it can be deprived of its tiresome elasticity. The gelatine is allowed to soak, as usual, in water, then it is heated, and + to 4 a volume of castor oil is added; shake well, and shortly before getting cold, pour the mixture into a bowl. When, afterwards, all the castor oil has been extracted by 90% alcohol, the gelatine remains as a fine porous matter, a sort of artificial pith, and is at once ready for use. Naturally, it must not be exposed too long to the air, as this would soften it. Under the microscope, this form of gelatine is less troublesome than lilac pith, and has the advantage that it can be produced in any size, and always even. A PHYSIOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF LEPIDOPTERA. By A. H. Swinton. Ir has been a long standing practice with authors of works on British Butterflies to treat of the five groups represented in this country in the following order: Papilomdae, Nymphalidae, Hrycinide, 46 Tor NATURALIST. Lycenide, and Hesperide ; but since the first family, according to Dr. Scudder, has close affinity with the last, the method is only plausible on the principle of extremes meeting, the better arrangement every way being Nymphalidae, Erycinda, Lycende, Papilonide, and FHlesperide. lf physiological reasons again could ever be got to prevail over the fancy for having the butterflies first, I would like- wise suggest a further arrangement of five groups of lepidoptera, showing the development of a structure at the base of the abdomen attributed with the faculty of hearing, that highest of insect senses, thus: Noctuina, Bombycona, Geometrina, Butterflies, and Sphingina. At the best, however, must it appear that any such linear system is to be inferior to the Darwinian method of theoretical descent, for if lines are not to meet somewhere, what can be made out of case- bearing Bombycina, and case-bearing Tineina that harmonize, like the species of Jncurvaria, and why is the ghost moth such a strange anomaly? One warm, still evening at the commencement of last July, wandering out butterfly-net in hand to watch for the comet, I came on a spot where an elder bush stood clearly defined against the full harvest moon, over whose ivory blossoms several males of this moth were dancing sideways, little fans full of whimsicality glowing on the wing like whiting on the hook or calico caught ‘by the sunshine. It was a beautiful and saintiy apparition that held me long before courage was mustered to catch a couple for the cabinet. ‘Two ghosts, however, were eventually boxed, and as I spread these out on the setting board I became much struck by the circumstance how little they gave me the idea af a moth, and how little they harmonised with the moths of the group to which they are accredited. Their four wings all alike wanting the hook and eye to link them, suggested most those of a dragon-fly, and seemed to point to a greater develop- ment of the mesothoracic muscles to sustain their increased exertion. Their expansile fans on their hinder femora and their subterranean larve brought one back to the owl moths of the Brazils and the red underwings (Catocala), which in their great wing expanse, semi-looping caterpillars, and scent pencils, bridge over the gap between the Noctuina and Geometrina. Yet as their wings want the hook, so their fans want the pouch that conceals them in these moths. Indeed ghost moths, and the family of the Hepialide to which they belong, want so many of those characters that characterize lepidoptera, that? one is led on to the supposition that their progenitors never acquired them, and that they belong to an older race that in time past has disseminated itself from Hurope to the antipodes of the Maories. Notes oF British ASSOCIATION PAPERS. 47 Other races, as the species of Psychide and Coloephora whose distribu- tion is equally great, are in their economy scarcely indeed less curious, and the worm-like females of the first, sitting on their caddis cases composed of straws, bring us very low down indeed in the scale of insect organization and adaptation. Binfield House, Guildford. NOTES OF LOCAL .PAPERS READ AT BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT YORK, IN 1881. SECTION C.—GEOLOGY. . GLACIAL SEOTIONS AT YORK. Mr. J. Epmunp Ciark, B.A., F.GS., read a paper on “The Glacial Sections at York, and their relation to the later deposits.” The York area, he said, chiefly consists of glacial beds, which form the high ground and various extensive low tracts more or less remote from the Ouse. Glacial depressions have been filled up with brick-earths, and, in exceptional cases, peat-beds. Where the river channel is narrowed below the city, the crests of the banks are capped with gravels. Campleshon pond and part of St. Paul’s Square are peat- beds where depressions were elevated above the levels covered with brick-earth. The same explanation may apply to the peat at Messrs. Backhouse’s nurseries. But Askham Bog, 14 miles long by half-a- mile broad, at the far end of the Hob Moor deposits, seems to be over a depression so deep and remote that the clay deposits only partly filled it. On both sides of the river, 25 feet down at one point in Fulford, a black band of manganese has been found, yielding on analysis 60 per cent. of manganese dioxide. This looks like soot, encrusting usually the upper half of a layer of dry stones, one foot thick. The rest and adjacent beds are brown with the sesquioxide, whilst ferrous oxide comes just below. At the gravel pits now being worked on the Bishopthorpe-road a metatarsal of Ursus speleus (or U. arctos) was found this spring. ‘There seems to be no previous record of any carniverous remains from this neighbourhood. The deepest glacial sections were some made in drainage work at the Friend’s Retreat, in 1876, a drift, 650 feet long, cutting through the hill from N.W. by W. to 8.E. by E. At the highest point this was 47 feet below the surface. Shafts were sunk every 50 feet. Nothing but 48 THE NATURALIST. glacial beds were met, tough boulder clays, gravelly beds, and sand beds. From these it has been possible to draw up a pretty complete plan of the beds. In the 8.W. part these prove to be alluvial sands and laminated clays, forming a thin coat over the glacial deposits. Only about three feet of soil were removed from the S.W. corner, the depth increasing from this point. Looking at the ground-plan we are immediately struck by the regular strike of all the beds from 8. W. to N.E. The whole appearance suggests the work of an iceberg ploughing up from the 8.W., and pushing these beds before it. [Diagrams and photos were exhibited to illustrate the characteristic points here indicated.| Floating ice, however, rather than the moraine profonde of an ice-sheet, seems best to account for the mixture of tough boulder-clays with beds of boulders, gravels, and current- bedded sands. The post-glacial deposits are worked to depths of 30 feet and more ; in the river bed they may exceed 50 feet. The river is now 60 or 70 feet above its pre-glacial bed, and probably 40 or 50 above the level to which it first cut down in the opening of the post- glacial epoch. LOCAL GEOLOGY. Mr. G. W. Lamptuen, of Bridlington Quay, read an interesting and exhaustive paper on ‘The Bridlington and Dunlington Glacial Beds,” and the Rev. E. M. Cole, of Wetwang, read a paper for Mr. J. R. Mortimer on “ Sections of the Drift obtained by the new drain- age works at Driffield.” SUBSIDENCES IN LAND. A paper on “The Subsidences above the Permian Limestone between Hartlepool and Ripon,” by Mr. A. G. Cameron, Geological Survey of England and Wales, was read by Mr. Torrey. In this paper attention was drawn to the numerous forms of shrinkages of the land-surface, often extending to considerable depths into the rocks beneath, observable over the top of the permian rocks betwixt Hartle- pool and Ripon. As a general explanation of their origin, it was suggested that where the underground water, flowing over the lime- stone surface, reached the margin of the sandstone, it received a check whereby it accumulated, forming a chain of dams or pools along the line of junction of these rocks. As denudation proceeds, hollows form above, until ultimately the phenomena of the pits appear. This being so, “the water bubbling and frothing all over” was explained without calling in the aid of river-action. Allusion was made to the Home Farm Colliery accident at Hamilton, N.B.,in February, 1877, through Nortes oF British ASSOCIATION PAPERS. 49 a subsidence in the gravelly alluvium of the Clyde ; also to the recent subsidence at Blackheath, near London ; and to the extensive caverns in the hcematite districts of Furness. DOWKERBOTTOM CAVE, CRAVEN. Mr. E. B. Poutron, M.A., F.G.S. (Skipton), presented ‘A Pre- liminary Report on the working—now in progress— of Dowkerbottom Cave, in Craven.” He stated that the cave was situated about a mile and a half north-west of Kilnsey. It was 1250 feet above the sea, on a terrace on the steep slope of mountain limestone which to the north- east descended to form the moraine-covered south-west bank on the river Skirefare, while to the south-west it rose higher, to an extensive moorland from fifteen to sixteen hundred feet above the sea. The cave itself opened upon a level terrace, covered by grass, and sheltered on nearly all sides by rising walls and slopes of weathered limestone. Even on part of the slope towards the river was an outlying mass of rock, which rose far above the level of the ground on which the cave opened. He then proceeded to describe at some length the method of working, &c. Considerable discussion followed. HALIFAX HARD COAL SEAM. Mr. W. Casu, F.G.S., of Halifax, gave some information on the Halifax Hard seam, and Mr. James Spencer, of Halifax, read papers respectively on ‘‘ Researches in Fossil Botany” and “ Notes on Astromyelon and its Root.”—-The Chairman remarked that the series of papers just read furnished valuable information, and the contribu- tions of Mr. Spencer were very creditable as showing what could be done with a very little leisure time and, he believed, small means. | (Applause.)—In the course of some discussion, Professor Hull said that they would sincerely hope that the life of Professor Williamson, who had just contributed valuable information on the microscopic structure of coal, would be spared to continue and complete his grand series of observations of coal from all parts of the world. (Applause.) He then said that he considered Professor Williamson slightly misapprehended the views of geologists as to the conditions under which beds of coal were formed. He seemed to consider that the plants which formed the coal seams commenced to grow on land surfaces. (Mr. Wethered: No.) Well, he seemed to consider that coal seams were not formed on the spot on which the material grew, but were carried there in a state of aqueous suspension. (Laughter.)— Professor Williamson, in his reply, bore testimony to the aid he had received in his investiga- 50 THe NATURALIST. tions from men in the most humble circumstances. The Chairman said that he had experience of all the coal fields in England, but he would not detain them under the circumstances with any remarks. —_—_——_—— SECTION D.—BIOLOGY. ZOOLOGICAL STATION REPORTS. Mr. W. P. Suapen, F.L.S., &c., of Halifax, read a report of the committee on the Zoological Station at Naples, in which it was stated —Amongst the rarities recently procured may be mentioned Rhedosoma (Chevreulius) callense, Heller, the northern Lophogaster typicus, Sars, several new forms of parasitic Bopyride, as well as various Scopelidee. Application has been made for the use of the table, during the coming year, by Mr. Patrick Geddes, by whom important results, from a previous short occupation of this table, in 1879, have already been published. Mr. Geddes is now desirous of prosecuting certain special investigations ; these will extend over a longer period, and Mr. Geddes will be accompanied by an assistant, whose services are rendered necessary by the nature of the investigations about to be undertaken. The committee most strongly urged the renewal of the grant for the ensuing year. They further recommend that the amount be increased to £90, in consideration of the additional advantages now afforded to the occupier of a table. This increase of £15 in the contribution had been very generally agreed to by most, if not all, of the foreign nations -and universities that subscribe for tables. Professor Balfour and Professor Haddon having suggested a slight addition to the grant for the travelling expenses of the naturalists who made observations, Mr. Sladen, in reply, intimated that the question would be taken into consideration. A report was also presented on the Scottish Zoological Station by Mr. Sladen. SKULL FOUND NEAR YORK. Mr. Epwarp ALLEN read a paper on a remarkable human skull found near York. It was very much elongated and compressed at the sides. The skull would come under the Dolicocephalic or long heads of Retogius, and it had some approach to the pyramidal skulls of the Mongolian race. From the peculiarities of the teeth and the and the skull having been found along with Roman remains, Mr. Allen thought it was probably a Roman skull. Notes or British ASSOCIATION PAPERS. Dl DISCOVERIES OF BRONZE IMPLEMENTS AT LEEDS. Mr. Joun Hotes read a paper on certain discoveries of bronze implements in and about Leeds, in which he gave the characteristics of the forms and probable uses of the several implements, and by comparison with others, drawing the inference that there must have been living in the neighbourhood of Leeds bronze-using people. The use and intention of these several bronze implements was obviously twofold, viz., weapons for offence, and tools for manufacturing purposes. He thought they might humbly, but truly, assume that at a time remote from the present, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and within a circle of twenty miles south and east of Leeds, there dwelt a con- siderable number of bronze-using people, who probably lived in clans or tribes, and who had considerable skill in casting. ENTRENCHMENTS OF THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS. GeneRAL Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., read a paper on “The Entrench- ments of the Yorkshire Wolds, and the Excavations in the Earthwork called Danes’ Dyke at Flamborough.” The district consists of four patches of high ground separated from each other, and bounded by five principal valleys. Assuming most of the low ground to have been occupied in pre-historic times by marsh and jungle, there would remain only the plateau lands on the hills for the inhabitants to live upon, and here, as might be expected, they find the ground covered with their remains. Flamborough Head and promonotory must of course have formed the base of operations for warlike purposes in any case, whether of an invading or retreating force. In the former case it would be the first, and in the latter the last, point occupied by any people at war with the inhabitants of the interior. The high cliffs precluding all possibility of an attack by the sea, and leaving only the land side to be attended to, they would naturally expect to find an entrenchment facing westward, and occupying the first suitable position westward. Such an entrenchment they found in what was commonly known as Danes’ Dyke, a misnomer, as he would show. The Dyke runs north and south a distance of two miles and a half from sea cliff to sea cliff, and at a distance of three miles from the centre of it to the point of the promontory. It has a ditch on the west or inland side, showing that the enemy was expected from that quarter. It is judiciously chosen, and on the whole commands an extensive view of the country for some distance to the westward. There are twelve gaps through it, some of which are no doubt modern. A small stream coming from the north runs through the entrenchment, affording a 52 THE NATURALIST. supply of water to the defenders. The entrenchment is of nearly uniform height all along, being about eighteen feet above the level of the ground, and having a ditch sixty feet wide at the outside. Of the defensive character of the entrenchment there could not be the slightest doubt, and it was a work of great strength, probably surmounted originally by a palisade, and implying a large and well-disciplined force for the construction and defence of it. After describing what he considered as the most instructive portion of the whole district, the oolite range to the north of the Derwent valley, which included a system of defence persistently adopted in all prehistoric works in this country, whether camps or dykes, he described how, with the kind permission of Messrs. Dormer, to whom the ground belongs, he com- menced an excavation at the Danes’ Dyke, on October 13th, 1879. A quantity of flints and flint flakes were found, affording evidence that the defenders of the earthwork used flint, and consequently that the work itself was not later than the bronze period, and was, in fact of the same age as the tumuli of the Yorkshire wolds. They were narrowed to the opinion that the invaders of Flamborough, if invaders they were, were the same people who landed on the south and south- east coast of England, or else that these dykes belonged to the people of the country, who, having imported the bronze culture from elsewhere, were driven to the coast by another and more powerful race who occupied the interior, and that these defences were associated with their last occupation of the soil of Yorkshire. The PRESIDENT, having expressed his appreciation of. the paper, _ called for any observations which might be made. The Rev. T. Tayior, with the aid of the diagram, showed that the enemy against whom the dykes were made must have landed in the Humber, and were marching up to attack the Roman station at Malton. With the exception of the Victoria Cave, it was almost the only remainder of the great cataclysm which took place when the Roman civilization was withdrawn by our barbarous ancestors. | Dr. Puen thought there could be no question that the second dyke was to guard the approach from the west. General Pirt-Rivers, in reply, referred to the diagrams to point out, by the very arrangements of the dyke, that they could only have been intended for the defence of the inland country. e ANCIENT DWELLINGS ON THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS. Mr. J. R. Morrmer contributed an account of the discovery of six ancient dwellings found under and near the British barrows on the Notes oF British ASSOCIATION PAPERS. 5S Yorkshire Wolds. Dwelling No. 1 was situated at the eastern end of the barrow, which was one of the long type. Its depth from the base of the mound was 64 ft., with a surface of 94 ft. by 74 ft., and it was entered by two winding passages 24 feet in length, the northern one being cut by the side trench of the barrow, showing in this case that the construction of the dwelling had preceded the excavation of the trench, and was therefore older than the barrow. In the material filling the dwelling and its passages were many streaks of burnt wood, a femur, portions of an urn, and many animal bones, all probably the residue of feasting. A little distance from the dwelling were portions of three more dish-shaped urns, and traces of interments. Dwelling No, 2 contained similar remains, and in Nos. 3 and 4 were found bones of the red deer and the urus. No.5 consisted of an inner and outer circle of upright posts. In the centre was an oval grave cut 4 ft. into the rock, and containing the flexed human remains of a large male. In front of his face lay a crushed food-vase, and close to his left shoulder was a perforated axe hammer. Clayey matter covered the grave and extended to the outer circle of the post holes. This was believed to be the residue of the sides of the dwelling, in the centre of which its owner was interred, and afterwards the walls were pushed down over the grave, and covered with a mound. Mr. Mortimer suggested that the space between the circles of uprights might have been used for storing heads of grain and other provisions for winter use at a time when man’s dwelling was the only building he possessed for all purposes. No. 6 resembles No. 3. Small branches of oak, ash, maple, and other trees, thought to be the remains of the wattled sides of the hut, had left their impressions in the circular bed of clayey matter, some of which showed cuts made with the axe and the saw, seemingly of metal. The droppings from the eaves of this hut had stained the ground all round with colouring from the thatch of the roof, which probably was the straw of wheat, for Mr. Mortimer possessed carbonized grains of this cereal from the primary interment of an undoubted British barrow near. Unlike the previous dwelling, the occupier had not been interred within the walls of this circle, but just a few feet outside, towards the rising sun. It was accompanied by a delicately-formed flint knife, lying close to the right arm, and a finely ornamented food vase near the head. As in the previous case, the dwelling had been crushed down at the time of interment, and carefully covered with the barrow, showing but a step between the habitation of the living and the house of the dead. (To be continued. ) 54 Tae NAtuRALIS®. Liintall for August. Height TotaL Fann of SaelNo. TO DATE. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest eas above | fall. Days Fall. eae ieee 1881. | 1880. [Oe aed ae, HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 4°33 | 22 | 19:54 |* 20°23 25 0°99 (J. W. Robson) . Harirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 6°00 | 21 | 29°66 | 25-67 WAKEFIELD (E. B. Wriggles-| 100 | + worth) STANLEY ......... (dos) 4222 250: | 75 THORNES © (6.50005 (dos). 90 a as ids ae KS aa BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...) 350 | 3°64 | 19 | 15°37 | 22°65 23 0-90 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 4°93 | 26 | 24°23 | 27-53 24 0°90 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...| 520 | 4:05 | 21 | 18°36 | 22:30 23 0°98 GooLe ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 4°91 | 20 | 16°50 | 18°51 23 1°44 * This is the average to date for 15 years, 1866-80. + No returns. Short Hotes and Queries. OccURRENCE OF Sphine convolvilt NEAR LeEDs.—On the 7th September a female specimen of the convolvulus hawk-moth was brought to me alive, which had been found at Armley. Owing, however, to the captor ‘being ignorant of its value, it reached me ina very poor condition.— Wm. . Denison Rorsock, Sunny Bank, Leeds. EntomotocicaL Notres.—On the 10th of August last, Mr. J. B. Hodgkinson of Preston, brought to Huddersfield specimens of a Scoparia which he had taken not uncommonly in the Lake District, and which is evidently new. He proposes to call it S. conspicualis. This month too, is announced a new ‘‘ Pug,” Hupithecia jasioneata. It was first bred by Mr. Ficklin of Bristol, in 1879, from larvee he had found the previous autumn, on seeds of Jasione montana, in North Devon. This was the year I took Hupithecia innotata at Skegness ; and being in London the following August, Mr. Ficklin sent me by his brother-in-law, Mr. W. H. Grigg, two specimens of his Hupithecia to compare with innotata, which at Mr. Grigg’s request I had taken with me for that purpose. The Devonshire insect appeared to me to be a dark form of E. castigata, and this was also the opinion of the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe and Mr. Buckler ; and as such the specimens have stood in my cabinet ever since. On seeing the larva, however, Mr. Crewe at once saw it was quite distinct 4 : : Reports OF SocigETizs. 55 from that of castigata, and has therefore appropriately named it jasioneata. Through the kindness of Mr. N. Cooke, I have recently added a nice Crymodes exulis to my collection ; it was taken this year at Glen Spean, in Scotland. I have also received series of Pterophorus osteodactylus, and the very local P. letus, taken this season in North Devon, by Mr. South. Two days ago also, I received a batch of larvee from Mr.. Fletcher, who found them on Stachys sylvatica at Freshwater. There is no doubt they are those of Hbulea stachydalis, and if so, this adds another to the only two or three British habitats of the species.— Gzo. T. Porritt. Reports of | Societies. Barnstey Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting Aug. 30th, Mr. J. Harrison in the chair.—The secretary, W. HE. Brady, exhibited slides of the winged and wingless females and the pupa skin of Aphis brassice. Our entomoiogical record for the year will include Tethea subtusa an addition to the local list, Aplecta occulta and others. A large number of insects were exhibited at the sectional meeting :—Procris geryon, Hyria awroraria, Acidalia straminata taken by R. Creighton at Thorne Moor, and Anthomyia bete, the mangold fly. Mzetine Sep. 13th, the president, Mr. A. R. Kell, C. E., in the chair, who exhibited a pipe fish taken in the Ribble, sent by Mr. W. Moore, ~ now of Southport ; a boring beetle sent by Mr. Young, found in N orway timber at Monk Bretton Colliery ; a preserved toad, found in the garden of Mr. G. H. Teasdale, Silkstone. The ornithological report gives few migrants :—Swallows, house martins, sand martins, abound up to the present in the streets and watery places in the country. Mr. Lister noted all four kinds in the week of the British Association at York ; he last noted the willow warbler’s song in the grounds of St. Mary’s Abbey ; he saw the redstart in Lunn Wood, Aug. 18th ; a young cuckoo occurred as late as Sep. 3rd, and a male nightjar at Darfield still later in its stay, Sep. 13th; on the 4th young martins were in the nest at Brierley. Of residents, a robin’s nest with young remains up to the present date. Magpies, jackdaws, pied wagtails, meadow pipits noted at Dunford Bridge, on the 17th. Thrushes, blackbirds, scarce this summer, came in numbers to the mountain-ash berries, Aug. 25th. We hear and seea few bullfinches, and recently a goldfinch, in country gardens and fields. — T. LIsTER. Braprorp Naruratists’ Socrery.—Meeting August 30th, Mr. W. Jagger in the chair.—Mr. H. T. Soppitt exhibited Zannichellia macio- stemon, Xenodochus carbonarius, Puccinia graminis, &c. A ramble to Bury St. Edmunds was described by Mr. Bennett who exhibited a number of insects and plants, amongst the latter being Clematis vitalba. Mr. West exhibited all the British orchids, with one or two exceptions, and several 56 | THe NATURALIST. beautiful American species, and made remarks upon the same. Mr. Terry exhibited a box of local insects amongst which were C. elinguaria and V. umbresa, also a fine series of EF. Blandina from Scotland. Meetine, Sep. 18th, Mr. B. Spencer (vice-president) in the chair.-— The meeting was devoted to the exhibition of microscopical objects, chiefly illustrating entomology, fungi, alge, mosses, &c.—H. T. Sorrrrt, Hon. See. . HUDDERSFIELD Naturatists’ Socrery.—Fortnightly meeting, Mr. 8. LL. Mosley in the chair.—Mr. John Shaw laid on the table and named the following botanical specimens, viz :—Epilobium hirsutum, Senebiera coronopus, Tanacetum vulgare, Holcus lanatus, Festuca gigantea, Phlewm pratense, &c. There were a number of other specimens from Askern which could not be named because they were so much faded and crushed. Meetine, Mr. Jas. Varley in the chair.—Mr. Varley laid on the table a number of ferns from Wales, and mosses from Mansfield. Mr. J. Mac- Kenzie exhibited the following botanical and geological specimens :— Hrica mediterranea, rica carnea, from County Mayo, [Ireland ; occident amethyst and common silica colored with manganese from Isle of Achil. Mr. Ellis laid on the table a number of entomological specimens. Mr. J. B. Crossley gave a lecture on ‘‘Snowfields and Glaciers,” in which he showed the similarity of glaciers to rivers. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE EntTomonocicaL Socrery.—Monthly meeting, August 29th, the president, Mr. S. J. Capper, in the chair.— In the absence of the author, the Secretary read a paper on “ The Anatomy of the Wasp,” by Mr. J. R. L. Dixon, in which he minutely described the external and internal anatomy of this insect, illustrating the paper by beautiful water-colour drawings of his own’ dissections. - During the conversazione the following were among the exhibits:—By Mr. N.* Cooke: specimens of Crymodes exulis, FE. lutulenta and C. lunebergensis, from Scotland ; a fine series of Hupithecia irriguata, froin the New Forest. By Mr. C. H. H. Walker: Exotic specimens of Argynnis Dia and A. Niobe. The president distributed among the members a number of exotic insects of various orders. Leeps Naturauists’ CLus anpD ScrlentTiFic AssocraTIon. —Meeting, Tuesday, September 6th, the president, Mr. W. Barwell Turner, F.C.S., F.R.M.S., in the chair.—Mr. H. Pollard shewed Succinea putris, S. elegans, and Helix ericetorum from Whitby; Succinea putris from Tadcaster ; and Helix nemoralis, and H. arbustorwm from Ulleskelf. Mr. W. B. Turner exhibited a number of sections of bones of the albatross, pterodactyl, and dinornis ; whilst Mr. F. Emsley shewed hairs of the caterpillar of Orgyia antigua, and portions of human skin. _ : | Meetinc, Tuesday, September 13th, Mr. Washington Teasdale, F.R.M.S., in the chair.—Mr. J. E. Clark, B.A., B.Sc., of York, delivered a lecture entitled ‘‘A Ramble in Sutherland,” which he illustrated by _ diagrams, fossils, rock specimens, and dried plants. —H. PoLLarp, Sec. Oct. ek Pokahie Naturalists’ 7a as ean Show in Albert Hall, Mechanics’ Institute, Leeds, at 2.p.m. Dinner at 5-30 ‘ p.m., in the Powolny’s Rooms, Bond Street, Leeds. 4. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. 4, Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. 5 0. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. 5. Entomological Society of London, 7-30 p.m. 0. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.— ‘‘ British Birds,’ My. 8. L. Mosley, 8 p.m. . » ll. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—Paper by Mr: Rogers, 7-30 p,m. » , 12. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. -.4,. 14. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 5, 17. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. » 20. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. — Excursion to Sandbach and Brereton. Leader, Mr. Lynam. » 22. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—‘‘The Food of Game Birds, a Mr. James Varley. » 26. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.— ‘* Report of Vertebrate Section,” 3 Mr. Firth. » 981. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society: TRANSACTIONS of the YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. . PART I. FOR 1877 contains the commencement of ‘‘ The Birds of Yorkshire,” by Mr. W. E. Clarke, M.B.O'U. ; of an ‘‘ Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- water Mollusca of Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a ‘complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on ‘‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera in 1877,” by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S.; one on ‘‘ Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera _ in 1877,” by Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. 8. L, Mosley, on “‘ Yorkshire Diptera,” and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psylide ;. and a yeport on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S. PARTS II. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’s Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor's Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Yorkshire ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr. Parsons 3 the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘* Moss-Flora of the ee Riding”; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. Yorkshire Ichneumomide, by Mr. 8S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; and. on Vorwuhire _ Hymenoptera, observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. future parts is a Catalogue of Yorkshire Lepidoptera, to be written by Messrs. * G. T. Porritt, F.L,8., and W. Prest. L THE ae are supplied ‘to subscribers of 5/- and upwards annually BS to. the funds of the Union. Intending alge se are invited to send their names | _ to either of the Secretaries, i | W. DENISON Rogsuck, Sunny Bank, | Leeds, : | Sune Wu. E. CLARKE, : 5, foe View, Hyde Park Road, Leeds, THE SCOTTISH N ATURALIST, = A Magazine of Natural Historp, commenced in 1871, Basted. by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D., F.L.8. Subscriptions (paid in advance) 4s, per annum, post free, Epp BURGH AND Lonpon : WILLTAM Buacnwoop “AND. Sons. Sey PABT TL V. FOR 1579, in preparation.—Amongst papers in preparation for © : ah Ns Hoda cs now » publishing in cS 2 - BRILISH BIRDS: ee. NESTS. “AND. “REGS, | Oontaaine olree eape coloured figures oe “every species and every variety. aon drawn eer = i. Mealy is with text revised. Oy a Fellow of the Zoological Soniety we a P= Se 5 May be had ‘of S. 1. MOSLEY, Be naione Park, “Huddersfield oe Bee Se ROBSON, , Bellerby: Terrace, West he = Tpeiceres FZ. Ss. eH? T ‘gi arerone ER. s.. &e “This ee commenced in 1864, contains standard. 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... oe grag SO ee OE _Acherontia Atropos near Huddersfield.— C. Herbert Hobkirk eran ee i) 66 eye sicula. = Geo. P. Porritt, HLS... . Bee Sint a rr sley Nataralicis’ Saciety = Bradford Paseesaci Society eae een one oe Yrenden Naturalists’ Soicety... orkshire Dataralises: Union. ts Patt should be forwarded at once in. either Postal Order, P.O.O., or =a THE. NATURALIST j is published onthe first of every month, subscription Ay a year, post free, payable in advance. The volume commences in August of each ‘year. Subscribers to Vol. VI. who have not already sent in their subscriptions - their names immediately. * 5 Faia: if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later tha ane 18th of the _ current month, to insure insertion in our next ees and should -be written on ~— one side of the sheet only. S following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 5s., LOO copies Gs. Gp. Not exceeding eight - pages, 25 copies Os., 50 copies Gs. 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See BOOKS.—New and Second-hand, on } Natural History Subjects. on application. *Sé “9 3 Graduated List of British Birds. oe specially prepared ‘fn reference and labelling, 6d. REGENT STREET, GLOUCESTER. ie Oriqgmal Artreles. ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE RUSTIC BUNTING (EMBERIZA RUSTICA) IN YORKSHIRE. By Wm. Eacrie CLarKeE. THE addition of a new bird to a county list is a pleasing duty to one specially interested in its avifauna, and, moreover, when the species about to be added is one of such extreme rarity that its claims to be considered British, have, hitherto, rested on the somewhat unsatis- factory basis of a single occurrence, it not only adds to that pleasure, but it is a matter of very great importance to British ornithologists as substantiating a claim which might otherwise be regarded with only mixed satisfaction. Upto the 17th of September last the only example of this rare Siberian bird known to have occurred in Britain was caught alive at Brighton, on the 23rd of October, 1867.* The second specimen, now to be recorded, was shot on Saturday, the 17th of September, at Easington, in Holderness, by Mr. Townend, of that village. When first observed, the bird was on the beach close to the sea, but on being approached took a short flight alighting for a moment on some thistles, then it again returned to the sands and was shot. Mr. Townend gave the bird to Mr. P. W. Lawton of Easington, by whom it was set up for his beautiful collection of local birds. Unfortunately not knowing the value of the capture, Mr. Lawton failed to make a note of the sex. The bird remained unidentified until I visited Easington, on the 7th inst., when I at once saw that it was one of the rarer buntings, and on my return I brought it to Leeds to examine with the literature of the subject. I may say that my identification of the bird has been kindly confirmed by Professor Newton of Cambridge, in whose care the specimen now is, and by whom it will be exhibited at the next meeting of the Zoological Society. This specimen agrees very fairly with Mr. Dresser’s figure of the young female, with the exception that the markings on the back, breast, and flanks are more vinous and richer—in fact in this respect more approaching in tint the adult male. It is a singular coincidence that on the same day that this extremely rare straggler to Western Europe occurred on the Yorkshire coast, Herr Gattle in a letter to my friend Mr. Cordeaux, informs him N.S., Von. vil.—Nov., 1881. * Ibis, 1869, p. 128 ; Newton’s Yarrell, v. 2, p. 29. 58 - Toe NATURALIST. that a fine young bird was obtained on the Island of Heligoland, which is in the same degree of north latitude as our coast line. Probably the Heligolander and the Yorkshireman were near relations, or at any rate travelling companions from the far North-east. | Lzeps, October 17th. ; NOTES OF LOCAL PAPERS READ AT BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT YORK, IN 1881. SECTION D.—BIOLOGY. (Concluded. ) A FOSSIL FROM HALIFAX COAL MEASURES. Mr. THomas Hick, B.A., B.Sc., and Mr. William Cash, F.G.S., contributed a paper on a stem obtained by Mr. William Binns from the lower coal measures of Halifax, Yorkshire. After minutely describing the fossil, the authors expressed an opinion that the resemblance between the fossil and the stem of Myriophyllum, and especially the structure of its cortex, were sufficient to warrant the supposition of an affinity, more or less close, between them. They proposed to designate their specimen MWyriophylloides Williamsoni, in honour of Professor Williamson, F.R.S. A brief discussion took place, in which some part was taken by Mr. Bennett, Professor McNab, Mr. Cash, and others. THE BIRDS OF BARNSLEY AND SOUTH YORKSHIRE. Mr. THomas Lister (Barnsley) read a paper describing the birds of the Barnsley district and South Yorkshire. The district of his obser- vation was chiefly between the Calder on the north, and the Don on the west and south, with the Dearne, its tributary, flowing through the middle region by Barnsley, the central point of observation. The country extends in a series of well-wooded undulations from the magnesian limestone on the east at about 300 feet of elevation to the millstone grit, from 1,000 to 1,700 feet, which it attains at Black Tor, north of Sheffield. The birds may be said to be characteristic of the varied districts, from the sub-alpine regions west of the Pennine range, or great back-bone of England, where moorland birds predominate, the woodlands and cultivated grounds in the centre frequented by our resident birds and migratory warblers, to the lower tracts beyond the magnesian limestone in the south-east of the Riding, where birds of the marsh and tidal rivers mingle with the inland birds. The late Dr. Farrar might well speak of the neighbourhood of Barnsley as very Notes or Berirish ASSOCIATION PAPERS. 59 favourably situated for the observations of the ornithologist. Its diversity of aspect, rich woodland scenery, and extensive fresh-water reservoirs, together with the deep naturally excavated brooks of its vicinity, afford that variety which assured the student of this branch of natural history a rich field for cultivation. Though no large river flows through the centre of this extensive district, the Don being on its outskirt, art has supplied canals, fresh-water reservoirs, and sheets of ornamental water in the parks, which afford food and pro- tection to the water birds, and by that means they add both to the beauty and liveliness of the landscape. Since Dr. Farrar’s time yet more extensive reservoirs have been constructed to supply the Barnsley Corporation Works at Ingbirchworth, the Dewsbury and Sheffield Works at Broadstone, Dunford, and the Rivelin Valley, which have furnished many instances of rare birds visiting their scenes. Some breed there, and more may be tempted, as very fair protection against destroying gunners is afforded. The following are among the birds that breed in the district :—Falcons, 7 varieties; owls, 4 ; shrikes, 2; fly-catchers, 2; thrushes, 4 ; warblers, 18; tit-mice, 6 ; wagtails, 3; larks, 2 ;. pipits, 2 ; woodpeckers, 4 ; creepers, 3 ; cuckoo, 1; kingfisher, 1 ; swallows, 6; pigeons, 3; pheasant, 1; partridge, 1» grouse, 4; plover, 2; heron, 1 ; snipes, 7; rails or crake, 3; swim- mers, 9; goatsucker, 1; divers, gulls, 2; buntings, 3; finches, 11 ; startling, 1; crows, 5. Among the birds that bred in the district within living memory, Mr. Lister had observed the stone chat, the wheatear, nightingale (which breeds on all sides of Barnsley), reed warbler, golden crested regulus, cole tit, long-tailed tit, bearded tit, white wagtail, grey wagtail, woodlark, tree-sparrow, hawfinch, mountain linnets, mealy redpole, bulltinch, carrion crow, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, lesser spotted woodpecker, wryneck, creeper, nut- hatch, swift, ring-dove, stock-dove, turtle-dove, black-grouse, quail, golden plover, heron, curlew, redshank, teal, pochard, tufted duck, little grebe, black-headed gull, &e. Miss Lyp1a Brecker referred to the efforts made by Professor Newton to obtain some legislation for the protection of our indigenous birds, and expressed her regret that the Act was not working so well as might have been desired. Mr. H. Ricsarpson, York, pointed out that the increase of villas, with plantations, many of them like small parks, would tend to the preservation of our birds. He also thought that the Gun Act, imposing a small license duty on those who carried guns, would be another aid to preservation. 60 THe NaTURALIST. Mr. Howarp Saunpers, F.L.S., F.Z.S., did not agree with a remark made by Mr. Lister that the marsh warblers had increased in number. He believed that they had been more carefully, and therefore more frequently observed. He believed that the woodcock was increasing. It bred in every county in England, including Middlesex. He agreed with Miss Becker’s remarks concerning the refining influences of ornithology, and thought that education might be éxpected to lessen cruelty to birds. He was sorry to say that the British boy was very cruel and mischievous in comparison with the boys of other nations. We did not find French boys robbing birds’ nests in wanton mischief, throwing them away and trampling on the eggs. ‘The only parallel to the British boy was the Spanish boy, who was s naturally eruel and quite as mischievious as the British boy. Professor Newton, after assuring Miss Lydia Becker that the rumour to which she had referred was quite unfounded, said that he regretted that last session of Parliament a Bill had been introduced and carried by the influence of the Government which would undo all the good that had been done by the Wild Birds Preservation Act. A more retrograde piece of legislation, he was prepared to say, had not been executed for many years. It was passed by Government influence in the House of Commons in the face of the House of Lords. The Lords had put in the Bill a clause which would have rendered it safe. The Commons struck out that amendment. This was done, he regretted to say, by Sir William Harcourt, at the instigation of the Poulterers’ Association. (Applause.) Henceforth, if anyone was so stupid as to shoot publicly a bird in the close season, he might be fined ; but if he took care to shoot it so that no one could see him, he might walk into the next town, where the fact of his selling it publicly would, under the new Act, be taken as proof that he had come by it honestly! (Applause). THE DEVELOPMENT OF OSMUNDA REGALIS. Mr. C. P. Hopxirx, F.L.S., contributed a paper describing some points in the development of the Osmunda regalis, lL. He had observed carefully for six years the process of development in this fern of which he had several hundreds of seedlings in his possession, and he detailed in his paper the peculiarities and growth of the plant. Professor M Nap expressed the indebtedness of the Section to Mr. Hobkirk for his observations, remarking that the great length of time the plant took to develop was of considerable interest. Professor Newton also expressed thanks to Mr. Hobkirk. A LOCAL RAMBLE AND FUNGUS HUNT. ———_—— By F. A. Less, F.L.S., anp Wm. West. Nive members of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union met together at Church Fenton in August last. As Mr. G. IE. Massee was present, it was deemed best to devote our chief attention to fungi during our unofficial ramble, and his presence caused our fungus-hunt to be very prolific, for such an early time. The route from the station was along a lane to Milford House Farm; thence u.w. by line along dikes for a mile, to the point where the drain from N. Milford Hall to Cold- well Head plantation crosses under the railway; thence w. to Towton village; then n. to Towton tollbar ; then along windings of river Cock, n.w. through Scavy Carrs to Wingate Hill above Stutton, then through Taylor Hill Wood to Jackdaw Crag Quarry ; thence to Boston Spa by Oglethorpe Ings (with their old native yew trees). After tea, Messrs, Massee, Lister, and Lees explored Sweep Wood and Beilby Wood, between Boston and Wetherby. On the following morning the same three persons investigated Beaumont’s and Horn Bank Woods, on north bank of Wharfe below Wetherby, towards and as far as Flint Mills. The same party afterwards had a rapid run through Askham Bog. ‘The chief results of the ramble are enumerated below, partly in the order of their occurrence, the fungi being classed together for better comparison. VASCULARES. Eupatorium cannabinum | Cichorium Intybus Salix rubra Hordeum pratense Stellaria aquatica Allium oleraceum Brachypedium sylvaticum Sanguisorba officinalis B. pinnatum Arctium intermedium, Lange. Tanacetum vulgare Mentha rubra Samolus Valerandi Scirpus lacustris Potamogeton plantagineus, Ducros. | Parnassia palustris ~ Typha latifolia Symphytum officinale T. angustifolia Linaria minor Sium angustifolium Campanula glomerata, Senecio erucifolius Nepeta Cataria Juncus obtusiflorus Asperula cynanchica (Hnanthe peucedanifolia, Poll. Pieris hieracioides Zannichellia macrostemon, Gay. Asplenium Trichomanes Dipsacus sylvestris Verbascum Thapsus Thalictrum flavum Hieracium umbellatum Poa compressa Sagina nodosa 62 Toe NATURALIST. MOSSES AND HEPATICS. These seemed to be nearly all dried up, but the following were among those noticed :— Hypnum faleatum _ Orthotrichum saxatile H. fiicinum | Camptothecium lutescens Eurynchium crassinervium 4H. giganteum Barbula marginata | Hypnum chrysophyllum B. intermedia | H. cupressiforme var. lacunosum Thuidium abietinum | Frullania Tamarisci Neckera crispa Lophocolea heterophylla LICHENS. The following were the best :—Lecidea vesicularis, Opegrapha saxicola, Parmelia parietina, yar. aureola, Endocarpon miniatum, var. complicatum, and Collema cheilium. FUNGI. From Chureh Fenton to Jackdaw Crag Quarry 104 species of fungi were noted. Twelve more were observed after tea in Sweep and Beilby Woods, near Wetherby; and further additions were made next morning from Wetherby to Askham, bringing the total number up to 138 species: Agaricus arvensis, atomatus, bellus, campanella, eampanulatus, campestris, cirrhatus, eoprophilns, dryophilus, fascicu- laris, fastigiatus, filopes, feeniscii, galopus, grammopodius, hypnorum, lanaripes, lateritius, sublateretius, tener, umbelliferus. velutinus, cervinus, pyxidatus, radicata, laccatus, galericulatus, separatus, -eonicus, sericeus, umbrosus, and tuberosus ; Marasmius oreades and rotula, Coprinus umbellifer, niveus, radiatus, atramen- tarius, lagopus, and micaceus; Cantharellus aurantiacus, Lactarius vellereus, Russula emetica, Boletus chrysenteron, flavus, laricinus, luteus, scaber, and edulis: Polyporus salicinus, squamosus, hispidus, sanguinolentus, velutinus, vulgaris; Dzdalea confragosa, Thelephora laciniata, Hydnum alutaceum, Corticium ceruleum, cinereum, giganteum, lividum; Clavaria abietina, Calocera viseosa, E'xidia Auricula-judz, Stereum hirvstum, sanguinolentum, Grandinia granulosa, Stilbum tomentosum, Reticularia umbrina, Spumaria alba, Sclerodernia vulgare, Comatricha Friesiana, Arcyria incarnata, Didymium nigripes, Diderma vernicosum, Daerymyces stillatus and chrysocoma, Isaria arachnophila, Mucor fusiger, Peronospora grisea and trifoliorum, Polyactis cinerea, Ceratium hydnoides, Helmintho- sporium folliculatum, Cladosporium epiphyllum, -Phoma nebulosa, Diatrype quercina and discifermis, Diplodia hyacinthi, Valsa ee Lees AND West: Locat Rampie Anp Funevus Hunt. 63 leipheimia and fagina, Helotium herbarum, lenticulare, claro-flavum, serotinum, aciculare, calyculus and eruginosum, Peziza hyalina, vesiculosa, calycina, cinerea, granulata, nivea, scutellata, and villosa (the last a true Cyphella, according to Mr. Massee), Ascobolus ciliatus, Hypoxolon multiforme, cohzrens, fuscum, and polymorphum, Rhytisma acerinum, salicinum, and one on Iris Pseud-acorus, Hrysiphe Martii and Montagnei, Nectria cinnabarina, Spheria acuta, complanata, and rubella, Spherella rumicis, Cicidium com- positarum and viol, Coleosporium campanule and sonch-arvensis, Lecythea saliceti, Puccinia calthz, fabee, graminis, heraclei, menthe, and violarum, Trichobasis suaveolens, Uredo bifrons, Uromyces junci, and Xenodochus carbonarius. A few alge were collected, chiefly common species, such as Batrochospermum moniliforme, Synedra splendens, ‘Tabellaria flocculosa, Zygnema cruciata, and Ectostrema iridis. THE ICHNEUMONIDA* By Cuas. H. H. WALKER. I wAve chosen for the subject of my paper, a group of insects whose manifold beauties are utterly unappreciated by the majority of our British entomologists. I refer, in particular, to that very much neglected order, the Hymenoptera, and I will confine my remarks to one sub-family, the Zchneumonide. The insects of this class find their most determined enemies among the lepidopterists, and if some ill- starred ichneumon make its appearance, instead of the anticipated Askworthit, or some other rarity, it is probably greeted by an extra selection of choice language, and consigned to the tender mercies of the fire-grate. I therefore beg leave to announce myself as a staunch upholder of ichneumon’s rights, and I will endeavour to justify myself, in so doing, by a brief account of the structure, habits, and life-history of these interesting insects, illustrating my remarks by rough diagramatic sketches,—for I am ef opinion that a great deal can be shown by means of a few strokes of the pencil, that would otherwise prolong my paper to an unreasonable length. ’Tis true that I can communicate but little having any pretence to novelty, but then one fact told a thousand times is infinitely better than a thousand facts never told at all. * Read before Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, Mar. 28th, 1881. 64 THe NATURALIST. The Hymenoptera is one of the largest divisions of the order Insecta, and contains about 3,650 species. They have tour naked membranous wings, of which the anterior, or upper pair, are always larger than the posterior, or hind wings. The three divisions of the body are distinctly marked, the third, or abdominal segment, being frequently attached to the thorax by a thin lengthened stalk or peduncle, ‘The tarsi gener- ally consist of five joints, but the number of segments in the antennz varies considerably. Their larve are, for the greater part, without — legs, and therefore said to be apodal. The pupa is inactive and incomplete. The Hymenoptera may be divided into two great sections, viz., the Terebrantia and the Aculeata. + The Terebrantia contains eight families, most of which are parasitic —that is to say, gain their living at the expense of their relations, as a good many animals of a higher class do nowadays. Many familiar insects are contained in this section, such as the saw- and gall-flies, the Ichneumonide, or ichneumon flies (which form the subject of my paper), and the ruby-tailed flies, or Chrysidide. The second section, or Aculeata, contains ten families, and includes the bees, hornets, wasps, and ants. (To be continued. ) Haintall for September. Height Total Faun ) aL INe: to Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest es above'| labs Daysig-ss es Saat alle Tee ; F all. Veaae 1881. | 1880. B63 )|/5 cine HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 2°80 | 18 | 22°34 |* 23°71 24° 0°44 (J. W. Robson) Hairax...(F.G.S. Rawson); 365 | 2°68 | 14 |. 32°34 | 30°27 WAKEFIELD (E. B. Wriggles-| 100 | + worth) STANDEY > <2..02.- (doz)! 23221250 t MHORNES) (js Gesec (dos) ieee 90 ak aes ms ae x ee. BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...| 350 | 2:71 | 18 | 18°08 | 27-48 On nT) INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 8537} 420 2 | 28:30) 4) 3218 D2 line onde WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...} 520 | 3°20 | 19 | 21°56 PALIT Pid 81 A GooLeE ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 2°42') 16 | 48:92. | 22°91 23 0°80) Huu (Derringham)...(Wm.|, 10 } 3°04 | 18} 19°38 | 16175 7A | "62 Lawton) * This is the average to date for 15 years, 1566-80. + No returns. t On the average (to date) of 30 years, 1850-79. 1 Westw. Class. p. 82-3. Vol. 2. Short Notes and Queries. Loca Recorps —The thought has often occurred to me that the Naturalist as the County Organ, would derive much benefit if members of the various Yorkshire Societies would make it a practice of recording in its pages the occurrence of any objects which are classed as rarities in the County. It is to a small extent already acted upon by the reports of the various meetings, but probably private collections contain many specimens which are known only to a limited private circle. If such captures were regularly announced at the time they were made, they would become of great value when at any time compiling County lists, independent of the increased facility of exchanges. A correspondent in the Entomologist in this October number, p. 229 (dating from Cambridge- shire), seems equally to feel the want and the utility of such County registers there.—N. T. Doprer.—{We cordially endorse every word in the above communication, and shall only be too glad to give insertion to any such records as are named ; indeed we have always considered this to be the great point of our raison d’ élre.—Eps. Nat. | OccURRENCE OF THE WHISKERED Bat (Vespertilio mystacinus) IN YoRK- SHIRE.—Since the publication of my paper on Yorkshire bats, in the Naturalist, I have had the pleasure of adding a species to the Yorkshire fauna ; two specimens, from different and widely-separated localities, of the whiskered bat (Vespertilio mystacinus, Leisler), having fallen into my hands. The first example was the one from Mytton Church which is recorded in the ‘‘ Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata.” The second example occurred since the publication of that work. It was shot in the neighbourhood of Harrogate, last August, by Mr. John Grange, taxider- mist, of that town, and is now in my possession. The occurrence of these specimens serves to show what may be expected when attention is fairly directed to neglected groups of animals, and it is a source of satisfaction that the addition of a species to the list rests upon records from two different localities, thus rendering it quite within the range of possibility that it is hardly so much rare as overlooked. I may add that my deter- mination of the first specimen is fully confirmed by Dr. G. E. ‘Dobson of Netley, who has seen it, and who is the recognised authority on the subject. Willany reader endeavour to ascertain whether Daubenton’s bat occurs or nor? My experiences have been perfectly tantalizing. It has been reported to me, but it is necessary for specimens to be seen.— Wm. Denison Roesucg, Sunny Bank, Leeds. Heron, Tern, &c., NEAR LeEeps.—On the 3rd of September, | saw a heron at Roundhay Park; these birds are only seen here occasionally, though a pair formerly bred in the Park. During a walk round the lake 66 | THe Narvratist. on October 16th, I saw a tern, but was not able to distinguish whether it was the common or arctic. On the 15th of October, my brother saw several swallows at Meanwood. On refering to my note book, I find I saw a solitary swallow as late as the 6th November, last year.—THomas Rarne, Leeds. Lirrte Birrern at Goors.—A fine specimen of the Little Bittern (male) was captured alive near Goole on the 23rd ult., it is being set up for Mr. W. E. Clarke’s collection.—T. Bunker. Botrie-nosep DoLtpHIn at GooLte.—An individual of this uncommon species Delphinus tursio was stranded near Goole on the 4th inst. Mr. Southwell confirms its identification, by its rounded head, projecting jaws, broad pointed flippers and its beautifully shaped dorsal fin, broad and curving to a point. Its total length is 9ft., greatest girth 5ft. 5in., tip to tip of tail 2ft., length of gape 1ft. 2in., number of teeth in each jaw 38. The upper side is a blackish grey colour and the underside nearly white. —T. Bunxer.—|Mr. Bunker has forwarded us a tooth to prove that it is not a porpoise.—Eps. Nat. | Siree gigas at HuUDDERSFIELD.—I have had a fine specimen of Sirex gigas brought to me, recently taken at Almondbury.—G. C. B. Mappsn, Armitage Bridge Vicarage, Huddersfield. Scoparia conspicualis at YoRK.—I have taken two specimens of the new Scoparia conspicualis near York. Last week I took Xanthia gilvago and Aplecta occulta at Doncaster : we also took in a copse near the town, a worn specimen of Huperia fulevago.—W. Prest, 13 Holgate Road, York. Aplecta occulta NEAR Braprorp.—A specimen of this species was taken by Mr. J. Terry, at sugar, at Allerton, near here, on the 8th of September last, which is the second recorded for this district. Both are of the light or southern type.—J. W. Carrer, Bradford. Acherontia Atropos NEAR HuppERSFIELD.—I have just had brought to me a fine specimen of the Death’s head moth which was taken on the grass, in his garden at Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield, by Mr. J. W. Cocking, on Sunday last, the 9thinst. The specimen was in very good condition. —C. Herserr Hopxrre. Huddersfield. Platypteryx sicula.—This species, formerly so rare has the last year ox two become comparatively common in collections. I have recently received specimens from Bristol, for the Leigh woods, near that town seem still to be the only place where it can be taken. The imago can only be got very sparingly with close and hard work, but from eggs deposited by a Reports oF SocieEtvikEs. 67 captured specimens it has been reared in some numbers; and this year the larve have also been collected from lime trees.—G. T. Porritt. Aeports of Societies. Barnstey Naturatists’ Sociery.—Meeting Sep. 27th, Mr. A. R. Kell, president, in the chair.—An excursion was agreed upon to carry out the recommendation of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, in reference to the Fungus Foray. Several members explored Lunn Wood, Wentworth Castle Park, Ingbirchworth Reservoir on the 29th, and sent hampers with specimens of each locality, numbered, to the meeting at Leeds. Meetine Oct. 18th.—Mr. A. R. Kell, in the chair.—The series of papers for the session commenced by a very able one by Mr. Frankland, of St. Mary’s School, on the ‘‘ Physiology of the skin.” Mr. W. E. Brady, secretary, read at both meetings the report of the Entomological Section. Mr. J. Harrison furnished a list of ninety species of lepidoptera, noted during his late excursion to the New Forest ; several of these are embodied in the quarter’s transactions from July 1st to September 30th. The best capture is Acherontia Atropos at Darfield Station, Sept. 28th, sent by H. Garland, Esq., of Wood Hall ; others noted, included Cymat- ophora fluctwosa, Acronycta leporina, Agrotis tritici (new to the locality), Noctua glareosa, Orthosia suspecta and Aplecta occulta. Dicranwra bifida new to the district, and Tanagra cheorphyllata, seldom noted, have been plentiful in one field. Tryphena pronuba, abounded this season, Xylo- phasia rurea, and X. polyodon have been interesting objects of observation. A pipe fish from the Ribble was exhibited, sent by Mr. Wm. Moore. Notes on subjects of interest to naturalists at the British Association were communicated by T. Lister. He also gave the Ornithological report for the Barnsley district, a brief extract of which follows :—Mr. G. Parkin, of Wakefield, noted on a reservoir, between that town and Barnsley, an immature ruff, also a little stint earlier in the month. On Sept. 4th, Mr, W. A. Drury, of Tankersley Rectory, saw on his passage from Antwerp to Grimsby, a flock of wheatears hovering about the vessel, apparently on their migratory flight. Another instance of late nesting of a yellow hammer, still brooding in the grounds of the Rev. J. Metcalfe, Gawber, Sept. 26th. Dr. Payne, of Newhill Hall, reports the chiff-chaff and willow warbler in song, Sept. 24th. A heron, shot at Silkstone, was sent to me on Oct. 3rd, same one was seen at Nostell, chased by rooks ; also teals (bred in the neighbourhood), and kingfishers. Oct. Gth, the first grey wagtails, noted by Mr. Watson, Worsbro Reservoir, also two: red-throated divers, and kingfishers, which had bred by thebanks and islands. Oct. 15th, the last notice of martins was near White-cross Wood, | Worsbrodale. oS Price 7S: 6d. fe L. 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BUCHANAN WHITE, M. BD; F. L.8 Subscriptions (paid in ohn 4s. per annum, pose free. en EDINBURGH AND LONDON : AND GENERAL PRL - RECORD. NEW SE Een eee ~— Eprrep BY Cuas. P. Hosxiex, F. = AND G. F, Porritt, F.L.S. 2 oF ae No. LXXVII. | DECEMBER, 188i. VOU. Vin | ‘CONTENTS, 6 Onrarwat eee ees 2 » A Few Days at Field Botany in Scotlind.—Wm. West ... Ichneumonide. — Continued. —Chas. H. Hi. Walker oe ‘Ramran, FOR OctozER £8 Late ae of the eee rc =W. Gregson .. _House Martin.—J. 8. Rowntree, Esq. aN NatuRAL HISTORY Norrs.— Bombycilla garrula. —_N. F. Duties er i -. Dasypolia Templi.—G. T. Porritt, F.L.8. Evromonocican, Norns. —Opsradia dilutata, de.—Jno. Harrison ~ see eras aera -Trichopteron.—G. T. Porritt FES... e e ; Abraxas ulmata.— W. E. Brady — ...~ cs N Gites ent’ few Coinmor Yorkshire Spiders. — Wm. 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Catalogueg on application. ‘Bijou List of British Butterflies,” Beautifully printed | in colours 6d., Geaduaisa List of British Birds.” eoranlly propre reference and labelling, 6d. ; ‘* LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. - Interleaved, ie * REGENT STREET, GLOUCESTER. Origmal Articles. A FEW DAYS AT FIELD BOTANY IN SCOTLAND. By Wm. WEst. —_—— Axovt the middle of August, 1880, I started from Bradford by a very early morning train, In company with Mr. Nuttall, our destination being Greenock, where we arrived just in time to proceed further north, by the Columba. To only partially pourtray the beautiful scenes we enjoyed during this invigorating sail would take up too much space, as the journey was a botanical one (though it was under: taken on the plea of relaxation from business, and confirmation of health) ; therefore we must confine ourselves more especially to the rarer plants we saw. Many of these, even, we shall have to omit for lack of room. As we steamed along towards Dunoon, the hills of Argyle stood out before us in majestic boldness, and we were almost spell-bound by the ever-changing loveliness of the fascinating scenery, as we sailed rapidly along towards Rothesay; but as we neared the Kyles of Bute the entrancing view was still more inviting, until the climax was reached as we rounded the narrowest part of the channel. As we turned | Ardlamont Point we saw the Peak of Goatfell—the highest point in _ Arran—and soon after we arrived at Ardrishaig. Here we noticed a profusion of flowering Polygonum amphibium decking the surface of the Crinan Canal, and we were glad of a very short ramble along the bank while the steamer got through the locks. Mlago germanica, Hieracium vulgatum, Ptychomitrium polyphylium, Ulota phyllantha, Barbula unguiculata, B. rigida, Orthotrichum affine, fruiting Dichodon- tium pellucidum, Frullania dilatata, and Pogonatum urnigerum we found in plenty, after which we had a good run in order not to miss the boat, being the last persons to embark. We arrived at Fort William at 8-30 the same day, having seen the mighty Ben Cruachan and the grand old mountains round Glencoe, as well as the monarch ‘of our British hills, Ben Nevis. The sail from the Kyles of Bute to Fort William was one glorious panorama of the most charming ‘scenery, and it left a sense of the utmost enjoyment. Soon after sunrise next morning we began the ascent of Ben Nevis, ‘by way of Glen Nevis, this way being by no means often attempted. ‘We first collected Ulota Bruchi, and U. phyliantha, the latter plant ooking like patches of Bardula tortuosa, in the lower part of the glen, ‘but as we intended coming back the same way at night, we only N.S., Vou. vu.—Dec., 1881. G74 THE NAruRALIST. gathered a few things here, intending to almost “ put the last straw on the camel's back” as we returned—little thinking that we should be on the hill after dark. We also collected a few lichens, including Collema nigrescens ; the remainder are as yet unexamined. When we had gone through the stream, and commenced the real climb, we saw the Racomitria in all their alpine glory—facomitrinm protensum, heterostichum, and lanuginosum adorning the granite boulders; while on the rocks near the stream J. ellipticum, fasciculare, and aciculare, along with Blindia acuta, began to vie with each other as to which should be master of the masses of rock we were compelled to climb: and further up the hill, Racomitrium sudeticum, Hedwigia ciliata, Ulota Hutchinsie, Sphagnum rubellum, Hypnum revolvens, Spherophoron coralloides and Jungermannia capitata put in an appear- ance. We now found Alchemilla alpine, Saxifraga oppositifolia, S. aizoides, Antennaria dioica, Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, Oxyria reni- formis, Rhynchospora alba, Polynodium Phegopteris, Sphagnum contortum, and Campylopus atrovirens. We had next a very awkward climb, and just as my companion had rounded a precipitous corner and got out of view, | heard a loud crash, and a lot of stones went down into the roaring cataract below. For a moment I was in agony, as I was in a very awkward situation, and I imagined that my companion had rolled into the torrent below. I shouted, and shouted again, but the only answer was the roar of the tumbling rill beneath. However, I hastened as fast as the abutting rocks would allow me, round the same corner, and felt an indescribable pleasure in seeing him in a much safer position than I was in. We here gathered Silene maritima, S. acaule, Epilobium alpinum, Saxifraga stellaris, Gnaphalium supinum, G. sylvaticum, Andreee alpina, A. petrophila, Bryum filiforme, B. alpi-~ num, Nardia scalaris, Scapania subalpina, and Vermicularia dematium. (To be continued. ) THE ICHNEUMONID &. (Continued.) - By Cuas. H. H. WALKER. Tue Ichneumonide is a very large family, containing about 1,190 species, but is inferior in point of numbers to the Chalcidide, whigh possesses an additional 170 species. They—that is to say, the Ichneumonide—are exclusively parasitic on other insects, and are the great agents for preventing the extreme and ultimately disastrous inerease of the insect creation. TE Se es ere ate a eae WaLkerR: THe [CHNEUMONID2:. 75 A very natural question is—from what do the ichneumons take their name? JI find an account, in an old natural history, of an animal called the Egyptian ichneumon, which is asserted to dig up the eggs of crocodiles and devour them. It is likewise said to attack the young of that large-mouthed vertebrate, and massacre them sans ceremony. The book then proceeds to state that the animals were fabulously supposed to deposit their young in the interior of the crocodile, the parasites subsisting upon its flesh. I am puzzled to imagine how the ichneumon could obtain entrance into the reptile’s interior ; possibly it kept a sharp look-out for some sleepy crocodile, and when the latter opened its mouth to yawn, undertook an exploring expedition down its throat, and commenced its maternal duties. How- ever, be that as it may, such is the origin of the word “‘ ichneumon,” as applied to insects, bestowed upon certain parasitical species by the renowned Linneus. The Egyptian ichneumon is a native of Egypt, Barbary, and the Cape of Good Hope, and is, from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, from twenty-four to forty-two inches in length, the tail being as long as the rest of the body; it is pale reddish-grey, the eyes are red, and the nose long and slender. The tail is thick at the base, but tapers towards the tip, which is tufted; the legs are short. I will now take a typical ichneumon, Pimpla instigator, and give, as briefly as possible, a summary of its external structure and appearance. Tae Heap.—The antenne, which contain a varying number of segments, according to. species, are sometimes marked with a broad, pale band, called the annulus. When walking, parasitic Hymenoptera keep their antennz constantly vibrating. The mandibles are thin and curved, the eyes generally very conspicuous. In addition to the pair of compound visual organs, the Hymenoptera possess three other simple eyes, called ocelli, which are placed ina triangular form on the top of the head, the tip, or vertex, pointing towards the mouth. Some species of Lepidoptera are furnished with a pair of ocelli, which are generally overlooked, because of the ‘“ thick covering of hair or scales.”2 They are possibly used for vertical sight. THE THORAX consists of three portions, the prothorax, the mesothorax, and the metathorax. The prothorax bears on its under side the anterior or first pair of legs, and also supports the head. The meso- thorax supports the anterior wings and the second pair of legs. At the base of each anterior wing is situate a concavo-convex plate of a 2 Westwood’s Introduction to the Classification of Insects. Vol. 2. 76 THe NaTURALIST. semicircular form, called the tegula or base-cover, an appendage peculiar to the Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, but in the former it attains a considerable size.2 The mesothorax also bears a small quad- rangular slightly convex plate, termed the scutellum. In many species. of /chneumonida, this is of a different colour to the remainder of the insect ; thus, a black or dark ichneumon sometimes possesses a bright yellow scutellam. Immediately beyond the scutellum is a narrow, slightly lunar shaped segment, appropriately called the post- scutellum. The appendages of the metathorax are the posterior pair of wings and the third or hinder pair of legs. At the extremity of the abdomen will be observed a long bristle-like appendage, which readily splits into three parts. This is called the ovipositor, and as it is an important organ, I will return to it shortly. The mesothorax, as I before remarked, bears the anterior pair of wings. These appendages are divided into perfect cells by nervures or wing rays. At first glance, the costal margin appears considerably thickened, but a closer examination shows that the costal and sub- costal nervures run exactly parallel, no vacant space being included between them, hence the absence of a sub-costal cell.4 About three quarters of the distance along the costa is situate a small dark triangular spot called the stigma. |The whole of the wing membrane is studded with innumerable spines, which all point outward towards the tip. Some idea of their numbers may be gathered from the fact that I have counted as many as fifty of these bristles in the areolet. T likewise took the under wing of a small Pimpla, and commencing at the tip and proceeding along the hind margin to the base, I found there were four hundred and sixty-four spines in the included space. So much for the wings: the legs take our attention next. These are pretty much the same as in other insects, are long and adapted for speed. They consist of five parts: (1), the coxa or hip, which connects the leg with the body; (2), the trochanter or scapula, which apparently is made up of two parts ;5 (8), the femur or humerus; (4), the tibia, and (5), the tarsus, which again consists of five joints, the last being terminated by two claws. Such is the general external appearance of an ichneumon, but before dismissing this part of the subject, I will say a few words about the ovipositor. This formidable instrument, common to the females of all parasitical hymenoptera, and 3 Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to Entomology. 4 Westw. Class. Vol. 2, p. 139. 5 Kirby and Spence’s Introduction te Entomology. WALKER: On IcCHNEUMONID4. eT existing in a more or less modified form among the other families, consists of three chief parts, viz. :—-The terebra or borer, and the two sheaths. The latter are not actually necessary during oviposition, but, being semicircular and concave, unite, and include between them the terebra itself, thus protecting that delicate apparatus from injury. They are covered along their whole length with bristles or hairs, all pointing downwards towards the tip. In some species these hairs are very short, a fact that is just reversed in others, and in one species that I have examined they are at least twice as long as the sheath itself is thick. The terebra is composed of three pieces, two of them being thin and filamentous, and notched or toothed at their extremities, the remaining one being thickened towards the extremity and brought to a fine point at the extreme end. If we were to make a transverse section of the terebra, we should then have the appearance of a circle divided into three segments by a corresponding number of radii, two of the segments being equal to one another, and together less than the remaining segment, which latter represents the unserrated filament in section. ‘The central portion of the circle is occupied by an aperture through which the ova are expelled. At first I was puzzled to imagine why the terebra should consist of three pieces, but I have accounted for the fact thus: Supposing that the true ovipositor were a perfect cylinder, perforated for the expulsion of the egg, the end would be blunt, and unsuited for piercing purposes. If, again, the extremity of the cylinder were brought to a fine point, the ova would be unable to find an exit. | Now both these difficulties are surmounted by the ovipositor being trifid, each of the three portions being finely pointed at its extremity. | When an ichneumon is about to oviposit, the two spiculz are firmly united to the superior filament, forming a finely pointed borer, which is plunged into the flesh of some unfortunate larva, slightly withdrawn, and the three parts so separated as to form a cylindrical passage for the egg, which is left in the wound. I must not omit to remark that there are two kinds of ovipositors found among the Jchnewmonide. Not that they are structurally different, but they merely varyin length. Those of some species are said to be retracted when they do not project outwards beyond the tip of the abdomen, and exserted, when prolonged beyond the terminal segment, as in Pumpla instigator, which I have described. In some species this instrument attains an enormous length, and I have placed 78 THE NATURALIST. before you, in the case upon the table, examples of ichneumons with exserted and retracted organs of oviposition. It may naturally be asked, why should some Jchneumonide possess such small and insignificant ovipositors, while others are burdened with an instrument that looks as if it were nothing but an incumbrance to the insect? Those with a short terebra attack naked and exposed larvee ; the others, with exserted ovipositors, are commissioned to hold in check the ravages of wood boring and other concealed larve. But with so slender an instrument, how are they to reach mining larve of lignivorous and other habits? It is to obviate this difficulty that the _ two filamentous spiculz of the terebra are serrated at their tips. With their aid, the ichneumon drills a hole in a tree trunk, where its instinct tells it a fine fat grub is concealed, and safe as the little miner may consider itself against the attacks of other predaceous insects, it speedily finds that it is no match for an ichneumon, who with the gimlet provided by nature, contrives to reach its concealed victim. é I remember reading in some entomological work that hairy larve were seldom ichneumoned. I must say, that as far as my experience goes, I have never found this to be the case. On May 2nd, of last year, I took a number of nearly full grown larvee of that beautiful, yet common moth, Chelonia caja. On the 30th of the same month, almost all of them proved to be ichneumoned, and the parasites that emerged (a species of Microgaster), had retracted ovipositors. Being curious to ascertain how, with so short an ovipositor, the - parasite could possibly pierce its victim, I took a larva of the moth, and placed it in a glass-topped box. I then inserted an ichneumon, which fortunately proved to bea female. At first it wandered about, evidently without any ulterior aim, but presently came into contact with the ends of the long hairs of the larva. The fly instantly vibrated its long antenne with a rapid motion that meant business. By their aid, the ichneumon carefully felt its way through the hairy labyrinth. In this manner it approached within striking distance, and curving its abdomen downwards, almost at a right angle, opened the sheath, projected the terebra, and tried the spot. There was something or other unsatisfactory, inasmuch as it closed the sheath, and repeated the operation elsewhere. Once it nearly accomplished its purpose, but suddenly started back and flew away. I am utterly at a loss to account for this retrograde motion, which, however, was not peculiar to the specimen, for others that I introduced did likewise. § Westw. Introduction to Class. of Insects. Vol. 2, Note to page 141. WALKER: On ICHNEUMONID2. 79 Nothing daunted, the insect returned to the charge, and having selected a suitable spot, pierced the miserable caterpillar, which gave a series of violent twitches as the remorseless insect expelled the fatal germs. Several times in succession was the operation repeated, and sometimes the ovipositor was allowed to remain in the wound for several seconds. The parasite then flew off, brushed and cleaned itself, and seemed thoroughly satisfied with its work. Every female ichneumon that I placed in the box did likewise, until the unfortunate caja was perfectly riddled with holes. Though it will be necessary to return separately to each stage of an ichneumon’s existence, it will perhaps be as well to trace the life-history of this species, as far as my personal observations will permit. The grub, when ready to change into the pupal state, is $ of an inch long, and is reddish coleured. Unlike some ichneumons of other species, they do not spin their cocoons gregariously, but affix them in a pro- miscuous manner, very seldom to the hairs of the larva. Forty-seven grubs of the parasite emerged from one larva, and when J dissected the victim, twenty-two more were discovered within. Another specimen, which shared the fate of its predecessor, was, when opened, found to be full of a putrid fluid, thick, and of a dirty brown colour; even the viscera were devoured. The imagines made their appearance about eighteen or twenty days after the entrance of their larve into the pupal state.7 A few words regarding the eggs of these interesting insects. So far, I have con- fined my remarks to those Ichneumonide, which oviposit within the body of the larva. We now arrive at another class, those that deposit their ova on the outside of the larva. In this division, under which may be classed the genus Ophion, each egg is attached to a peduncle or foot-stalk, which, in its turn, is firmly secured to the body of the cater- pillar, so firmly indeed, that it is not in any way affected by the re- peated moultings of the larva. When the eggs hatch, the young larve do not desert the empty egg shells, but attach themselves within them by their anal extremity, and by the aid of their mandibles, rob the caterpillar of its vital fluids.8 I will just notice two other methods of ovipositien, in which the ovum of the ichneumon is neither de- posited within ner without the caterpiller, but in one class is secured to the ege of the moth, and in the other actually placed within it.® There are very few insects, indeed, absolutely safe from the attacks of 8 Westw. Class of insects. Vol. 2. p. 145. 9 Ibid. Vol. 2. p. 144. 80 THe NATURALIST. these parasites, and they undoubtedly play a primary part in the great drama of life. They counterbalance, and check the destructive and ruinous approaches of other insects. The superabundance of one insect is attended with an increase of its watchful enemy, the ichneumon. Were the lovely green moth, Tortriz viridana allowed to roam un- molested through Britain’s avenues of oaks, those noble trees would be almost entirely stripped of their foliage. Thousands of these moths are destroyed annually in their pupal stage ; thousands perish when they have assumed their verdant robes ; on one hand by the ichneumon, on the other by its dipterous enemy the Himpis. Unfortunately for the further progress of Hymenopterology, Coleoptera are seldom collected in the larval state, and therefore their parasites are, with a few exceptions, unknown. That they are not exempt from parasitical attacks, is evident from the fact that an ichneumon (Jficroc- tonus terminalis), has been bred from the perfect Coccinella septem- punctata.1° Nothing !ess than a few researches in this direction will be necessary to bring many new facts to light. Aphides are par- ticularly lable to ichneumon attacks, and were such not the case, the destruction these little insects cause would be increased a hundred fold. A single egg, only, is deposited in an individual Aphis, and the infected insect renounces all companionship, taking up a position on the underside of the leaf. ‘The ichneumons do not confine their attacks to other orders, but feast with evident enjoyment upon one another, and are then said to be hyper-parasitical. Ichneumon larve, from a sight resemblance to the Annulosa, are therefore said to be vermiform ; as they lack ambulatory organs, are likewise termed apodal. It is quite evident that such appendages would be utterly superfluous, for nature has supplied the parent insect with an instrument, by the aid of which she is enabled to place her otherwise helpless offspring in a situation where they will be able to attend to their own interests. The whole of the hymenopterous larve are without legs,- excepting one family, the enthredinide, or saw-flies, the larve of which very much resemble those of Lepidoptera. Ichneumons in their second stage are soft, fleshy grubs, slightly attenuated at each extremity, and armed with two mandibles. Their instinct teaches them that they must confine their attacks to the fatty portions of the animal, and carefully abstain from amy destructive raids upon the viscera. Now the caterpillars of Lepidoptera are vegetarians’? (except when they think proper to exercise a certain 10 Westw. Class of Insects. Vol. 2, page 142. 11 Another familiar exception occurs among the micro-lepidoptera, some species feeding upon wool, fur, etc. SHort Notes AND QUERIES. 81 latent cannibalistic tendency), and when they have consumed all the vegetable matter within their reach, they must resign their quarters, and go in search of fresh substances suited to their taste, or starve : that is the only alternative, and they therefore use their legs, indis- pensable organs to them. But with the J/chnewmonide the case is different. They exist in a living body, and the matter they consume is constantly being replaced; hence, the infected larva, instead of adding the requisite amount of substance to its own body, simply supplies its uninvited guests with a well stocked larder ; and when they have reached the expiration of their larval career, they quit their victim, who speedily parts with what little lfe they have left him. Others, again, are still more greedy, they permit the caterpillar to become a pupa, and after finishing up what portions of the wretched insect they were obliged to leave, make a snug home out of the pupa Case. (To be continued. ) Raintall for October. Height Toran Faun of _ | No. to Darz. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest : above | fall. |paysy3————— | Fall. eee level. 1881. | 1880. ay Ft. | In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 4°47 | 18 | 26°18 |* 27°21 13 1°15 (J. W. Robson) Hairax...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 5°06 | 15] 37°40 | 3611 WAKEFIELD (E. B. Wriggles-| 100 | t i Sf worth) STANLEY ......... (dea —..52:|° 2507]. F THORNES ......... (doale ee. SOc 2 Lf sae Wy an BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...}) 350 | 3°04 | 16] 21°12 | 34:18 13 0°87 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 6°31 | 21 | 34°61 | 39°31 13 1°30 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...| 520 | 4°27 | 18 | 25°83 34°58 ts 1:00 GOOLE ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 2°35 |.17 | 21°27 27°89 13 0°79 HULL (Derringham)...(Wm.} 10 | 2°54 | 21'| 21°92 |18:2938t} 13 0°73 Lawton) * This is the average to date for 15 years, 1866-80. + No returns. ~ On the average (to date) of 30 years, 1850-79, in 165 days. Short Hotes and Queries. Late APPEARANCE OF Hirwndo rustica.—On Nov. 9th I noticed a swallow flying strong on the wing for a considerable time over my garden and the buildings adjoining.—W. Greeson, Baldersby, Thirsk. 82 THE NATURALIST. House Martin. —Mr. J. 8. Rowntree (Scarboro’) sends us the following :—‘‘ On Sunday, 13th November, which was a fine spring-like day, there was seen at the south end of the Cliffe Bridge grounds, half-a- dozen of the common house-martin. They remained in that locality the whole of the day, hawking after the flies, which appeared to be abundant under the shelter of the cliff. It is a very extraordinary circumstance to see one of the hirundines so late as November, as they have generally all disappeared by the middle of October. The appearance of so many so much beyond the time of their usual migration opens up the question as to whether the whole tribe do migrate, and whether those seen have not been hibernating since the close of summer, and that the remarkably warm and geniai weather of the last few days has quickened them into active life again before the usual period.” Natourat History Notes.— Beverley, 3rd Nov.—My morning has been spent in watching a waxwing (Bombycilla garrula), which for some days past has taken up its quarters in the surrounding trees. Its favourite perch is a hawthorn tree, within a very few yards of my window, and it is now in full view as I am writing. It is a timid bird, erecting its magnificent crest and looking around at the slightest noise, but is not shy, as the public road is quite near, and spends its time, when not pruning its feathers or eating the haws, in making short flights of a few yards in the air, hovering a few moments on the wing, and then returning to the tree it left, very much after the manner of a grey flycatcher. So far I have heard no note. I hear of a small flock in the adjoining West- wood, and I conjecture that it was blown across in the same gale of wind which probably brought over the rustic bunting noticed in the November Naturalist.—N. F. Dopresr. —Beverley, 10th Nov.—Much to my astonishment, I have been shown by a local collector two specimens—male and female—of Dasypolia templi, captured here within the last fortnight. They were taken on different evenings—one on a street-lamp outside, the other on a wall within the glare of a gaslamp in the middle of the town. No previous record of such a capture exists here, nor even in the Hast Riding, so far as I know. Has not the West Riding been supposed ts have the monopoly of the insect ?—N. F. D.—[The late Mr. T. Wilkinson used to breed D. Templi from larvee taken in Heracleum Sphondyliwm at Scar- borough.—G. T. P.] EntomoLocicaL NotEs.— Thursday, 20th October last, being a fine day, I and a friend paid a visit to Edlington Wood, near Doncaster, thinking, no doubt, it would be the last visit this year. The wood presented a delightful appearance, the foliage of the oak, beech, birch, &c., shewing all the delightful golden-russet, autumnal tints, contrasting finely with the sembre yew, loaded with its bright red berries ; also the spindle tree, SHort Notes AnD QUERIES. 83 with its curious angle-shaped but less bright berries, and the privet, with its bunches of jet-black fruit ; and in going through one of the clearings we saw several bunches of primroses. Our object, however, was entomo- logical, and applying the usual beating-stick, we dislodged hundreds of Oporabia dilutata, both in good and bad condition ; and entangled in spiders’ webs in yew-tree trunks, several Himera pennaria ; at rest, one Xanthia ferruginea, and the larve of Abraxas ulmata, about three- quarters grown, in abundance. Another species of insect appeared also in full force, which I never observed before, on almost every tree trunk— some high up, others low down; and it is principally my object, in sending you this short note, to ascertain the name of this insect. I send you a specimen. They are in appearance like a bright green grass- hopper with a conspicuous ovipositor. One always associates with the grasshopper a bright hot sunny day, a grassy common, a peculiar burring noise, and a sudden spring. Those I saw the other day were crawling lazily up the tree trunks, and if only just touched, down they came like a bit of stick or a leaf—JNno. Harrison, 7, Victoria Bridge, Barnsley, Nov. 10th.—[ We have noticed this grasshopper on the trees at Edlington Woods repeatedly, but are not sure what species it is.—Eds. Nat. ] —A TricHopreron I found onthe Marsden moors, near Huddersfield, in September last year, and again in abundance on the same spot last September, has been named for me by Mr. McLachlan, F.R.S., as Stenophylax cenosus of Curtis. It seems to be a local species in Britain, and our form differs from the Continental types of the same insect. Recently I received a nice series of Pterophorus parvidactylus from Bristol ; also P. tewcrii, taken in Norfolk.—Gzo.:T. Pornrirv. —Barnsley.—The increased mildness of the season has allowed many observations to be inade full of interest to the entomologist. Abraxas ulmata, the larva of which was noted during the latter part of October, has been seen on the wing several times this month, thus favouring the idea of its being double-brooded. Cerastis spadicea, Calocampa exoleta, &c., have come to sugar ; Hybernia aurantiaria, H. defoliaria, Cheimatobia boreata, Oporabia dilutata, and others have been seen freely on the wing, having, however, a much more animated appearance than is usually the case in our cold locality.—W. EH. Brapy. Notes ON A FEW CoMMON YORKSHIRE SpripERS.—In my note-books I find notes on some common spiders which I happen to know by sight, and as—common though they be—two of them have never been placed on record for the county, I venture to supply the omission. I do not, how- ever, profess to know anything about spiders in general, and the few which I have noted are species which are readily recognisable, and impossible to mistake. At various times I have been interested in observing the habits of the zebra or hunting spider (Salticus scenicus), which is not at all uncommon, in Leeds and at Pannal. It affords a very 84 THe NATURALIST. good exemplification of animal disguise, and its striped arrangement of black and white enables it easily to elude observation. I have watched it catch flies, which it does by stalking, making a gradual and insidious approach till within leaping distance. The localities in which I have observed it are Pannal, Kirkstall, and at Hyde Park and Sunny Bank, in Leeds, the times of year being in May, June, and July. I noticed this species also this year at the railway station at Crowle, in Lincolnshire. The diving, or water spider (Argyroneta aquatica) I have taken abun- dantly in Askham Bog, near York. I have seen specimens of the garden spider (Hpeira diadema), from Barwick-in-Elmete, brought to the Leeds Naturalists’ Club in 1874 by Mr. 8S. Schofield, but I have not taken it myself. In 1868 [found a specimen of a villanous-looking species of the same genus, Hpeira wmbratica, at Pannal: it was secreted beneath the loose bark of a felled tree ; this I kept alive for some length of time.— Wm. Denison Rozesuck, Sunny Bank, Leeds, Oct. 29th. THe WatER SPIDER (Argyroneta aquatica).—About the year 1854 or 1855 I had the pleasure of discovering a colony of these interesting little creatures in a small pond cut off the north bank of the river Calder, near Methley, at a place called Frost Dam. This little pool abounded with life, and the water of it was very clear. Here the water spiders were in abundance, and from here | obtained from time to time specimens for my aquarium. About ten or twelve years ago the Midland Railway Co. erected a pump at this place, and since that time I have failed to find the spiders in their accustomed haunt. Their habits, as seen in my aquarium, were very interesting, From the first lot of spiders I collected I had a brood of young ones, which were devoured by their parents. Probably, however, this cannibalism was due to the abnormal circumstances of captivity, such as limited space, and, possibly, insufficient supply of food. In what other localities in the county are they to be found ?—JoHN GrassHAM, 11, Meanwood-street, Leeds, Nov. 10th. REVIEWS, &c.—‘‘ A Pocket Guide to British Ferns. By Marian 8. Ridley.—London : D. Bogue, 1881.”—This little work has been written to meet a want, and we think the authoress has succeeded in her endeavours. In her own words—‘‘ In my own persona! studies I have met with this difficulty, viz., to gather from the published volumes on Ferns what the decided special features, or characters, are of each genus and species * * * and I have found mine to be no solitary instance,” &c. The plan of the work is, that it first gives a general description of ferns as distinguished from other cryptogamia, along with notes on their different parts, and a diagnosis of the genera. The greater part is taken up by tables (one on each page) of the various species. In these tables the different parts of a fern are arranged in always the same order in a left-hand column, and to the right are given the manner in which they are developed or are absent in- every species. Space will not REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 85 allow of detail, or we would gladly have copied a specimen page. The plan is admirable, is well worked out, and concludes with a key to the genera, a copious index of terms and species, and a list of species printed in larger type on one side only, for the herbarium. Altogether, we strongly recommend the book to all fern collectors and amateurs, and even more advanced botanists may often find it useful. “Union Jack Naturalist.”—We have received the first number of this new publication, which is intended to supply members of the Union Jack Field Club with information on Natural History matters. Rep me. a ey ics, Barnstey Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting Oct. 25th, Mr. G. Rose in the chair.—A conservation on injurious insects was opened by Mr. F. Brady : the Colorado beetle and mangold-fly were chiefly discussed. Meetine Noy. 8th.—Mr. A. Kell (president) gave an interesting paper on the habits of some birds. Dr. W. J. Lancaster presented a valuable microscope, obtained by him from Lawiess of London ; also Clarke’s two volumes of ‘‘ British Fungi.” The ornithological report for Barnsley and district includes a few rare birds and occurrences. On Oct. 5th, sixteen wild geese flew to south-east over Lunn Wood ; a barn-owl drowned in a tub at the woodman’s cottage. Heron seen occasionally at Cannon Hall and Walton Lake ; the heronry there ceased to exist after Waterton’s death. A ring-ouzel obtained Oct. 25th, at Darley Hall—the latest stay we remember of this summer migrant. The rarest migrant, viz., the spotted crake, was killed against the telegraph wires at Worsborough Common, Oct. 15th. Of winter visitors, woodcocks were noted from Oct. 15th, redwings Oct. 10, hooded or Norway crow, 21st; fieldfares 23rd—all from the north of Europe. Mlissel thrushes, blackbirds, sky- larks have sung, some even during the frost; and a few goldfinches and bullfinches have occurred.—T. LisTER. Braprorp Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting 25th October, Mr. J. W. _ Carter in the chair.— Mr. J. Firth read a report on the vertebrate animals | of the Society’s district, which includes the Aire, Wharfe, Ribble, and _ part of the Lune drainages. The report may be summarised as follows: | Mammalia, 19 ; birds, 135 ; reptiles, 3; amphibia, 3 ; fishes, 9. MEETING ae. 8th, Mr. W. Jagger in the chair.—Mr. J. W. Carter read a report on the lepidoptera of the district, and stated that during the past year the following species were added to the list :—A. carda- mines, H. alchemillata, EH. pimpinellata, M. anceps, and R. tenebrosa, making total number of species 262. Meerine Nov. 22, Mr. J. Firth in the chair.—Messrs. W. West and H. T. Soppitt read reports on the flora of the district, which showed _ several important additions during the past year, making the total 86 THe NAaAtTuRALtIstT. number of species as follows :—Phanerogams, 560; ferns, 25 ; mosses, 286 ; hepatice, 81: fungi, 261 ; lichens, 55; alge, 81.—H. T.S. HuppErsFIELD Natruratists’ Soctrry.—Fortnightly meeting, October 22nd, Mr. James Varley in the chair, who gave a paper on ‘‘ Game Birds and their Food,” including the following, which he minutely described : Rasores, or gallinaceous birds, which present the closest resemblance to our common poultry ; the Phasianide, of which Phasianus colchicus, the common pheasant, was introduced to Europe by the Argonauts about the year 1250, from the banks of the river Phasis, in Colchis, in Asia Minor : hence their name. The Tetraonide, which include the grouse, partridges: quails, and their allies of a smaller size. TYetrao wrogallus, the Caper- caillie, is one of the largest species of this family, and was formerly common in Scotland and Ireland, but was extirpated nearly a century ago. Attempts are now being made to reinstate this noble bird in Scot- land, and they have, so far, been successful. Tetrao tetrix, the black grouse. Lagopus scoticus, the red grouse, is distinguished by having the feet feathered to the extremity of the toes, and is the best known species of the British Isles, to which it is exclusively confined. Lagopus vulgaris, the ptarmigan, 1s met with in this country only on the mountains of Scot- land, where it dwells among the grey rocks of the highest ranges. Perdix cinerea, the partridge, is generally distributed over Britain, and is found almost all over Europe. They feed upon seed, tender herbage, and. insects. The Scolopacide, including woodcock and snipe. Meetine Nov. 7th, Mr. Varley in the chair.—Messrs. Ellis, Bickerdike, and Midgley laid on the table a number of entomological specimens from Sussex, viz :—N. Dahli ; rubi ; triangulum ; N. C-nigrum ; T. janthina ; P. meticulosa ; T. stabilis ; X. cerago ; silago; A. segetum; suffusa ; and _ N. joucaria (sic). Mr. Varley showed a male and female specimen of D. Templi, from Tinker’s Monument. Mr. G. H. Stather read a paper on his ‘‘ Reptile Pets.” Hutt Frerp Naturatists’ Socrery.—Meeting 24th Oct.—Mr. Moore showed the spotted crake, recently captured, and also a specimen of the red-necked phalarope, shot on a pond near Withernsea, and brought to him in the flesh. The bird was in winter plumage, and the red collar faintly discernable. The sex had not been noted. Mr. Boult showed Xanthia gilvago, which is of very rare occurrence in this district. Mr. Dobree, specimens of Dianthecia conspersa, taken in Shetland, the white markings being entirely changed to dirty grey ; also specimens brought from the Amur river of Thyatira batis, the general colouring being much darker, and the markings more diffused than in British specimens ; alse Hadena pisi, from the same country, of which the ground colouring was much lighter, and the markings almost entirely lost. The exhibitor expressed the opinion that the same causes were operating in these specimens which had led to the loss of the conspicuous white colouring of the male of Hepialus humuli in high latitudes.—_N. F. Dopret, Pres. Reports or Societies. 87 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE EntomontocicaL Socrety.—Meeting, Oct. 31st, the president (S. J. Capper) in the chair.—The Rev. H. H. Higgins read a paper entitled ‘‘ Butterfly Life before Leaving the Egg,”’ in which he described the changes which take place in the ovum, which result in the development of the larvee—dwelling on the marvellous power which causes an egg to produce a being similar only to its parent, although under the highest power of the microscope no structural difference can be detected between the egg of a butterfly and that of any other animated being. Mr. R. Wilding read a paper on ‘‘ A Week’s Insect-collecting in the Vicinity of Preston,” in which, after referring to the history of the village of Hoole, he recounted his entomological exploits by the banks of the river Douglas and on Hoole Moss, illustra- ting his paper with his captures. During the conversazione the Rev. H. H. Higgins exhibited the collection of insects made during the *“ Argo” expedition to the West Indies, and offered some remarks on them. Mr. Sang, of Darlington, exhibited Nonagria sparganit, varieties of A. grossulariata, a gynandromorphous variety of L. Alexis, &c. ; also a collection of coloured drawings by himself of 583 species of micro- lepidoptera. Mr. Shuttleworth (Preston), a specimen of Apatwra Ilia, captured near Pinnar ; a specimen of CO. fraximi from Southampton, Ke. Mr. N. Cooke, varieties of H. huwmuli, D. conspersa; G. obscurata, C. bilineata, &c., from the Hebrides. The president, a box of exotic lepidoptera. Mr, J. Wall, living specimens under the microscope of Acari, obtained from a beer barrel. Lereps Narvuratists’ CLusp Anp Screntiric Assovration. —Meeting, Oct. 4th, the president (Mr. W. Barwell Turner, F.C.S., F.R.M.S.) in the chair.—Mr. Wm. Nelson showed some fine specimens of the variety albina of Pupa marginata, from Cleeve Priors, in Worcestershire, remarking that it is very rare, and but seldom seen by conchologists ; whilst the president exhibited a series of wood sections, amongst them being Zea mays, Zamia tridentata, Passiflora cerulea, Bambusa orientalis, and Notochlena levis. Mr. W. Denison Roebuck, a number of diagrams which were sent for the recent Fungus Show. Other interesting objects were shown by Messrs. F. Emsley, W. B. Russell. and J. Ladmore. Meeting Oct. 11th, the president in the chair. Mr. Samuel Drew, F.R.S. Edin., of Sheffield, delivered a very interesting and instructive lecture on ‘‘ The Senses and Consciousness of Animals.” Meetine Oct. 18th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Percy Alexander showed berries of the buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus) and of the spindle tree (Huonymus Huropous) from Grange-over-Sand ; Mr. W. Raine, eggs of the cuckoo (Cuculus canoius) from the nests of meadow pipits ; Mr. J. Grassham, eggs of the osprey (Pandion halietus), and of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Mr. C. Smethurst brought a specimen of Sphine convolvuli, which had been captured in a garden near Burley | Church, about three weeks previously. Mr. H. Pollard exhibited a 88 , Tore NATURALIST. distorted example of the pearl mussel (Unio margaritifera) from the river Esk at Crunckley Gill, near Lealholm. MEETING Oct. 25th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Percy Alexander showed a number of flowering plants collected at Masham, amongst which were Trollius europeus, Dianthus plumarius, Iris pseud-acorus, Primula farinosa, and an abnormal example of Gewm rivale; Mr. Washington Teasdale, F.R.M.S., several photographs taken at Richmond on the occasion of the recent visit of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union ; Mr. H. Pollard, Achatina acicula from Derbyshire, Helix pulchella from Glou- cestershire, Bulimus acutus from Somersetshire, and Physa hypnorum from Gloucestershire ; the president, mounted slides of the larvee of the male and female of the vapourer moth (Orgyia antiqua). Meetine Noy. Ist, Mr. W. D. Roebuck in the chair.—Mr. J. Fogg exhibited skins of the great albatross (Diomata exulans), the night heron (Nycticorax europeus), the purple heron (Ardea purpurea), the laughing kingfisher (Oacelo gigas), the great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), and of the grey heron (Ardea cinerea); Mr. W. D. Roebuck, a specimen of the common bat (Scotophilus pipestrellus) from Mytton Church, and described the chief points by which it might be distinguished from all the other bats. Mr. C. Smethurst brought a series of variations of the tortoise-shell butterfly (Vanessa urtice), and also varieties of the magpie moth (Abraxas ulmata). Meetine Nov. 15th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Washington Teasdale read a very pleasing paper on ‘‘Compound Vibration Diagrams,” which he illustrated by numerous diagrams of his own production.— H. PouuarD, Sec. MaNcHFsTER Cryptocamic Soctrty.—Meeting October 17th, Mr. T. ‘Brittain in the chair, who gave a brief account of his recent visit to Cornwall, where he met Mr. Ralfs, Mr. Curnow, and Mr. Marquand, an eminent trio of cryptogamic botanists living in the vicinity of Penzance, with whom he had the pleasure.of several rambles in the vicinity of that town, as well as their pleasant company during the long evenings. Mr. Brittain had collected a large number of microscopic fungi, and numerous lichens, some of which he kindly distributed at the meeting. Mr. James Cash had also recently returned from a visit to Scotland, and exhibited some of the mosses gathered, of which we may mention Orthotheciwm rufescens from Loch Fyne, Ulota Ludwigit from trees near Jnverary, and Dicranum Scottianum from Loch Riden in Argyleshire—all in good fruiting condition. Mr. Pearson showed Riccia crystallina from Suffolk, and Jungermannia Pearson (Spruce), which latter had been collected in Westmoreland, June, 1881, being the second recorded station for this new species; Mr. T. Rogers, a number of mosses and hepatice, from the collections made by the two cousins, Edward and William Hobson, who were at one time active members of the old Banksian Natural History Society.—Tuos. Rocurs, Hon. Sec. —Meetings of Societies. aq alee = hk Teed Geckogieal Association. — Maton Ores.” Prof. A. H. Green, | pa ee go LA. EGS.) | 8. pm. 5. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, Annual Meeting. 8 p.m. 6. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. _ f __,, 6, Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. 4, 6. Bradford Naturalists’ Society, Annual Meeting. 7-30. p.m. - 6. Barnsley Naturalists’ Society.— ‘‘ Lower Orders of the Vegetable ‘ Kingdom.” Mr. J. C. Mitchell. » 1. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society, Ping Os Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. » 14. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. », 19. Leeds Geological Association. » 21. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. 7-30 p.m. -,, 20. Barnsley Naturalists’ Society.— “ Local Geology.” Mr G. Milner. . ,, 26. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. TRANSACTIONS of the YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION.. _. PARTI. FOR 1877 contains the commencement of ‘‘ The Birds of Yorkshire,” by Mr. W. E. Clarke, M.B.O U.; of an “* Annotated List of the Land and Fresh-. _ water Mollusca of Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a . complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that— order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on ‘‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera in 1877,” by Mr, G. T, Porritt, F.L.S.; one on “ Yorkshire Micro- lepidoptera in 1877, ip by Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. 8. L: Mosley, on ‘‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ _ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psyllide ; and aoe ae preaare on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S§, PARTS II. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’ S _ Birds ot Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Yorkshire ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by “Dr; FES, 3; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘Moss-Flora of the Haste Riding”; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, FS 420n. 1. Mavlahine Ichneumonide, by Mr. 8. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; and on Yorkshies ees observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. : W. Denison Rozsuck, Sunny Bank, . | ee ee as Se Leeds, legos a | Cora ae os Wm, EH. CLARKE, ay pe ey ye Os 5, Hast View, Hyde Park Road, Tacda: | . ee PRICE 10s. 6d. } INSEOT VARIETY. and of the variation to which hoe characters a are liable. BY A H. “SWINTON, Tapes ae = = : eCaaloeag ae Tae coloured ficures of aveae “species : aint ee cee drawn. by S. a re Mosley ; 3 with text-revis sed by a Fellow Of the Zoologice | Soci a Sa A cheap- edition. is pepushed at ds., ; and the Birds or Eggs oe be- = separate, 2 : ; ae 2 Mert be. had of - 8. L. MOSLEY? ae cinonk, Park, Huddersfield ; Se a E. pa ~~ ROBSON, Bellely Bees West. Hartlepool. Lees ae se ae ee FE Publistee Heap 300, boar di: 3 THE INSECT HUNTER’S © COMPANION, Se By the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A., eT bees Being taco for_Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and Praesne Buttorfi ; : es ee ae : and Moths, Beetles, Bees, Flies, and other ee eee Mes d - ass SSS 225 See THIRD EDITION. Ss aes REVISED AND EXTENDED BY A.B. FARN, eee THE CHAPTER ON COLEOPTERA, BY EbwarD NEWMAN.» : ) ae. CON TEN: TS.—How +o obtain the ¢ by searching etme ee moth: = _» = pairme insects. _ How to obtain LARV# ee beating : the Bionell tray } Sweeping - searching by night; how to rear the larva; sleeving ; hybernating larvee 5 = parasites : = preserving larve. PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pupe ; foreipg” ‘pupe;- =... ‘FHE PERFECT InsEcT.—Localitiés net ; mothine : honeydew ; - sugaring eee light ; indoor light ;_ gronting ; smoking; killing relaxing ;_ setting : grease ; ere mites ; mould ; cabinets and store boxes; = painting : arrangement and nom i . -clature ; number of specimens and manner of placing; transmission. by post; - _ entomoelegical diary.; beoks. Mie COLEOPTERA ; HYMENOPTERA; a OF GALL-FLIES. ihe : cs Ae ae “PRICE ONE SHILLING. ene eee Ses = LONDON : : _SONNENSCHETN & ALLEN, -PATERNOSTER 2 SQUARE. ax 9 ee The Eatomolosige S ‘Monthly Magazine, ees ee Price 6d. monthly, 24-pages 8ve, with oceastonal. Illustrations. — : Conducted” by J. W. Dovoras, RB; MacLacuran, F.R. = E. So ‘Ry : BZ DS: H. T. Srarnton, F-R.S., Wz = This Magazine, SS ainenedil in 1864, contains hie Avidee and Nates 2 ee Se = all subjects connected. with Entomology,” and especially on ‘the Insects of ne "22+ 4, British Isles: a ae ee Subsexiption 6s. per ‘alums, post free. The volumes commence e with the ~~ ~~ number in each year. - Poa The early volumes are out = print; ak can be occasionally obtained by picks eee of the entire series. In this case the price of vols: 1. to V_is 10s. pervol. ‘The aes succeeding vols. (strongly bound in eloth) ean be had separ. ately or boreiter t 7s. per vol. LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, A Pabernostee tae AN. eas &e.5 should be sent to the faite a the above SRE EES = Tan: SCOTTISH NATURAL 4 A Magazine of Rataral History. commenced in 187 Ys “Faitea by F BUCHANAN WHITE, MD. F. “Subscriptions (paid in. advance) 4s. yer: anim, 3 _ EpINeuReH AND. ) LONDON : : OURNAL Ok THE YORKS HIRE NATURALISTS — fenp OLUE RECORD. NEM SERIES: Boise» » BY : Cas P. Honeins, F.L. S. ann G. T, Porritt, FLL. SS Me JANUARY, 1882. VOL. eS CONTENTS ‘Procelaria Palagica ssh Richmond. Ww. Ciepeas: Late eel Warbler near Sheffield.—Z. pet owarth turalists’ "Society oo oe ORR Rr nL re <7? ates pee we ae “should Ae fig wit < once in Pater eet Orne Pp. 0. es - Postage Stamps. All communications to be addressed to THE — -=- EDITORS, care of Mr. B. BROWN, Market Place Cones Had— ; are S Z should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of the Hee ~~ pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 5s., 100 copies Gs. Gp. Not exceeding eight - __ “Cabinets and apparatus of all kinds, of the best make on the lowest ae ECOKS.—New and Second- hand, on N atural History Subjects. EO: CORRESPONDENTS. Tan N NATO RALIST is published on the first of every month, saliscrpHion 4/- ras a year, post free, pa yable in advance. 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THE “UNION JACK” NA TURALIST, AND FIELD CLUB JOURNAL. ‘WITH THE JANUARY NUMBER WILL BE PRESENTED ~ A Beautiful Lithographed Plate of PAPILIO MACHAON, - Shewing the Larva, Pupa, and Food- plant. Price of magazine and plate, 1d., or with the plate coloured by hand, 2d. Hi KENNEDY, Liscard Park, Birkenhead ; or ae 3 We-P: COLLINS 7 187, Great Portland Street, Topgene boa on WwW. M A R SD E N, NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. Iritish and European Macro-Lepidoptera, Preserved Larve of rare British: ~ Lepidoptera. . The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggsi in England. Catalogues: “ on application. “Bijou List of British Butterflies,” Beautifully piste’ in colours, 6d-y . Graduated List of British Birds.” apecally. prepared f reference and labelling, Gans “« LEPIDOPTERIStS’ CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, Be REGENT STREET, “GLOUCESTER- : Original Articles. Oro kK, PTT Le) PB TS.* By G. P, SratHer. — THE desire to have a pet of some kind is almost universally found in man—hboth savage and civilized, wild and free. History affords us several remarkable instances of animals converted into pets by persons condemned to long periods of imprisonment. There was Baron Trent, the German prisoner, who tamed a mouse, and made it so attached to him that it is stated to have died, apparently of grief, soon after his liberation. Another celebrated prisoner in one of the fortresses of Holland, had as a pet a tame spider. On watching its habits he could foretell some great change in the weather, and on one occasion his observation of the spider’s movements enabled him to send most important information to the Government, and ultimately to obtain his release. Again, we have the record of a notorious convict in France, who was condemned to the galleys for life, and was famous even there for the untractability of his disposition. By some means he became possessed of a rat, which he rendered perfectly tame. At first when discovered, the warders were for killing the animal, but the man’s entreaties were so piteous, that the governor allowed him to keep his pet, on condition of his good behaviour. The affection which the convict had for the rat seemed to change his whole nature, and the once tameless brute became an obedient subject, and on one occasion used his immense strength to assist in quelling a meeting among the other convicts. The partiality which boys have for rabbits, guinea-pigs, and white mice is proverbial; cats and parrots seem to be associated with single ladies of a certain age; and though the popular fancy does not run much in the direction of frogs, toads, newts, snakes, and blindworms, yet these have their admirers, and a study of their habits affords many instructive lessons in Natural History. The frog (Rana temporaria) of the five animals mentioned, is looked upon with the least disfavour, indeed the feeling entertained for him is in marked contrast to that manifested towards his humble cousin the toad. He is indebted for this mainly to his more elegant and sprightly appearance; his skin, besides being smooth and shining, is beautifully variegated with yellow, bronze, and green, which admirably blend with the colours of the weeds and grasses amongst which he spends the chief part of his life. According to the old rhyme the frog changes colour somewhat N.S8., Vou. vil.—Jan., 1882. * Read before Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 7th Nov., 1881. 30 Toe NATURALIST. on the approach of wet weather. As I have not personally observed it, and my only authority is the well-known couplet— ‘¢ The frog has chang’d his yellow vest,” And now in russet coat is drest, I shall be glad if some one would state whether frogs do change at such times, and the reason of the change. Frogs lay their eggs in clusters, some of which will fill a pint basin ; each egg is enclosed by a glutinous skin, which has the faeulty of absorbing water to a con- siderable extent. This jelly-like substance serves a two-fold purpose: it protects the eggs, and when that task is finished, furnishes the first meal to the infant tadpole. My impression is that fish are deterred from attacking the eggs by this surrounding. I once put a mass of frogs’ spawn into a large glass among a lot of gold and silver carp; while the eggs were eggs, the fish made no attempt to devour them, but as soon as the young tads began to move in a twitching manner within their covering, the fish attacked them, vigorously tore away the protecting mass, and swallowed the little black morsels till they grew as fat as aldermen. When frogs hybernate, they either bury them- selves in mud at the bottom of a pool, or creep into hollows beneath the bank. : The toad (Bufo vulgaris) is a living embodiment of the proverb, ‘Give a dog a bad name, and hang him.” According to what was once the almost universal belief, this harmless creature is possessed of qualities and properties beside which the fangs and claws of a tiger shrink into insignificance. He spits fire, his breath is deadly poison, and his touch is so venomous that nothing but instant amputation can save the sufferer from a death more horrible than that by hydrophobia. Such was, and is yet in some districts, the popular opinion of an animal which is, in fact, as harmless as it is useful. “ Fine feathers make fine birds,’ says the old saw: and doubtless the toad owes its diabolical character mainly to its ungainly form and unattractive colours. Like the frog, the toad developes from the egg, through the tadpole to the perfect form ; but toads’ eggs can always be distin- guished from those of the frog, for, while the latter lays hers in clusters, the former lays them in ropes, each rope containing two rows of eggs. I have not seen any difference between the tadpoles of the two, nor do I know if there is a distinction ; perhaps someone will kindly say whether they have noticed any difference. Neither frogs nor toads can live entirely under water, though water is absolutely essential to them; in fact, they come near realising the showman’s definition of an amphibious animal, viz., *‘ an animal that STaTHER: Our RepritE Pets. 91 cannot live on land, and that dies in the water.” A frog can live longer under water than a toad, because he is better supplied with air- bladders. The drowning of either a frog or toad, fastened under water, would only be a question of time ; the same is applicable to the newt. Whilst in the tadpole state they breathe by means of gills, in the perfect state they breathe directly by means of lungs. Frogs and toads cast their skin at times, but the cast-off skin of the toad is never found. Mr. Wood explains this by saying that when the toad has cast the skin, it rolls it up and swallows it. Clearly the toad is a firm believer in the old-fashioned proverb, ‘‘ Waste not, want not ”—a motto not always exercised by those of higher grades. These two animals live on very much the same food, viz., worms, slugs, and various insects: with the difference that the toad feeds chiefly by night, the frog mostly by day. Their method of catching varies somewhat, according to the kind of animal preyed upon. If it isa worm or slug, it is pounced upon and seized with a sudden snatch ; if the first effort fail, it is repeated until it succeeds, aud the prize is then swallowed by successive gulps. Should the prey be an insect, a totally different method is adopted. The tongue of the toad is long, flat, and slightly forked ; it is hinged, as it were, to the lower lip, and the point hes backward toward the throat. When a fly is to be captured, out flashes the whiplike tongue, well lubricated with adhesive saliva, and the luckless fly simply vanishes !—that is about the only word to express the speed with which it disappears. These animals will not touch any food until they see it move; they will sometimes partake of dead food if you stir it slightly. Though they have teeth, they do not chew their food, but swallow it whole. The teeth are so small that they are merely to hold their prey while they gulp it down. Toads are gifted with a certain amount of intelligence. I have known a case of a toad, which was kept in a garden, answering to the | name of “Jack.” Jack lived under a water-butt which stood on some | stones, and as soon as his master called “ Jack, Jack,” out he would | come to look up with an inquiring air, which had something very | knowing and intelligent about it. The newt, or eft (Lissotriton punctatus), unlike the frog or toad, does not lay its eggs in ropes or clusters, but singly on the leaves of plants; and some even carry their care so far as to double the leaf over the ego, and foster it for further protection. The tadpole of the newt is a | beautiful creature ; in shape and colour it far surpasses the other tad- | poles, in addition to which its breathing organs arep laced outside the | neck, and form a lace-work frill of exquisite beauty. Altogether, there 92 Toe NaATtTuRALIST. is such a look of babyish innocence and beauty about the young eft, that I am not at all surprised that so imaginative a writer as Kingsley should take them as the prototype of his “ Water Babies.” Yet, lovely as the baby is, and graceful:as they are in all their aquatic movements, these poor newts labour under the same evil reputation as the toad, viz., that they are deadly venomous. I had handled snakes freely, and had learned to distinguish venomous from harmless species long before I could summon up resolution enough to prove by personal experience that the newt is one of the most harmless creatures which God created. The tongue (as is the case with all the animals we are discussing) is forked, soft and pliable to an exquisite degree, and probably very sensitive. The newt feeds by snapping and gulping, but does not use the tongue in the way the frog and toad do. Whilst on this subject | may mention that the habit with certain reptiles (chiefly snakes, but also to an extent among lizards aud newts) of frequently protruding and retracting the tongue used to puzzle me as to its cause, until casually reading Thompson on ‘The Passions of Animals,” I came across this sentence, which shed considerable light upon the matter: “The connection between the tongue and touch in snakes is an additional phenomenon, for it has been ascertained by Hillman that the forked tongue is peculiarly serviceable for the latter purpose—that of touch. They reconnoitre things by a brandishment or vibration of the tongue, without actually touching them, and come to the perception of stationary objects most probably by the pressure of the air, for their sight and smell are extremely weak.” Blindworms, or Slowworms (Anguis fragilis)—Books tell us these are not worms at all, nor are they snakes, but a species of lizard with undeveloped legs. They are not blind; their eyes, though smail, are very bright. That they are not slow, I once had a very practical proof. I was hunting about a manure-heap in South Wales, when I came across a colony of blindworms. I boxed a handful, then com- menced my trouble. Each time I tried to get another in, sundry heads would poke up at the open lid. In my eagerness I tilted the lid nearly off, and out popped three fine specimens on to the grass. I whipped on the lid, caught runaway number one, and got him housed as quickly as possible. ‘The whole affair only occupied a few seconds, yet when I came to look for numbers two and three, they had rendered themselves so exceedingly scarce, that though I looked all round, upon my hands and knees, I could not find any trace of them. Whatever I may have called them then, I never thought of them as slow after that. I found a great diversity in them as to colour and tinge—the difference STATHER: OuR RepmLe Pets. 93 of age most likely, as I found certain sizes associated with certain colours. Those about the length of a finger were a pale yellow, with a thin black stripe down the back ; the largest were invariably dark, some very dark. Small slugs appear to be their favourite food. I once kept forty to fifty at large in a garden walled on all sides, and several times I caught the large trying to swallow the small ones ; whether purposely cannibal or mistaking the small ones for worms, I cannot say. Those I caught almost invariably turned the point of the tail, and stuck it at my hand. As this point is hard and rather sharp, it may be part of the creature’s defence. In addition, they have a very viperish look, and the tail not only comes off easily, but twitches and moves, when touched, for some time. Natrix torquata, the ringed or grass snake.—This handsome and harmless reptile is readily distinguished from the adder, both by its size (which is usually at least double that of the viper) and by a bright yellow collar. Besides these distinctions the snake is spotted down the sides, while the adder has a broad zigzag line down the back. I have said the ringed snake is perfectly harmless, yet it is not always to be handled with impunity, especially by those who possess sensitive noses, for it can, and sometimes does, eject from a gland near the vent a chalky-looking liquid of a most evil odour—one, too, that is not so easily subjugated by soap and water. The first display of this odour in my experience, took place in an old quarry, in South Wales. I was casually turning over the old stones when, on turning over a rather large one, I sawasnake; it was from three to four feet in length, and so ugly that a cold shudder ran through me at the sight. He must have been about to change his skin; his colours were all faded, the eyes were of a milk-and-watery colour, and the yellow collar was all but invisible. He lay still for a second or two, but the moment he started off my hesitation was gone, and I clutched him by the middle. I never saw an animal in such a rage. He writhed and twisted, hissed and darted at my hand, and flung about that horrid stinking stuff, till I was almost tempted to let go ; I held on, however, till he tired, and then boxed him. I have frequently come across portions of the cast skins, and once of a perfect skin, cast even to the coverings of the eyes. I have never found any of the eggs of the snake ; they are described as being about as Jarge as blackbirds’ eggs, covered with a tough, leathery skin, and joined together, and they are mostly laid in manure heaps, doubt- less for warmth. One great difference I noticed between blindworms and snakes is, the antipathy of the former, and the fondness of the 94 THe NATURALIST. latter for water ; invariably blindworms get out of the water as if it scalded them, whereas ringed snakes delight in it. They swim rapidly and gracefully, with the head just above the surface, but if alarmed, they dive out of sight like an eel. The paper was illustrated by specimens from the vivarium of Mr. Piggott, who has noticed that frogs and toads invariably jerk the long toe when their attention is aroused by anything to eat. He would be extremely obliged if any person would kindly let him know if they have observed the same thing. A FEW DAYS AT FIELD BOTANY IN SCOTLAND. ( Continued. ) { By Wm. WEst. We here notice that Phacidium Vaccinii oceurred on the dead leaves of Arctostaphylos. We had now another stiff climb which brought us to the finest. Sedum Rhediola we ever saw, and close by Aira alpina and Polypodium alpestre, the latter being very fine, the fronds attaining with the stipes. a length of nearly thirty inches. (I have just measured some of the specimens we brought home and which have not the lower part of the stipes, they measure on an average twenty-five and a half inches, the only specimen else in my herbarium having given me a poor idea of the plant, being five and a half inches only in length). My companion insisted at first that it was only Athyrium Filix-foemina, which it very much resembles, as Hooker justly observes. Aira alpina, A. flexuosa, var. montana, and Saxifraga stellaris, soon began to be the only con- spicuous phanerogams observable, but rare mosses began to gladden our eyes, and we soon realized that we had neither room to stow, nor power to carry as much as we wished of the harvest that lay before us. Having brought some smaller tubes for algee we filled them and they have been partially examined, the following were among the species noted: Tabellaria ventricosa, Diatoma vulgare, Zygnema cruciata, Zygogonium ericetorum, Sirosiphon compactus, Tetraspora gelatinosa, Cosmarium margaritiferum, and other species even commoner than most. of the above. Hypnum ochraceum was here in great masses, unchosen specimens of which measured sixteen inches ; Arctoa fulvella, Dicranum arcticum, Webera Ludwigii, Mnium subglobosum, Hypnum exannula- tum, var. orthophyllum, and Nardia emarginata flourished in all their beauty, while a little higher up as we came to three successive masses of snow we gathered Cetraria islandica, Andrezea nivalis, its var. fuscescens., West: Fretp Botany In ScorTuann., 95 A. petrophila, var. acuminata and gracilis, A. alpina near var. flavi- cans, Dicranum falcatum, D. Starkii, Conostomum boreale, Polytrichum sexangulare, Jungermannia alpestris var. Wenzellii, Anthelia julacea, a slender form of Diplophyllum minutum and Gymnomitrium crassi- folium, this being the third station for the latter plant. We shortly after attained the summit and at the highest elevation in the British - Isles (4406 feet), we gathered Aira alpina, Andreza petrophila var. acuminata, Racomitrium fasciculare, R. sudeticum, Conostomum boreale and Stereocaulon coralloides. We were favoured in having one of the finest days that could be desired for an extensive view, which was impressively grand and majestic as we gazed at other distant bold outlines over the summits of very high mountains, thus practically realizing the great height we had reached. By means of compass and map we rapidly recognized the other mountains. To the south-west were the prominent peaks of Mull, to the north of these was the bold outline of Rum, while to the north-west stood out in glorious relief the stately outlines of Skye and to the north of this we could plainly see the Butt of Lewis. Turning a little we discerned Ben Wyvis and many other tall hills, while beyond them the northern coast of Scotland was well defined. We now made out the Cairngorm group of hills, but had not time to individualize them ; then we cast a longing look on Ben Lawers and the other Perthshire mountains, from whence numerous hills between 3000 and 4000 feet were studded in a westerly and south-westerly direction towards Glencoe and mighty Ben Cruachan. So enchanted were we with the view that we were loth to leave it, and we irresistably lingered for two hours later than the time we had previously deemed it prudent, to leave the summit. We now began the descent, and had the satisfaction of finding Andreea nivalis with abundant fruit, this moss here attaining a luxuriance that is not equalled on the continent, the plants being five inches in length in the finer patches. As we had to descend in the same direction we had ascended, we did not gather many additional — species; and it was not long before we were benighted; but a little before this happened I had a stroll by the lake where I rapidly gathered what I thought to be Isoetes but afterwards found out (on cutting leaf sections) that it was not that species, and I set it down as the entirely immersed form of Littorella lacustris. The approaching darkness made us hurry down the rugged side towards Glen Nevis which we had intended working before sunset. However, when we reached the river Nevis we had to ford it in the dark, and a cooling 96 THe NaTuURALIST. task it was. O, how I longed for a lantern to gather the fine speci- mens of Lecanora tartarea, Pannaria rubiginosa and other good things we had passed in the morning. I had also felt certain that I could find Habrodon Notarisii on the fine sycamore and ash trees which border the stream, the search for which had also been postponed to the return journey. The two now-weak Williams arrived at Fort William at 10-35 p-m., quite ready for their second meal after divesting themselves of their donkey-loads. The next morning we parcelled up our plants and had very little time to spare before we started by steamer for Oban, else we should have collected what marine algze we could have found about Fort William. From Oban we rode through lovely scenery to Killin Station where we booked our parcel of plants for Glasgow, and started off with empty knapsacks for the Ben Lawers Hotel. We were soon charmed into loitering by the tempting hunting grounds we had to pass. Selaginella selaginoides we noticed in much greater profusion than we had seen it on Ben Nevis, as well as the pretty rosettes of Pinguicula vulgaris, while the walls were covered with Cystopteris fragilis, especially with a blunt form which very much mimicked Woodsia in shape. Myrica Gale, Nephrodium Oreopteris, Gentiana campestris, Racomitrium aciculare and similar plants were quite a feature in the flora. Ulota crispa, Orthotrichum coarctatum, O. tenellum, O. affine, Pogonatum urnigerum, P. aloides var. minus, Eucalyx obovata with whited rootlets, Frullania dilatata, Pellia caly- cina, Jungermannia barbata, J. pumila, Nardia scalaris, Parmelia perlata, Evernia furfuracea, E. prunastri, Ramalina fraxinea in fruit, and R. farinacea were next gathered ; then we put the spurt on and arrived at Killin, but did not stay till we had cleared the village, when I determined in the dusk of the evening to hunt for Habrodon Not- arisii, but my companion hurried on. However, I soon overtook him, when he was glad to relieve me of part of the Habrodon which I had got, and he began to rejoice that it was now so dark (the only cir- cumstance that helped his persuasiveness) that he could rely on my rapid progression towards the inn, at which we arrived a little after 11-0 p.m., again ready for our second meal. The next morning we wrapped up and labelled our gathering from Killin so as not to run the chance of mixing them with our next collection, after which we began the ascent of Ben Lawers through a heavy mist. We had hopes that the mist would only be a thing of the early morn, and soon were assured by a shepherd we saw that we should have it clear as we West: Fietp Botany IN SCOTLAND. 97 got higher. This turned out correct, and we were soon above the mist, which seemed to have a focus on Loch Tay. We were astounded at the easy ascent as we had really no idea what the hill was like till we were on it, for we had determined beforehand to start without ordnance maps, so that it would add to the interest of the journey ; it did add to the interest too, and I felt delighted at the idea of wandering with an ordinary map of Scotland, the scale of which was about eleven miles to the inch. My companion was my senior, and possessed considerable experience of the English and Welsh hills, which turned out to be of use, and I fairly chuckled as I thought how he would have been certain of the impossibility of the fulfilment of the journey had he caught hold of the ordnance maps. Blindia acuta seemed to be the chief feature on the rocks in the wet places on one part of the hill; it was accompanied, of course, by that protean species Philonotis fontana, the latter being very tall. Splach- num sphericum, Hypnum stramineum, H. sarmentosum, H. revolvens, Distichium capillaceum, Bryum bimum, B. pseudotriquetrum, B. filiforme, Webera cruda, Diphyscium foliosum, Polytrichum strictum, P. gracile, Sphagnum acutifolium var. fuscum, S. rubellum, Didy- modon rubellus var. serrulatus, Jungermannia cordifolia, Plagiochila asplenioides var. Dillenii, Nardia scalaris, N. emarginata, Eucalyx obovata, Scapania undulata, 8. uliginosa, Cetraria islandica, Micras- terias furcata, M. rotata, Cosmarium bioculatum, Pleurotzenium bac- ulum, Nostoc rupestre, Synedra splendens, Cymbella gastroides, Penium digitus, oblongum, Scytonema myochrous, Sirosiphon pul- vinatus, Staurastrum brevispinum, and many other species were col- lected at a good elevation. We continued the easy ascent over a carpet of Juncus trifidus and Alchemilla alpina; we soon came across Cherleria sedoides (which mimics Leucobryum glaucum), Silene acaulis was often found growing with it, and close by were Cochlearia alpina, Polygonum viviparum, Sedum villosum, Saxifraga aizoides, S. stellaris, _ Andrezea petrophila, Didymodon cylindricus, Distichium capillaceum var. brevifolium, Racomitrium sudeticum, Dichodontium pellucidum var.fagimontanum, Mnium cinclidioides, Pogonatum alpinum, Hypnum uncinatum, H. scurpioides, H. trifarium, H. sarmentosum var. sub- flavum which is generally found within the Arctic Circle, Junger- mannia trichophylla, J. Mulleri, J. Juratzkana (not then recorded for Britain, the only patch previously gathered in Britain, having been collected in Wales shortly before by Mr. Pearson, to whose kindness J am indebted for the determination of this and many other species, and consisting of so small a supply as to be awaiting further specimens 98 THE NATURALIST. for confirmation), and J. lurida. As we approached the summit we found Thalictrum alpinum, Sagina nivalis, Saxafraga nivalis, Sibbaldia procumbens, Vaccinium uliginosum, V. Vitis-idza, Draba rupestris, Dicranum Starkii, D. fuscescens, D. fulvellum, Weissia crispula, Grimmia funalis, Timmia austriaca, Mnium spinosum, Bartramia ithyphylla, Conostomum boreale, Lesquereuxia saxicola (the first time gathered in Britain), Plagiothecium denticulatum var. obtusifolium, Heterocladium dimorphum, Pseudo-leskea atrovirens, Jungermannia Orcadensis, Anthelia julacea, Gymnomitrium concinnatum, and we noticed that Alchemilla alpina was abundant up to the very summit. (To be continued. ) THE ICHNEUMONID A. (Concluded. ) By Cuas. H. H. WALKER. As examples of the parasites that become pupz within the mummy- like envelope of the butterfly or moth, whose existence has come so abruptly to a close, I may mention first :—Zchneumon trilineatus, the parasite of the currant moth, Abraxas grossulariata. This species feeds singly in the bodies of the caterpillars, which always pupate, but dying, the chrysalis serves as a covering for the parasite. It is a very common insect. I collected upwards of thirty pupz of grossulariata - from a blackthorn bush. From these came three perfect moths, one being the dark yellow suffused variety I had the pleasure of exhibiting at a previous meeting, twenty-five parasites, and the remainder perished. The parasite of Pieris rape is too familiar to permit my enlarging upon it. Occasionally, upon breaking open chrysalides of that insect, the pup of the ichneumons will be found within, huddled together in a mass. Other species construct separate cocoons, of a beautiful silky texture, — the thread of which is sometimes continuous. They are generally very irregularly placed, as is the case with Microgaster glomeratus, and the parasite of Chelonia caja; but others arrange them with a marvellous recularity,+2 which speaks very strongly in favour of the architectural capabilities of the insect. 12 Westw. Class. of Insects, vol. 2, p. 150. WALKER : On ICHNEUMONIDA. 99 The pup of ichneumons vary but little from those of other hymen-~ opterous insects, resembling the imagines, but the limbs and other members of the body are held down by a tightly stretched membrane. Those species with an exserted ovipositor have that instrument bent over the back.1% Shortly the time arrives when the listless, mummy-like creature awakes from its inactive rest, and bursting the slender membrane that has kept it prisoner, unfolds its wings to the breeze; and stopping now and again to plunder a flower of its treasured sweets, seeks its mate, and then its victim. Though a merciless enemy to its weaker and defenceless brethren, it but obeys the instinct given it from its birth. Thus far, I have said nothing about the food of the perfect ichneu- mon. This generally consists of the saccharine matter contained in flowers, for the insect has now renounced all its former carnivorous propensities. Cases have occurred in which ichneumons have devoured the caterpillars of small Lepidoptera, and one has been seen devouring a, leaf-rolling larva, which it cleverly evicted from its tenement by pricking it with its terebra. I find that ichneumons in captivity have a great weakness for honey, and I am in the habit of feeding many Hymenoptera with that substance. A day or two ago, I placed a small quantity in a box with an ichneumon, and left the latter deeply engaged in discussing the merits of its mellifluous feast. Late in the evening of the same day, I found that gentleman lying on his back, quite helpless. When I next looked at him, which was on the following morning, he had found out that he was the possessor of legs, and was balanced on four of them. But as those otherwise useful members were a little crazy about the joints, he had secured additional support by propping himself up against the side of the box, and evidently regarded that individual side with as much affection as a tipsy man exhibits for a friendly lamp-post. A word ortwo in closing. The science of Entomology is progressing steadily onward, yet the lepidopterist of the present day looks back with regret and sorrow to the time when insects that are now either extinct in this country, or of casual occurrence, were captured in some plenty. The massacre of Polyommatus Hippothe and Papilio Machaon has rendered the first extinct, and the second a desideratum with many, When we couple with this the slow and sure encroachments of drainage —___. 13 See communication by Mr. G. C. Bignell in the Entomologist. Vol. 18, p. 244. 100 THE NATURALIST. and agriculture, which have reclaimed the fens and marshes of central England, we sigh for the loss of that Insecta Arcadia, no longer the Elysium and happy hunting ground of the lepidopterist. With the gradual disappearance of rare species from this country, due to causes upon which I will be silent, the chances of obtaining parasites from them are diminishing in a like ratio. And 1 trust that the time is not far distant when the lepidopterist, instead of greeting an ichneumon in his breeding-cage as a pest and an unwarrantable intruder, will indulge the little stranger with a smell of the contents of his cyanide bottle, and place him or her in his cabinet with justifiable gratification at having increased both his collection and his store of knowledge, by the addition of the parasite of the former, instead of having con- signed it to the tender mercies of his boot-soles. Though rapid strides are being made towards the perfection and completeness of Entomological Science, let all who profess themselves sincere and energetic students of Nature’s own handiwork, ever have upon their lips the cry, ‘‘ Excelsior! Excelsior! Higher, ever higher !’’ Short Aotes and Queries. FoRK-TAILED PETREL, NEAR BEVERLEY.—A specimen of the fork-tailed petrel (P. Leechii), was picked up in a dying state, this week, in a field near Riphingham (a small village a few miles distant), and is now in the - collection of Mr. John Stephenson, of Beverley. The simultaneous appearance of two more on the Lincolnshire coast (Zoologist, Dec.),—and of one in Cornwall (field, 26th Nov.), suggested the probability of their having all been blown across the Atlantic in the exceptionally heavy and lengthened westerly gales of last week.—N. F. Doprenr, Beverley. Procellaria Pelagica, at Ricumonp.—A fine specimen of the stormy petrel, or ‘‘ Mother Cary’s Chicken,” was recently shot near to Gatherley Castle, Richmond, Yorks. This, the smallest of web-footed birds, is very rarely found so far inland as this (more than forty miles), and must have been compelled to seek shelter by reason of the exceptional heavy weather experienced during the last few days, its usual habitat being the mid-ocean, which it only leaves during the breeding season, viz. —June and August. It breeds in considerable numbers on the western coasts of Ireland and Scotland, also largely in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. It is frequently noticed by sailors, far from land, “‘ paddling its own canoe” swiftly across the surface of the ocean, occasionally resting for a moment on the foamy waves. They have been known to follow for days the wake of a vessel, watching keenly for anything that might be thrown a a —s wi ~ c ina wih. RAINFALL FOR NOVEMBER. 101 overboard, or ploughed up by the motion of the ship. Two specimens were caught at Heckmondwike in South Yorkshire, in October, 1879, after a heavy fall of snow.—W. Grecson, Baldersby, Thirsk, Dec. 18th. Late Biack-caP WARBLER NEAR SHEFFIELD.—A female specimen of the black-capped warbler (Sylvia atricapilla, Linn.) was shot Dee. 8rd, at Norton Lees, near Sheffield, by Mr. Hy. Turner, of Heeley, which he gave to me the same day for preservation in the museum. The upper mandible was dark horn colour and the lower light slaty grey or blue ; the crown of the head was brown, darker on the fcrehead ; the nape, back, and rump greyish mixed with brown, and the outer edges of tail and primaries of wing of the same colour as the back, while the inner edges were of a darker shade ; the throat and belly dirty white, and the chest and flanks of the same colour, more conspicuously mixed with brown. The legs were dark slaty grey, with black soles to the feet. The total length of the bird was 6% inches. The occurrence of this summer visitor so late in the autumn is very remarkable. —E. Howarru. Acherontia Atropos At HaTHERSAGE.—I have received from Mr. J. C. Burrell, the indefatigable secretary of the Sheffield Naturalists’ Club, a fine specimen of the death’s head moth (Acherontia Atropos), taken at Hathersage, Sep. 26th. Another specimen of this moth was taken in a house at Ranmoor, Sheffield, about four years ago, and is now in this museum.—H. Howartu, Weston Park Museum, Sheffield. Raintall for November. Height Tora Faun of - | No. to Date. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain- | of heaviest of above | fall. [pays |__ Fall. entices all. ieee 1881. | 1880. Ft. | In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 3°35 | 20 | 30°16 |* 30:09 16 0°61 (J. W. Robson) Hawirax...(F.G.8. Rawson)| 365 | 6°38 | 18 | 43:78 | 42:10 Bae A | BARNSLEY ... (I. Lister) ...| 350-| 2°22 | 17 |- 23°34 |. 36:07 26 0°56 | INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 4°29 | 22 | 38°90 | 43°77 26 0°84 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...} 520 | 2°73 | 18 | 28°56 | 36°85 26 0°57 Gooue ... (J. Harrison)...| 25} 2°04 | 14 | 23°31 | 29°64 3 0°32 Huu (Derringham)...(Wm.| 10 | 1°92 | 15 | 23°84 | 20°434t 25 0°36 Lawton) * This is the average to date for 15 years, 1866-80. £ On the average (to date) of 30 years, 1850-79, in 165 days. CORRECTION :—In Huddersfield return for October, ‘‘Total fall to date,” should read 26°81, not 26°18; as printed. Renortis of Societies. Barnstey Naruratists’ Soctety.—Meeting Nov. 22nd, Mr. A. R. Kell in the chair.—Dr. W. J. Lancaster gave an interesting paper on *“ The Osteology of some species of Mammalia,” which was illustrated by skeletons, bones, heads, and feet of animals. Meerine Dec. 6th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—A paper was read by Mr. J. C. Mitchell on :: The Lower Orders of the Vegetable Kingdom— the Oryptogams, or fiowerless plants.” He dwelt on the necessity of a knowledge of the eryptogamic plants, in dealing with zymotic diseases, &c. A few bird occurrences are recorded since last month’s report. F locks of wild geese and ducks have passed over Walton Lake, Nov. 6th, also herons, pochards, wigeons, and the dusky grebe. A pair of little grebes obtained at Barmby Hall ; a pair a few weeks before, all recorded by Mr. C. Wemyss, of Cannon Hall. As many as six or eight herons have frequented the pools and streams around. A few goldfinches and the bullfinch observed in the town and country. Many instances of flowers peeping forth in the spring-like weather we have had.—T. Lisrzr. Braprorp Narturatists’ Soctetry.—Annual Soiree.—The president in his opening remarks dwelt upon the uses of the study of Natural History, dealing more especially with the help which designers may derive from the study of botany. He said that in the sections of plants might be found an endless variety of designs, surpassing in originality and beauty any of the artificial geometrical designs that had been used for so many years. The Rev. W. Fowler, M.A., of Liversedge, delivered a very instructive address on the causes why Natural History societies are not more successful than they usually are. Mr. James Spencer, of Halifax, made some interesting remarks on the recent advancement made in the study of fossil botany by the aid of the microscope. He described how Prof. Williamson and others, including himself, had studied the micro- scopical structure of the vegetable matter found in coal beds. Annual Mzerrine, Mr. Spencer in the chair.—The secretary read the annual report, which showed that during the past year twenty-three meetings had been held, at which lectures, papers, microscopical exhibi- tions, &c., had been given. The objects of the society had also been furthered by most of the members giving accounts of their various rambles, and exhibiting specimens. ‘The district mapped out last year for investigating fauna and flora had been steadily and satisfactorily | worked. The society had been represented at the following rambles of the Yorkshire Naturalist Union :—Skipton, Hornsea, Thorne, and the fungus rambles to Harrogate and Ripon. A number of volumes had been added to the library during the year, and freely used by the mem- bers. The treasurer read his annual statement, which showed the society to be in a healthy and prosperous condition. After the reports had been adopted, and a vote of thanks given to the retiring officers, the election ef officers for the ensuing year was proceeded with, and resulted as : | Reports oF SociEtizs. 103 follows :—President, Mr. W. Jagger : vice-presidents, Messrs. W. West and H. T. Soppitt ; secretaries, Messrs. F. R. Starling and H. Andrews. Huu Frecp Naruratists’ Soctrry.—Meeting 3rd Dec.—Mr. Moore bird-stuffer, showed a great grey shrike (L. excubitor) shot in the out- skirts of Hull (Sculcoates churchyard), in the previous week.—_N. F. Dosre£z, president. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE EntomonocicaAL Society.—Monthly Meeting, November 28th, in the Free Library, the president (Mr. 8. J. Capper) in the chair.—The secretary (Dr. Ellis) read a paper on the “¢ Coleoptera of the district, part II.,” in which he enumerated several additions to the ground beetles of the district (part I., read last year), and gave a iist, with localities, of fifty-four species of hydradephaga, or water-beetles, occuring in the district, out of a total of 134 species inhabiting Britain. Mr. W. R. Scowcroft, of Pendleton, read a paper entitled ‘‘Ten Days in the Isle of Arran,” in which he described the difficulty of collecting insects among the bogs and on the windy mountain sides of that island, illustrating his paper by the insects captured, which included two beautiful varieties of Argynmis Aglaia. During the con- versazione, Mr. W. Johnson exhibited a specimen of Xylina petrificata taken in the district, and Mr. Walker a box of European rhopalocera.— J. W. Exits, Hon. Sec. MaAncHrster Cryptocamic Socrety.—Meeting November 21st.—Capt. Cunliffe, F.R.M.S., who presided, said he had much pleasure in bringing before the notice of the members some specimens of Weissia mucronata, which he had recently found growing near his own home, at Handforth, Cheshire, and which was the more interesting on this account, as he found that it had not been recorded in the catalogue of mosses (published 1881), by the Botanical Record Club, as occuring within the province of the Mersey. This is somewhat singular, as we found on referring to a list of mosses by Mr. G. E. Hunt, which was published by the Manchester Field Naturalists, in their report for 1864, that upon the undoubted authority of Mr. Wilson, specimens of this species had been found by Mr. Wilson himself at Pasteside, April, 1847, and further, that since our first report, published in the Manchester City News, we have ascertained that it has been found in several other localities within the district afore- mentioned, notably at Hattersley, near Mottram, April, 1868, by Mr. John Whitehead. Mr. Stanley exhibited a good series of microscopic slides, chiefly hepatics, but there was not sufficient time to examine them as they deserved. It was, however, evident that Mr. Stanley had mounted them so as to display the essential microscopic characters, to be observed in studying this class of cryptogams, rather than as objects shown for their rarity and beauty of form. Mr. W. H. Pearson read a few notes translated from G. Limpricht’s recently published paper on the Huropean Bog Mosses. The notes read had a more immediate reference to Limpricht’s strictures upon C. Wornstofi’s new arrangement of specific 104 - THE NATURALIST. characters in this particular group of mosses. The subject proved to be very interesting to the members, was well discussed, and suggested several new openings for microscopic investigation.—THos. RocsEns Hon. Sec. WAKEFIELD NATURALISTS’ AND PuHrILosopHicaL Soctetry.—On Dec. 22nd Mr. W. Howgate, of Leeds, delivered a lecture at the rooms of the Exhibition now being held at Wakefield, on “‘ The Formation and Uses of Pnblic Museums.” The lecturer, in the course of his opening remarks, said that among the many social problems now engaging the attention of the Government and of several municipalities were the technical educa- tion of the people, and the establishment of museums. Some of the abuses which had previously existed had been ended by the passing of the Compulsory Education and the Free Library Acts, and the Government were now, by means of a Royal Commission, obtaining a report upon the various systems of technical education both at home and abroad. The subject of the lecture was therefore of importance. He would assume that, from a social as well as from an intellectual point of view, a change for the better was very desirable, and the excellent working committee of that Exhibition evidently thought so too, the objects of the under- taking being to purchase a building for a public museum. There were some who denied the necessity for public museums, and one of their arguments was, that where such museums exist, asin Liverpool, there had been no diminution in crime and drunkenness. But the cause was not far to seek. The distance which in most cases the artisan was compelled to travel to these museums was an insuperable difficulty, and a large majority of the museums in existence were as yet in a state of _ transition, while the artisan had not been consulted as to the formation of any department in which he was interested. The social wants of the working man were altogether ignored. He suggested that there should be a large room in connection with each Board School which could be used as a museum during the evening. As to the means at their disposal for the formation of such a museum at Wakefield, he said that he was of opinion that it was the imperative duty of corporate bodies to provide these institutions. But the present movement was a voluntary one, and the question was. how to raise the money.. He thought a considerable sum of money could be raised by house-to-house collections, which should take place annually, and by public meetings. The museum should consist of a scientific section, with sub-sections which should represent the various branches of science and natural history. These sub-sections should have the entire responsibility of collecting objects for the museum, their arrangement and classification, and the preparation and publication of a series of descriptive handbooks, the provision of lectures, and the formation of classes for the study of the various branches of science.—A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Howgate at the close of the lecture. Meetings of ticles : os Baridley Naturalists? ‘Society. eye Meeting, S215 pm AUS eee 3. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. . eee Ee _,, 8. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. Bors ae i 4, Entomological Society of London, 7-30 p:m. : ne Se 4. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. — oe » Il. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. Eto ,, 18. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. _.,, 16. Huddersfield Literary and Scientific Society. Microscopic Soiree, Beet ee =O P.M. Sy 16. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30. p.m. _ »-- 16, Leeds Geological Association.—‘‘ Astromyelon and its Allies.’’—Mr. J. spencer, of Halifax, 8 pm. ~ 19. TIinnean Society of London, 8 p.m. ae pone itp ‘North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. sae at Hanley, eee gies Local Secretary, Mr. A. Smith. ; » 30. Barnsley Naturalists’ Society.— Annual kcortaode —Lecture on - ‘© Volcanoes,” Mr. R. Gascoyne, F.G.S. ce: lt Leeds Geological Association. », 31. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. | TRANSACTIONS of the YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. 27 PART I. FOR 1877 contains the commencement of ‘The Birds of Yorkshire,” by Mr. W..E. Clarke, M.B.O U. ; of an “‘ Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- water Mollusca of Yorkshire, ” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a _eomplete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that - order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on “ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera in 1877,” by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L. S.; one on “Yorkshire Micro- lepidoptera g in 1877, hes iy! Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr, 8. L. Mosley, on ‘‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ wre } and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Ps ea 5 aS She 8 ee ers ie pepart: on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S. ee a is PARTS I. AND LI. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke's — Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water__ -Mollusea of Yorkshire ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr. Parsons ; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora of the Hast- Riding” ; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. f _ Yorkshire Jchnewmonide, by. Mr. S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; und on Vorkotie Re ee ene in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. me Gi be W. Denison Rousuck, Sunny Bank, oe DSS Gas Hepes Leeds, fe Bue Ls ee tage ---- We Eo CLAREE, - ees. 5, Hast. View, Hyde Park Road, leeds) a ae ‘PRICE 10s. os SS ee | INSEOT VARIETY, ae ASSEL 4 PETTER, GALPIN, & Co., Loxpox ; and all Booksellers. Te Be ie = Containing’ acortrate ‘hand- colg i fn faces OF every species. aes e bevised by.a Fellow. of the Zool ft ad at eAs., —. the Birds or E Bees es te ae = a ce ae =o ctieap edition is : publ = _vae : My be had ‘of S. L, MOSLEY, idawneat Park, Huddersfield ; “or- J = E. aS Ga ae Ie 3 ees West etre Sees Fuk Published: Pep de hae, boards, Sota THE INSECT HUNTER’S - oO By the Rey. J OSEPH GREENE, M.A., - Being feicaas for Collecting, Rearing, Setting; and ‘Pacrine Batteries. cand Moths, Beetles, Bee ‘Flies, and other Tnsects.. S oe ae THIRD EDITION. oa _ REVISED AND EXTENDED BY- 5a pe -FARN. THE Cu APTER ON COLEOPTERA, BY Epw ARD NEWMAN. a: ae : i CONTEN TS.—How to. boda the Ege’ by Sparenie: boxing foe moths} =~ — pairing insects. 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Notices of Natural-History books. 8 Subscription for 1880, including” ‘all, double nae 12)- payable, a ie advance to West, Newman & Ce 5a Hatton. Garden, London, B.C. Py LONDON : JOHN VAN YOORST, 1, Paternoster Row. i SHAW, MARSDEN, = NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. a - Cabinets and apparatus of all ae of the ics make on the lowest terms. fe Se ee "British and European Macro- ‘Lepidoptera, Preserved Larva. of rare < as Lepidoptera. Feng ae ; -BOOKS:—New and Second-hand, on Nate al Fishery Subjects. Rap eS - The largest and best stock of Bir d-Skins: and Birds’ Eggs) in eogond Cat t fom. ee 3 on n application. SF eh, AGS aay * Graduated List of British . Birds.” specially prepa reference and labelling, it eS i oe ae “ Laespoemiss CALENDAR,” ore eels 3/6. Inte Original Articles. COLEOPTERA OF THE LIVERPOOL DISTRICT. [PART IT.] By Joun W. Exus, L.R.C.P. ; L.R.C.S8., Ed., [HON. SEC., LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. | Read before Lanc. and Ches. Entomological Society, Nov. 28th, 1881. Last autumn I read a paper before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, in which I noticed all the species of the Geodephaga of this district of which I had any record. I am pleased to find that this list has been of use to some of our coleopterist members, and therefore I am encouraged to continue the subject of the coleoptera of our district, first noticing additional species of Geodephaga, and new localities for some. of the more local species noticed in Part I.; and then passing on to the enumeration of the Hydradephaga, or predacious water-beetles of the district. I have to thank Messrs. May, Smedley, and Wilding for their information on the additions to the Geodephaga, and also Mr. F. Archer, of Crosby, who has kindly lent me his collection of coleoptera of the district, and his entomological diary, which I have found of great service. I am pleased to have to record the addition of ten species of geodephega to the district, since part I. was read, viz.: Cymindis vaporarium, L. ; Pterostichus versicolor, Stu. ; Amara lunicollis, Pz. ; Harpalus neglectus. Dj.; Bradycellus harpalinus Dj.; Patrobus ex- cavatus, Pk.; Bembidium quinquestriatum, Gyll.; B. lampros, var. velox, Er.; B. bipunctatum, L.; and B. varium, Ol. B. bipunctatum was accidentally omitted from the last list, although it occurs in Mr. Gregson’s, of 1861. GEODEPHAGA. HLaPHRUs. E. cupreus, Duft. Bank of a pond between Thurstaston and Caldy, August, A. H. May, Bidston Marsh, F. A.* ; CLIVINA. C. collaris, Hbst. Seacombe, R. Wilding. Dyscutinivs. D .thoracicus, Ross, and D. nitidus, Dj. Occurred in profusion cn the Crosby shore, at high-water mark, June, 1881, J. W. E. N.S., Vou. vil.—FEB., 1882. * Jnitials C. 8. G., F. A., J. H. 8., and J. W. E., refer to Messrs. Gregson, Archer, Smedley, and myself respectively. + 106 | THe NATURALIST. D. obscurus, Gyll. is evidently a mistake, although it occurs in Mr. Gregson’s list as a synonym of D. thoracicus, Fab. The insect referred to is D. thoracicus, Rossi. D. globosus, Hbst. Bidston marsh; A. H. May. METABLETUS. M. foveola, Gyll. Very abundant last July, on Flaybrick Hill, CYMINDIS. C. vaporarium, L. I had overlooked a specimen of this insect in the Derby Museum, which was captured, under heath, by the Rev. H. H. Higgins, at Thurstaston. BADISTER. B. bipustulatus, F. Edge of sandhills, Leasowe, Hoylake, A. H. May. TAPHRIA. T. nivalis, Pz. Has occurred commenly during last summer, drouid West Derby, under stones, Flaybrick Hill, J. W. E., West Kirby, A. H. May. PTEROSTICHUS. P. cupreus, L. In abundance on a pathway, at the bottom of west: side of Bidston Hill, running m the hot sunshine, Sept., 1881, A. H. May. P. versicolor, Stu. One speeimen with the above, A. H. May. AMARA. A. spinipes. L. Common last July, m Maiden lane, West Derby, JS. JW: A. spreta, Dj. One specimen, Club Moor, J. W. E. A. lunicollis, Schiod. One specimen, Wallasey, J. H. 8., one specimen taken among A. trivialis, J. W. E. A. plebeia, Gyll. Two specimens, West Derby, October, 1881, J. W. E. | HARPALUS. H. puncticollis, Pk. Wallasey sandhills, one specimen, J. W. E. H. latus, L. Bidston Hill, A. BH. May, J. W. E. H. neglectus, Dj. Wallasey sandhills, J. H. S., A. H. May, EE Hall J. We i. BRADYCELLUS. B. harpalinus, Dj. Flaybrick Hill, J. W. E. B. similis, Dj. do. do. . PATROBUS. P. excavatus, Pk. Plentifal around West Derby, BR. Wilding, dH. Sed, We. OrLENUS. ©. isteralis, Sam. Hightown Shore, J. H.S8., F. A. Eviis : Cotzorrers oF Liverpoou District. 107 BEMBIDIUM. Bb. quinquestriatum, Gyll. Common under moss, Carr Lane, West Derby, J. W. E., J. H. 5 B. obtusum, Stu. With the preceding, banks of River Birket, abundant, J. W. E. B. biguttatum, F. Wallasey Pool and banks of Birket, F. A., Thurstaston and Bidston Marsh, A. H. May. B. lampros, Hbst. var. velox, Er. One specimen, bank of Birket, J. W. E. B. bipunctatum, L. ‘“ Freely on the Shore beyond Crosby, at high water mark where there was a little mud, June,” C. 8. G., Bidston, F’, A., Leasowe, J. H. 8S. B. monticola, Sturm. F B. pee a aaah t Aigburth shore, the latter plentiful, J. W. E., J. H. 5. B. concinnum, Steph. Aigburth shore, J. H.S., J. W. E. B. femoratum, Sturm. West Derby, common, J. H.58., J. W. E., among these are some very small dark specimens. B. lunatum, Duft. Very abundant on the shore at Hightown, J. H.8., and Aigburth, J. W. E., July, 1881. B. varium, Ol. (B. ustulatum, Stu.) One specimen found under a . stone on Kilbre Island, River Dee, May, 1875, J. W. E. TACHYPUS. T. flavipes, L. Banks of the Birket, A. H. May. NotTIoPHILws. N. substriatus, Wat. Leasowe, J. H. 8. HYDRADEPHAGA. In the following list the initials C. 8. G. refer to a paper on “The Hydradephaga of the district,” read by Mr. C. 8. Gregson, before the Historic society of Lancashire and Cheshire, in 1862, and printed in their Transactions, N.S. vol. i. p. 38. Two of Mr. Gregson’s localities have been entirely lost, viz.: Moss Lake and Parliament Fields, and the greater part of Wallasey Pool also has ceased to attract entomologists. HAvipwvs. H. obliquus, F. One specimen in river Birket, July, 1881, J. W. E. H. confinis, Steph. One specimen from behind Wavertree Park, some years since, J. W. H. H. fulvus, F. Rock Ferry, F. A. H. ruficollis, De. G. Abundant in all pits. H. lineatocollis, Marsh. In the mill dam at Garston, and at Crosby, C.S. G., several specimens from the clay-pits behind Wavertree Park, and River Birket, J. W. E., River Alt, F. A. 108 THE NaTURALIST. PELOBIUS. P. Hermanni, F. Plentiful in some old ponds at Rufford, C. S. G. HyYPHIpRUvs. H. ovatus, L. Deysbrook, Gill Moss, Rainford, C. S. G., behind Wavertree Park, common, J. W. E. HypRoporvs. H. reticulatus, F. Ditches near Altcar rifle ground, Sept., F. A. H. ineequalis, F. Clay pits, Birkenhead, C. 8. G., Wallasey and Crosby sand hills, abundant in the “ flashes” of water, J. W. E. H. decoratus. Gyll. Patrick Wood, C. 8. G. H. pictus, F. banks of Birket, near the Upton Road, C. 5S. G. H. lepidus, Ol. Altcar rifle ground; Crosby ; New Brighton, F. A., J. W. E. H. rivalis, Gyll. Crosby, C. 8S. G., behind Wavertree Park, common, J. W. EH. H. septentrionalis, Gyll. “ Bromborough Pool, and ditches, summer” C.5. G. H. Davisi, Curt. “ Bidstone marsh, freely, spring,” C. 8. G. H. duodecimpustulatus, Ol. Ditches at Hayton, Knowsley, and Bebington, summer, C. 8. G. H. depressus, F. (elegans, Ill.) “with septentrionalis,” C. 8. G., behind Wavertree Park, common, J. W. E. H. assimilis, Pk. “This species, first identified here by Dr. Schome, from specimens taken by the late Mr. Johnson and myself in 1840, in Moss-lake fields, has not been taken since this ground was built upon; it probably still exists in Parliament fields, C. 8. G.” I took a single specimen behind Wavertree Park in 1875, J. W. E. H. dorsalis, F. “ Bidston. marsh, and Frankby,” C. S. G. H. memnonius, Nic. Pond in the qnarry, Rocky lane, West Derby, J. W. EE. : H. erythrocephalus, L. “Bidston marsh and Frankby,” C. S. G. Crosby, F. A. River Birket, J. W. E. H. planus, F. Abundant in all pits. H. melanocephalus, Steph. (pubescens, Gyll,) Crosby and Hightown, ea H. tristis, Pk. River Birket, J. W. E. H. obscurus, Sturm. With the preceding, J. W. E. . H. palustris, L. Abundant in all pits and ditches. The commonest — of the genus with us. H. scalesianus, Steph. “Ponds which empty themselves into — Wallasey Pool,” C. 8. G. H. lineatus, F. River Birket, near the Upton Road, C.S. G. Exuis : CotEorptERA oF LivEeRPooL District. 109 Norervs. | N. sparsus, Marsh. (semipunctatus, F.) ‘‘Seacomb Clough, taken there by T. Townley, Esq. in 1841,” C.8. G., New Ferry, one specimen, J. H. 8. LaccopuiLus L. minutus, L. Ponds and ditches, generally distributed. L. hyalinus, De, G. °*‘ Bidston marsh and Bromborough,” C. 8S. G. CoLYMBETES. C. fuscus. L. Generally distributed, but very abundant in the “ flashes ” of water on the sand hills. C. Grapei, Gyll. A single specimen taken in Moss Lake fields, Co S),.G. C. pulverosus, Steph. ‘‘Ponds and ditches around Old Swan, Knotty Ash, &c, C. 8. G. C. bistriatus, Berg. ‘Formerly common where Crown St. now is, and may still be found in the Parliament fields,” C. 8. G. ILysivs. I. fenestratus, F. Club Moor and Childwall, C.S. G., behind Wavertree Park, J. W. E. . fuliginosus, F. Common everywhere. J. ater, De, G. Generally distributed. I. obscurus, Marsh. One specimen from River Birket, J. W.E. Mr. F. Archer records (Nat. Scrap book), a specimen of the variety sexdentatus Schiod, captured in a brook at Little Brighton. I. angustior, Gyll. ‘Formerly plentiful in Moss Lake fields,” C5. Ga _ Lioprervs. L. ruficollis, Schal. (agilis, F.) Pits and ditches near Pigue Lane, and Wavertree. C. 8. G. AGABUS. A. bipustulatus, L. Very abundant everywhere. A. Sturmi, Schon. Two specimens from the Crosby, and three from the Wallasey sand hills, J. W. E. _A. guttatus, Pk. “ Fish ponds near Hale, OC. 8. G., abundant in a rill of water on the Aigburth shore, J. W. E., Bidston Hill, Ww. Dixon. A. nebulosus, Forst. (bipunctatus, F.) Abundant in most ee _ especially in the flashes of water on the sand hills. A. conspersus. “ Plentiful in most ponds and ditches,” ©, S. G. Hightown, F. A. A. femoralis, Pk. ‘ Parliament fields,” C, 8. G. A. maculatus, L. ‘ Abundant in all stagnant pits,” C.S. G. bool 110 Tue NatuRauisr. Dyriscus. A. marginalis, L. Common everywhere- -D. punctulatus, F. Mr. Smedley and myself have each captured a single specimen on the Wallasey sand hills, AcILIvs. A. sulcatus, L. ‘* Plentiful in the flashes of water on Simmonswood Moss ,” ©.S.G., Prenton, J. H. S., Crosby, F. A. GYRINUS. G. natator, Seop. Everywhere. : G. bicolor, Pk. “Between Bromborough and Raby,” C. 58. G. Ditches on Altear rifle ground, F. A. G. marinus, Gyll. ‘“ Wallasey pool, before it was converted into Docks,” C. 8. G., with bicolor at Altcar, F. A. Of the 154 species of Hydradephaga given in Dr. Sharp’s catalogue of British Coleoptera, I have enumerated 54 (nearly one-half), as occurring, or having oceurred in our district. CONTRIBUTION TO A LIST OF THE NEUROPTERA, (IN THE LINNEAN SENSE), OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE (THE NORTH OF LANCASTER EXCEPTED). By Bens. CooKksz. lL. TRICHOPTERA.—CADDIS FLIES. Phryganea grandis, L. Common in the district. P. striata, L. Manchester. Neuronia rufierus, Scop. Manchester. Limnophilus pellucidus, Oliv. Manehester. rhombicus, L. Common. . marmoratus, Curt. Common. . lunatus. Curt. Common. . politus, McLach. Oakmere, Cheshire, 19th Sept., 1873. . striola, Kol. Hale Moss, Altrincham in October. affinis, Curt. Southport. . centralis, Curt. Rivington. . ignavus, Hag. Hale Moss, 6th Oct., 1866. . luridus, Curt. Manchester. * . sparsus, Curt. Very common. | eae nervosa, Curt. Very common. Stenophylax hieroglyphicus, Steph. Common. qt S. stellatus, Curt. Rivington. cgi a es Cooke: LEpPiIporpT#RA oF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. lbh Halesus digitatus, Schr. Common. Drusus annulatus, Steph. Rivington, Aug., 1864. Kcclisopteryx guttulata, Pict. Oakmere. 3 Phacopteryx brevipennis, Curt. Hale Moss, 10th June, 1865, and 5th June, 1868. Chztopteryx tuberculosa, Pict. Manchester; Rivington; Bowdon. Silo pallipes, Fab. Bramhail Brook, Hazelgrove. Mormonia irrorata, Curt. Rivington. Brachycentrus subnubilus, Curt. Common on the banks of the Bollin, Bowdon. Hydroptila tineoides, Dalm. Bowdon; Hazelgrove. Molanna angustata, Curt. Rivington; Cana! banks near Marple. Leptocerus aterrimes, Steph. Common. L. bifasciatus, Oliv. Bramhall brook. Triznodes bicolor, Curt. Cheshire Coast, June, 1858. Mystacides atra, Pict. Bowdon. Setodes testacea, Curt. Warrington. Hydropsyche pellucidula, Curt. Bowdon. H. instabilis, Curt. Hazelgrove. Hi. angustipennis, Curt. Didsbury near Manchester. Philopotamus scopulorum, Steph. Rivington. Polycentropus picicornis, Steph. Bowdon. Rhyacophila dorsalis, Curt. Bowdon. Berea pullata, Curt, Hale Moss. 2. NEUROPTERA—PLANIPENNIA. (Part STecorrerRa. Newm.) Panorpa communis, L. Common. P. cognata, Ram. Didsbury, 13th July, 1861. Sialis lutaria, L. Very common. — S$. fuliginosa, Pict. Bollin valley, near Bowdon, 12th May, 1874. Osmylus maculatus, Fab. Manchester. Chrysopa flava, Scop. Common. C. flavifrons, Brau. Common. ©. abbreviata. Curt. Bowdon. Micromus paganus, L. Manchester. Hemerobius elegans, Steph. Manchester; Stretford. H. nitidulus, Fab. Common. H. homuli, L. Common. H. subnebulosus, Steph. Common. _H. nervosus, Fab. Manchester; Bowdon; Hazelgrove. Coniopteryx psociformis, Curt. Manchester. “©. tineiformis, Curt. Marple. ©, aleyrodiformis, Steph. Bowdon; Stretford. A FEW DAYS AT FIELD BOTANY IN SCOTLAND. (Concluded. ) — By Wm. WEst. WE could not but notice the wonderful difference in verdure between the top of Ben Lawers, which is composed of mica schist, and the tops of those mountains like the Ben Nevis and the Cairngorm range, which are composed of granite or felstone. The latter have the appearance to those who are not botanists of a perfectly barren expanse of extremely rocky ground, while the former is green to the very top. One of the prettiest things we found was Solorina crocea, which is fairly abundant above 3,500 feet; Salix herbacea, our tiniest British shrub, was also common at the same altitude, and in one place attacked by Rhytisma salicinum and Lecythea saliceti—the orange colour of the latter contrasting well with the pitchy patches of the — former. Alectoria lanata, Umbilicaria cylindrica, and Schizosiphon cataractee were also gathered. From the top we had as fine a view as it is possible to have from this hill, it being quite as charming, but not so extensive, as the one we had enjoyed from Ben Nevis. We could not resist the temptation to forsake our botany again for a while, in order to improve our know- ledge of geography by means of the map and compass. We here witnessed a thunder-storm on a neighbouring hill, and began to fear that we should be quickly enveloped in it ; but it just cleared us, and we commenced the descent. The afternoon had passed on so quickly that we had not time to visit the best localities, such as the ‘‘ famous corrie,” the borders of the loch, and the rocky amphitheatre above it. However, as we descended towards the loch (always keeping consider- ably to the right of it, to avoid the weathered trenches in the peat, whose nature we were well acquainted with), we gathered Hieracium nigrescens, Carex pulla, Juncus biglumis, J. triglumis, Aira alpina, Armeria maritima, Andreza petrophila, Anectangium compactum, Mnium subglobosum, and Hypnum exannulatum. On rocks below the loch we gathered some fine Hedwigia ciliata and Antitrichia curtipen- dula, which are often found interlacing each other, and a little further down we were quite enchanted by the delightful appearance of the masses of dwarfed Nephrodium Oreopteris, which decked the borders of a tumbling rill. We reached the road as it was beginning to get dark, and got into the Fortinghall Inn by 10-30 p,m., just as a few large raindrops began to fall. We had hardly sat down before a heavy thunderstorm came on, the rain falling so quickly as to make the road look like a stream for a short time. i a a West: Fretp Botany IN SCOTLAND. 113 Next day we picked up our botanical treasures, and directed them to be forwarded to Glasgow. We started for Blair Athole, noticing on the way a great profusion of Bartramia ithyphylla and Cystopteris fragilis in the chinks of the walls, and in an old sandy quarry we noticed a colony of about a hundred nests of sand martins. We then reluctantly passed Cairn Mairg and Schihallion, and began to notice the beautiful birch woods. ‘The great profusion of Gentiana campestris surprised us as we neared the river Tummel, although we had already noticed it to be a common plant in the Highland valleys. We here went through a gale wood, the odour of which we enjoyed, and after crossing the river Tummel we refreshed ourselves with the abundant fruits of Rubus Ideus, Ramalina fraxinea and Puccinia viole were next found, and as we crossed the hill we walked for miles over Arctosta- phylos Uva-ursi, which was adorned with its beautiful fruit; Plantago maritima was growing scattered amongst it. In Loch Vach we noticed Lobelia Dortmanna, Potamogeton heterophyllus, Sparganium affine, and a barren Myriophyllum, but had to hurry onward as night was approaching, and we had many miles still to go. As we neared Blair Athole, the enormous quantity of pine trees which were uprooted astonished us. and on enquiry we were told that they were all blown down on the evening of the Tay Bridge calamity. We arrived at the Glen Tilt Hotel at 11 p.m., and were informed that we could not stay there, as they were “full up”; but as we left the threshold we met the proprietor, who took pity on us, and succeeded in making an arrangement so that we could stay. This pleased us, as there was only another hotel, which we had understood to be also “full up” as we passed it shortly before. Early next day, we started through Glen Tilt, for Braemar, the nearest inn being thirty miles ahead. Carduus heterophyllus, Crepis paludosa, and Eriophorum latifolium were very abundant ; the old trees were decked with Orthotrichum Lyellii, O. speciosum, Ulota crispa, U. intermedia, and the ordinary fruticose lichens. Ustilago urceolarum and Triphragmium ulmarie were next noticed, and further on we collected Lecanora rubra, Solorina saccata, Metzgeria pubescens, Plagiochila asplenioides var. Dillenii, Aneura multifida, Jungermannia cordifolia, J. obvata, Nardia emarginata, Scapania subalpina, S. eequiloba, S. undulata, Tabellaria flocculosa, Asterionella formosa, Diatoma vulgare, Encyonema cspitosum, Meridion circulare, Cym- bella gastroides, Fragilaria virescens, F’. mutabilis, Synedra splendens, Ceratoneis Arcus, Pinnularia viridis, Arthrodesmus convergens, Cosmarium crenatum, C. phaseolus, C. ovale, C. quadratum, and 114 THe NATURALIST. Hormiscia zonata. As we got further up the glen, near the foot of Ben y Gloe, we gathered Neckera crispa, Bartramia Cideri, Barbula tortuosa, Distichium capillaceum, Gymnostomum rupestre, Didymodon rubellus, var. ruberrimus, Grimmia torquata, Zieria julacea, Nostoc rupestre, Frullania Tamarisci, Andreza petrophila, Grimmia conferta, Hypnum revolvens, H. scorpioides, Cylindrethecium concinnum, Sphagnum rubellum, and Cetraria islandica. As we thought we saw a likely place for Polystichum Lonchitis, we commenced a hunt for it, but failed to find it ; but noticed some fine specimens of P. lonchiti- dioides, Polypedium Dryopteris, Vaccinium Vitis-idza in profuse flower, and an abundance of Hpilobium angustifolium, which ascended a long - way up the sides of the hills. We again regaled ourselves with rasp- berries, and then gathered some good fruiting Blindia acuta, after which we undressed and refreshed ourselves in the river Tilt. After running about in the sun till we were dry, we dressed, and began to won- der whether we had crossed “‘ the ford”; we had certainly crossed many rills, but had seen no “‘dangerous” ones. We felt refreshed consider- ably by our ablution, and hastened on, when we soon arrived at ‘“ the ford,” We now realised that this crossing would be very dangerous — at times, but, with care, we could see uo present danger. We gathered fruiting specimens of Saxifraga oppositifolia, Plagiothecium pulchellum, Pterigynandrum filiforme, var. heteropterum, and many other good things. We took off our boots and stockings, and adopted other precautions to avoid getting wet, and then began to ford the stream, which we found a difficult task, with bare feet on boulders well covered with slippery alge. I got safely across, and sat down just in time to roar with laughter at my unfortunate companion, who had slipped down and was enjoying (?) a second bath with most of his clothes on; the rest were slung over his arm, and got adip. He began to investigate his misfortunes, and found out that the worst of all was the saturation of his folios of bibulous paper, containing some nearly dry phanerogams. We soon arrived at the watershed, and began to sketch, but we were so worried by gnats that we soon desisted, and pushed on, endeavouring to get some lunch, but the gnats settled down on our hands, face, and victuals in such quantities, that my legs carried me away from the spot at a full run, and I left my companion to finish his meal of cheese-and-bread and gnats. When he overtook me his neck and face seemed to be afflicted with a severe attack of urticaria. We now gazed on the the majestic Cairngorm range, and anticipated a closer acquaintance with it on the morrow. We reached Inverey at 10-30 p.m.. and succeeded in getting accommodation in a West: Fretp BoTaANy 1N SCOTLAND. 115 two-rvomed cottage. This gave us an extra rest of two or three hours, for had we gone to Braemar we should have had to return through Inverey in the morning. We were off early next morning, and gathered Hypnum splendens, H. triquetrum, and H. loreum—all in fruit, near the Linn of Dee, after which we began to ascend Glen Lui, where we gathered some fine Hypnum crista-castrensis and Dicranum fuscescens, var. angusti- folium at the foot of some pine-trees. We now spent some time in vainly searching for Buxbaumia aphylla, in the decaying pine-logs which were strewn about, bearing evidence to the terrific storms that occasionally sweep along these mountain glens. A little higher up we gathered Lycopodium annotinum, Juniperus nanus, Solidago cambrica, Loisuleria procumbens, Vaccinium uliginosum (Uredo vacciniorum on the last), Gnaphalium supinum, Hieracium nigrescens, Juncus trifidus, Salix herbacea, Aira alpina, Andrea alpina, A. petrophila, Dicranum fuscescens, Tetraplodon mnioides, Anthelia julacea, Nardia emarginata, N. alpina, var. laxior. Alectoria lanatain fruit, Umbilicaria polyphylla, Solorina saccata, Platysma triste, P. nivale, Coleosporium rhynantha- cearum, and other good plants. We dare not stop at the loch, but gathered Sphaerophoron coralloides, Cetraria islandica, Umbilicaria erosa, U. cylindrica and its variety denudata, U. proboscidea, Par- melia saxatilis, var. omphalodes, Jungermannia alpestris, Ptilidium ciliare, Tabellaria ventricosa, Calothrix mirabilis, Sphagnum rubellum, Dicranum Blytti, D. faleatum, Webera annotina, Andreza alpina, var. compacta, and A. petrophila, var. acuminata. Here we espied some large masses of snow in the hollows of some craggy rocks to our right, and as it seemed a tempting place, we threw off our baggage and had a rough climb to the snow, the pureness of which induced us to indulge in the peurile game of snow-balling. Large masses of Webera Ludwigii, with young fruit here and there, were flourishing in all their _ beauty in the water which ran from the melting snow ; Dicranum | arcticum, aud a very water-worn form of Andreza nivalis, accom- _ panied it: while close by was Polytrichum sexaneulare and Aira flexuosa, var. montana. As we rapidly neared the summit we - collected Carex rigida, Luzula spicata, and L. arcuata—all three of which occurred also at the very summit, at an altitude of 4,296 feet. We found all the species of Racomitrium but patens on this hill, as we had on Ben Nevis and Ben Lawers. The view was grand, but not so extensive as we enjoyed from the other hills, as the clouds kept striking different parts of the hill; and when we gained Cairngorm | the Wells of the Dee were enveloped in mist, as was also the glen 116 Tae NATURALIST. below. We waited some time, and now and then got a view of the Wells and the precipitous sides of Braeriach. We here consulted our maps and watches, and found that if we attempted the summit of Cairngorm (which was only three miles off, with very little ascent), we should hardly have reached the woods of Rothiemurchus at dark ; therefore, as we had already worked the highest point of the group, we resigned ourselves to the descent, but unfortunately happened to choose a very precipitous part, which grew more difficult and dangerous after we had fairly started. We had to use the utmost caution in this extremely laborious descent, for a single false step would probably have been fatal. We were rewarded for our toil by finding Veronica alpina and Arabis petreea before we reached the bottom, from whence we noticed many much better places where we might have got down ; and later, we found out that had we gone to the summit of Cairngorm and descended from thence, we should have reached our destination as soon, if not sooner, than we did. Cornus suecica, Polygonum vivi- parum, Splachnum sphzricum, and Sphzria cornus-suecicee were the next plants collected as we neared the woods of Rothiemurchus, the deer bounding before us quite startled at such unusual visitors. We had now to walk as fast as we could go, as the darkness began to envelope us; and, by dint of perseverance through some awkward adventures—such as seeking a plank-bridge, which we thought there must be somewhere about, across a river in a wood, after dark,—we managed to reach the Llynwilg Inn at 11-10 p.m., where they informed us we could not stay, as they had no room left. This was the first inn we had seen since Jeaving Blair Athole, and we insisted on them finding us room, as we could have reached no other place for hours. We threw off our baggage, and as we were firm in our resolve to stay, we were, after some delay, told that we could join in the use of a small room which another gentleman had taken. We enjoyed an excellent supper, and I felt pleased at having accomplished a journey, under a blazing sun, exactly as I had planned it before starting, and which my companion (an experienced mountaineer) had pronounced impossible to accomplish in the time at our disposal. Next morning I had to return home from Aviemore station, before reaching which, we gathered Trientalis europea, Gnaphalium sylvati- cum and Coleosporium rhinanthacearum, and noticed an abundance of Amanita muscaria, as well as the finest assortment of large fungi that I ever Saw. 15, Horton Lane, Bradford, Yorks. : ‘ F | | F | : Sort NoTEs AND QUERIES. LZ Aaintall for December. Height | Toran FauL of | NOs To Date. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain- of heaviest of above | fall. Days ; Fall, nee evel 1881. | 1880. ; Ft. | In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 2°99 | 16 | 33°15 |* 33°55 17 0-53 (J. W. Robson) Hatirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)| 365 | 5°50 | 19 | 49°28 | 48°77 ft a8 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) .... 350 | 2°47 | 16 | 25°81 | 39°52 16 0°50 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 4°23 | 23 | 43°13 | 48°85 19 0°65 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...| 520 | 3°18 31°74 |. 40°49 16 0°67 GooLe ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25-| 1°98 |.17 | 25°29 | 32°17 iv 0°43 Hutt (Derringham)..(Wm.| 10 | 2°12 | 17 | 22°55 | 25°96t 19 0°41 Lawton) * This is the average to date for 15 years, 1866-80. + This is the annual average for the 30 years, 1850-79, on 151°5 days, on 202 days. CoRRECTION :—In Huddersfield return for October, ‘‘ Total fall to date,” should read 26°81, not 26°18, as printed. No. of rainy days in 1881—177; average for 15 years, 187°7.—J. W. R. Short Hotes and Queries. Luwpithecia extensaria at SpuRN.—During a conversation I had with Mr. Prest of York, three weeks ago, he informed me he had recently detected in a lot of insects taken by Mr. Buck, a specimen of Hupithecia extensaria. Mr. Buck secured it on Artemisia at Spurn, about ten years ago. There seems no reason to doubt the genuineness of this capture, and if so, from the locality in which it was taken, its claim to be con- sidered a British species is much strengthened, the only other recorded British capture being that by Mr. Sawyer, ‘‘on waste ground near Hull,” in June, 1873. In that case, the many facilities for accidental importation made it most desirable that other specimens should be observed, to at all justify its having a place on our list.—Guo. T. Porritt, January, 18th. THe Tree-GRrassHoPPER (Meconema varia, Fab.)—This is the name of the grasshopper which Messrs. Harrison and Porritt have noticed so commonly on the trees in Edlington Wood, Doncaster (see Naturalist, vil., 83, Dec., 1881), and of which Mr. Porritt was good enough to give me aspecimen. I sent it to Senor Dr. Ignacio Bolivar, of Madrid, who is one of the foremost of European authorities on orthopterous insects, and author of a ‘‘ Catalogus Orthopterorum Europe et confinium,” and numerous other works. He pronounced the insect to be Meconema varia, and reminded me thatin 1829 Mr. J. F. Stephens recorded it as occurring near London. I have since looked up various works, and find that the 118 THe NAaATuRALIST. insect is considered to be an arboreal one, affecting oak trees for the most part, and is mentioned as of not uncommon occurrence in oak woods in the South of England. In 1835 Mr. Stephens recorded it in his “‘ Illus- trations of British Entomology,” vol. vi., p. 15, as ‘‘common in the autumn in oaks and lime-trees throughout the metropolitan district, especially about Hertford, and at Coombe Wood and Ripley,”’—all, of course, in the south of England. I will only add that Dr. Bolivar will be happy to determine any specimens of orthoptera which the readers of this journal may wish to know the names of, and that I shall be equally happy to forward them to him for that purpose.—Wm. DeENIson RoEBUCK, Sunny Bank, Leeds, Dec. 30, 1881. DeratH or Mrs. Tuomas Lister.—We much regret to have to record the loss sustained by the veteran naturalist of Barnsley, our friend Mr. Thos. Lister, of his wife in her 70th year, and beg to tender our hearty sympathy with him in his bereavement after forty years of married ife.—Eps. Nat. Reports of Sacietres. Barnstey Naturatists’ Soctrty.—Meeting, Dec. 20th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—A conversation, on Local Geology, was opened by G. C. Milner. He described four walks in search of geological information. 1st. Cuttings in the coal from Old Mill te Staincross. 2nd. Cuttings on Midland Railway, Pontefract Road. 4th. Tankersley, and the shell remains in the ironestone beds. In connection with the 2nd walk, an original plain of a peculiar arch of sandstone was shown, which we remember as an object of attraction at the time, but like the remains of a drift formation in the first cutting of the coal line, at Staincross, described by Prof. Green, was smoothed down and covered from sight. Mretine, Jan. 17th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—A paper on the *“ Origin of Coal” was givenby Mr.C. Bellamy. The quarterly transactions to Dec. 31st were laid on the table. The mildness of autumn allowed observations, full of interest to the entomologist, checked by some cold nights in October. It is unusual in November, to follow entomological pursuits under a bright blue sky, and take such insects as Himera pen- wiria, Hiberma auwrantiaria, H. defoliaria, &c., whilst the autumn crocus, primrose, wood anemone, ranunculus, &c., relieved the monotony of faded nature. The thrush family have all sung; lapwings and starlings in immense flocks ; golden-plovers in Christmas week; the night-jar at Cawthorne, as late as Nov. 21st ; a sparrow-hawk seen to capture a thrush Dec. 16th. Three specimens of that rare winter visitor, the snow-bunting, obtained at Deepcar, Dec. 30th. At the annual meeting, Jan. 3rd, the accounts were produced by the financial secretary, Mr. W. Barraclough ; a fair balance was shewn. 9 X* ae ae a i . 4 ei YY | Reports or SocierisEs. 119 BrapDForD Naturatists’ Sociery.—Meeting, Jan. 10th.—The president (Mr. W. Jagger) gave his inaugural address, and after congratulating the society upon its healthy state, he urged upon the members the more exact study of the sciences they were working at, shewing that every science is so wrapt up in its technical terms, that progress must always be un- satisfactory where these terms are not thoroughly mastered. He then gave instances from various natural phenomena, to show that the ‘‘ eternal fitness of things” was no empty phrase, but one, the full force of which can only be understood by those who are diligent students of nature, in her various moods. He concluded by advising members to bring the difficulties they meet with before the society, at its fortnightly meetings, and so make the society of additional value. Several interesting natural history objects were shown, among which were two shells, new to the district record lists, collected by Mr. H. T. Soppitt,* and a miscellaneous collection of insects, &c., found in wool from Russia and Australia, shown by Mr. J. W. Carier. MANcHFSTER Uryprocamic Socrrry.—Capt. Cunliffe (president) in the chair.—The hon. secretary made a statement in reference to the record of Weissia mucronata, and through the kindness of Dr. J. B. Wood, of Broughton, was enabled to place before the members specimens of this mucronate moss, which had been gathered at Parkside, April, 1847, by Mr. Wm. Wilson, and near Mottram by Mr. J. Whitehead, in 1868. The society’s herbarium specimen had been presented by the Todmorden Botanical Society, from the extensive Nowellian collection in their possession, and had originally been gathered at Airth, in Scotland. This meeting being the annual one, the following officers were unanimously elected :—Dr, B. Carrington, F.R.S.H., president; Captain Cunliffe, F.R.M.S., and Mr. Thomas Brittain, vice-presidents ; and Mr. Thomas Rogers, hon. secretory. A brief annual report was read, which showed that the work of the society had been both satisfactory and interesting. Three new species of Hepaticee had been discovered as new to the British Flora, by members of the society ; two of these had been named by Herr Jack and Dr. Spruce, in honour of Dr. Carrington and Mr. Pearson, as fadula Carringtoni and Lepidozia Pearson. When Dr. Carrington first determined the specific characters of the Radula, he proposed a provisional name in honour of his late friend, Dr. Moore, of Dublin, as adula Moorei, but the publication had been preceded by Jack’s name as R. Carringtoni. The secretary, as treasurer of the society, stated that the financial condition of the society was improving, and that the debt incurred for herbarium purposes would soon be paid off. The thanks of the society were accorded to the Royal Microscopical Society for copies of the Proceedings and Journals of their society, and to Miss Marian Ridley for a copy of an excellent little book she has had published, under the title of ‘‘ A Pocket Guide to the British Ferns.” Capt. Cunlifie *The names of these should have been recorded.—Ebs. Nat, 120 THe NATURALIST. exhibited two old interesting books on Cryptogamic Botany—one by Hed- wig, in Latin.published in 1782: the other by Dillenius, published in Lon- don, 1763. In this latter book, it is interesting to note that one of the habitats given for a plant near Manchester was ‘‘on the breaking of Medlock river bank at Hasington Wood, between Garret and Knot-mill, about a mile from Manchester.” Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited specimens of the new hepatics described by Dr. Spruce recently in the ‘‘ Revue Bryologique ” as Marsupella Stablert and Marsupella olivacea, both collected by Mr. Geo. Stabler—specimens of the former species being presented to the society’s herbarium. Mr. Pearson also exhibited specimens of Gymnomi- - trium adustum, Nees. (verum), new to Britain, collected by himself last August in N. Wales. The hon. secretary read a few bryological notes from some correspondence which Dr. J. B. Wood had kindly placed at his disposal. One of the notes referred to specimens of Campylopus paradoxus of Wilson, which had been collected some few years ago in swampy ground on Cader Idris, by one of the society’s members (Mr. J. Percival). Its claims to specific distinction have been much disputed, and Juratzka has recently decided that it can only be recognised as a variety of C. flecwosus, to which he gives the varietal name, wliginosa. Another of the notes referred to the new classification of the Harpidiwm group of Hypna, by Renauld, as published in the ‘‘ Revue Bryologique.” Bryolo- gists in this neighbourhood will be surprised to find that he retains Hypnum exannulatum as H. fluitans, in his classification of the group ; and that he considers that certain monoicous species appear at times dioicous.—T. Rocrrs, Hon. Sec. WAKEFIELD NATURALISTS’ AND PHILOSOPHICAL Socrety.—Meeting, Jan. 4th._Mr. Joseph Wainwright, F.L.S., the president, from the chair, delivered his annual inaugural address, in which he stated the advance made by the society, during the past year, the increase of members, from 45 to 103, was a fact in itself. The lecture programme had. been most successful, and he would take this opportunity of personally thanking those gentlemen who had so kindly contributed to it. The ex- hibition held in connection with the society, had not been a financial success, but the prospects open to them, were of the brightest description, and he hoped the lines of progress laid down, would go far in making their society a most useful institution. He then proceeded to describe recent discoveries, especially in botany, and concluded by exhorting the members to follow up the good work already begun. Mesrine, Jan. 18th.—Chas. S. Mitchell, Esq., M.A., B.Sc., H.M. | Inspector of Schools, Sheffield, delivered his lecture on the ‘‘ Origin of Lakes,” describing, at length, the formation of lakes by glacial action ; the physical features of moraines, fiords, glaciers ; and the grandeur of lake and mountain scenery, together with many personal reminiscences of visits to places where the operations of nature could be viewed with effect. The elaborate theories of Prof. Ramsay and other high authortties, together with the work of the Geological Survey, &c., were all thoroughly explained.—H. B. W. CReteee at Philescphionl ee Gal fae Mz: ural Address: Joseph Wainwright, F.L.S., a 8 p-m. x 2. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. - ~ . Leeds Naturalists’ Club, &e. “Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. . Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. York and District Naturalists’ Field ou . Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. Leeds Geological Association. — c Notes on some Tertiary Fossils.” Cans T. W. Bell, 8 p.m. * Leeds Naturalists’ Club, &ce. . Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. —Annual Promenade Tea. _ Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society.—“ Deep ‘Sea Dredging,’ G. Brook, Jun., F.L.S., of Huddersfield. mee ae . Linnean Society. of London. oR Leeds Naturalists’ Club, &c. : Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. - North Staffordshire Naturalists’ "held Club. —Meeting at Uttoxeter, ~ Local Secretary,.Mr. Wilkins, : Leeds Geological Association.—“ Geology of Buxton and District,” a fe ~ €. D. Pardcastle. : . Leeds Naturalists’ Club, -&c. _ Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. eat ; sea Naturalists’ ae —'‘ Life Histories of the British a4 eee ze by? a Hell, Se 3 - Yorttsbire Maturatist ae ones oS SS ANNU Al L MEETIN oi CHURCH INSTITUTE, BRADFORD, ae THE ae te Orricurs AND THE 3 SELECTION OF PLaces FOR THE Excursions FOR THE FORTHCOMING SEASON. oF 1882. : Members are requested to suggest to the Secretaries suitable localities for ae the Excursions, one each for the North and East Ridings, and the remainder or the West Riding; also a suitable town in which-to hold the Annual ~ ae Meeting at the beginning of 1883. Members of Sections will do. well to be “prepared to prupose suitable fe to act : as eS ane: Secretaries of : Ds the oes pe é : " Couns a neeuniie eee eplouved: a hae ‘of; every ‘species. ee every variet: se by 8. L. “Mosley ; ; with text revised by a Fellow of the oe ociety’ ~ “A cheap. edition: is. eee at. ae and the Birds or Eggs may severabes ee ae May de had of, Ss. Th MOSLEY, Heaton Park, “Huddersfield a) ROBSON, oe Le West: Jast Publ shed Fe cup 800, ion ds. THE INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION, SS - |: By the Ruv. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A., | a "Being instructions for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and Preserving Butterflies and Moths, Beetles, Bees, Flies, and other Insects. é = =e : 3 ; THIRD EDITION. & UA y "REVISED AND - EXTENDED: BY We Spee “FARN. THE ‘CHAPTER ON ome BY EDWARD NEWMAN, pS : -CONTEN TS. —How to eee the Bee by searching ; boune folie oe ~ pairing insects. How to obtain LARV# by beating : the Bignell tray ; sweeping ;— _ searching by night ; how to rear the larve ; sleeving ; ; hybernating Tarvze 5 # parasites ; : preserving larvee. PUPA-DIGGING ; ‘preserving pupe 5 forcing pupa; Resta POL HR PERFECT InsEcT.—Loealities ; “net ; mothing : honeydew ;- sugaring; (4 2 ight} indoor light ; grouting ; smoking ; killing ; relaxing ; ‘setting : grease ;- Le oe. Dives s mould § cabinets and store- “boxes 3 painting : arrangement and nomen:

EL os ee = S2 Beas ay) 2 - reference and labelling, 6 Hs s ‘ Laprpopterists CALENDAR, 2 Timp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, 5) - REGENT STREET, ‘oLouceSsTER. TOURNAL OF THE YORKS HIRE j NATURALISTS UNION, AND “GENEREL FIELD OLUB RECORD. PSE Se f ~<- NEW S ERI Ss. aa ‘Eprrep by Ga PS Hosxtrg, F.LS, anv G. T. Porritt, F.L.S: | No. LXXXI. APRIL, 1882. 2 VOL, VIE 7 3 22 = ae Page. ; 7 i “Onrersat nae. eo Pe eae se . - Entomological Notes on Bradford.—J. W. Cates eet 37. = Notes upon the Systematic Arrangement of the Bog Mosses. —¢@. Limp aoe 140- Z Contribution: to a. = of the oe of Lancashire and Cheshire. — eae Benj. Cooke . a . oe oe : _ Noms, ke : ees eee rg 7 "Corrections ant ‘Additions —W. West - Re = Seer Bere a - Capture of a Badger.—Thos. Raine ... reel aks Eo eR ee AO -The TreeGrasshopper at Hackfall:—W. Dz Roebuck NG Rares te ag a Early Lepidoptera. —John W. Ellis . a Dee eee AO SS ~ Supposed Occurrence of Dasypolia templi near Pateley Bridge. “Ww. ‘Denison s ~ = Roebuck —- fe oe ae es in AAO Ornithological Notes. a: P. P. Butter rid Bee pe ae Notes on the “ Transactions. of the Y. N. U. for 1880. em. FB Dobree... og SE Al PALL FOR FEBRUARY . Sees “i Tea ieee eek, gia oe ga RTS OF SOCIETIES : i eee aes | ES A Barnsley Naturalists’ Ses Fe Sate See aes eS ee 149 ~ Beverley Field Naturalists’ and Scientific Society” GENRE ES coace pioage AAG ~*~ Bradford: Naturalists’ Society... ee ee Pe ee ~ *~ Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society a Gee <2 pe cet aes Be ADO od ‘Hull Field Naturalists’ Society. os DS alee eee ee ee Pe -. Laneashire and Cheshire Entomological Society = BLOF Se ees pene arenes BAY Pai - Manchester Cryptogamic Society — ae Borg ipsa Raia ogee I AOL ie Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Sovity. Seas ea: peat Sperm Uy we Yorkshire Ses Union. ham Bs Bee Sie oa ae | HUDDERSFIELD : oo Brows, Marker Prace Comer. snes CORRESPONDENTS. oe ches OER NATURALIST is published | on the first of every mouth, ee ap ayeur, post free, payable in advance. .The volume commences in August of each— year. Subscribers to, Vol. Vi. who have not already sent in their sthseriptions are requested to do so at once ; and. pee hew sahsce should cond: pos eeaetes 3 their names gmmediately. ae 2A ‘communications, except Adsericsacnte ‘Exchanges, or Short: ocricl - should, if posstble, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 1Sth of the _ current month, to insure insertion in our next ‘issue, and. a we written: on --ene side of the sheet only. SS AUTHORS WISHING. FOR REPRINTS OF THEIR PAPERS can ee fan on “the : - following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four “pages, 25 copies 4s., SO copies 5s-, 100 copies Gs. Gp. . Not exceeding eight - pages, 25 copies Os., SO copies Gs. '6D:, LOO copies OS and so on in i PEOROR ene _- tion. Printed covers: and separate title pages extra. ae orerge. © Hee COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED 1 70 THE EDITORS = eee CARE OF MR. SB BROWN, PUBLISHER, = UDDERSFIELD. ; 5 TRA NSAC TIONS of the YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. _ PART I. FOR 1877 contains the commencement of “The Birds of Yorkshire, Bea ray by Mr. W. E. Clarke, M.B.O.U.; of an “ Annotated List of the Land and ee ees ~ water Mollusea of Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson-and J. W. Taylor; a — complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on “* Yorkshire Macro lepidopiere in. 1877; ” “by Mr. G.I. Porritt, FLL. S one on ‘* Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera — in 1877, a2 by Mr, Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. 8. L. Mosley, on ‘‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ — and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family yes “S ges a -yeport on Yorkshire: Botany i in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G. 5. fon “PARTS IL. AND IL. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of My. Clarke's - Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Yorkshire ; ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr. Parsons 3 the commencement of Dr, Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora of the East - Riding’; ‘papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L. Ss. Yorkshire JIchneumonide, by Mr. 8. D. Bairstow, F. L.S.3 and on Yorkshire Hymenoptera, observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. cee = We DENISON RoEBUCK, Sunny- ae oS: “Leeds, j i. secs. ie Ve E. “CLARKE, 5, Hast View, Su de Park Road, Leeds, | ae HW. MARSDEN, a5 ee ues NATURAL HISTORY Bee AND BOOKSELLER. Cabinets and apparatus of all kinds, a the best make on. otis lowest oe soos fh ritish and European Macro- “Lepidoptera, Pr eserved Larve ‘of rare ‘Britis - = Lepidoptera. : : “BOOKS.—New and Second-hand, on Natural History eee ‘The lar gest and best stock of Bird- Skins ce —— Egesin England, Crate & on application. “Bijou List of Br itish Butterflies,” Beautifully printed: in colours < : 6d., cae * se “Graduated | tant of British Birds.” specially prepara for reference and labelling, 6d. : <€L gp1DOPTERISTS’ : CaLENDAR, 3 Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, Bf REGENT STREET, a ole Original Articles. ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES FROM BRADFORD, 1881. By J. W. Carter. PERHAPS a few local entomological notes bearing upon the season of 1881 may not be altogether without interest to some of the readers of the Naturalist. Regarding the Riopalocere, we should fancy it would be difficult to find a more barren or unproductive district—i.c., an area of six or seven miles around Bradford—in Britain. We remember, a few years age, a gentleman who had been accustomed to collecting in the *“sunny south ” came to reside in Bradford, and in our conversation when out “ prospecting,” he would frequently make conjectures as to what species might occur. ‘“ You will get so-and-so here.’”’ ‘No, not seen it yet.’ What! not seen 4anira?’ ‘No, not even seen or heard of the ‘ universally distributed’ meadow brown.” But after a twelvemonths’ practical experience, he gave up surmising as to what species should occur, and contented himself with a knowledge of the fact that his expectations had not been realised. Out of the whole British list not more than six or seven species may be depended upon with certainty. However, it is not my intention to enumerate all the species that do occur, but merely to offer a few observations on the captures of the past season. Anthocharis cardamines.—One specimen taken at Esholt, which is the first recorded for the district, although its food-plant (Carda- mine) is common enough. Preris napi.tUHas been extremely abundant, more so than ever we have seen it before, particularly at Shipley Glen; amongst them were some very dark forms. The other two species—Rape and Brassico— plentiful. Hepialus velieda.—Actually swarmed in Bingley wood and other localities. All the species of the genus have occurred. _ Nudaria mundana.—Very abundant about Cottingley and Goit-stock Wood, Bingley. Selenia lunaria.—Two specimens at Shipley Glen, in May. These, and one recorded from Hawksworth in 1878, are the only recorded examples for the district. Phigaha pilosaria.—Very common; a dark olive green variety not uncommon. Four or five examples of a sooty black form occurred in 1880. Amphydasis hetularia—Only one specimen. In some years it is fairly common, the black form generally predominating. N.S., Vou. vit.—Apr., 1882. 138 THe NATURALIST. Asthena luteata—One or two at Hawksworth, where it occurs annually. Very local. Eupisteria heparate,—A few about alders at Hawksworth and Bingley. Venusia cambricaria.—N ot so abundant as in some years. I had the pleasure of taking one at Shipley Glen, which is a new locality for the species. Acidalia scutulata.—A few near Cottingley. A. fumata.—-Extremely abundant, but local, fiying over heath, Bingley wood. . Scodiona belgiaria.— Common. Abraxas ulmate.—Has been rare at Hawksworth, where it usually swarms. Hybernia leucophearia, aurantiaria, progemmaria, and defoliaria.— The larvze of these species were to be seen in thousands at Shipley Glen in the month of June, hanging by their silken threads from every tree, every leaf of which they had devoured. Thousands must have died of starvation, and a great number pupated long before they were full-fed. In the month of November the imagines of aurantiaria an& defoliaria were abundant enough —the latter in every conceivable form, including one specimen of a dark unicolorous variety which is rare. Cheimatobia boreata.— Extremely abundant. Larentia salicata.—Two or three at Shipley Glen and Ringley wood. In the former locality it is found in the day-time, resting on lichen- covered rocks, with which it very closely assimilates, and is conse- quently sometimes very difficult to detect. Newman says that this — species is “‘on the wing early in June, and again in August,” thus implying that it is double-brooded. Is itso? We have taken it from May 138th to the end of June, but have looked in vain for an August brood. It seems strange if it should be double-brooded in more northern localities. In some years it is very abundant. L. olivata.—Moderately common at Shipley Glen ; a few in Bingley wood. In the former locality it is confined to a space of 309 or 400 yards by the stream side, and may be dislodged, in the daytime, from the old walls with the beating-stick. My friend Mr. E. P. P. Butter- field (to whom I am greatly indebted for a good supply of interesting notes, which I have made free use of here) informs me that at the latter place it is confined to one particular cave! All the species of the genus Larentia occur in Airedale. Carter: EnromonocicaL Notes rrom Braprorp, 1881. 139 Emmelesia affinitata. A few at Hawksworth. Very local. L. alchemillata.—One or two at Bingley. New to the district record list. Hf. albulata.—Actually swarmed in every meadow where its food- plant (&hinanthus crista-galli) grows. Hupithecia pimpinellata. —A few larvee at Heaton by Mr. Jagger ; . new to the district record list. Melanthia rubiginata.—N ot so abundant as usual. Melanippe galiata—Moderately common at Shipley Glen and Bingley wood. Anticlea derivata.—One at Bingley wood; new tothe district record list. Pelurga comitata.—One at Bingley wood; the second recorded for the district. Notodonta dictea.—A few larve at Saltaire and Manningham. LV. dicteoides.—One at Shipley Glen, a new locality. Cymatophora flavicornis.—Has been more abundant than usual. Acronycta menyanthidis.—Sparingly at Shipley Glen; has not been abundant since 1877. Noxzagria fuloa.—Very abundant on Baildon moor. Chareas graminis.—N ot so common as in some years. | Mamestra anceps.—One at Bingley Wood, new to the district record list. Celena Haworthii.—Plentiful on Rombalds Moor. Rusina tenebrosa.—One, Bingley Wood, new to the district record list. Noctua Pahlii.—'ixtremely abundant on Blackhills, Bingley Wood. In a letter from Mr. Butterfield in September, he says “On August 21st, I visited the ragwort, N. Dahli swarmed. I could have filled without difficulty a hundred boxes. When I had filled my limited ~ number of boxes, the next best patches of flowers had no less than six Dahli upon them. It was areal Dahli night, as the 12th was a Suspecta night. What was the most striking feature was, that on the 12th and 21st inst., Suspecta and Dahli were nearly the only two species that visited that particular flower.”’ Orthosia suspecta.—Very abundant, amongst them were some very striking forms. Calocampa vetusta.—One at Wibsey Slack, new to the district recerd list. 140 THe NAturRALIst. I have now enumerated the most interesting records of the past year, and shown as definitely as I possibly could the relative abundance or scarcity of species, and indicated the additions to the list, for 1881. I shall at any time be glad of any information on the lepidopterous fauna (or in fact any other order of the Insects) of the district, with a view of preparing a complete list of the species for future publication in the Naturalist. 24, Valley-street, Valley-road, Bradford, Feb. 15th, 1882. NOTES UPON THE SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT OF THE BOG MOSSES. (Concluded. ) By G. Limpricurt. ( Translated. ) Wirn respect to many mosses, the question which are species and which are varieties, will be debated so long as there are bryologists,. and in the above instance it is indeed very difficult to make a distinc- tion. Both Russow’s series, a heterophyllum and B isophyllum, have many characters in common with one another, but they can always be separated by the size, form, and cell structure of the stem- leaves. With S. subsecundum verum, N. ab H. (S. subs. a heterophyllum, Russow; S. cavifolium 6 molie, Warnst, l.c., p. 86) the cells in the lower half of the stem-leaves lessen considerably from the centre towards both margins, whereby the stem-leaves appear to have very broad borders (Russow, lc., p. 72), as is the case also with S. recur- vum:; on the contrary. the stem-leaves of B isophyllum (contortum, obesum, auriculatum) possess round to the base an equally broad border. Referring to the shape of the stem-leaves, the last series allows two sub-divisions to be made, with the one . 452%. Sribye OU Sachse caxdse Thos. Bunker aud Jno. Harrison. fetimond 2... Aug. Ist)...... ahove addres is “Now fay nae so. Sloth, 390 Pp. 106 ne price 8 shillings. EOLOGY OF THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND, and. of f NORTH AND SOUTH WALES. -=. = = By W. Ji pROME Harrison, F.G.S., Science Demonstuler fcr the Binning ham School Board, late Curator Leicester ‘own Museum, ~ To the detailed description of the Geological features of each oe there are added lists ofthe Local Scientific Societies, Museums, Maps and Memoirs re} ‘the Geological Survey, and the more Aoptrant books. and ee, written by private workers. : | — Lonpon7= KELLY & Co., “61, Great Queen Street, W. €, “and. Sorry | Marswact & Co., ‘Stationers’ Hall Court, ‘E. C. Z ee 4 PHC “10s. 6d. 5 ee INSECT VARInTS. BY A: He SWINTON, ‘CASSELL, PEETER, GALPIN, £ o., “Loxpow ; and all Boo N.B.—The Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their Papers. - = =. = “Nec TEMERE—NEC. TIMIDE.” po — [PRICE FOURPENCE, POST FREE] Aatnral igh JOURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISIS’ UNION, GENERAL FELD CLUB RECORD. NEW SERIES. “Epirep sy Cuas. P. Hopxiex, F.L,S., anv G. T. Pornirz, F.LS. No bexetl MAY, 1882... VOL. VII. pes eee CONTENTS. | coe | . Sk * ee : ; y Page. — Onrerat ee oe |. Report of the Entomological Section, Yor cee. N aturalists’ Union. =F. B. Wrieglesworth.-—.. Pe tre 158 2... On Scarcity. and Abundance i in Bice Life. Bo Cooke Seno ae age LOS A Nowes, = Se : Ae eee i ~ Gorrection _ as : eS = 2 166 _. The Lesser Horne Shoe Bat near Rip on, an addition to the Yorkshire Fauna. — - . W. Denison Roebuck — ... bes =e As eeeae ays )} Arrival of Wheatear, 1881-2. HP OP. Butterfidd a 168 } Occurrence of the Torpedo (2. hebetans) on ‘the Yorkshire Coast. —William : Be > = Hagle Clarke. 167 : ee Arrival of es int Bybum Valley. _F ¢. s. Rawson. ORES cease), AOR | — — Be eee Ge eS noe a Sp ooh, att Natural History of Lofthouse and its neghbourhed, eo ne Oe S js “‘ Natural History” Chair at Edinburgh _ ake ee aS Ge oe Darwin, E.R.S., MGR Shee ae Rees See, AUS -Rarnraun FOE, “ERNE SO De eee 2 ase ere ca ee ers Ir REPORTS oF ‘SOcreTrEs :— eye bo eee = one ee Barnsley Naturalists’ Boe : ao sect ear eee Se eATO: i 2 p peraey Field Naturalists’ and Scientific Socioty” ee As see xe lO ‘Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. Se ate oa pe Be ALT ~~ Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society . aes pote 1 Puen ys Bes E Manhonter Cryptogamic Society — . SF, Pa: Wi Scarborough Ree ee and Field Naturalists’ Club ee apes YO, See ee RACK Fane ae 2 oe | i a . \ HUDDERSFIEDD - \ s fis res oe B. Brown, Marker Prace. CoxNER. eet - following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. : poe be eat to ee Editors at the ae aadress : No ow Heady; tgp SVO., “aoth? 390 pp., , 106 woodcuts: price 8 5 shillings EOLOGY OF THE COUNTIES OF & NGLAND, = OL NORTH AND SOUTH WALES. ae . os . By. W. JEROME Harrison, F.G.S., eras Donsitnator for ‘ths Biming & ae School Board, late Curator Leicester Town Museum. — - ae To the detailed description of the Geological features of ae Cain: there — are added lists of the Local Scientific Societies, Museums, Maps and Memoirs of — the Geological Survey, and the more important books and pees written by = private workers. ~ Loxpon: Kerry & Ce 51, Cua. Queen Street, Ww. C., and ‘Snrexns, : — = Oo. oe Hall coe ie Cy Ulan es "PRICE. Gath a INSECT VARIBTY, BY a He ‘SWINTON, ise - “Neo TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE,”. at (PRICE FOURPENCE, ‘POST FREE] d OURNAL, oF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION, AND ~ ganenay FIELD CLUB RECORD NEW SERIES | Epirep ay Gnas. P. Hovxinx, F.L,8,, ano G. T. Ponnirr, PLS. Bo exxxili- = | JUNE, 1982 = VOLy VIL : | aN . “ORFeIAL Anricnns, &e. : “Yorkshire Ge uihelécton Notes for 1880. a, ole Clar [nbs vas ee We _. Pilmoor: Occurrence of the Twite’s Nest.—Rev. Henry H. Slater... eed fO. is On Scarcity and Abundance i in Insect Life. < Continued. eee. Cooke : eenere Keak _ Arrival of Migrants, East Riding, 1882.—J. D, Busterell eae en ey ~” Rare Hggs at Strensall Common.—W. Hewett... oie Me Ba ee Deans tol Fe Nightin, ale at. Scarborough.—Wim. Robinson. 8 | AB | © Gadwall and Garganey near Beverley.—V. #. Dobree«...- Lg aa ee | Bank’s Oar-Fish and Deal-Fish at Bridlington. — WV. = Detrce:. ee oa Ke Acronycta alnt. = Gea, ef Ae Porritt, F.L.S. aay es ieee pee re ile ah Mnium siellare i in. fruit. ae A, Holt a De ee ohn cen ee 186 | RAINFALL VOR APRIL ee ee oe ee tae Revorts Or Socimriss : = “Barnsley Naturalists’ Society © ee ee Se Pi ae oe ee OR ie - Beverley Field Naturalists’ aad ne Sosety ae ae gi 2) DASE _ Bradford Naturalists’ Society... ele, : Se Sit CAP ie Bade he Soe ishire and Cheshire Entomological Society. Re me Rae Bad LO ‘HUDDERSFIELD : -. B. Brown, Marker Puace Corner. A, EF Fy ee = Breeding of the Quail near Snaith.—Walter-hame =... is eek SPB gee : ee -Yntish and European Macro- “Lepidoptera, Preserved Larva: of rare ‘British i : “Bijou List. of British Butterflies,” Beautifully printed. in colours: es Graduated List of British Birds. 9 specially prepared for Ss | TO CORRESPONDENTS. 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ALL COMMUNICATIONS MUST ‘BE ADDRESSED TO. THE EDITORS CARE, OF Mk. B. BROWN, ye Ht LD DE RST EDs TRA NSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NA TURA LISTS’ UNION. PART TI. FOR 1877 contains the commencement of “The Birds of Yorkshire,” pre by Mr. W. E. Clarke, M.B.O U. ; of an ‘‘ Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- — — water Mollusca of Yorkshire, ” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a — - complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that. - — order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on ‘‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera in 1877, ” by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L. 8.5 one on ‘‘ Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera Be in 1877, iy) by Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. 8. L. Mosley, on ‘‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ — -_ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Se PNG Garten eport on Yorkshire Botany i in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S. PARTS U. AND III. FOR 1878 eontain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’s as Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water - Mollusca of Yorkshire ; ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by ote Dr. Parsons ; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘* Moss-Flora of the Hast. Riding”; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porrbt, FELL.S. : Yorkshire Ichneumonide, by Mr. 8. D. Bairstow, F°L.S. ; and on Yorkshire = Pymepep iets, ¢ observed i in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. W. Denison Roxpuck, Sunny Bank, Leeds — Wu E. Caren, ne —— ao, East es = de Park Road, nee as) oH. W. MARSDEN, == = 8 _ NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. 5 ae OSE ond apparatus of all kinds, of a6 kest make on the lowest terms. ~ Lepidoptera. a ee BOOKS.—New and Second- fa on Segura eee Subjects. a SS ee The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggsi in as Catalogues. _ on application. Jes oe reference and iabelling, 6 -¢ LieprpoPTERists’ CALENDAR,” Limp iets 36. Interleaved, Ble REGENT STREET, GLOUCESTER. — se Original Articles. YORKSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FOR 1880. By Wn. Eacte CriarKkg, MEMBER GF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. THE chief incident of the month of January was an unlooked-for immigration of fieldfares and short-eared owls. Fieldfares, which had been almost entirely absent during the autumn of 1879, appeared on the 24th, in considerable numbers, at Spurn. The owls immediately followed, and were somewhat numerous on the Holderness coast during the latter days of the month. A large party of swans, most probably hoopers, were observed passing Withernsea, on one of the first days of the year. During the severe weather of January and February, brent, or as they are locally termed ‘‘rock”’ geese, were extremely abundant on the Humber estuary, coming up to the shore and retiring with every tide. In my notes for 1879 I alluded to the occurrence of a flock of shore larks, at Hasington, on the 22nd ef December. Fortunately I had many opportunities of observing these interesting birds, which were not again seen until the 9th of February, but from that date until the Z0th of March, they were observed almost daily. At first they frequented a bare flat of sand and pebbles, some distance above high- water mark, on the sea-side, but very soon transferred their affections to a long and narrow bed of debris, composed chiefly of the withered blades of the marine plant, Zostera maritima, which had been heaped up by the tide into a series of little hillocks and depressions on the Humber foreshore. To this they were most constant, spending their time in searching for food ever its undulating surface, or basking in the warm mid-day sunshine, in a crouching position, on ene of its hillocks. At all times they evinced but little fear, and I watehed them for an hour at a time, with the binocular, from a distance of about twenty yards. On the 13th of March, 1 counted twenty together, which was the largest number seen in one party. On this day the sun was very brilliant, and the old males of the assemblage were very conspicuous, the black of their breasts and crowns, the fine brimstone yellow of their cheeks, the lateral tufts of their heads, and the warm vinous tint on their napes and shoulders, contrasting advantageously — with the identical, but more suppressed, colours of the immature birds and the females of the group. The mature males, on a closer examination of specimens obtained, appeared to have more massive heads, and to be generally more stoutly built than the others. The flight is jerky, and whilst on the wing they uttered a note somewhat N_.S., Vou. vit.—Joune, 1882. 174 THe Naturatis?. resembling that of the meadow-pipit. The contents of all the crops and gizzards examined were composed of one description of food, which at sight appeared to be small coiled shells of a mollusc, but on examin- ation with a lens they proved to be seeds, probably of some marine plant, and perhaps those of Zostera. I saw the birds for the last time on the 20th of March, on which day they most probably departed, for they were not seen afterwards. I regret to say that no less than thirty-three specimens were obtained, and a carefully compiled list of these showed that the males predominated to the extent of five to one. The majority were immature males, which, so far as I could perceive, were indistinguishable from the females. At Easington, on the 20th of March, I saw a rough- toga buzzard flying leisurely along the coast-line, pursued by almost a dozen grey crows. In @ remote locality among the north fells, on the 26th of March, I was much gratified to observe a common buzzard sailing over the craggy haunts that once knew this bird so well, but from which it is now so utterly banished, that 1 doubt if the county can boast of possessing more than a single pair nesting annually. On the 29th of March I visited a raven’s nest. This species has lately become very scarce in the county, although we possess such au extensive fellrange on the north-west, and stupendous cliffs on our sea-board, both of which, and our larger woods too, once harboured © ravens in some numbers. Now, only two or three pairs are known to meas nesting. I fear that a very few years will suffice to see the raven erased from the list of resident Yorkshire birds. The nest alluded to contained five eggs, and was placed in an angle of a cliff, about 20 feet from the top, and with a sheer drop of 200 feet below. The date was late for this species to be commencing ineubation, but the pair had set their hearts on a site on the other side of the fell, from which they were driven at the last moment by a pair of peregrines which appeared upon the seene, and pitched upon their nest as suitable for their own purposes. The young ravens were hatched the 11th of April. en the 14th of April I again visited the ravens’ locality, in response to a missive from my friend informing me that the peregrine was sitting, and the pair were playing ‘‘old gooseberry ’ with his grouse, and must be destroyed, and I might have the eggs. I did all I could to have the old bird spared, but it was of no avail; grouse were almost the only birds at hand, and my friend could not afford the quantum requisite to feed so hungry a family. Accompanied by my friend and CLARKE : YORKSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL Notes FoR 1880. 175 his keeper, I set out for the nest, to which it was a stiff climb. On reaching the brow, the male commenced uttering a very plaintive cry, evidently from a very considerable height, for although we could hear him most distinctly, yet we failed entirely to make out his form. When we had arrived immediately above the nest, the keeper gave a loud whistle, which caused the old bird to leave the nest with a deep downward dive, when she received the contents of both barrels, and was no more. She was a grand old bird, weighing 33 ounces, and measuring 44 inches across the wings. The nest was placed on, or rather occupied the top ef, a small column of rock which was stuck, as it were, on to the perfectly smooth face of the cliff, whose slope had a considerable inward tendency, rendering it necessary to put one’s head and shoulders uncomfortably far over the brink, to obtain a glimpse of the nest, which was composed of old heather stems, with little or no lining, and appeared to be an ancient structure. In it were four eggs, which we obtained by means of a net attached to a long rod, brought with us for the purpose, the rocky nature of the place, and stiff slope above the bank, making the use of a rope quite impossible. Not at all a pleasant task was it angling for the eggs ; the rock at the rink sloped not enly smartly to the cliff, but as smartly to the left, from which point alone it was possible to work, making it necessary to be held with ropes from behind and from the right ‘The dizzy depth beneath, and the distance it was necessary to place one’s chest over the edge to use the net, must also be taken into consideration in appre ciating the position. The eggs were extremely handsome, two of them being especially so, having a ground colour of a beautiful pale flesh tint, almost pure pink, richly marked with red-brown. To give some idea of the persecution to which the peregrine is subject, I may remark that this was the sixteenth bird shot by the keeper from nests on this single fell. Leaving the peregrine’s desolated home, we paid a visit to the raven’s nest, on the other side of the fell, and inspected the raw-looking little creatures, new three days old, which were gaping vigorously beneath. The old raven left the nest in a very different fashion to that adopted on the 29th ult., when she slunk away in the quietest manner possible ; now, she was extremely noisy and flew around at a respectful distance, - croaking during the time of the intrusion. The male bird was not to be seen on either visit. The raven has bred on this fell for a great number of years, confining its choice to the sites on the east and west slopes. The peregrine varies its choice between this fell and two other sites a few miles off, in all of which it fares very badly. 176 Tae NATURALIST. I saw an extremely fine variety of the blackbird on Strensall Common, on the 24th of April. The head and neck were pure white, and most sharply defined from the black ‘of the body. Redshank, teal — and snipe were breeding on the common in some numbers; but the place is too near York, and consequently is completely ransacked. Migratory waders, on their way north, made their first appearance on the Humber clays on the 24th of May, when sanderling in partial summer dress, and turnstone in full breeding plumage, were observed. On the 25th, eight dotterel (#7. morinellus) and nine whimbrel were noted. But it was not until the 27th that the great rush took place, when thousands of waders were seen. The dotterel is a stupid bird when passing north to its presi grounds. A party of them are seen almost annually in an identical field, and linger there for about a fortnight, during which period they appear to know no fear, and should a gunner appear upon the scene, the lot would fall an easy bag. In May, a nest and eggs of the shoveller were found, by a friend of mine, on a large tract of heath in the vicinity of the coast. This is, I believe, the first undoubted record of this species breeding in Yorkshire. Waders from their northern breeding haunts made their appearance on the coast early. A knot, in summer dress, was killed under the Spurn telegraph wire on the 23rd of July. Three grey plovers, an immense flock of dunlins, and several whimbrels were observed on the 25th. The first sanderlings were seen on the 15th of August. The year 1880 witnessed the destruction, by enclosure, of Riccall Common, a locality which, until the commencement of the present century, could claim the ruff among its annual breeding birds ; since those palmy days until the present it has been the annual resort of red- shanks, black headed gulls, teal, and other ducks, but, alas, it has had its day, and Strensall, like it, is soon to follow suit. But while we are thus banishing certain species from old haunts, it is a pleasure to hail the return of others to former ones. Thus, the sheldrake, once not uncommon on the Holderness coast, has returned and this year reared her young in safety ; a brood of six were seen to issue from a rabbit burrow, and on digging out the nest, two addled exes were found. Now that Spurn is so very strictly preserved, it is“ to be hoped that this species may become numerous there. This year has also seen the return of the cormorants to the Flamborough cliffs, from which they were driven in the murderous times preceding the Sea-Birds Act. An immature black tern was shot at Spurn, on the 28th of August. CLARKE: YORKSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL Nores For 1880. 177 This species, in the inconspicuous plumage of immaturity, is probably much overlooked ; at all events it is not often reported. Redstarts and wheatears swarmed on our coast-line, as elsewhere, during the latter days of August; the redstarts departed from Spurn to a bird on the 3rd of September. A white martin—a true albino with pink eyes—was shot at Pat- rington on the 6th of September. Seme of the autumn immigrants, put in a very early appearance on our coast. Goldcrests were seen on the 15th of September, and a short-eared owl was shot on the 29th. I think that these very early arrivals are not of Continental origin, but British-bred birds following the coast-line south, after the manner of our summer visitants. On the 5th of October, the weather cloudy with passing showers, a considerable immigration of goldcrests and redwings took place on the Holderness coast. A great grey shrike —a male—was shot on the 6th and sent to me in the flesh. The crop was filled with the remains of coleoptera, chiefly belonging to the genera Geotrupes and Carabus. A few woodcock and a more considerable immigration of goldcrests occurred on the 9th, when the gardens on the soutbern portion of our coast literally swarmed with the latter species. The first grey crow was seen on the Holderness coast on the 10th; on the night of the 16th a large flight of hedge sparrows arrived, the village of EKasington being alive with them on the following morning. A few common wrens accompanied them. A keen frost occurred on the night of the 19th, with an immigration of redwings and fleldfares, accompanied by a few snow buntings and siskins. The last few days of the month I spent, along with Mr. Cordeaux, on the Holderness coast, when we made the following notes :—On the 26th a few migratory goldfinches, old male blackbirds, and a short-eared owl seen. 27th, wind strong from east, cloudy, with rain; a solitary great spotted woodpecker and a long-eared owl shot ; carrion crows passing in great numbers from east to west. On the 28th, after a strong N E gale, I shot a female blackcap at Kilnsea (a willow-wren was shot at Flamborough on the same day), and a considerable arrival of fieldfares, redwings, and snow buntings, along with a few siskins, were observed. Purple sandpipers —a, species which seems to be somewhat erratic in its visits to this portion of our coast—were this season not uncommon, and madea long stay. Two hoopoes were seen at Crofton, near Wakefield, on the 30th, one of which was shot. On the 5th November a large flight of scaups passed up the Humber. A solitary swallow was observed at Spurn, on the 17th. A rather £73 Tue NaTuRAtist. eurlous incident oceurred at Spurn on the 22nd, three carrion crows were observed disputing on the wing over a morsel which one more fortunate than the rest had managed to secure, when, suddenly, a great black-backed gull appeared and put in a claim, much to the alarm of the crows, and resulting in the fortunate one relinguishing his capture, - which fell upon the sands and was seeured by my informant before the gull had time to pounce upon it. This bone of contention proved to be a storm petrel, just dead and still quite warm. I received this bird in the flesh on the following day, and on dissection it proved to be a male in an emaciated condition ; the lings were diseased, each con- taining a whitish consolidated mass the size of a small pea, showing on section the bronchial tubes running through the centre, standing wide open. » » 6. Liversedge Naturalists’ Socicty. - Bisho> Auckland Naturalists’ Society. pee sees . Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophicial Sociesy . Beverley Field Naturalists’ Club. —Exhibi tion of S$) eC Mens. . Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. . Leeds Naturalists’ Clab aad ee Association. Mi ieroscopical Section. |. Bradford Naturalists’ Societv. —Paper by Mir, C.C: Sfarline: ~ York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. ~ 4, 215: Linnean Society of London. é » 17%. Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union —Excursion to Snaith. = 4, 19. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. 7-30 p.m. ; J <2, = 20. Leeds - Natural! sts’ Club and Sei site Association. — — ,,--22. Beverley Naturalists’ Field Club. —Paper. ES 5 23. North Stafforlshire _ Naturalists’ Field a ee to Fe ae BG Newstead Abbey— Leader, Mr. Leech. ~~ “9 24. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—Excursion to Tikley. iy 26. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. =. y 2%: Leeds Naturalists’ Club and_ Scientific. Association. ~ Vertebrate eee — ~_- Section. Pa (27. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—“ Plant Lore, — 4, Mr B. fees Gee ee eee “ “ i ~~ we beh mane) ‘ ~ ~~ J — w AL, I el ‘ eee EXCH: TI chould be glad of > hea from any part of the 25 North of Bavland. especially Yorkshire. and I will wive Lepidoptera «r ee any other Order in return. L. Mosuzy, sons p ark, Huaddersti ld. es “PAE “QAR TERLY JOUR AL OF GUNCHOLO GY, ne This Journal circulates — widely amongst Contholozists : tes _ throughout the world, and contains every eee articles dealing : “with all departments of the Science. : Double numbers are at present being esuech price ¥/- each, — Or 4/4 per annum, post free. : z = -. -_. PUBLISHED BY 3. W. 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How to obtain LARVz& by beating : the Bignell tray ; 3 Sweeping ; ~ searching by night ; how to rear the larve ; “sleeving ; ; hybernating larve ; . parasites ; preserving larve., PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pup ; forcing age THE PERFECT sNSECT.—Localities; net; mothing ; honeydew ; 3 sugaring light ; indoor light.; grouting ; smoking; killing ; relaxing ; setting : grease : mites ; mould; cabinets and store boxes; painting: arrangement and nomen- clature : number of specimens and manner of placing; transmission by post’; entomolosical diary; books. MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA; COLEOPTERA; HYMENOPTERA: aa BREEDING OF GALL-FLIES. — PRICE ONE SHILLING. : : LONDON: SONNEN SCHEIN & ALLEN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE. go The e Enfoinnlogist’¢ Monthly Magazine. Pri ice 6d. monthly, 24 pages 8yo, with occasional Illustrations. Conducted by J. W. Dovatas, Rw. MacLacutay, F.B.S:, E. Cy ‘Rvs, Gert tn Aa H. T. 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SE Mosley ; with text revised by a Fellow of the Zoological Society. — A cheap edition is foe at Is.,2 2and the Birds. or ee may nee fod a separate. ~) ~~ May be had of S. a MOSLEY, Pemaont Park, Fiddemeeld ; or J e oe ee ROBSON, te eS West Hartlepool. <8 = “ ee, (a bot mere ps = Nec TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.”’ (PRICE FOURPENCE, “Post FREE] AND “GUNERAL FINLD OLUB RECORD. inci cence. aturalist: “JOURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALIS is £ UNION, | Bprrep By Cu as. P. Hoge, E.LS., And G. ie Porritt, F.L.S. No.LXXXIV. . mH, 1882. «VOL. VIL. (DOUBLE NUMBER) - CONTENTS © <4 Onremvar ae &e.: ‘Notes on some Rare British Mosses. Siz ypnaua Blandovii, =) Die = _ Notes on Puccinia graminis.—Geo..Massee - ee ee ee ‘Puccinia graminis.—Thos. Hick, B-A., B.Sc, be. ~ On Searcity and Abundance i in Insect Life. —Concluded. Bai “ote — Ranyean FOR MAY .. Bees Zs Notas, &eo. : — ae ~The Twite.—F. G. 8. Eason : oe S Nestilis of the Ring Ouzel. = PP. "Butter held oe - Arrival of Migrants near Bingley.—Z. P. P. Butter Hie... a Se Capture of a Badger in Cleveland.— W. Gregson ... _ . Curious Egg of Sandmartin.—C. C. Hanson RE ' + ~ Entomological Notes.—Geo. T. Porritt, F.L:S. ea _ Clivinia JOS ‘Linn, &e.—J. W. Car ter Se _ Reports OF “SocreriEs :— ees "Barnsley Naturalists’ Souiote. ae a Beverley Field Naturalists’ ‘and Scientific Society 3 - Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Soe ays ‘Manchester Cryptogamic Society —..: nes Yorkshire N; aturalists’ Union. —Beverley.- “Snaith Rees INDEX. AND TITLE PAGE TO” VOL, Vil. i Ss ee ¢ yi a S75 : : ; poe eee HUDDERSFIELD : _ => - -._B. Brown, Marxur-Puace Corner. ‘W.B.—The Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their Papers. should, if possible, be in tae hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of the —_ Soa current month, to insure insertion in our next i ae, and should be = on | one side of the sheet only. 3 ae ADE COMMUNI CALL ONS M UST. BE ADDRESSED T0 THE eprrons- ie : TRANSACTIONS of the YORKSHIRE NA TURA LISTS! UNION. by Mr. W. E. Ciarke, M.B-O U. ; of an “‘ Annotated List of the Land and Brosh water Mollusca of Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a - complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of Gis A order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on ‘* Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera in 1877, ”- by Mr. G. Ty Porritt, ¥.L. S.; one -on--“ Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera, a and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Eade} : and 2 : epor on Yorkshire Botany 1 in 1877, by Dr. HF. Parsons, ¥.G.S.. 0 = 7 =. Birds of Yorkshire, and cf Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water ; ~~ Mollusca. of Yorkshire ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in“ 1878, by BOOKS .—New and Bealad land on Natur al History Subjecee pes ce The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and ‘Birds’ Eggsi in England. Catalogues 8 year, post free, payable im advance. ‘The volume commences-in August of each — year. 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Prest ; papers by. My. Su L: Mosley,. on_*‘ Yorkshire Diptera,” #8 PARTS Hi. AND Tif. FOR. 1878 contain ‘the continuations of Dr. Clavice’s Ss S Dr. Parsons ; ; the co: mmencement of Dr. Parsons’ “ Moss- Flora of the” East Riding” ; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. : ie soe e, ae Denison RoEBUCK, Suny Bank, g ee aoe xc Wu. EK. “CLARKE, ee ese BN Hast t View, ae) Park Road, Leeds, é : He We, M ARS D EN; NATURAL ‘RISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELIER. ay British and ‘European Bee te ‘Preserved Larvee of rare re British Lepidoptera. : ; on application. “Bijou. List of British Butterfies,” Beautifully. printed i in 1 eolour 6 reference and labelling, Gas "2 Gees: “LEPIDOPTERISS’ ‘CaLENDaR, * Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, De REGENT STREET, GLOUCESTER. — ig Original Articles. —— NOTES ON SOME RARE BRITISH MOSSES. j Read before the Manchester Cryptogamic Society, May 15th, 1882. } By J. Casu. HYPNUM BLANDOVII. THE discovery of this moss at Knutsford—-its best known and now _ probably only habitat in this country—was made by the late Mr. Wm. Wilson on the 17th November, 1831. Mr. Wilson was then unac- quainted with the species, and, under the belief that he had stumbled upon fruiting Hypuum abietinum, a moss which is only found barren in Britain, he wrote in his diary, under date Nov. 17th—‘“ Rode to Knutsford Moor. Saw abundance of Hyprun abietinum, with sete just shooting up.” But having shortly afterwards discovered that this was an error, he struck out the specific name, and wrote “ laricinum, MSS.,” supposing it to be a new species. He was not aware that the moss was identical with one previously found barren at Tunbridge by Mr. Joseph Woods, and which was described and figured, though imperfectly, in “ Hnglish Botany,” edit. i, as ZH. Blandovu. | At the time of Mr. Wilson's discovery, Smith’s “‘ English Flora,” vol, 11. (which is also the second vol. of Hooker's “ British Flora”) was passing through the press, and Mr. Wilson communicated his H. laricinum, MSS., to the author of that work, and a brief descrip- tion is given by Sir William Jackson Hooker, at p. 87. On the 12th December, 1831, as recorded in his diary, Mr. Wilson wrote, and sent specimens of the new moss, to Sir William (then Dr.) Hooker, together with sketches and remarks, as compared with H. adietinum. Two days later, he “ examined and sketched more carefuliy the new Hypnum,” and on the 17th December he received from Sir Wm. Hooker a letter in answer to his of the 12th. Sir William, in that letter, cites Swartzs characters of AH. abietinwm, and says: ‘‘ The figure of the leaf of your A laricinum is very like that of the leaf of Swartz’s plant, of which I have a sketch from Mr. Turner’s specimens. I think I might safely quote Swartz’s abictinum under your H. laricinum.” On the 24th December Mr. Wilson again visited Knutsford, in order to note the progress of the fructification of the new moss, when he found it “in the very same state as in November,” and he adds the remark, “The fruit not to be had before March or April ’’—a fact of which he apprised Dr. Hooker in a subsequent communication. Under date 15th March, 1832, we find the following note in Mr. Wilson’s N.S8S., Vou. vil.—JuLyY, 1882. 190 Tae NarurAtis7. writing :—‘‘ Again attempted to gather H. laricinum. My brother accompanied me to Knutsford, and we saw it in statu quo” ; and he observes, in a footnote: ‘The latter end of April is, in fact, the proper season for gathering it.’ On the occasion of this visit to Knutsford, Mr. Wilson removed some of the moss “to be ripened in cultivation,’ and from that time he watched the development of the fruit with great attention. On the 16th of April he again visited Knutsford, when he made a further notable discovery (to be referred to hereafter) ; but as to H. laricinum, it was in its natural habitat—“ still for the most part unswelled.” This remark, of course, referred to the eapsule. ‘It is later than HZ. euspidatum,’ he observes, “ and less: advanced than @. sceilatum; but neither will be fit to gather till towards the end of this month” (i.e. April). The new Hypnum continued to occupy much of Mr. Wilson’s attention, and was the subject of correspondence with different botanists at the time. On the 19th April he sent other drawings to Dr. Hooker, and asked his opinion of the A. abietinun: in the Linnean herbarium, ‘‘ which,” he says, “ I believe to be HW. laricinum” ; and he considers a comparison with Drummond’s American fertile H. abieti- num very desirable, expressing, at the same time, a doubt if the true plant (abietinum) is ever found fertile in Europe. On visiting Knutsford on the 27th April, Mr. Wilson found the eapsules of H. laricinum very generally swelled to their full size, and in some few cases nearly ripe. The finest was ‘‘near the Aspidium Thelypteris,” where, as we ail know, it is still, unless destroyed by the drainage now going on. But Mr. Wilson was destined to receive some unexpected light upon the subject of his diseovery, and it came to him from Sir Wm. Jackson Hooker. Writing on the 2nd of May, 1832, Sir William congratulates Mr. Wilson on the discovery of Paludella squarrosa, and he says :— ‘“ But if this charming plant is to be added to our museological cata- logue, I fear another will have to be erased, for which you may blame meas much as you please. I find that HZ. Blandovi has a deep carina in the leaf, exactly as m A. laricinum, which I had before entirely overlooked; and I am now unable to perceive any distinguishing character, If you come to the same opinion, you must still quote H. laricinum as being given in “ British Flora,” vol. i. pt. 1, p. 87, and add, not of Hooker, Mus. Exot. t. 85.” Sir William had, long before its application to the Knutsford plant, appropriated this specific name for an Australasian moss. He goes on to say, in the letter from which we quote, “It is certain that those who have described 4. | Massrz: Norres on PuccintA GRAMINIS. 191 Blandovii have not made sufficient use of their eyes, none of them having noticed the remarkable structure of the foliage. This it is which is the abie¢inum of Swartz, thus confirming previots suspicions ; end probably some botanists have confounded it with 1. abietinum too.” Wahlenberg’s A. abietinum Gn Fl. Lappon. and FI. Suec.) appears to be the true one, and he has a variety 6 in Fl. Suec.—“‘ peludosum ”" —under which he quotes HW. Blandovii, Web., and M. with a (?\—A. abietinum, Funck, Deutsch Moose, p. 59, t. 41. N 25, is correct. N, is Drummond, M, Musci Americani. Mr. Wilson could not, of course, resist the evidence as to the identity of his Knutsford H. laricinum with the Tunbridge //. Siandoou, and in writing of it afterwards he adopted the latter name. But, although not the first to discover the moss in Britain, he was at least the first to discover it in fruit; and, except at Knutsford, there are few, if any, localities now remaining in this country where it is found in that condition. ‘The only other locality recorded in “ Bryo- logia Britannica’’ is Terrington Carr, Yorkshire. | Mr. Wilson, in 1832, endeavoured to transplant some fruiting Z. Blandovii to a bog within a couple of miles or so from his house, but with what success is not recorded. He planted, on May 5th, 1832, *‘one patch in a low swampy spot ” in a corner of Risley Moss, and the precise locality is indicated by its proximity to the oak wood. On the 16th February, 1878, the writer of these notes paid a visit to the locality referred to, to see if any trace could be found of H. Blandovii ; but what was in 1832 a low swampy spot, was, 46 years later, being prepared by the plough for what would doubtless prove a luxuriant crop of potatoes. NOTES ON PUCCINIA GRAMINIS. By Gro. MASSER. At the last annual meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, Prof. Williamson pointed out the enormous amount of damage done by the corn mildew, Puccinia graminis, and suggested to the members of the Botanical Section the desirability of investigating its life-history. In anticipation of such an attempt, it has been considered advisable to present, in a condensed form, the work done, bearing on this subject. Polymorphism, or alternation of generations, are terms expressing the fact that in plants—animals also—two or more phases are passed through before the organism completes the cycle of its life-history. 19%. Tan NATORALIST. These stages are often sharply and clearly defined in the plants com- monly known as Cryptogams. When the spore of a fern germinates, a minute leafy expansion is formed, bearing on its surface the anthe- ridia and archegonia, or male and female reproductive organs. This is. the sexual generation; the oosphere contained in the archegonium after fertilization directly developes into the large fern plant, which constitutes the asexual generation, so called because the spores to which it gives origin are not the direct result of fertilization. In this example the evidence as to the organic continuity between the two generations is very apparent. In fungi, polymorphism is supposed to occur to a great extent, but in the majority of cases direct evidence is lacking. During early summer a minute fungus may be met with on the leaves of corn and grasses, forming long yellowish lines ; it originates in the tissues of the plant, and the cuticle is ruptured as the fungus increases in size. Microscopie examination reveals the presence of -numerous subglobose, unicellular, orange-coloured bodies, springing from short colourless threads, from which they readily fall away, and form a yellow powdery mass on the leaf, until removed by wind or rain. This is Trichobasis rubigo-vera, now almost universally considered as the first stage of Puccinia graminis. A few weeks later, a second parasite may be met with on the same plants; the pustules, or lines, are dark brown, and the spores are two-celled, generally slightly constricted in the middle and tapering to each end, and in addition are furnished with a slender pedicel; this is Puceinia graminis. ‘The reasons for considering the two above mentioned as stages of the same plant, are as follows :—In a great many instances the Trichobasis is succeeded by a Puccinia fzom the same pustule, or on the same plant, and sometimes, as in P. graminis, pustules are not uncommon showing what appears to be a transition from one stage to the other, some of the spores, so called, being one-celled, and others two-celled. Both kinds of spore germinate readily in a damp atmosphere, on a slide smeared with a little glycerine, yet no one has sueceeded in growing Puecinia trom Frichobasis spores, or vice versa, nor actually demons- trated the presence of the two kinds of fruit springing from the same , mycelial thread; consequently, juxtaposition and persistent sequence of the same forms are the main factors in the arguments as to their relationship. And it must be remembered that there are many species of Puccinia that have no known Trichobdasis, and the latter without the corresponding Puccimia stage. By some it is argued that the two are distinct, may-be parasitic on each other, and inter micro-parasitism is Massee: Noves on Puccinia GRAMINIS. 193 not unusual among fungi. Every mycologist knows that a great many fungi are developed on a particular matrix only, and this is especially true of the Coniomycetes that are developed on living plants—so much so, that Dr. Cooke, in describing some Indian fungi in Grevillea, v. 8, p. 94, says, “It is useless to give names to species of Puccinia or Trichobasis, of which the host is unknown”; consequently the strongest point in the argument could be overriden by stating that the Puccinia is parasitic on the Tyichobasis, or can only be developed in the pustules made by the latter. To me, the one fact that certain forms of the above-mentioned always succeed each other, proves no more relationship inter se than that which exists between the fungus and its host. How the parasite obtains access to the interior of the plant from which it springs is not known ; it has been suggested that the spores entered the stomata, but relative size disproves this. hen the pseudospores of Puccinia germinate, they emit two threads on which three or four secondary spores are developed on spicules, and these latter in turn give origin to yet smaller sporules, the real value of which, up to the present, is a problem unsolved. On the leaves of the berberry (Zerberis vulgaris) a minute fungus is not uncommon, called Acidium berberidis. The spores, which are bright orange when mature, are at first enclosed in a minute cellular sac, or peridium, which eventually ruptures in a stellate manner, exposing the spores. Preceding or accompanying these groups of peridia are other smaller ones, known as spermogonia, from the inside of whose walls spring numerous threads, which produce from their free tips minute bedies, known as spermatia. These spermogones are spoken of as secondary organs, but what their functions are has not been demonstrated ; by some they are supposed to be male organs. It is a general belief in agricultural districts that berberry bushes cause corn to mildew, and Prof. De Bary instituted a series of experiments for the purpose of ascertaining whether any such relationship really existed. Germinating spores of Puccinia graminis were placed on the leaves of berberry plants: the threads, within twenty-four hours, penetrated the tissues of the leaves. In about ten days spermogonia appeared, and soon after the Mcidwum showed itself en the under surface of the leaves—thus seeming to peint to the conclusion that the _ Puccinia and Aicidium are stages of the-same plant. The question that naturally suggests itself at this point is, as Zecidium grows so abund- antly on berberry, was its presence, in the experiments, due to the infection, or would it not have appeared at it does on other berberry 194 THe NATURALIST. plants, had they not been insulated? Several subsequent attempts have been made for the purpose of settling the point, but as yet it is an open question. Last year, Mr. Plowright, a well-known mycologist, carried out a series of experiments on the following principle :—Thirteen lots of wheat, obtained from different localities, were sown at different times, and from each lot as many plants were infected with spores of Wcidium berberidis, and an equal number of plants, called check plants, were carefully protected from infection by being placed under bell-jars ; the object being to contrast the per-centage of diseased plants in the two eases. The following extract from ‘“ Grevillea,’ vol. 10, where the experiments are described in detail, shows the result :—‘‘ Seventy- eight wheat plants were infected with the spores of Wcidium berberidis, and ninety-eight similar wheat plants kept as check plants against them. Of the infected plants 76 per cent. developed Uredo in an average of 24:4 days, while, in the same period, 70 per cent. of the uninfected plants became spontaneously attacked by Uredo. One experiment only (No. 2) out of the thirteen was wholly in favour of the theory, and that lasted only 28 days. Still, 6 per cent. more of the infected plants took the Uredo than of the uninfected. This is a very small portion—far too small, in my humble opinion, to constitute convincing evidence. I believe, however, that it ean be accounted for by my own negligence in not thoroughly cleaning the bell glasses before using them to cover fresh plants. Had the last experiment (No. 13) however, proved favourable to the theory, I should have regarded it as being much more worthy of acceptance than I can now do. It is only after much patient work that I felt myself bound to differ from the eminent botanists abroad, whe do accept the heterzecism of Puccinia graminis as established beyond question.” ‘“‘ Experiment 13.—The thirteenth, and final, experiment was con- ducted on a totally different principle. The seed-wheat was poisoned by steeping it in a solution of cupric sulphate; and the ground in which it was planted was watered with a solution of ecarbolic acid in water. Two bell glasses, thoroughly disinfected with carbolic acid, and the copper solution, were placed over both the patch to be used as check | plants and over the pots containing plants to be infeeted. These bell — glasses were never touched until the plants were large enough to infect. On the 20th August six were inoculated with dcidium spores from Narborough. A few days later—purposely choosing a day wheu there was no wind—the check plants were reduced to six. The bell glasses were not again removed until the twentieth day, when both patches Hicx : PucciniA GRAMINIS. 195 were rapidly but thoroughly examined, and found free from Uredo. The _ glasses were replaced, and the plants re-examined on the 30th day. These were then finally removed and the plants thoroughly examined, but no trace of Uredo found upon either the infected or upon the check plants.” The Uredo mentioned in the quotation is Uredo linearis, which is synonymous with Trichobasis rubigo-vera. | Such experiments undoubtedly possess a certain amount of value, but, however great the per-centage in favour of either view, could searcely be accepted as positive proof. The spores of all the forms germinate readily, and although difficulties would be met in tracing every change, yet those difficulties are not insurmountable, and must be met if real work that can be accepted as conclusive is attempted. The development of other forms of fungi, that are injurious to fir trees, has been followed by allowing the spores to develop in turpen- tine ; and experiments persevered in would undoubtedly reveal some artificial medium in which the present plant could be followed through allits stages. It has been suggested that the fungus, in some form or other, is present in the grain when sown, and developes along with the latter ; and Mr. Plowright’s experiment Ne. 13 would seem to coun- tenance this view. Puccinia spores that are a year old germinate best; the other spores germinate at once. An additional experiment, not included in the thirteen mentioned by Mr. Plowright, is also given in “ Grevillea,” as follows :—“ Six wheat plants were infected with the spores of Uredo linearis at 4 p.m. on the 138th August. On the 24th they were ail simultaneously affected with Uredo, showing that the Uredo had reproduced itself in . eleven days.” In this experiment, Mr. Plowright evidently considers the appearance of the Uredo as the result of inoculation ; but if go, Uredo produced Uredo, and not (as one would expect) Puccinia. But perhaps it might be said that the same form is reproduced for several times in succession, or that the Puccinia spores appear from the Urede mycelium at a later stage. PUCCINIA GRAMINIS. By Tuos. Hicx, B.A., B.S8c., &e. Aw the last annual meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, it was suggested by Prof. Williamson that the botanical section should endeayour to work out afresh the life-history of Puccinia graminis, whose 196 THe NATURALIST. ravages he stated had lately been very destructive to the cereals in this country. The subject may not at first sight appear a very promising one, seeing that it has already engaged ‘the attention of several com- petent investigators, both in this country and on the continent, one of whom, De Bary, may perhaps be regarded as the chief authority for what is known with respect to it. Those, however, who have any acquaintance with the fungus and its allies, are well aware that in spite of all that has hitherto been done, there are many problems that have not yet been solved, and many details which are yet but im- perfectly understood. Moreover, great as is the authority of those who have written upon Puccinia, 1t is no presumption to say that in some respects their views require to be tested by renewed investiga- tions, so that they may be confirmed, corrected, or modified as the results obtained may suggest. Hence there can be no doubt that a fresh examination of this fungus and a re-examination of the transform- ations it is said to undergo, can hardly fail to be of value, not only to those who engage in the work, but also to the Union whose interests we have at heart, and it may be to the cause of science itself. Itis to be hoped, therefore, that the botanists of the various districts embraced by the Union will take up the subject with their usual energy, so that at the close of the season we may be able to show that good and creditable work has been done. It is not necessary to lay down any special methods of investigation, as each one may be safely left to adopt such measures as he deems most suitable to the end in view, and to the circumstances in which he is placed. _ Still, as it is desir- able that the results obtained by different workers, in different districts, should be ultimately compared. and digested, in order that local con- ditions and local colouring may be eliminated therefrom, it would be well if among other details the following particulars were carefully noted :—(1) The date when the fungus was first observed ; (2) the host plants on which it is found ; (8) the nature of the soil on which the infested plants are growing; (4) conditions of the soil as to moisture, situation, &c. ; (5) the presence or absence of barberries in the neighbourhood, and if so whether they are: affected with Medium Berberidis ; (6) the presence or absence of other Mcidia-bearing plants besides the barberry ; (7) When the cereals are affected, the locality where the seed-corn was grown, and the presence or absence there of barberries. It need hardly be added in conclusion, that wherever circumstances permit, observation should be supplemented by ex- periment. specially should experiment be resorted to in order to determine whether spores of Mcidium Berberidis can be made to Cooke: On Scarcity AND ABUNDANCE IN Insect Lire. 197 germinate on healthy plants, by sowing them upon the leaves, watering the roots with water containing spores, and in other ways ; and also whether plants may be similariy affected by spores of other Meidia. Mr. Thomas Hick, Harrogate, president of the botanical section, will be glad to receive communications on the subject from those who are disposed to assist in the work of investigation. ON SCARCITY AND ABUNDANCE IN INSECT LIFE. (Concluded. ) By Bens. Cooke. It remains now to indicate what steps should be taken in order better to understand the causes of scarcity and of unusual abundance. A series of meteorological observations for a number of years will bea considerable help ; and a careful noting of the results which follow after an unusual continuance of heavy rains, and also of very dry weather ; the effects of thunder-storms and of high winds, and of great heat, provided it lasts for many days. Do not understand me to assume that such observations have been neglected; this is not the case, but they have not been carried out systematically and sufficiently. The subject is, as yet, far from being within our grasp. We have now arrived at the closing days of February, and so far have had a very exceptional winter. I believe it is 48 years since we had a winter which can be cempared with it for mildness. I will not venture to predict what will follow, except, what indeed has already begun to manifest itself, that many species of lepidoptera will appear much before their usual time, and that if we have a favourable season, we shall hear of some double broods which are not usual in this country. However, I hope we shall see and take notice of anything unusual which may fairly be attributed to the mildness of the winter. The theory that no species of insect is absolutely scarce, derives considerable support from the fact that, previous to the last twenty years, the larve of many common species of Jlepidoptera were unknown; this therefore affords good reason for doubting whetier many species usually considered rare are so in reality. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that among insects whose habits we know very well, some species are very much more common than others, consequently, if there is comparative scarcity, there is reason to believe in absolute scarcity, at least in some cases. In McLachlan’s monograph of the British Neuroptera-planipennia, there is an insect described. and 198 Tat NATURALIST. figured under the name of Psectra diptera (Burmeister). A single example of this extraordinary species, which has no near ally, was captured by the late Mr. J. C. Dale, in Somersetshire, in the year 1848, and has remained unique as British. Mr. McLachlan says :— ‘ This insect, though very widely distributed in Europe, is excessively rare, and I believe that not more than four or five examples are known. The female, with developed posterior wings, is said to be in the Berlin museum.” Now this case, it must be admitted, does not prove much either way; it is only strong presumptive evidence of absolute scarcity. The latter cannot be proved in this way, and the contrary ean only be shown by finding this species in much greater numbers. Therefore, if it is said that we are only begging the question so far, we must go upon another track. | It is a fortunate thing that we have in this Society members who are not entomologists only, but who have a considerable acquaintance with other branches of science. Doubtless, there are amongst us geologists, who will tell us that the earth was inhabited in former ages by animals of various classes, insects among the number, which have become extinct. Now, how did they become extinct ? Was it by some great convulsion of nature? Possibly this may have been the case with regard to many species, but there is evidence of the extinction of others within a recent date, and not by any convulsion of nature. In an article entitled ‘“‘The Death of Species,” by Edward Newman, published in the Zoologist for 1868, there are enumerated, among many others, the extinction of the dodo about the year 1638 ; the moa, or dinornis, about 1800; the great auk in 1848 ; the moho, a large bird of the rail tribe, in 1850; the nestor parrot in 1803. There is only one way in which this death of species can have taken place : the extinction of these birds has been going on gradually, until the representative of each species has been reduced to one example only. About the year 1865, an egg of the dinornis was discovered in New Zealand ; this egg measured 10in. in length and about 7in. in breadth. It was found whilst excavating, and the pick-axe used came in contact with it and broke a piece out of one side, but the fragments were © preserved. Mr. Newman’s note at the end of this communication is as follows :—‘ This egg was sold by Mr. J. C. Stephens on the 24th of November (1865) for £120.” The buyer of this egg may congratu- late himself on the possession of an object in Natural History of great interest, and entirely unique. One might suppose that the inhabitants of New Zealand were not all so rich, that the sum of £120 is insuff- Cooke: On Scarcity AND ABUNDANCE IN INsEctT Lire. 199 cient to tempt anyone to find another if it was to be found, but it has failed to do so. Extinction of species is going on perhaps to a greater extent than we are at all aware of. Predaceous animals (the wolf, for instance) are fleeing before civilization. Insects, in some degree, are fleeing before cultivation; but my belief is that those which are most useful to man- kind will remain, in so far as they are required—those which are pre- eminently the scavengers of the earth, and those whose office it is to keep in check such as are noxious, and such as are injurious to agriculture and to cultivation. Southport, 1882. Laintall for May. Height ToraLt Fan of . | No. ro Darts. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest : Above jiiall:: | Naveen car: Fall. pen yiest ae: 1882. | 1881. ae . | Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...; 350} 113 | 10) 14°30 |* 11°99 25 0°37 (J. W. Robson) HALirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)! 365 | 1°93 | 12 | 21°77 | 17°34 0°510 ) eA LEEDS ... (Alfred ee 183 |1°195 | 14 10310 | +8286 3 HorsFrortH ... (James Fox)! 350 | 1:26 | 13 11°980 |{11:115 3 0°44 BABNSEEY ...A(P. Lister) ...| 350 ) 1:09 | 1F-| 10°42 9°22 25 0°35 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... $5317 1°60 | Ti 16:01 |) 13:22 3 0°70 520 | 1°31} 10! 11:88 | 11°50 25 0-48 95 | 1:93 | 10} 10-61 | 814 | 25 0-68 10 | 158/14] 9:80 | 7-128 | 95 0°34 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)... GOoLe ... (J. HARRISON) ... Hutt (Derringham) (Wm. Lawton) * This is the average to date for 16 years, 1866-81. + Average of 28 years, 1853-62 and 1865-82. t+ Average of 13 years, 1870-82. Short Notes and Queries. Tue Twire.—This bird breeds commonly every season on the high moorlands round Halifax. The eggs usually five or six in number are not unlike those of the lesser redpole. The nest which is close to the ground is composed of small fibres of heather and lined with wool.—— F. G. 8. Rawson. Nesting oF THE Rine Ovzet.—During the latter part of last May, I found two nests of the ring ouzel, one on Black-hills, and the other in Cranfield Wood, a picturesque hanger, situated on the slope of the hill 200 Tue NATURALIST. overlooking Marley. Both nests were built on the horizontal branches of spruce firs, at some distance from the trunk ; the former nest was built about three and the latter about twelve feet from the ground. Although I must have known of scores of nests of this species, I never before found a nest built in any other situation than on the ground. I may here remark that the choice of the sites of the two nests already referred to, was in no wise determined on account of any lack of more suitable nesting places ; on the contrary, especially is this the case with Cranfield Wood, in the vicinage of which are heather-clad slopes which afford a natural home, and where this bird breeds abundantly ; indeed it would appear to be the metropolitan breeding haunt of the species for this district. In recording these facts 1 may observe my desire is not to be understood as having to chronicle a great ‘‘ discovery ” which may, after all, turn out to be but a mare’s nest. A larger experience or a more extended field of investigation might have had the effect of modi- fying my views (as 1t frequently does in the course of one’s life) respect- ing such like occurrences.—H. P. P. Burrerris tp. ARRIVAL OF Spring Micranrs near Binetey.—In sending you the following dates of arrival of spring migrants, I thought it would not perhaps be deemed irrelevant, if I placed the records for the years 1879 and 1881, which were preceded by exceptionally severe winters, side by side for comparison with those of 1882, which is said to have been one of the mildest on record. J ought perhaps to state that [ am indebted to my brother for many of the records for the present year, having myself been precluded by other engagements of a less pleasing character, from giving that continuous attention to any out-door ornithological observa- tions, without which such records are valueless. 6 1879. 1881. 1882. Pied wagtail ... ... ae ...- March 3 ... February 18. Wheatear ... April 1i .. March 26 ... April 8. Ring Ouzel ... April 11 ... April 14 4 Apri 10; Willow warbler April 17 ... April 14 > Agora We Sandmartin ... April 18 ... April 21 .2-,, Aprile: Swallow . April 22 . April 24 cae April Ge Cuckoo _ s<. April 22 Bene a ... May 4, very late. Redstart . April 26 ... April 20 soe ale ‘Tree pipit . April 26 ... April 16 =o Aprile are Ray’s wagtail... May 2, late ... April 20 . April 23. House martin... May 2 ... ... April 24 . April 15, only one — Whinchat . May 2 ... April 30 ... May 6, late. ‘Whitethroat ... May 3 ... May 8 ... April. 29, Swift... May 15 a) Maye Sie. .. May 14, Wood warbler May 16 JpeMaya dette ... May 6. Blackcdp.) i544: 4.) May di, date «93:2 April 235, Garden warbler .. cece Vek date ... May 7, Bolton Nigh biar 01220. yan: . May 25... ... May 27. [Woods. Snort Notes AND QUERIES. 201 With regard to the first named species it is somewhat curious that it has not wintered with us (I mean in this locality) since the remarkably severe winter of 1878 and 1879. Ifmy memory serves me right, I believe Gilbert White somewhere states that the spotted fly-catcher is the last bird to arrive in its spring migration. This is, however, not now the case (if indeed it ever were), at least in this district ; the nightjar being the latest migrant, arriving about the time when H. velleda first makes its appearance, upon which it feeds, and which must form, judging from the quantity of wings strewn about, a most important item in its bill of fare. This insect swarms in Bingley Wood. —H. P. P. BurrerFriexp. CAPTURE OF A BADGER IN CLEVELAND.—On May 20th, Mr. John P. Petch, of Liverton Lodge, near Saltburn, caught a fine female badger, not far from his residence. It stood 113 inches high, and weighed 193 pounds. It is now in the possession of Mr. A. E. Pease, of Pinching- thorpe House, near Guisborough. Mr. Petch informs me that it is 17 years since he caught one near the same place.—W. GREGSON, Curious Eee or SANDMARTIN.—On Whit-Monday, a friend of mine took a sandmartin’s nest, and one of the eggs had a patch of silver on one side ; 1t looked as if it had been gilt with quicksilver, very bright and of a metallic appearance. I thought it would be evanescent, but itis per- manent. Can any of our oologists explain the cause /—Corn crakes are numerous here this year.— C. C. Hanson. EntomotocicaL Norzs.—I spent Whitsuntide this year at Wicken Fen, in Cambridgeshire. Meliana flammea was common, but most of the specimens I took were much wasted, and the species had evidently been out some time. The swallow-tailed butterfly Papilio Machaon was also plentiful enough, and on Whit-Monday, May 29th, was flying freely even in a little wood about half-a-mile from the Fen. It was certainly novel to see Machaon in such a situation. I found the eggs easily by searching the Pewcedanum palustre inthe Fen. Arctia wrtice was just getting out, and Sumyra venosa was not uncommon, but difficult to catch. I am now breeding Pterophorus lienigianus, from larve received from Norwich ; and have recently added to my collection Dianthecia Barrettir, from Howth ; Nola centonalis, from Deal; Ewpithecia togata, from Scot- land ; Oncocera henella, from Deal; Hphestia pingwis, from York; and Oryptoblabes bistriga, from Kent.—Gero. T. Porrirt. Clivinia fossor, Linn., &c.—In vol, iu p. 25, of the Naturalist, Mr. — Crowther gave us the benefit of his knowledge of the Yorkshire geoeraphical.distribution of C. fossor, and asks other entomologists who have taken the species to do the same. I may say that I took two Specimens of this little beetle at Frizing-Hall, near here, on the 12th of April last, in just such a situation as described by Mr. Crowther, ve., amongst ‘‘ decaying rubbish ” on the bank of the canal. When I first picked them up they appeared to be in a torpid state, but on coming in 202 THe NATURALIST. contact with my warm hand they began to walk about, and by the time f reached home they were quite active. I had asplendid specimen of Carabus nitens brought in from Rombald’s Moor on the 20th April.— — J. W. Carter, Valley St., Bradford, 10th June. Bon ols ot S Sacieties. BarnsLeEY NATURALISTS’ Secs etuesting June 16th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—A very interesing paper was read by the hon. secretary, (Mr. W. E. Brady), written by Mr. Dixon, formerly of Sheffield, on *¢The Philosophy of Birds’ Nests and Eggs—their site, form and color, as adapted in most cases to the protection and preservation of the species.” Tt was illustrated by bird-skins, nests, and eggs—some from the collection of Mr. H. Seebohm. The report of the botanical section is a very full one ; more than 200 species of plants are recorded this season, the result of many of our local and individual excursions. Almost all our migrants were recorded last month; we may add that three other localities are given for the nightingale—New Park Spring, Crofton, and beyond Caw- +horne—the nearest te the N W moors we have known in this district.-— W. H. Brapy, See. BeveRLEY Frietp NaturRaLists’ AND ScIENTIFIC SocteTY.—MEETING, 25th May, at Norwood, the Rev. EH. J. Barry, vice-president, in the chair.—The Rey. W. Smith read a highly interesting and instructive paper on “‘ The leaves of plants,” giving minute details of their form and structure, their functions, uses, development, and appendages, illustrating his lecture with a number of carefully prepared micro-slides. Among the botanical exhibits were specimens of the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus, brought by Mr. H. M. Ellis, and several examples of an abnormal form of tulip, having one of the petals situated several inches below the rest of the flower, shown by Mr Boyes. The Rev. H. J. Barry exhibited a number of microscopical slides, and brought before the members the first part of a new work, entitled ‘* Studies in Microscopical Science,” now appearing weekly, and with which is issued a mounted o slide illustrating the subject treated of. Mr. Boyesalso brought very fine specimens of the great slug, Limax maximus, the black variety of the field slug, Limazx agrestis var niger, the hairworm, the eggs of the redshank, Totanus calidris, and spotted crake, Porzana maruetta, found : near Beverley, it being the first time on record that the eggs of the latter : rare bird have been taken in the East Riding. a Meetine, 8th June, Mr. J. A. Ridgway, F.R.A.S., president, in the a chair.—Letters were read from Mr. G. Massee, of Scarbro’, on the botany, and from the Rev. J. EH. Barry on the lepideptera of the district. On the motion of the president, seconded by the Rev. W. Smith, it was decided to suspend the fortnightly meetings in the Assemby Rooms until REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 203 Thursday, September 29th, and in the meantime to hold field meetings and excursions as arranged from time to time ; the first field meeting to take place in Westwood, on Thursday, the 15th inst. Amongst the specimens exhibited were Orchis ustulata, O. incarnata, O. latifolia (several varieties), O. maculata, and Ornithogalum umbellatwm brought by Mr. Ridgway ; abnormal forms of Pyrethrum taken from one plant, and showing a transition from single to double flowers, shown by Mr. F. Mills. Mr. Cherry exhibited bred specimens of Cuculia scrophularie and a single individual of Odontopera bidentata, taken ata gas-lamp in Beverley. A mounted and stained odontophore of Limax maximus was shewn by Mr. Butterell. Gold quartz from California, fossil wood, showing details of structure, and other lithological specimens, were also before the members. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE EntomotocicaL Socrpry.—Monthly meeting in the Free Library, the president (Mr. 8. J. Capper) in the chair.—M. J. Wall contributed a paper entitled ‘‘ A consideration of the chief aims of the study of entomology,” in which he advocated the study of the life-history and habits of insects, instead of the plan generally followed of collecting and arranging for mere display. During the con- versazione, Mr. Wall exhibited under the microscope living specimens of the so-called ‘‘ American blight,” an aphis which infests and does con- siderable damage to apple trees. Mr. Makin exhibited a box of North American lepidoptera.—J. W. Huis, Hon. Sec. MANCHFSTER CryproGamMic SocieTy.—Meeting May 15th, Dr. Carrington, F.R.S.E., in the chair, who kindly distributed specimens of Orthotrichum Lyellui, which he had collected in fruit at Lodore, Cum- berland. Some conversation took place in reference to the Gymnostomum at Nant-y-Fydd, near Wrexham, and which is known as G. commutatum. Doubts were generally expressed as to its claim to be more than a form of Gymnostomum curvirostrum, in association with which it grows at the same place. Captain Cuncliffe, F.R.M.S., exhibited a beautiful series of mounted slides of the Hepatice ; fruiting specimens of Punaria fasciculare, Aypnum gigantewm, and H. scorpioides—the latter species having fronds nearly 18 inches long. Mr. Cash read an interesting paper on some rare British mosses, giving a history of the discovery of Hypnuwm Blandovit (see page 189) and Paludella squarvosa, at Knutsford Moor, by Mr. Wm. Wilson. Montuiy Mestine, June 19th, Dr. B. Carrington, F.R.S.E., in the chair.—The hon. secretary read a letter which he had received from the corresponding member, Mr. C. P. Hobkirk (author of the ‘‘ Synopsis of British Mosses,”) in reference to the reports of the society in the Naturalist, and also some remarks on the advisability of the students of cryptogamic botany acquiring a more intimate knowledge of the anatomy and developement of cryptogamic plants generally. Mr. Cash exhibited specimens of Myra pulvinata, which he had recently 204 THE NATURALIST. gathered near York, and Seligeria tristicha in Miller’s Dale, both of which he distributed specimens of. The hon. secretary placed upon the table a good-sized vasculum, full of freshly gathered mosses, which he had received from the neighbourhood of Nyborg, in Denmark. It was observed that nearly all the species were identical with those which may now be found in British woods. The mosses were placed at the disposal of the members present.—T. Rocxzrs, Hon. Sec. YorkKsHIRE Narvratists’ Unton.—Brver.iy, May 29th, 1882.—The Yorkshire Naturalists this year took the field at a later period of the year than usual (the Easter excursion being omitted), and held their first meeting on Whit-Monday, Beverley being the rendezvous. Railway arrangements of a novel and advantageous character were made for the benefit of members journeying from Leeds, York, and Malton, whereby the production of the stamped card of membership (without any condition as to number of party) was held sufficient for the obtaining of return tickets at reduced fares. There was not a very large muster from the West-Riding towns, but those from the North and East brought up the attendance to the usual average, and the excursion itself was of a successful character, and the Union was, as usual, favoured with fine weather. The arrangements included four parties, in four different directions, all starting from Beverley Station. The first was in charge of the well-known ornithologist, Mr. Fred. Boyes, and took their route through Westwood to Bishop Burton, from which they returned through Cherry Burton to Beverley. The second party—led by Mr. R. Cherry, of Beverley—accompanied the first party through Westwood, and then diverged to the south, passing through Walkington, and returning through Risby Park and Woods. Most of the entomologists were in this division. A third party, under the leadership of Mr. J. A. Ridgway,. F.R.A.S, crossed the river Hull at Grovehill Ferry, walked through fields to Meaux and Wawne, where they again ferried the river and returned through the free pasture of Figham. The fourth party, who paid more attention to the plants and mollusca than did the other parties, were led by the local secretary, Mr. J. Darker Butterell, who conducted them through Swine- moor, then along the banks of the river, past Commonbank or Pulfin Nook, to Leven Canal, thence crossing the river Hull to Arram, and returning from that place by train. The fifth party, under the charge of the Rev. E. Maule Cole, M.A., devoted itself to geological work, for which purpose they drove to the Weedley cutting on the line of the new Hull and Barnsley Railway. The meetings all took place at the Assembly Rooms, Beverley, the general meeting being presided over by Mr. Thos. — Hick, B.A., B.Sc., of Harrogate, a vice-president. The minutes of the two previous meetings having been taken as read, the roll was called, when it was found that ten societies were represented, viz ,—Beverley, Driffield, Goole, Hull, Leeds (8), Malton, Scarborough, and York St. Thomas’s. On the motion of the Rev. E. J. Barry, two new societies, ‘soth of which had been founded during the current month of May—the ReEpoRTS OF SOCIETIES. 205 Ripon Naturalists’ Club and Scientific Association, with 98 members, and the Ilkley Scientific Club, with about 30 or 40 members—were admitted into the Union. The list of new subscribers to the Union funds included the names of Wm. Vinson of St. Leonards, Thos. Carter and Dr. W. Paley of Ripou, A. J. Read, B.A., and J.J. Hummel, F.C.S., of Leeds, J. Firth and James Terry of Bradford, Rev. E. J. Barry, H. J. Robinson-Pease, J.P., John Hlhs, Geo. R. Davison and R. P. Cherry of Beverley, and Dr. Geo, Mundie (lately president of the Eastbourne N. H. 8.) of Hessle. Thanks were voted to them, also to the Beverley society for their very excellent arrangements for the meeting, and to the landowners who had given permission in respect of their estates. Mr. J. A. Ridgway, the president of the Beverley Society, replied, making mention of the hearty way in whish the local secretary (Mr. J. Darker Butterell) had performed his task. It was then resolved unanimously, on the proposition of the chairman, seconded by the Rev. EH. Maule Cole, M.A., ‘*‘ That this meeting of members of the Y.N.U. desires to place on record its deep sense of the great loss that natural science has sustained by the death of Charles Darwin.” It was also resolved unanimously, on the motion of Mr. Roebuck, seconded by Mr. Ridgway, that the Y.N.U., on the occasion of the death of Mr. Wm. Talbot, of Wakefield, who was one of its virtual founders, and has ever since taken an active share in its proceedings, and a lively interest in its welfare, desires to express its sense of the loss which it sustains by his death, and its sympathy with his family.” The secticnal reports were then given as follows :—The Rev. E. Maule Cole, M.A. (secretary), reported for the Geological Section. The geological party, under the guidance of the secretary, drove to Riplingham Grange, where they reached the tunnel being con- structed under the chalk wolds for the Hull and Barnsley Railway. Mr. G. Bohn, the engineer, had kindly given a pass, so the party proceeded to explore the cuttings. The first object of interest was a bed of dark slate and drab-coloured shales, lying at the base of the white chalk with flints, and above the grey chalk. It was fully a yard in depth, being much thicker than hitherto met with. Below the grey flintless chalk, the red chalk was exposed in several places, with characteristic fossils, Terebratula biplicata and Belemnites minimus. Some of this chalk had been changed into red clay. Then appeared the Kimeridge clay, with the usual belemnites, and selenite. The next feature in the cuttings was a fine exposure of Kelloway rock, bristling with fossils of Gryphea dilatata. This was soon followed by a limestone ridge composed of millepore limestone, belonging to the lower oolites, and this in turn was succeeded by the dogger, resting on lias. Mr. Fred. Boyes, of Beverley (who had taken charge of the section in the absence of its officers) reported that, in vertebrate zoology, the chief attention had been paid to birds, of which 51 species had been seen, the most noteworthy of which were the hawfinch at Westwood, the black-headed bunting (and eggs) at Swinemoor, the whimbrel, &c. No 206 THe NATURALIS. attention has been paid to amphibia or reptiles, and in mammalia the common field vole was the only species reported, and of fishes only about | nine or ten were noted, including the tench. The Conchological report was given by the Rev. W. C. Hey, M.A., of York, vice-president of the section. In the absence of the officers of the Entomological Section, the Rev. E. J. Barry, of Beverley, reported that in this section members confined themselves almost wholly to lepidoptera, only one beetle being reported—Pyrochroa rubens. Routes 2 and 3 were not worked, nearly all the entomologists choosing the second route. The commoner butter- flies, e g., Pieris brassice, P. rapgze, Anthocharis cardamines, and hyber- nated Vanessa urticze, were noticed on the wing. Among the Geometree Tephrosia consonaria, T. crepuscularia, Coremia munitata, and C. ferru- gata were picked off the trunks of trees, but only one capture from each of the pseudo-bombyces and noctuze was reported. Larvee were in toler- able abundance, the most noticeable being the larve of Hybernia defoliaria, Toeniocampa stabilis, and Agriopis aprilina. For the Botanical Section, Mr. Geo. H. Massee, of Scarbro’, one of the sectional secretaries, reported :—The chalk is not rich in species, and the date was too early for its characteristic flora. Carrs and swamps were abundant, and if diligently worked, would undoubtedly yield some novelties. The total number of plants collected amounted to 316, distributed as follows :— Phanerogams, 246 ; the most noteworthy were Ranunculus circinnatus, R. Drouetii, Stellaria glauca, Geranium lucidum, Crepis paludosa, Symphytum officinale, Hottonia palustris, Potamogeton lucens, P. cris- pus, P. densus, P. pectinatus, Hydrocharis morsus-ranz, Allium olera- ceum, Carex dioica, ©. paniculata, C. distans. FFilices, 8, including Nephrodium Thelypteris, Asplenium ruta-muraria, Ophioglossum vulga- tum, and Botrychium lunaria. Hquisetacee, 4—H. maximum, HE. limo- sum, E. palustre, E. arvense. Characeze, 2—C. vulgaris and Tolypella glomerata, Leon. (the last is a rare British plant, and only recorded from Thirsk, in Yorkshire). Musci, 30, the only addition to Dr. Parson’s list of East-Riding mosses given in the proceedings of the Y.N.U, being Cylindrothecium concinnum, Mont. Sphagnum tenellum occurred fruiting abundantly. Hepaticee, 10, all common forms. Fungi, 8, including Arcyria punicea, the remainder so-called species of Adcidium. Algee, 6, including Palmella Mooreana, Harv., found also'a few weeks previously at Scarboro’—a new county record. Lichens, 2.—The usual vote of thanks to the chair terminated the business. Tur Seconp Mrrtine was held at Snaith on June 17th, and was devoted to the investigation of the lower plain of the Aire, near to Carlton, Camblesforth, Temple Hirst, Hensall, Heck, Pollington, Snaith, Cowick, Rawcliffe, &c. Permission was given by Lord Beaumont, of Carlton Towers ; Mr. Ralph Creyke, M.P. of Rawcliffe ; Mr. Benjamin Shaw, of Cowick; and Mr. John Seed, of Snaith, to go over their respective estates. Parties left Snaith Station for the following routes : ‘3 Ee Spa ar ee ee Sei ee Reports oF Societies. 207 Route 1. Mr. C. L. Lord and Mr. Thomas Tate, F.G.S., (president of Geological section) conducted a party of geologists by Temple Hirst to Hensall, Heck, Pollington, and Snaith. This route took in all the sections on the Hull and Barnsley Railway. Route 2. To Carlton, Camblesforth, Quasqua Hall, and Jacky Duffin Wood, returning to Snaith by the banks of the Aire ; leader, Mr. John Harrison, of Goole. Route 3. Mr. Bunker proceeded by way of the Carrs to Pollington and Balne Pond, returning to Snaith by the Aire and Calder canal, Hagg Lane, and Cowick Park. Route 4. From Rawcliffe Station at twelve noon, examining the rabbit hills and the old brick ponds at Rawcliffe Bridge, thence by Turn Bridge and East Cowick to Snaith. In addition to these parties, individual members explored various parts of the district. The conchologists present visited the ponds at Carlton Towers and Cowick Park, while a novel feature—though not an unprecedented one—was afforded by the presence of the Photographic Section of the Leeds Naturalists’ Club, by whom various views were taken in the two parks just mentioned. At the general meeting, the chair was occupied by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., of Huddersfield, one of the vice-presidents. On calling the roll it was found that members were present from Barnsley, Beverley, Bradford, Dewsbury, Goole, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Selby, and Wakefield. The list of new subscribers included the names of the Rey. E. P. Knubley, of Staveley; L. B. Ross, of Driffield ; and W. W. Taylor, M.A., of Ripon, to whom thanks were voted. Mr. T. Lister, Barnsley, proposed ‘‘ That the best thanks of the Union be presented to Mr. Thomas Birks and to Mr. Thomas Bunker, for their efficient services as loeal secretaries; and to those gentlemen who have assisted them by acting as leaders of parties; also to Lord Beaumont, Messrs. R. Creyke, M.P., B. Shaw, John Seed, J. H. Hollis, and the Rey. C. E. Storrs, for cordial co-operation in making local arrangements.” Mr. William Porter seconded the motion, which was earried with acclamation. Mr. Wm. Denison Roebuck reported, on behalf of the Conchological Section, that only common species were observed—principally freshwater, little attention being paid to land- shells. The best species were Bythinia Leachii, Planorbis nitidus, and P. nautileus. The specimens of L. stagnalis approved the variety fragilis, and those of Physa fontinalis are very near the variety inflata. The anodons from the fish-pond at Carlton Towers appear to be of the same type as those found in Risby Pond, near Beverley, and resemble some of the forms taken in Hornsea Mere. Mr. Thomas Bunker reported, for the Vertebrate Section, that 33 resident birds and 18 summer visitants had been reported, of which the most noteworthy were the goldfinch, redshank, curlew, black-headed gull, snipe, reed warbler, redstart, and chiffchaff. At the suggestion of Mr. Clarke, Mr. N. F. Dobree, of Beverley, stated that the great-crested grebe had been reported as nesting at Carlton, and that inquiries would be made ; also that marsh harriers had been shot there. Mr. Dobree reported for the 208 THe NATURALIST. entomologists, and mentioned that the only noticeable species in lepidop- tera observed during the day were Coenonympha Davus, Procris statices, _ and Scodiona belgiaria. Mr. EH. B. Wrigglesworth, of Wakefield, in his report on the beetles, stated that no fewer than 40 species had been taken, and amongst them Chrysomela furcata, Tomoxia biguttata, several species of Donacia, with Toxicus mendianus and Gastrophysa polygoni, were produced in fair numbers. Other groups were well represented. Mr. Birks reported, for the Botanical Section, that the districts explored included the sandy tract near Carlton, Camblesforth, Hensall, and Heck, as well as the extensive area of marsh land known as Snaith Ings and Pollington Carrs, and the wet sandy common known as Rawcliffe Rabbit Hills. About 300 species were recorded, the best of which were Ranun- culus circinnatus, R. Lenormandi, Nympheza alba, Polygala depressa, Nasturtium amphibium, Drosera intermedia, Stellaria glauca, Rumex hydralapathum, Geranium pusillum, Sanguisorba officinalis, Hippuris vulgaris, Bryonia dioica, Sium latifolium, Cinanthe crocata, G4. phellan- drium, Pilularia globulifera, Daphne laureola, Helosciadum inundatum, Scrophularia aquatica, Veronica montana, Hottonia palustris. The cryptogamic plants were not examined, but included some interesting mosses, liverworts, and fungi; amongst them being the mountain buckler fern (Nephrodium oreopteris), Reestelia lacerata, AXcidium ranunculacearum, and AX. urtice. The botanists were very well pleased with their results. In geology, Mr. Thomas Tate, F.G.S., reported that attention was chiefly given to the new sections on the Hull and Barnsley Railway, north of Heck, showing the lower Bunter sandstone—brick-red current bedded non-fossilferous—with a pebble bed at its base. It is overlain by gravels and sands of post- ' Pleiocene ages. Regret was expressed that the managers of the coal boring at West Bank had not afforded the members an opportunity of inspecting these works, but it was hoped that an opportunity would arise at an early date. Mr. James Abbott, of Leeds, spoke of the observations in pond life he and Mr. Tate had noticed. Chzetophora elegans and C. cornu-dame, Roth., a very beautiful branched alga attached to sticks and decayed water-plants ; diatoms in abundance ; the rotifers, Mastigocerca carinata and the jelly-like Ophrydium versatile, may now be had many inches in diameter, all in the pond at Pollington. Volvox globator, Pandorina morum and Gonium pectorale are now to be had from the old habitat— the ponds on Raweliffe Rabbit Hilis.—A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings.—W. D. R. END OF VOL. VII. B. BROWN, PRINTER, MARKET PLACE CORNER, HUDDERSFIELD. s - Diary —Heetings. of Societies. | - Tuly 1: Had jevoheld. Naturalists Sout Seiden on « Medical Pro- -. -perties of Plants,’’ introduced by 2 Mr. S. Kaye. Sa 2 ieotee: Naturalists’ Society, - Si 4. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Society. : Oe - 5. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophicial oe Cae Entomological Society of London, 7 eS 7b ‘Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. —Ramble and. Mecting at one of / the Board Schools. — xe “12. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. <1 Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 95: Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. Les to Sioa. Toca gros ‘Secretaries: Geo. E. Massee, Oak House, Oak Road, os Rig fe tes and Jas. H. Rowntree, Westwood, Scarbro.’ oa ee ne ‘Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7- 30 p.m. ee oe Huddersfield Naturalists’ ‘Society. Exhibition of British Tnseots, _ by Mr. ¥, Ellis and others. ~ 20. ‘North ‘Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field -Club.—Exeursion — to Charnwood Forest and ‘Mount . Bernhard Monastery: Lente aver Spanton. 1s es - 2. ‘Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. Eines 6 on “ British Convid,” 3 by Mr. J. Varley. : 31. Lancashire and Cheshire Eatomolemest Socinty. : 2 I si 32. i Se eal ee g a * 0 OUR SUBSCRIBERS i ‘Vol. “VIL. ends with the present number. eabacrintons GL =). “post free, for Vol. VIII. are now due, and should be sent in _. post office orders, or postal orders at once, to the ele care. a of Mr, B. Brown, Market Place Corner, Huddersfield. - 2) Ait is requested that anyone wishing to discontinue his sub- 3 oe ‘sented, will notify such intention to. ‘the Editors, om-or before _ pec ojuly, 21st, otherwise he will be considered liable & ae sub- ee ae Soap for Volovilice > : Soe ee Intending new subscribers. should: send 3 in. their 1 names s and om addresses . as soon as. pete ou : < ae ee er a E ‘regret Shas ae Sion ots space, aiheok fuss ames is enlarged, we eee & have been obliged to hold over several articles, ee in. type, ee = inching art Uber notice on Mr. Wn. Talbot. ee Nat. oo Se "PRICE Weta | INSECT VARIETY. le = ‘Treating of the Odours, Dances. Colours, and Music of Insects, is a of the variation to eh these characters are liable. — ie F ES eS oe BY A. He “SWINTON. _ CASSELL, ‘PRITER, GALPIN, & Co,, Lonpon ; ona all Booksellers. ieee a ust Published, “Tap See boa ue | THE INSECT HUNTERS COMPANION, — — By the Rery. JOSEPH GREENE, M. pilee Bene instructions for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and Presceuie Butterflies - and-Moths, Beetles, ee Flies, and other eee ; : THIRD EDITION. Bor: i REVISED AND EXTENDED BY A. B. ARN. ee THE CHAPTER ON Cea BY EDWARD NEWMAN. CONTENTS.—How to ae the He by searching ; boxing female moths ; pairing insects... Howto obtain LARY@ by beating ; the Bignell tray ; sweeping ; searching by night; how to rear the larve ; “sleeving ; hybernating. larvee; — parasites; preserving larvee. 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Subscription 6s. per volume, post free, The volumes commence wk the J une number in each year. The early volumes are out of-print, ik can be occasionally obtained by ponte oe of the entire series. In this case the price of vols. 1. to V. is 10s. pervol. The — eee vols. (strongly bound in lee can be had separately or Bee at.7s.-— per vol. LONDON : JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, Pateoostet Rew, << N.B. —Coramunications, &e., should be sent to the Editors at the above address Young Naturalist Series of Handbooks a On BRITISH NATURAL HISTORY. c Fe E = Handbook Zo .: 0W aiden un Monthly Park at a ae ON eg a “ BRITISH BIRDS; THEIR NESTS AND EGGS,” — Containing accurate hazd-coloured figures of every species and every variety. = ~ drawn by NAL OF n HE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ " UNION, ena AL FIQLD CLUB RECORD. NEW SERIES. AUGUST, 1882. ~ CONTENTS: , Anticins, &e. = Sees Notes: on Racomitrium papillosum. ae Leepachi ey Votes on some Rare British Mosses.—Paludella. squrrosi.— eg. Cash . On the Classification 3 eo ee Insects. —S. L. te ee we otes on eflora a Hedldoepale -W. Position Wee ree we Owls (Buteo maximus) breeding in Captivity.— Walter Raine Ge 5 ate. ightingale at Scarborough.—Wm. Eagle Clarke 22 a See, nary Mortality amongst Diptera.—C. ‘Hanson cand R. ae Meade Aes Lae at Southampton, and =a » Nat. lay: Naturalis’ Soviety. Be __Pkley Scientific Club. Pe fe ‘Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society chester C eyptogamic Society en Naturalists’ Society Mt = We ike ae Naturalists’ and | Pion ical 1 Society ; Naturalist Do. ee: = one side of the sheet only. Tae NATURALIST i is published on ee first ee every betae a year, post free, payable in advance. -The volume commences in --year.. Intending new subscribers. should send in their names imme ~ All communications, except Advertisements, Exchanges, - or Short. Queries, S ahaald. if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of.the — “current month, 40 insure insertion in our next ee and should be written on _ AUTHORS WISHING FOR REPRINTS OF THEIR PAPERS ¢ can. ie Soa on ee following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four _ pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 5s., 100 copies Gs. 6p. Not exceeding eight ‘pages, 25 copies 5s.,; SO copies Gs. ’6D., 100 copies O8., and so on in ea : tion. — - Printed covers and separate title pages extra. : ALL COMM. UNI CATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO. ‘THE EDITORS — 5 a CARE OF MR. a BROWN, PUBLISHER, ‘HUDDERSFIELD. — TRA NSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. = - PART I. FOR. 187 7 contains the commencement of “The Birds oe Yorkshire,” = Mr, W. E. Clarke, M.B.O U. ; of an “‘ Annotated List of the Land and pelle water: Mollusca of Yorkshire,” by. Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that ! _ order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on “‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera- in 1877,” by Mr.-G. T. Porritt, F.U: S.: ;-one on ‘“Yorkshire- Micro-lepidoptera -- in 877, ie by Mr. Wxa. Prest ; 3 papers by Mr. S. L. Mosley, on ‘‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ -_ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Be. 28 as oe on Yorkshire Botany i in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, E.G.S. ~ PARTS: vee AND TH. FOR 1878 contain the. continuations of Mr. Clarke’ Ss. Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water~ Mollusca’ of - Yorkshire ; ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr, Parsons; the- commencement of Dr. Parsons’ “‘Moss-Flora of the Hast- Riding”; papers on Yorkshire Mabe in 1878, by. Mr, Porritt, F.L.8. : on s ~ Yorkshire Ichneumomde, by Mr. 8S. D.: Bairstow, F. LS. ; ee on “Yorkshire | eee Se in. L187 8, by. Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. We DENISON ROEBUCK, Sunny Bank, ; Leeds, ee Se WM. E, ‘CLARE, ; je Dy Kast. ess Hole Park Road, Leeds, HL ww. ™M A R Ss DE N, "NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. - Cabinets = oe of all sade, of the best make 0 on n the i weet terms. = British. ‘and. European -Macro- tebe Preserved. ‘Larvee of ‘rare British _ Lepidoptera, —_ -BOOKS.—New and Seonind- hand, on Notural History Sabjcois. ane largest and best stock of Bird- Be a Birds’ Bg ges in England. Catalog ) on application.. : “Bijou. List of British Butterfios” 1 Beautifully printed in 1 e0) | 6d << ‘ ff ‘ Graduated. List of British Birds.” -specially3] propane ‘for: a 3 reference and labelling, 6d. Le iporrenists? CALENDAR,” 2 ? Limp Cloth, ee Interleaved, — ae REGENT STREET, ‘GLOUCESTER Original Articles. NOTES ON RACOMITRIUM PAPILLOSUM. By G. Livpricat, In “ Frora,” 1882, N. 18.—TRANSLATED: Racomitrium papillosum, Kindberg; Warnstorf in “‘ Hedwigia,” 1881, n. 11. According to the text of this publication, it appears to be uncertain who really is answerable, as author, for this species. This form, recently published as a “distinct species” which should represent an intermediate form between Racomitrium patens and Racomitrium sudeticum, is, according to original specimens before me, the sterile form of Grimmia elatior, Br. and Sch., as it occurs in different stations in the Sudeten; on the Baliagora; in Scotland: Norway; and the Alps on much exposed rocks. I have previously made the remark (in the Kryptfl. von Schl: I. p. 160), that there are two forms of this species, and we also find that previous writers have had their attention drawn to this particular variety. Schimper referred this form to Grimmia Schultzw; C. Muller to Grimmia funalis; C. Hartmann earlier considered it as Grimmia funalis * elatior; and De Notaris (in Syllab. n. 353), distinguished it as Grimmia funalis robusta. Sometimes it approaches nearer to Grimmia Schultz (in this form it is generally fertile), sometimes it agrees more with Grimmia funalis, and in this form I only know it barren. The possibility that both forms should be specifically distinct appeared to me to be inadmissible. Hitherto, nothing has been published with regard to some of the characters of Grimmia elatior, and this omission appears to me to have led to the creation of Racomitrium paprltosum. The upper part of the leaf of Grimmia elatior consists of a double layer, our Silesian specimens even having three and four layers (hence the opacity of the cell structure), and both sides of the thickened leaf, as also the oval carina (as is seen by a cross section), are covered with semi-circular papille, rising from the lumen of the cell. In the fertile specimens from the Alps, this thickening extends over a smaller portion of the leaf, and the cuticle is as g rule smooth, but there are specimens now lying before me which show the papille, therefore I consider the dark-green mostly sterile Silesian form, and those of the north of Europe to be var. pseudo funalis. Schimper, in the “‘ Syn. ed. IT,” p. 259, has, in the accompanying note more correctly described the teeth of the peristome of Grimmia elatior, than in the text of the diagrams. N.8., Vou, vill,.—Aue., 1882, Y THe NaTuRALIST. In Grimmia Schultzii, the papillae are entirely wanting, and in the upper part of the leaf the margin only 1s composed of two or three layers. Racomitrium patens has on the back (on the under side) of the carina, two, three, and four longitudinal lamin, and Racomitrium papillosum is said to possess a “ Nervus lamellosus,” yet the original shows no trace of one, but its carina resembles exactly that of Grimmia elatior. It has been customary, with regard to certain Grimmias, to speak of a furrowed carina, but we all now know that in these instances, as a matter of fact, they possess no furrow, but that the clear streak which the extended leaf shows in the mediane of its rib when you allow the light to fall through it (7.e. if you hold it before the light) has another origin. In Racomitrium patens and sudeticum the leaves have a one-layered lamina, yet the leaf-margin of the first consists, in its upper part, of two or three layers, with the last one sometimes of two layers. Grimmia fnnalis shows no papille, and only the upper gee consists of two layers. The papillose nature of Racomitrium protensum has already been described by Lorentz. In Racomitrium canescens the papille rest upon the lumen of the cells ; in Grimmia anomala Hampe, on the contrary, upon the lumen, and also upon the cell-wall. Grimmia elatior forma subinermis asperula (Sanio) Geheeb Beitrage zur Moosflora des Westl. Sibirens (“Flora’ 1879, n. 30), R. asperulum, Geheeb, is doubtless the same form which has given occasion to the creation of Racomitrium papillosum. NOTES ON SOME RARE BRITISH MOSSES. By James CasH. {Read before the Manchester Cryptogamic Society, Ist May, 1882.) | PALUDELLA SQUARROSA. THIs moss was discovered by Mr. Wilson, at Knutsford, on the 16th April, 1832. He had been to Vale Royal, and crossed to Knutsford to observe the condition of the mosses previously found growing in the bog. This entry in Mr. Wilson’s diary is the first mention made any- where of Paludella squarrosa as a British moss: ‘“‘ Found a new bryum of the squarrose-leaved kind, very elegant, but barren.” The next day CasH: PALUDELLA SQUARROSA, 3 Mr. Wilson examined the new moss, which he believed to be Bryum squarrosum, Hedw. (Hypnum paludella, Web. and Mohr, 274): he “found it to possess terminal perichetia, with abortive pistilla.’ He was correct as to the species. On the 19th of April Mr. Wilson wrote to Dr. Hooker, announcing the discovery of Bryum sguarresum, and enclosing specimens and drawings. Letters conveying the same information were written to other botanists, among the rest to J. De Sowerby, Mr. W. H. Harvey —then a young and enthusiastic botanist fast rising into note—and to Professor Henslow, of Cambridge University, not forgetting, either, one of the Lancashire artisan botanists, with whom he had frequent correspondence-—John Martin, of Tyldesley. The moss, with others, was figured by Mr. Wilson for the second edition of Hnglish Botany. There is no doubt that the original station for Paludella squarrosa at Knutsford has been destroyed by drainage. It may be interesting to note that Hypnum nitens and Mnium affine; both fertile, were found at the same time and in the same locality. The fertile A. #itens grew “not far from B. sguarrosum, nearer the brook, on the other side of the path,’ and there was another station for it “near the fertile H. stellatum, more towards the mere, and rather nearer the brook.” These words are quoted from Mr. Wilson’s diary. They are too obscure to be of practical use now. Mr. Wilson appears to have searched the bog carefully for B. sguarrosum, for he records, on the 10th May, 1832, that he was “ unable to find any second station fOR-It.- This, as far as is known, is all the information to be had about the occurrence of Paludella squarrosa at Knutsford. But ten years later, certain muscologists in Yorkshire made diligent and successful search both for this-moss and for H. Blandovii. An interesting letter from Mr. Henry Ibbotson to Mr. Wilson, dated Gabthorpe, near Whitwell, Mar. Ist, 1842, has been preserved, in which the writer says: “ You have, I presume, received specimens of H. nitens and H. Blandovii, all the productions of a bog in this neighbourhood, from our respected friend Mr. Spruce, who informs me, upon your authority, that the same plants, together with B. squarrosum, grow in a bog in Cheshire, and. that you suggested that our locality for the two former plants might also be likely te produce the latter. JI have, therefore, been induced - to examine the place very carefully, and am pretty well convinced that the plant is not there to be met with. A short distance, however, from this bog there is another which I never visited previous to Thursday last, when J found it to produce the same plants as the first 4 THe NATURALIST. (with the exception of H. Blandovii), and, in addition, plenty of B- squarrosum, occupying the space of an acre at least. From the circum- stance of your being the first discoverer of the plant in Britain, the intelligence of a new station being detected, with a few specimens therefrom (which I now enclose), may be interesting. I am sorry that I have not been able to find it in a state of fructification ; but [ shall frequently have opportunities of visiting the place, and as this may not be the proper season, I trust that I shall have the pleasure of finding it at some future time. . . . HZ. nitens will yield an abundant erop of fruit in this bog.” Of the present condition of the above-mentioned locality I am sorry not to possess any positive information. It is, however, understood to have been drained, and the rarities mentioned have been wholly or partially destroyed. ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BRITISH INSECTS. By S. L. Mostey, HuppERsFIEnp. (Read before the Lanc. and Ches. Ent. Soc., April 24th, 1882.) THe purpose of a classification of any objects—natural or other- wise, is, I need scarcely state, to bring together those which are nearest related. This is often not very difficult when we make a number of common centres, or represent the various divisions like the branches of a tree, all diverging from, and dependent on a eommon beginner or ancestor,. which doubtless is the most natural way of arrangement; but we have not yet discovered any method by which this arrangement can be represented in a cabinet drawer, or 2 set of unseen cases, and we are placed at some disadvantage by being obliged to follow a linear arrangement, beginning at one point and ending at another. Such an arrangement must, as a matter of course, be more or less imperfect, because the various branched affinities cannot be adequately represented. However, there is a certain degree of perfection attainable, and it is possible to so arrange most natural objects as to show a more or less unbroken continuity from end to end.: The insect world forms a wide field for the ingenious mind ‘to work upon, for while its members agree in certain particulars, they are so diversified in their structure and their habits, their similarities and dissimilarities are so constant and so numerous, that it has been a Mostry: On CLASsIFICATION oF Britisu INSEcts. 5 fask upon entomologists, from time immemorial to say, which is the most natural way of arranging these tiny creatures. The first system worthy of note is that invented by Swammerdam, in which he divides insects into four primary groups as follows :— 1. Insects subject to a change of skin, but undergoing no change of form (spiders, lice, woodlice, and centipedes). 2. Hexapod insects subject to metamorphosis, having an active pupa, in which the rudimentary wings and wing-cases are exposed (bugs, dragon-flies, grasshoppers, and mayflies). 3. Hexapod insects undergoing metamorphosis, in which the pupa state is quiescent, either having the limbs enclosed in distinct cases (beetles, bees, wasps, &c., and part of the Neuroptera and Diptera), or covered with an entire case (butterflies, moths). 4. Hexapod insects undergoing metamorphosis, the pupa state having neither motion or wings, but enclosed in an ovate case (most Diptera and other insects). This system whichis based upon the form or condition of the pupa, is imperfect in splitting up closely allied groups. For instance, the Neuroptera and Diptera are each split and placed in two divisions. Leaving the older and coming to more modern times we find another system of classification of winged insects propounded by Ed. Newman, and based upon the characters of the pupa, which is very similar to one propounded by Lamarck. Like Swammerdam, Newman makes four primary divisions, viz :— 1. Amorpha, in which the pupa has ‘neither mouth nor organs of locomotion and bears no resemblance to the perfect insect ( Lepidoptera and Diptera. 2. Necromorpha, in which the pupa has both mouth and organs of locomotion, but enveloped in several cases, and incapable of use (Hymenoptera, Coleoptera). 3. Lsomorpha, in which the mouth and limbs are present and used (Orthoptera, Hemiptera). 4, Azisomorpha, in which all the before-mentioned characters are present, and some independent ones (Neuroptera). This system, though presenting certain degrees of correctness, yet brings together insects of little affinity, and at the same time separates others which are nearly allied, like the Neuroptera and ‘Trichoptera. It is likewise subject to many exceptions; we find necromorphous pupz among the lepidoptera—the burnets, for instance. Some dipterous pup are locomotive; the Coleoptera, and especially the Neuroptera, present many striking exceptions. 6 THe NATURALIST. Leaving now the classification according to the pupz, we turn to that of arrangement by the affinities of the imago ; and while I would — not take any one stage of the existence upon which to base a classifica- tion, but take the whole life-history into consideration, yet the imago should rank as of first importance, because we know most about that state ; and it is in that state in which insects are generally arranged for public examination. The first classification based upon characters of the imago is that of Linnzus, and is founded upon the characters of the wings. His first division is, those having four wings; the next, those with two wings ; and the third, those destitute of wings—which results in the following distribution of the different orders :— 1. Coleoptera 5. Hymenoptera 2. Hemiptera 6. Diptera 3. Lepidoptera 7. Aptera 4, Neuroptera After this came the system of Fabricius, founded mainly upon the characters of the mouth part, but when we see that it resulted in the crabs and lobsters being placed between the Neuroptera and the Lepidoptera, we may venture to dismiss it as unsuitable, at least for our present purposes. We now come to the system of Olivier, in which the characters of both wings and mouth are used as a means of classification, which resulted in the following arrangement :— 1. Thysanura 7. Hemiptera 2. Parasita 8. Neuroptera 3. Siphonaptera (fleas) 9. Hymenoptera 4, Coleoptera 10. Lepidoptera 5. Dermaptera (earwigs.) 11. Rhipiptera (bee parasites.) 6. Orthoptera 12. Diptera. The objection to this system is that it separates the Coleoptera and Orthoptera, which have both mandibulate mouths, and which are in other respects nearly allied. The Parasita, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, and Lepidoptera have also each two distinct classes of mouth organs. At present I cannot but regard the characters of the mouth as insufficient for the distribution of the British insects into orders, — although up to the time of Stephens, and in some instances up to the present, this mode of classification has been mainly adopted. In many of the various orders do we find both the haustellate and mandibulate characters, and if this rule be rigidly adhered to, it will result in the lepidopterous insects being placed in one division, while the larve “a “.? Mostey: ON CLassiFICATION OF BritisH Insects. d which produced them are placed in another, the imago having a hau- stellate mouth, and the larva a mandibulate one. The following arrangement of the orders of British winged insects, I think, will meet all the requirements of a collection arranged for public inspection, viz :— 1. Hemiptera 5. Lepidoptera 2. Orthoptera 6. Hymenoptera 3. Coleoptera 7. Diptera 4, Neuroptera. Now let us proceed to consider these various orders more particu- larly, and see what relation they bear one to another. The class Insecta, 1 think, should be begun by the Apterous division, say by the Anoplura (lice). Going backwards, we pass on (out of the insects) into the mites, spiders, and crustaceans; and going forward we pass from the lice to the #hysaxura, and from them to the Ist Ord., Hemiptera.—tl place this order next to the Aptera, because their habits are somewhat similar, as regards the mouth and matamorphosis, and the wings of Hemiptera are very frequently either entirely wanting, or are only rudimentary. The order is generally divided into two sub-orders, sometimes ranked as distinct, out clearly so nearly allied as not to be distinctly separable. Sub-Ord., 1. Heteroptera. Z. Homoptera. The sub-order, Heteroptera, differs from the HomoprTrra in having the basal part of their fore-wings leathery, and the tips mem- branous. It is divided into two sections— Auracoriza, er land-bugs, living upon various kinds of plants, and sucking their juices; and Hydrocoriza, er water-bugs, of which examples may be found in every pond, the water boatman being a _ well-known example. This order is teo extensive, and the species and genera too similar, te admit of further notice here. The Hemoptera are divided by Westwool into three primary sections : | See. 1. Trimera, in which the tarsi are 3-jointed. » 2 Lumera, - ras Pease, », 3. Monomera, x iS ines, The Trimera include the family Cicadz, of which we have, I believe, only a single species (Cicada Angelica) in Britain. In foreign countries 8 THe NATURALIST. some of the species attain large size, and are remarkable for the development of their musical organs. The second British family of the section is the Cecropide, which differs in having the antennz three-jointed. It includes the well- known frog-hopper, developed from the cuckoo-spit insect (Tettigonia spumaria) and other allied forms. The second section, Drmera, includes the Psylida, or jumping plant- lice ; the Aphide, or green-fly; and the W. E. Clarke, 5, East: View, Hyde Park Road ; and W. D. Roebuck, Sunny. Bank, Leeds. 1G and 12, “Worth Staffordshire N aturalists’ Field Club. — a : "Excursion to the English Lakes. Leader : Mr. Leech. =e = = ae _ York and District Naturalists’ 1 Field chub, aie Manchester Ceyptogamic Boototy: 7 30 p.m. 30. Lancashire and Cheshire foo Society. 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Catalogs ee os ~ on application. “Bijou List of British Bete Beautifully printed- in a colours ‘** Graduated ae of ein ‘Birds. ei specially prepared for reference and labelling, 6d. —__- ee LuProoprEerists’ CALENDAR,” > Limp Cloth, 3/6. 3 Interleaved, 5/-. REGENT STREET, GLOUCESTER. ee es e C) Original Articles. DARWIN AND DARWINISM. — By tHE Rey. S. FLetcHerR WILLIAMS, Read before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entoraological Society, June 25th, 1882. WuaTEVER view may be taken of the Philosophical theory that bears the name of Darwin, its strongest opponents freely acknowledge the candour of its author, and the force and ingenuity of the arguments by which it is supported. The publication, less than a quarter of a century ago, of the “ Origin of Species, by means of Natural Selection,” caused a revolution in the views held as to the origin of life. Fifteen years before that date, the “Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation,” restated in an attractive form, the Lamarckian doctrine that existing forms of life have descended from pre-existing forms; and that work gave rise to a long and bitter controversy. This controversy had nearly spent itself when Mr. Darwin, avoiding the mistakes of the “ Vestiges,’ came forward with his now celebrated theory, that existing forms have been gradually developed by “ natural selection” and the “ struggle for life ;” or, as Mr. Herbert Spencer puts it, “ the survival of the fittest.” The re-statement of views that are as old as philosophy itself, supported as these were with great ingenuity of argument, and by the aid of a vast store of scientific information, most skilfully used, gave a fresh impetus to the controversy, and turned it into a new and unexpected channel. It was seen and felt that Charles Darwin was a man of no ordinary power. His views at once commanded attention, and attention soon grew into admiration or alarm, according to the views of those who studied them. There was one peculiarity in the controversy. Mr. Darwin wrote as a naturalist, and supported his hypothesis by an appeal to the well-ascertained facts of a department of knowledge in which he has probably an unequalled mastery, while most of the criticism was directed against the hypothesis, and left the facts untouched. Himself no controversialist, he continued unobtrusively to apply himself to the work of observation and the accumulation of further stores of knowledge, and allowed the din of controversy to expend itself without contributing to it a single word.* His letters - N.S., VOL. vil, Srpr., 1882. * There is no trace in his writings of the storm to which his doctrine gave rise, for he serenely went on with his self-appointed task, leaving the result to be decided, not under the hasty impulses of the moment, but with the calmer judgment of mature reflection. 18 THE NATURALIST. at the time are said by Professor Asa Gray to testify that he viewed the public discussion with a sense of amazed wonder at an unexpected notoriety. Maintaining through it all the kindliness, unaffectedness, and simple-heartedness which made him one of the most loveable of men, it is said that whenever he came into correspondence or contact with any opponent, he never failed to make a friend of him. Looking at Charles Darwin simply as a man, how many times in England, in Europe, in America, can you match him? Simple- hearted as a child, singularly modest and unassuming, a man who may be taken as a modei in his personal character; in his home life, in his life as a citizen,—a man who has made the single-hearted and clear-eyed pursuit of truth the one work of his life, and who has shown a singularly pure and unbiassed and unpartisan devotion to that truth. He did not seek to build up his own ideas or to glorify himself, but he looked calmly and dispassionately at the subjects with which he dealt, searching simply to find out the truth, and setting down the results in direct and lucid terms. I wish that those who claim to be holier than he, could really establish their right to stand on a level with him in this marvellous characteristic of the earnest, pure-minded seeker after truth. Hven they must admit it is well that the change of lease in philosophical natural history which had to be made in their generation should have been dominated—though it has not been wholly controlled—by a spirit so truthful and single, and a judgment so calm and well-balanced. Let me give an illustration of the extent to which he carried this. The “ Origin of Species,” his great epoch-making book, contains in itself the hint—more than the hint, the clear statement—of every single criticism that has ever been made on it. He overlooked, he covered up, none of the difficulties that stood against his theory. He put the weapons into the very hands of his enemies, and said, “ See, here is this theory; such things make for it, such things make against it. Destroy it if you can.” And this he said in no defiant tone, but only as one who should say, ‘‘If this be not a part of the eternal truth, it ought to be destroyed ; and, though my life-work be, lost as the result, yet I will help you in its destruction.” How many men advocating moral, religious, sociological, political theories of any kind have ever been so utterly candid and fair as this? So much simply to indicate the kind of man he was. Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, in February, 1809, and when we look at his ancestry, and see the stock from which he aad " WILLIAMS: DARWIN AND DARWINISM. 19 descended, we are compelled to think of him as a conspicuous illus- tration of one of the more important parts of his own theoretical and scientific work. Both his father and his grandfather were noted men of science; their fame, indeed, eclipsed by the greater brightness of his, and yet men noteworthy enough to be reckoned as helping to make up the scientific developement of the life of England. All these—his grandfather, his father, and himself—were members one after another of the Royal Society of England: perhaps the only case in English history where men in the line of direct descent have been held worthy of that honour. His mother was a descendant of the family of the Wedgwood’s, so noted in connection with the manufacture of pottery. Young Darwin received his preparatory education at Shrewsbury School, under Dr. Butler, afterwards Bishop of Lichfield. Thence he went to Edinburgh University, where he studied two years; where, so far as memoranda can guide us, he evinced a decided inclination for the study of Natural History, directing his attention more particularly to marine zoology, and where he read at least two papers on subjects connected with his favourite study, before the Plinean Society, which just then came into being. From Edinburgh he went to Christ College, Cambridge, where he graduated at the age af twenty-two. So far young Darwin had acquitted himself creditably, but with no special mark, at his various seats of learning: but now, another and different sphere of education presented itself, and Darwin embraced the offered opportunity. In the autumn of 1831, a ship was starting on a voyage round the world; and that voyage has been made famous, and will be famous in all coming time, simply by the fact that the young man of twenty-two volunteered to accompany the trip in the capacity of naturalist. It was characteristic of the young man’s zeal for the study of natural science that he served without salary, and paid a portion of his own expenses, on condition that he should have the right of making what use he pleased of the zoological, botanical, and geological collections. Under these arrangements, then, at the age of twenty-two, he sailed in the “ Beagle,” made a voyage round the world, and was absent from England for five years. Was that a time lost? It was a seed-time preliminary to a fruitful and precious harvest. In the progress of this voyage he was much struck by some peculiar relations that he discovered between the plant and animal life of the Gallapagos Islands, and similar life on the continent of South Ameriea; and then and there was planted the seed from which has sprung the great and mighty development of his thought, 20 THE NATURALIST. which has changed, and is still more to change, the life of the world. After five years he returned, in 1836, nursing in his mind this fruitful thought, which, as I have said, was to be the seed of all his future life. He published several works as the result of the discov- eries and observations made during this voyage. His “ Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology” of the counties he visited, has been pronounced “the most entertaining book of genuine travels ever written,” and it at once carried the author’s name far beyond the comparatively narrow limits of scientific fame ; but while this and subsequent publications prepared scientific circles to expect something good at his hands, there was no public trace yet, nor for years, of that which was to create an impression at once so deep, so wide, and so immediate. In 1839 Mr. Darwin married his cousin, Miss Emma Wedgwood, grand-daughter of Josiah Wedgwood; and in 1842 went to live at Down, near Bromley, in Kent, where he resided throughout his subsequent life. He has had a family of seven—five sons and two daughters. Several of his sons have already acquired some dis- tinction, having largely assisted him in the preparation of his works, and in the investigations on which they are based. More than one of them has made valuable contributions to science; and the eldest son, George H. Darwin, is an examiner for the Mathematical Tripos at Cambridge, and an occasional contributor to scientific and other magazines. Darwin’s life was remarkably uneventful so far as personal incidents of any special interest to the genéral public are concerned; but it may be said of him that in the recesses of his closet he was turning the intellectual world upside down. ‘The dates of the production of his numerous works are the principal milestones to mark the period of his long and laborious career. The work he has accomplished could have only been got through by a most methodical devotion and the firmest determination of purpose. In a cursory and sketchy paper like this there is no room—and indeed for the present audience there is no need—to sketch even the outlines of that work on the direct lines- of his theory, as contained in the series of volumes on “ The Origin of Species,” ‘‘ Variations of Animals and Plants under Domestication,” «The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals,” ‘‘ The Descent of Man,” and “ Selection in Relation to Sex.” And still more space would be required to specify the topics and their treatment, which fill a subsidiary series of volumes, such as “ The Fertilization of Orchids WittiamMs: DARWIN AND DARWINISM. 21 by Insects,” “The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants,’’ “The Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilization,’ “The Different Forms of Flowers,” (viewed in reference to their relation to insects), *“The Power of Movement in Plants,” and, lastly, “‘ The Formation of Mould through the Action of Worms,” published only a few months ago. In any adequate pourtrayal of Darwin’s scientific productions all these should have particular mention, for they are very characteristic of his genius and of his methods. Since all the works I have mentioned have been brought out within twenty-five years, it might seem that their author had given most of his time to book-writing ; yet this would be wide of the mark. Darwin was pre-eminently an investigator—hardly less so in the production of the earlier than of the later works. But those of the second list are models of acute and pains-taking investigation, inspired and fertilized by ideas. The amount of prolonged observation, watchful care, and tedious experiment they have demanded, is as wonderful as the skill in devising simple but effective methods of research is admirable. For the production of these results, one would say that genius and industry must have been seconded by abundant leisure and robust health. Fortunately Darwin could command his time; but from the day on which he set sail for South America in the “ Beagle” to the day ot his death he was a suffering invalid, being, as it were, under chronic sea-sickness. We are told that the day in which he could accomplish two hours of work was counted a good one; and there Were very many in which nothing could be attempted. Perhaps even more than method and concentration were required, especially in the case of a man who had devoted his life to such researches and studies as those on which Darwin’s reputation rests. He could not have achieved the work with which his name is asso- ciated had he gone into the usual round and whirl of “ society ” ; this, so far as we can learn, he did not do. This does not imply that he was unsocial—far from it: Carlyle describes him as “a charming talker and companion ”—but only that he did not throw away his time and energies upon companions or companionships of a trivial or dissipating nature. A friend who knew him well, writes :—“ Darwin has to a large extent eschewed general society, in which he had learned that there was more of noise and pretence than of calm wisdom and substance, and has almost wholly kept himself apart from public appearance ; so much so, indeed, that you might search the journals of the last thirty years without often finding his name in 22 Tat NATURALIST. connection with the so-called great causes or “isms” of that long stretch of time.” The same friend adds :—‘“ This recluseness, while no doubt partly forced upon him by the exacting nature of the investigations he has been constantly carrying on, has been also due to some extent to a bodily infirmity under which he has laboured during the greater part of his literary career.” But, however Darwin may have been absorbed in his speculations, he was not left in undisturbed quietude. It could not be. He had to pay at least part of the price of greatness. If he would write and publish books which stirred the mind and heart of men in all parts of the world as with the sound of a trumpet, it was in the nature of things, and inevitable, that at least an echo should come back upon him. To say nothing of private praise from friends in all parts of the world, and, not least, from the United States, in 1853 the Royal Society awarded him their Royal medal, and in 1864 the Copley medal. In 1859 the Geological Society awarded him the Wollaston medal, while foreign Governments and societies have at various times acknowledged his distinguished services in various departments of scientific research and knowledge. In the November of 1877 the University of Cambridge rather tardily conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D. At the dinner given at Cambridge the same evening in honour of the event, Professor Huxley, who replied for Darwin (now Dr. Darwin), referred, in pleasant badinage, to the University as reserving its highest honour until all other distinctions had been heaped upon Mr. Darwin, “that its own chaplet might crown the whole, and not be covered up.” On the same occasion Professor Huxley spoke of Darwin as the foremost amongst men of science, with one exception, since the days of Aristotle. In the course of the same year Darwin received what must have been to him a more flattering compliment. On his sixty-ninth birthday he was presented with an album—a magnificent folio—bound in velvet and silver, containing the photographs of 154 men of science in Germany. These included many of the best known and most highly honoured names in Hurope. He also received on the same occasion, from Holland, an album with the photographs of 217 distinguished pro- fessors and men of science in that country. In returning thanks for these unique marks of appreciation, Darwin wrote :—‘‘ I suppose every worker at science occasionally feels depressed, and doubts whether what he has published has been worth the labour which it has cost him; but for the remaining years of my life, whenever I want cheering, I will look at the portraits of my distinguished WILLIAMS: DARWIN AND DARWINISM. 23 co-workers in the field of science, and remember their generous sympathy.” It was in 1844, I believe, that Darwin wrote out a little sketch, which formed the foundation of “‘ The Origin of Species ”—not at all for publication, but simply as a nucleus, or crystallizing centre around which to group his observations, and to make the basis of his study. It was not till 1859 that he published the great work on which his fame will rest. And here is an illustration of that singular fairness and earnest search for truth to which I have referred. He did not leap into print with a guess; but, after he believed that he had found the truth concerning the life of the world and of man, he studied and thought and observed, and gathered new facts and new arguments for long years, that he might be sure, as far as it is possible to attain certainty, that he had attained the truth. As an illustration of this same spirit, which is really the spirit of science, and which I believe to be inherently and essentially religious, as all humble truth-seeking of necessity must be—take the case of Newton. Newton conceived his theory of gravitation, and for sixteen years studied and gathered facts, arguments, and illustrations, before he ventured to give it to the world. And Mr. Darwin would have waited and studied years longer than he did, had it not been for the fact that Mr. Alfred Russell Wallace (whose name will always stand as sharing the honour with Darwin), while exploring the islands of the Malay Archipelago, had come to the same conclusions and arrived independently at the same theories with Darwin. Mr. Wallace embodied his theory in a paper, which he forwarded for communication to the Linnean Society. And here I may notice a beautiful episode of scientific fairness. The nature of Mr. Wallace’s paper having been ascertained by certain of the Fellows of the Society, who were. also friends of Darwin, and who knew that for several years he had been elaborating and working out in detail the same theory, they arranged that a paper should be communicated by Darwin at the meeting of the Linnean Society at which Mr. Wallace’s paper fell to be read, so that in this way the question of priority as to the authorship of the theory of “natural selection” might be left for future settlement. Mr. Wallace was entirely satisfied, and has handsomely admitted that Darwin had propounded the theory years before it had been suggested to his attention. Darwin then wrote out and gave to the world his “ Origin of Species.” He had wrought more completely, much more grandly, 24. Tre NATURALIS*. than he himself was aware. He found that his arguments and the clearness of his presentation had been so remarkable, that the world, in a brief space of time, considering the revolution involved, was converted to his theory. (To be continued. ) ON THE CLASSIFICTION OF BRITISH INSECTS. By S. L. Mostey, HuppDERSFIELD. (Concluded. ) The next family is the Perlide, or stone-flies. In this family the fore and hind wings are of nearly equal length, and the abdomen has two antenne-like projections at the end. The third family is the Hphemeride, or may-flies, distinguished from the last by the very short antennz, the small hind wings, and by the long slender filaments at the extremity of the body, which are some- times three in number. The fourth family is the /zbellulide, or dragon-flies, well known to every collector of insects. The fifth family is the Hemerobude, or lace-winged flies, of which -Chrysopa perla, a pale-green delicate insect with metallic eyes, found in woods, is well known. The family Sialide consists of a few species, and have aquatic larve. The family Panorpide, or scorpion-flies, have black spots on their wings, and the males are armed at the extremity of the body with scorpion-like pincers. The second sub-order of Neuroptera, or distinct order, whichever you like to call it, is the Trichoptera, the well known caddis-worm flies. They are very similar in their appearance and habits, and seem all unitable under one general class. Ord. 5, Lepipoptrra.—The Trichoptera seem to unite the Neuroptera with the Lepidoptera, and the transmission is most complete, if we begin the latter with Acentropus niveus, but this, as in the case of the Coleoptera, would no doubt meet with little favour from specialists, they are so accustomed to begin their cabinet with Papilio Machaon, that I am afraid it would be difficult to persuade them otherwise ; yet Maehaon can have no connection with any other Mostry: On CLASSIFICATION oF BritisH INSECTS. 95 insect in any other order. It is the old Linnean idea of placing the type at the head. To effect an alteration of this kind needs no very great alteration in the arrangement of the various groups; the groups themselves need only be differently placed in relation one to the other, for some of them, like the Geometrina and Tortricina, are very natural, while others, like the Noctwrni, are very unnatural, and require re-arrangement. In a short paper like this, where I can give only the merest outline of the system, it is impossible to go into minute detail; but whether the arrangement of the Lepidoptera be altered or not, the natural place of that order seems to be between the Trichoptera and the Hymenoptera. Ord. 6, HymMENoprerA.—The Hymenoptera are divided into two sub-orders, the TEREBRANTIA and the AcuLEATA. The first family of the Terebrantia is the Tenthredinide, or saw-flies, and their larvee at once. suggest a very close relationship with the last order, the Lepidoptera. This class of insects is too well known among entomologists to need any description ; the gooseberry grub is a very common example. | The second family of Terebrantia is the Sircida, consisting of but few species in Britain,- similar to that pige and attractive insect Sirex gigas. The third family is the Cups. or gall-flies, of which we have many species in Britain, all of them small, and producing woody excrescences upon the leaves, bark, or roots of plants. The next family consists of but a few species, small insects, and parasites upon cockroaches. They are remarkable for having a very slender abdomen springing from the back. The januly is called fwanude. The family Ichneumonide is of large extent, though the insects comprising it, are generally comparatively small. Their general form is known to members of this Society either friendly or otherwise, perhaps too often the latter. The Chrysidide, or ruby-tailed flies, come nearest to the true bees and wasps, in the nests of some of which they are parasitic. The commonest species, Chrysis ignitis, may be found sunning itself upon walls in very hot weather, or dug from the nests of the sand wasps. The second sub-order, ACULEATA, comprises the Mossores, sand and ground wasps, the ants, the true wasps, and the bees. Ord. 7, Diptzra.—The representatives of the bees among the Diptera will be found in the genus Boméylius, or humble-bee flies, 26 THe NATURALIST. and these should succeed the last group of Hymenoptera, to which these, as well as the Zubaniide, assimilate in the structure of the mouth. Then follow the Aniscide, Syrphide, and other groups of this distinct order. In making this rapid sketch, of what I should propose as an arrangement of insects, | have only been able to take the most skipping glance at the various orders, and point out, where and how one might be joined to another. I do it because I think there needs to be some settled and accepted arrangement of the various orders of British insects. The time is not far distant, I think, when entomology shall be an accepted science, and shall form a part of, our national education, and then, if not now, will be demanded a classification of British insects. Typical collections are the things which will be found most useful in instructing young people in the mysteries of the insect world. And not only to them, but even to professed entomologists such collections are always of great utility. These collections should be formed in every public museum, in every scientific institution; and in every school, fora knowledge of the insect world is of far greater importance than much that is taught now under the name of education. Short Hotes and Queries. LEPIDOPTERA IN IRELAND.—Having just returned from my usual holiday in Ireland, which I always spend in entomology, I send a few rough notes of my doings. I have to add the same sad tale as others. My object in choosing the end of June and the beginning of July was to take B. furfwrana and a beautiful variety of H. stagnalis, but when I reached the hunting grounds they were all under water, and I only succeeded in capturing very old specimens of the former, and none of the hydrocampa. The only thing I worked at night was the flower of the woodbine, which is generally very attractive ; but this year, with the exception of a few of the commonest moths, yielded little beyond P. iota, V-aureum, festuce, the latter terribly worn. C. lichenaria, which is generally fairly plentiful, was entirely absent, as also Sesia bembeciformis. I saw two types of D. Barrett, taken at Howth, but I was not successful in my attempts there, as I came away, after a long day’s work, with little or nothing. The strangest thing 1 saw was on July 3rd, about 11-30 a.m., A. cardamines, which seems to point toa second brood. Altogether the season seems to me to be one of the worst for entomologists, and we must only hope for ‘‘better luck next time.”—G. C. B. Mappen, Armitage Bridge Vicarage, Huddersfield. RAINFALL FOR JULY. 2, Scoparia conspicualis aND Acronycta alnd at Epiincron Woop.— This morning I received a few specimens of S. conspicualis from Mr. W. Prest, who had taken them near York. I did not previously know the species, but on opening the box, saw directly that it was perfectly familiar to me ; and on looking over my store boxes I at once picked out several good specimens, and some inferior ones. I took them certainly two, probably three years ago, in Hdlington Wood, near Doncaster, where I am pretty sure I have seen the species each season since, but have always passed it over as a form of ambigualis I am also inclined to think I saw it at Grassington on the Union’s excursion there, the last Bank Holiday, but did not box a specimen. If any member brought away from there any doubtful Scopaia, I should much like to see it. On the 5th of the present month I found a larva of A. alni, on the upper - side of an oak leaf in Edlington Wood. It has fed well, and is now evidently full grown, and about ready for spinning up.—Gero. T. Porritt, August 17th, 1882. Appitions To West-Ripine Atcm.—As far as I know, the following algzee which I have recently collected, are not recorded for the West- Riding : Sirogoniwm sticticum, K. ; Cosmariwm Holmieri, Sundell, and Stawrastrum meriani, Reinsch, from Shipley Glen ; Gdogoniwm conca- tenatum, Hass., and Cosmarium leve, Rabenh. from near Bradford ; Zonotrichia fluviatilis, Rabenh. from Malham ; and Calothrix Wrangelii, Ag,, on rocks in the stream at Ingleton.—Wm. West, Bradford. Erratum.—At page 16, for ‘‘ Ion’s Nab,” read ‘‘ Yon’s Nab. Reontall for Gulv, Height Toran Fan of : Oo TO Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest of above: 14)" Days saueneieeunene | © Kall: nearest level, 1882, | 1881. Jib | LO lie, os HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 3°00 | 29 | 21°36 |* 17:22 5 0°470 (J. W. Robson) Hauirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)| 365 | 4°46 | 27 | 31°48 | 23°66 a: ack) LeEps ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 |3°040 | 25 | 16°635 |+12°991 138 0°340 HORSFORTH ... (James Fox)} 350 |4°640 | 28 | 20°400 ([£17°228 7 0°470 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...J 350 | 3°02 | 25 | 17°37 bDeali7 6 0°43 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 8538 | 4°44 | 30 | 25°23 | 19°30 2 0°64 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...| 520 | 3°49 | 23 | 18°53 | 14°31 6 0°50 GooLe ... (J. Harrigson)...| 25] 3°69 | 17, 14°57 9°83 22 0°70 HULL (Derringham) (Wm.| 10 | ate Spent ve) | aay aay al 27 0°35 Lawton) | * This is the average to date for 16 years, 1866-81. t+ Average of 28 years, 1853-62 and 1865-82. t Average of 13 years, 1870-82. ** Have never had so many rainy days in one month before.—J. W.R — Reports of Societies. BarnsLeEY Naturatists’ Socrery.—At the meetings of August Ist, T. Lister in the chair, and August 15th, Dr. W. J. Lancaster, the president, in the chair, reports were made by the various sections. The monthly excursions were productive of good results, which will appear in the next quarter’s ‘‘ Transactions.” The quarterly Transactions to the close of June 30th, were laid on the table to be presented to each member and corresponding society. It is a painstaking report. The entomological section reports an unsuccessful season on account of cold wet nights. The only moths worth reporting are Cymatophora fluctuosa, June 6th, at Lunn Wood ; Procris statices found for the first time in this locality in a field adjoining New Park Spring, June 15th, by the secretary, W. E. Brady ; Cymatophora fluctuosa again taken June 16th ; Asthena sylvata, Melanippe hastata, Numeria pulveravia at New Park Spring ; Notodonta dicteoides, Venusia cambricaria and two more C. fluctwosa at Wharn- cliffe. The botanical section (T. Rose, secretary), gives a long list of plants found, drawn up by Messrs. F. Batley and W. Hemingway, for which space cannot be afforded in the Naturalist. The geological section found in the beds of boulder clay of a dark tenacious character, re-exposed in the cutting of the Barnsley Coal Railway, at the bridge carrying over the Barnsley and Wakefield Road the following rocks :—Sandstones and shales with scratches, coals, do.—ganister, -mountain limestone, silu- rian grits, limestones with remains of encrinital stems, greenstone, green slate several varieties, both much rounded and weathered, also Hematite iron ore. Specimens of all the above are in the museum. A bed of yellow clay has been observed at various points between Smithies and Roystone ; the mass of granite at the latter place has been twice visited, being discovered by Professor Green. The following fossils were brought from the workings on the Hull and Barnsley Railway, near Brierley, Sphenophyllum erosum, Annularia sphenophylloides, and Sphenopteris crenata, an alinost perfect frond of Newropteris gigantea 17 inches long. An erratic block was observed at Lunn Wood, about two feet cube, one face glaciated, the material appeared to be ganister.—H. Wade, secretary. The vertebrate section, drawn up by W. Robinson, presents an elaborate report, some of the birds have already appeared in the Naturalist. Cuckoos have been plentiful, sixteen were observed. BrapDForD Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting June 27th.—Mr. Soppitt (vice-president), in the chair.—Mr. B. Spencer read a paper on ‘* Plant Lore,” and took for his starting point the following quotation from Dr. Clark, ‘‘ The weeds of one country are the flowers of another.” He first described what weeds are, and showed how under cultivation they can be improved in many ways. As an instance of this he took the corn poppy, which when cultivated becomes double. He described how plants will deteriorate to their wild state if cultivation is not kept up. One of the principal agents of the florist in cultivating plants is hybridizing, and REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 29 many of our most beautiful cultivated plants have been produced in this way, including the roses and geraniums. He concluded by giving a long list of our cultivated plants with the wild from which they are derived, and the locality where the wild plant grows. Mr. Soppitt showed a specimen of Botrychiwm lunaria from Shipley Glen. Rambles to Esholt and Ilkley were decided to be added to the syllabus for the next session. MeEeEtInG on July 11th.—Mr. Wm. West gave a lecture on ‘ Peat mosses,” and fully explained their structure, uses, and distribution, as well as the characters used in differentiating the species. A large number of species and their varieties were shewn in illustration of the lecture, together with a number of drawings showing their beautiful microscopical structure. The genus Sphagnwm isa very characteristic one, the plants are always found in watery places, and it is almost entirely to their remains that we owe our peat formations. They are of great use also in the cultivation of our orchids and the transportation of living plants during long voyages. On our extensive moors they are of great use in preven- ~ ting both floods and droughts... Mr. Bennett exhibited Cakile maritima and Hryngiwm maritimum from Skegness ; Mr. Soppitt showed Glaucium luteum, Calamintha acinos and the Hollyhock fungus Puccinia malvina- cearum from Arnside; Mr. Stirling showed a number of fresh-water shells, among which were three species of Planorbis including P. corneus, carinatus, and albus; Mr. Firth reported having heard the grasshopper warbler, at Girlington ; Mr. Rogers showed a photo-micrograph of the diatom Arachnoidiscus ornatus, magnified 400 diameters. Meetine July 25th.—Mr. W. D. Roebuck, of Leeds, read a paper on *‘ The Order Cheiroptera, or Bats.” He said that bats are the only mam- mals that can really fly, as in the case of the flying squirrel, and others, the supposed flight is merely aleap. He described how the developement of all the organs of the bats is especially suited to their habits, and said that the most striking proof that they were really quadrupeds was their way of walking. which he described as shuffling along the ground with their thumb and hind-feet, and in some species the tail is also used in crawling on the ground or up the rough surfaces of trees. There are fifteen British micro-cheiroptera and all are insect feeders. He described the pecularities of all the British species, and showed specimens of the following :—The lesser horse-shoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) from EKvestone, near Ripon ; the noctule or great bat (Vesperugo noctula) from Masham, the pipistrelle or common bat (V. pipistrellus) from Harrogate, the long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) from Pateley Bridge, the whiskered _ bat (Vespertilio mystacinus) from various Yorkshire localities. Mr. Bennet showed B. callune, &c,, from Thorne and Rombald Moor. Mr. Terry exhibited C. imbutata, A. fumata, &c., from Witherslack. Mr. Firth, the following insects, taken in this locality, P. comitata, M. galiata and N. mundana. Mr. Carter shewed Crambus margaritellus, from Rom- balds Moor, and H. nymphealis, P. stratiotalis, S. cembralis, and E. sam- 30 THe NATURALIST. bucalis, from Frizinghall, all of which are new to the district record list. Mr. Roebuck exhibited, on behalf of Mr. West, a number of shells inclu- ding several rare species of Pupa and Vertigo. Meetine August 8th.—Mr. Soppitt described the ramble of the York- shire Naturalists’ Union to Grassington, which took place on Monday, August 7th. He described it as being a most enjoyable and successful ramble, and said that all sections were pleased with the number and rarity of the specimens they took. In entomology the principal capture was made by Mr. Butterfield who took a specimen of M. expolita this being the only specimen known to have been taken in Yorkshire. A great number of Hrebia Blandina were taken in Upper Grass Wood, which is the only Yorkshire locality for this species. Mr. Soppitt found a parasitic fungus (Xenodochus carbonarius) which was new to the district. Mr. Carter described a ramble from Ilkley to Grassington, and reported taking the following shells:—Helix rwpestris, H. hortensis, and H. lapicida, and a number of beetles, including Cyctorus rostratus and Carabus nemoralis. Mr. Bennett read a paper on “‘ Pneumatics,” dealing principally with the air-pump. In illustration of the paper he showed a number of interesting and instructive experiments. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENtToMoLoGIcAL Socrety.—Monthly meeting July 3lst, Mr. Benjamin Cooke in the chair. Mr. J. R. L. Dixon read a paper entitled ‘‘ A Comparison between the Mechanism of Flight in Insects and Birds,” in which he detailed the results of the interesting researches of Drs. Pettigrew and Marey on the subject of flight, and explained by diagrams the mode of action of the wings in insects and birds. During the conversazione a specimen of a hymenop- terous insect (Rhyssa persuasoria ?) recently captured in the insect-room of the Derby museum, was exhibited through the kindness of the curator, Mr. T. J. Moore. Mr. B. Cooke exhibited a specimen of an ant (Myr- mica levinodis) which combined male, female, and worker, and which had been caught by Mr. Chappellin Dunoam Park. YORKSHIRE Naturauists’ Union.—Grassineton, Auc. 7TH, 1882.— The fourth meeting of the season was devoted to the investigation of Upper Wharfedale, more especially that portion of it which lies immedi- ately round Grassington, Grass Wood, with its rich and varied fauna and flora, attracting the greater share of attention. The attendance was large, there being about 80 or 90 persons present from all parts of York- shire. The day was gloriously fine and sunny—true ‘‘ Y.N.U. weather.” Most of the visitors approached Grassington. by way of Skipton, from which they drove the ten miles, while others drove from Ilkley, Cracoe, and other places ; and several members investigated the district for a day or two previously. The district being one of which the fauna is as yet most imperfectly known, the local secretaries had previously prepared (in addition to the usual circular) a full sammary of what they actually knew REporRTS OF SOCIETIES. 31 on the subject. This paper appeared in the Leeds Mercury supplement of July 29th (it was afterwards reprinted in the Young Naturalist), and was of considerable utility in eliciting additional information. After the day’s investigations were concluded, the meetings were held in the Devonshire Hall, at Grassington, the chair of the general meeting being occupied by Mr. Wm. Cash, F.G.S., of Halifax. The societies represented were— Bradford (2), Dewsbury, Halifax, Heckmondwike, Huddersfield (2), Ilkley, Keighley, Leeds (3), Liversedge, Mirfield, Ovenden, Scarborough, Wakefield, and York (St. Thomas’s). Thanks were voted to Messrs. J. N. Dickinson of Leeds, C. H. L. Woodd, F.G.S., J.P., of Outershaw, Ven. Archdeacon Boyd, M.A., of Arncliffe, and the Rev. W. A. Shuffrey of Halton Gill, for becoming new subscribers. Thanks were then voted, on the motion of Mr. J. Brodie, to the local secretaries, to the Duke of Devonshire for permission to ramble over his estates, to the committee of the Grassington Mechanics’ Institute for use of their hall, and to Mr. W. J. Ray Eddy, F.G.8., the Duke’s agent, for his assistance and kindly co-operation. The sectional reports were then taken. Mr. G. T. Porritt, ¥.L.S., of Huddersfield, president of the Entomological Section, spoke on the lepidoptera to the following effect :—Twenty-four species of lepi- doptera had been observed, including one quite new to the county ; this was Miana expolita (captiuncula), taken by Mr. HE. P. P. Butterfield, of - Wilsden, Bingley. The very local Erebia Blandina was flying in great abundance on nearly all the grassy slopes in the High Grass Wood, and although hundreds must have been secured during the day, as many more might easily have been taken. Nearly all the specimens, too, were in splendid condition. The coleoptera were reported on by Mr. E. B. Wrigglesworth, of Wakefield, secretary of the section. For the Botanical Section, in the absence of all its officers, Mr. John Jackson of Wetherby reported that the following species had been noticed, amongst others :— Thalictrum flexuosum, Trollins europzeus, Alsine verna, Sagina nodosa, Geranium lucidum, G. sylvaticum, G. sanguineum, Rhamnus catharticus, Vicia sylvatica, Prunus padus, Spireea filipendula, Rubus saxatilis, Hip- puris vulgaris, Sedum telephium, Saxifraga hypnoides, S. tridactylites, Parnassia palustris, Silaus pratensis, Pimpinella magna, Myrrhis odorata, Galium boreale, Asperula odorata, Carduus heterophyllus, Serratula tinctoria, Orepis paludosa, Gentiana campestris, Melampyrum sylvaticum, Primula farinosa, Epipactis palustris, Asplenium viride, A. trichomanes, Cystopteris fragilis. There were also several Charas, which were not determined. A few fungi were observed by Mr. H. T. Soppitt, one of them—Xenodochus carbonarius—being new to the West-Riding flora. The other fungi were—Agaricus rimosus, A. semiglobatus, Boletus flavus, B. subtomentosus, Stereum hirsutum, Phrymidium obtusum, P. mucronatum, P. acuminatum, A‘cidium crassum, Ai. tussilaginis, Puccinia violarum, P. umbelliferum, P. compositarum, Lecythea lini, and L. saliceti. The Geological report was given by Mr. Thomas Tate, F.G.8., of Leeds, president of the section. Mr. Tate’s reports were 32 Tue NATURALIST. supplemented by Mr. Percy Lund, of Ilkley, who had spent the previous two days at Cracoe and Thorpe Hall, where he had found upwards of 50 fossils, including Lithostrotion basaltiforme, Phillipsia seminifera, Pro- ductus giganteus, P. semireticulatus, P. scabriculus, P. Youngianus, P. margaritaceus, P. cora, Spirifer glaber, Streptorhynchus crenistria, Terebratula sacculus, T. hastata, Pleurorhynchus abseformis, and Orthis resupinata. In Vertebrate Zoology, Mr. Clarke, the secretary of thi section, made the report. The list of birds included 32 resident species and 18 summer visitants, the most interesting of which were the dipper, grey wagtail, common sandpiper, and curlew. A collection of local birds in the possession of Mr. F. Holmes, of Grassington, included the following additional species :—Stonechat, fieldfare, snow bunting, barn owl, tawny owl, snipe, dotterel, common tern, and teal. It also contained a specimen of the bittern, shot near Grass Wood about 1876. Another bird of this species was shot about the same time near Arncliffe. A pair of short- eared owls, shot upon the neighbouring moors, was seen in another house. In Mammalia, including information gleaned from the game- keeper and others by Mr. Roebuck, there were about 16 species noted. These included a bat, the mole, hedgehog, shrew, fox, otter, weasel, stoat, squirrel, water vole, field vole, common rat, house mouse, hare and rabbit. In addition to these, the red deer may be included in the fauna, inasmuch as those in Buckden deer-park have existed there uninter- ruptedly from the time at which the deer of Wharfedale were wailed in. The reptiles noted were the common lizard, frog, and toad. It was stated that there were no vipers in Grass Woods. For the Conchological Section, its president (Mr. Cash) occupying the chair of the general meeting, called upon Mr. W. Denison Roebuck to report, as follows :— During the day 39 species and varieties of mollusca had been collected, 16 of which were additional to the previously recorded fauna of the district. The best captures were the variety gibbosa of Ancylus fluviatilis, taken by Mr. Roebuck in the Wharfe at Deepdale Bridge, 15 miles above Grassington ; Zonites radiatulus and Clausilia laminata, found in Grass High Wood ; the varieties tumidula of Clausilia rugosa, Nouletiana of Cochlicopa tridens, and lubricoides of C. lubrica. The full list of shells fs as follows, those marked * being new to the district list :—*Pisidinm fontinale, *Planorbis spirorbis, *Limnezea peregra, *L. palustris, *L. truncatula, *Ancylus fluviatilis, “ditto var. gibbosa, Arion hortensis, Limax agrestis, *L. maximus (one), *Vitrina pellucida, Succinea putris, Zonites cellarius, Z. alliarius, Z. nitidulus, *Z. radiatulus, *Z. crystallinus, *Z. fulvus, Helix nemoralis, H. hortensis, H. arbustorum, H. rufescens, H. concinna, H. hispida, H. fusca (one), H. ericetorum, H. rotundata, H. rupestris, H. lapicida (Kettlewell), Bulimus obscurus, Pupa umbilicata, Clausilia laminata (one), C. rugosa, ditto var. dubia, “ditto var. tumidula, *Cochlicopa tridens, var. Nouletiana, C. lubrica, *ditto var. lubricoides, *Carychium minimum. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded a very pleasant and successful gathering.—W. D. R. Diary —Meetings of Societies Saray Naturalists Sosicty— Vertebrate Séction. Do. do. Geological Section. : Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. . Bishop: Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. . Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. . Barnsley Naturalists’ Society—Botanical ee . Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. . Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.—Excursion to Wakefield for Haw eae Local Sec. Mr. C. W. Richardson, Westgate, Wake- ; 2 e se Z 5, 12. Barnsley Welacdnts Boricty. ; » 18. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. ~,,. 18. Manchester Cryptogamic Society.” _ 5, 19. Barnsléy Naturalists’ Society —Geological Section, ,. 28. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. —Excursion to Lilles- Se eee ‘hall. Leader, Mr. Kirkby. Sea De. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. . ad eee ee “TO. ons au BSCRIBERS. 7 Vol. VIII. commenced with the August number, .and all subscribers who have not sent their Subscriptions (4/-), are requested to do so at once, to the Editors, care of Mr. B - -BRown, Market Place Corner, Huddersfield. . _ THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY. — Bo prea oe oe ; Journal . circulates widely — amongst Conchologists — - throughout the world, and contains every quarter paicles Beene’ with all departments of the Science. Double numbers are at present being issued, price 1/- each, -~ or 4/4 per annum, post free. ‘PUBLISHED BY J. W. TAYLOR, St. Aue’: s Works, Leeds: to. So icin should be sent all communications; and to “wien Post ae Office Ons also. should be. made pate I tenon HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, prooapmy, W. THE SCOTTISH YN ATURALIST, g Magmyine of Hatural Pistorp, commenced im 1871, "Edited by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, - M.D., F.L.S. 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Taylor ; - complete list-of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on “‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera _ 2 in 1877, ” by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S.; one on ‘‘ Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera in 1877, 2 byl Mr. Wm, Prest ; papers by Mr. 8. L. Mosley, on ‘‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psyllidee ; rand. a ae -_ eport on Yorkshire Botany i in 1877, by Dr. H.-F. Parsons, F.G-S. - PARTS If. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of ‘Mr. Clarke’s — oe Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs.-Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water ~ — Mollusca of Yorkshire; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr. Parsons ; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora of the East ire Riding ” ; papers on Yorkshire ier e in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S, : Yorkshire LIchneumonide, by Mr. 8S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; and on Yorkshire = Hymenoptera, observed i in 1878, by Mr. WW. Denison Roebuck. W. DENISON “ROEBUCK, Sunny i ccde z Wm. E, CuarKg, : a ‘5, East View, se Park Road, , Leeds H.W. - MARSDEN, = _ NATURAL. ‘HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. age ~ Cabinets and one of all hae of the best make on the lowe fern British and European Macro Vepidep eras Preserved Larve of rare. British ee -.. Lepidoptera, = = BOOKS.—New and Second-hand, on Natural History Subjects. The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggs i in England. Catalogues ; on application. “Bijou List of British Butterflies,” Beautifully printed in colours Ae Graduated List of eek Birds,”’ specially” ‘prepared. | foe = reference and labelling, 6 - © T.pPIDOPTERISTS’ Cae Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, 5/-- 37 ‘MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER. _ i Original Articles. CONTRIBUTION TO A LIST OF THE HEMIPTERA OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE (THE NORTH OF LANCASTER EXCEPTED). (Continaed. ) 3 By BengAMIN COOKE. BRYOCORIDZ. Bryocoris pteridis, Fall. Hazelgrove; Pettypool, Cheshire. Monalocoris filicis, L. Bowdon; Pettypool. PITHANIDZ. Pithanus Markeli, H. Schf. Manchester; Hazelgrove. MIRIDZA. Miris holsatus, Fab. Rivington; Hazelgrove ; Marple. M. levigatus, L. Manchester. M. calcaratus, Fall. Southport; Bowdon. M. erraticus, L. Manchester. M. ruficornis, Fall. Southport; Cheshire coast. Lopomorphus ferrugatus, Fall. Hazelgrove. L. dolobratus, L. Manchester. HARPOCERID 2. Harpocera thoracica, Fall. Bollin Valley, near Bowdon. LYGIDZ. Lygus rugicollis, Fall. Crosby by F. Archer. Rare. L. pabulinus, L. Bowdon; Hazelgrove. _ L. contaminatus, Fall. Common. L. campestris, L. Common. | Liocoris tripustulatus, Fab. Aughton, near Ormskirk; Bowdon. Orthops pastinacee, fall. Manchester. PSALLIDA. Plagiognathus viridulus, Fall. Bowdon; Hazelgrove. P. arbustorum, Fab. Manchester; Bowdon; Hazelgrove. Apocremnus ambiguus, Fall. Hazelgrove. A. obseurus, Kirschb. Hazelgrove. A. variabilis, Fall. Marple. N-S., VOU, Viil., Oct., 1882. 34 Tae NATURALIST. Psallus querceti, Fall. Southport. P. galicis, Kerschb. Greenfield. P. varians, H. Schf. Manchester; Marple. ONCOTYLID Z. Macrocoleus Paykulli, Fall. Cheshire coast. CAPSIDZ. Rhopalotomus ater, L. Hazelgrove. Heterotoma merioptera, Scop. Bowdon. Agalliastes pulicarius, Fall. Southport. Orthocephalus saltator, Hahn. Cheshire coast. CAMORANOTID &. Camaronotus clavatus, L. Southport. GLOBICEPID &. Globiceps selectus, Fieb. Southport. DERAOCORID &. Dereocoris infusus, H. Schft, Bowdon; Pettypoot. D. bipunctatus, Fab. Common. D. sexguttatus, Fab. Manchester; Hazelgrove. D. fulvomaculatus, De G. Bollin Valley. PHYTOCORIDA. Phytocoris tiliz, Fab. Manchester; Bowdon. P. dubius, Doug. Manchester, Pettypool. P. dimidiatus, Kirschb. Bowdon. P. divergens, Meyer. Hazelgrove. LITOSOMID. Litosoma diaphanus, Kirschb. Bowdon. L. nassatus, Fab. Bowdon ; Hazelgrove. IDOLOCORID &. — Cyllocoris histrionicus, L. Rivington. Tdolocoris pailicornis, Fieb. Bowdon; Hazelgrove ; Marple. I. pallidus, Fall. Hazelgrove. PHYLIDA. Aetorhinus angulatus, Fall. Manchester; Hazelgrove. Sphyracephalus ambulans, Fall. Bowdon; Hyde; Hazelgrove. Phylus melanocephalus, L. Marple. P. palliceps, Fieb. Hazelgrove; Marple. 103, Windsor-road, Southport. aE 7hTP OW THE’ SEASON: OR THE PHANTOM CICADA. ees By A. H. Swinton. It is the 18th July, 1882, and I am sitting in a railway carriage listening to the reverberation of the steam-puffs adown the vacant vistas of a right royal deer park. Suddenly the sepulchral voices of two old cronies arise in the next compartment, where I had not hitherto perceived that any one was sitting. “Is this Lyndhurst Road, mum?” “Tt is, mum.” “ Looks fearful stormy, mum?’ “ It looks awful, mum.” ‘Terrible for the schools out here, mum?” ‘¢Tt’s fearful, mum.” Things at the worst are sure to mend, thought I. And here I am once again stretched on the green-sward beneath my magnificent old Hampshire oaks, eating my sandwich in the sweet country air, and reclining for a moment to watch the low scud drive along beneath a high-stretched curtain of thunder-cloud and blue. But hush! what ean that be just now stirring over-head? Hark! hark! Tree! tree! And now again the sound comes, tree! Bless me, can that be the voice of Cicada anglica, alias Melampsalta cicadetia; said on German authority to be not unlike the sound of the jew’s harp, or the two full H’s of the new harpsichord. Am I awake or asleep? Tree! tree! most classical music, tree! tree! I will think no more about it; these harsh jay-like notes may have been the dying minstrelsy of the last of the Cicada, or the tender modulations of a bird voice inspired by so beautiful a sojourn. Where is the genius to bring a distracted entomologist the mirror and ring of Canace, so that he may learn what secrets yet lie hid high up among the thick leaves of the greenwood ? Where are the imprecations to hurl at the head of that man of the future, that shall bring here his bricks and mortar to desecrate the home of the Cicada ? Lest I should go crazy, and rage like another Orestes, I prudently dismiss the Cicada from present thoughts, and join myself to a young gentleman who is evidently on the track ofgame. Hallo, Palamides! The bramble flowers are now swept for Fritillaries, and the grassy spots beat about for marbled whites. We cannot find a black Paphia, that forest gipsy. And the ground, too, proves decidedly damp. I am now fairly over my boots, and the children of the morass are holding carnival around. Now two stately dragon-flies (Cordulegaster annulatus) rush rustling past me, and the diamond-headed green water-snake (Tropidonotus natrix) glides between my legs, and threatens to ascend my trousers. 56 Tue NaTuRAtist. Now a thrill of pleasure, the large footman moth (nistris quadra) is clinging on within my net, and now the forest flies or clegs (Hematopa pluvialis) are ali at me, driving me to desperation. My new acquain- tance is telling me, I believe, that the best way to get to Rufus’ Stone is to take the ’bus to Lyndhurst; and now an old tar, with both legs shot away, is beginning to narrate the bombardment of Alexandria, Bombardment of Alexandria, by Jove! It is positively four o’clock, and I must make a hasty retreat for the station. What! exclaims my reader, and without even catching a glimpse of the Cicada? Nay, but then I saw it mentally. Can-I not recall the second of June, 1871, and the happy moment when I watched the late Mr. Alfred Owen, seated at a deal table, in the little inn at Brockenhurst, engaged in setting a real Cicada anglica, with its drums a-sling, only just the day before beaten from the forest white-thorn. And then, besides, | knew something of its family history. According to Dr. Hagen (Stet. Zeit. 1855 s. 66-91), the little English Cicada, now but rarely taken in the southern counties, extends throughout all Europe, and it is found as far north as the sixtieth degree of latitude, being captured in the neighbourhood of St. Peters- burg, and oceasionally at Kinekulle, in the south of Sweden; it has iikewise been observed in Siberia, in company with what has been taken to be a dark variety (adusta), and a nearly allied species (C. prasina.) Dr. Hagan ealls it the Cicada montana, of Scopoli, but it has been blessed with many appellatives. In the New Forest it is thought to. breed among the fern clumps, where the pupa case has been noticed, and newly emerged specimens have been captured. In its time of appearance, general biology, and characters of colonization, it reminds the field naturalist strongly of the Cicada hamatodes of southern Europe, from which species it has been nevertheless widely separated by descriptive writers. It is emphatically a bloody Cicada. T hope to listen for the sound of its jew’s harp another year. Vaile / Guildford, July 29th, 1882. DARWIN AND DARWINISM. By THE Rev. S. FLercHer WILLIAMS, (Cancluded. ). IT wisH now to pass to the review of just what it was that Mr. Darwin did. What was the contribution that he gave to the scientific thought of the world? We talk about ‘ Darwinism” and “ Evolution,” but { am not far wrong in assuming that, outside of the students of it, few Wittiams ; Darwin AND DaRWINISM. 37 persons have looked into it sufficiently to comprehend just what it means, and how much it implies. I propese, therefore, to state, as plainly as T can, just the particular thing which Mr. Darwin did, just what he contributed to the world. The question that Darwin tried to answer is the same question that has always presented itself to the curiosity of man. For we must suppose that, however far back the period may have been when man first stood up conscious of himself as a personality—conscious of the fact that there was a wondrous world around him of which he was an inhabitant,—one of the first questions that would present itself to him must have been, Where did I come from? Who made these lights in this sky above me? By what process has the werld come to be what itis? Itis the same question exactly that every child, treading in the steps ef a countless line of ancestors, is ready to ask ef father and mother: Who made the tree, the dog, the cat? Who made the sun and moon in the heavens? Who made me? It is the eldest question of the world; and, until Darwin’s time, nothing approaching a clear and rational and authoritative answer had been given. We look on the face of the world, and we know that very marked changes have been going on. We have records of the past by which we know that now there are mountain chains where once they did not exist. We know that what are now islands—our own England, for instance—were once connected with the mainland; that the shape of continents has changed ; that rivers have shifted their beds. We know that once, ages ago, other kinds of flowers, other kinds of trees and plants, grew where now present species and families and orders are holding their places. We know that, if we go far enough back, there was a time when man was not here—when the highest kind of life that was lived belonged to a lower order or type. Ié is inevitable, then, that until it can be answered, the one great question that men shall ask will be—Where did I come from? How did I come? By what power, and threugh what process, has this wonderful world been made as it is to-day ? : I said that, before Darwin’s, no adequate answer had been given. Consider for a moment what I mean. The only theory that had — ever been heard by the questioning heart of man was that which is termed the ‘“ special creation theory.” But, in the true significance of words, that is no theory at all. For what do we mean by a theory? A theory is a scheme of thought that attempts to account for certain facts. A theory must be built on facts. When we speak of creation, where are the facts? Did any human being, from the beginning of 38. Tar NATURALIST. human life, ever see anything created? Did any human being ever know of anything being created? Can any human being even imagine the process of creation? Can any human being even take the slightest step towards explanation of what creation means 2 Creation, then, ig no theory ; it is nothing more nor less than a confession of ignorance. When a little boy asks me who made the tree, and I say God made it ; how did he make it? and I say, by his wonderful power he made it grow,—do I answer the child? Do I explain anything? It is another way (a specious, if a pious way) of letting the child see-that I do not know anything about it. For the very question that is up for discussion is—How? By what process? Show me some force at work that is adequate to produce these results. That is the question con- cerning the world. What does Darwin answer! Here it is only fair that I should say that Darwin is not the first man who has guessed in this direction. To find the first hints of a theory like this, we must consult Lucretius, Democritus, and one and another of the Athenian philosophers ; but the wisest of them were only guessing. They showed no force, no law, that was capable of explaining the results. If we come down to modern times, we must give to such men as Goethe, Lamarck, and Saint Hilaire the honour of having been the morning stars of this sun- rise represented by Darwin ; for they also found some indications that looked in this direction. But the time was not yet ripe for them to put their fingers to the fruit. They did not find the true cause, the real force that could bring about the result. We are now ready to understand just what Darwin did. He starts with the well-known fact that.in every department of life there are hundreds and thousands, yea millions, of seeds and of young that never grow to maturity. Step into a field, and, if you know what is going on there, you will find thousands of little grass-blades starting that do not find room to grow, and are crowded out and perish. It is said that every cod-tish in the ocean lays so many eggs every year, that if they were all hatched, and the young should live to grow up, it would take only two or three years for the ocean to become solid full. How many apple blossoms are seen to fall and come to nothing? So, in every direction, Darwin recognised that which has come to be called the “struggle for life”—everywhere on the part of these individuals an attempt to grow. But only those comparatively few do grow which are adapted to their conditions, which are capable of finding room, air, food, light, dew, and rain. Those best: fitted to live survive, and they are the ones that propagate offspring, and become the progenitors of those that follow. . WILLIAMS: DARWIN AND DARWINISM. 39 vu The laws of heredity must be taken into account, and the laws of variation, which tend not only to reproduce the life of the parents, but along with this, a tendency to vary and be unlike the parent type. Now and then, some rare faculty, some new power, or sense, or organ, is developed or enlarged this way or that, which proves of advantage in the world-wide struggle for life. Do you not see, then, how naturally this type of life gains predominance? It is that which survives, and which in its turn produces offspring, and controls the future. Darwin discovered and verified this law of natural selection, or what Herbert Spencer has called “ the survival of the fittest’; showing that here was a power capable (only give it time enough) of producing the wonderful results that we see in the various forms of vegetable, animal, and human life around us. Only give it time enough, I say. Here was the difficulty. This was the very thing that so long steed in the way of the world’s progress in this direction. ‘The world had been shut up in the narrow confines of six thousand years, and there was no room for any such process as this. So long as it was a part not only of man’s religion, but of science, to believe the world had existed but six thousand years, any such theory was simply nonsense, because the causes which he demon- strated to be at work were utterly inadequate to produce such immense results in so brief a period of time. But the study of the modern world was preparing the way for Darwin. He came in the very fulness of time, when the world was ripe for his thought. Geology had been at work, digging away at the crust of the earth, and asking the old questions ; and just as by cutting through a tree trunk and counting the circles you can tell its years, so it was discovered that by digging away at the crust of the earth we could read the records of the world, whose age was written by the centuries themselves as they passed over it and left behind their foot- marks. | Prof. John Fiske, in a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly, has proved almost beyond question that man was living in Europe at least two hundred and fifty thousand years ago; and man is simply a blossom on the summit of the trunk of the century plant. Man is a parvenu of yesterday. Time, even so far as this world is concerned, reaches back millions and millions of years. And life has been on this old planet cycles and cycles of ages, creeping from the lowest forms with feeble foot, until at last its crown and culmination—man— has appeared. The thing, then, that Darwin did was to discover and 4G Tos NATURALIST. verify the existence of this force of natural selection, by which the process could be rationally explained. We may conceive of life under the image of a great tree: from man clear down to the little globule of protoplasm, one common life, repre- sented and summed up in root and trunk. Toward the bottom runs off a great trunk of the tree, and this represents the kingdom of fishes; limbs, branches, twigs, leaves, representing genera, species, individuals. A little way above this, another limb branches out, and here is the | reptilian life. A little above this is the bird-life of the world ; and above this again, the mammal life, of which the highest is the anthro- poid, or manlike ape. Above this, the highest branch or outflowering of it all, is man, having, as nearest of kin, the anthropoid ape, but not his direct descendant in the sense that a child is produced from his father. | This, in a word, is Darwinism. I do not intend to discuss it. I have argued it at length in a paper which I had the honour and the pleasure of reading before the Literary and Philosophical Society in January last, and which has subsequently been published by the Council of the Society ; and I do not wish to re-traverse the ground. I confine myself on this occasion to narrative and exposition. The scientific world was profoundly impressed both by Darwin’s doctrine, and his method of supporting it. The theory was trenchantly criticised by many naturalists, who, astounded by its boldness or novelty, were not prepared ex animo, or without further consideration, to accept it; and for this they are entitled rather to commendation than blame. The most notable of the scientific assailants was Agassiz, who made much of the candid admission of difficulties by Darwin himself, and who attacked the theory as resting on unwarrantable assumptions. But incredulity was soon followed by hesitation, and, in no very long time, by endorsement and acceptance by many eminent proselytes. A good many years have now elapsed since nearly every- body having any sort of claim to speak in the name of science, went over to ‘‘ Darwinism,” with or without reservations ; and, in the field of science, the victory of “natural selection” and “ evolution” may be regarded as complete. Mr. Darwin himself might with propriety be described as to the last a Darwinian under reserve, for his mind was singularly open; and, strange as it may seem, after all the noise to which his published writings have given rise, no man (as I have said) was ever less of a dogmatist or a bigot. He was pre-eminently an enquirer. Asa tireless interrogator of nature by observation and inductive reasoning, he may be said to have fulfilled to its utmost I bo WituiAmMs: Darwin AND DARWINISM. extent the ideal set up by Bacon. In process of time it came to be admitted, either tacitly or in express terms, that his hypothesis, after all, did not necessarily carry with it all the consequences it was at first supposed to involve ; and a common attitude towards it among those who were long its active opponents may be described as that of tolerant recognition or watchful neutrality. It is an established fact that, during the two-and-twenty years it has been before the world, the doctrine of the origin of species by means of natural selection has made a progress which, considering its novelty and its startling implication, is absolutely without a parallel. For it need hardly be said that the origin of species in this way raises a presumption in favour of the more comprehensive doctrine of evolution, with which also the name of Darwin, is inseparably bound up. Thus, while for fame and distinction he cared literally nothing; while the one object he sought throughout life to attain was the truth; while for this he laboured with a single-mindedness, a freedom from the bondage of pet theories and preconceived ideas, that are almost unexampled—he had, during his lifetime, what to him was undoubtedly the highest reward that could be bestowed upon him, in the ever-increasing acceptance of the theory he was the first to formulate by those best competent to form ajudgment. Thatit is a final or complete revelation, he himself would have been the last to assert; but he lived to see it accepted as an immense step in advance on a path in which for many centuries no progress had been achieved. Antagonism to it came from another quarter; and here also judy- ment has to be tempered with respect for the best or deepest opinions or convictions of the human heart. ‘This class of critics, without pretending to much scientific knowledge, considered the Darwinian theory to be in direct opposition to the teaching of the Bible; so it was fiercely assailed by the clergy of all churches, and for a long time Darwinism was regarded as synonymous with infidelity. - The idea that vegetable, animal, and human life had been evolved from a few primordial forms, or perhaps from one, by a process of law, instead of each having been called into being by separate and successive acts of creation, was regarded as antagonistic to the principles of revealed _ religion, and the religious commotion was as loud and angry as was the scientific wrangle, and continued much longer. But, now, the theologians have practically come round to admitting that Darwinism is a tenable theory—a theory quite consistent with the divine origin and government of the world. So complete is the change which has taken place in the attitude of the Church towards it, that a religious 49 ’ Tor NatTuRALIs?. paper can now say, “ The attitude of the great mass of religious dogmatism to this new philosophy was no less than scandalous.” And yet there never has been a scientific man whose character and temper and manner were so little calculated to exasperate opponents, or create doubts about his single-mindedness, as Darwin’s. Unfortunately he was not the first investigator whose conclusions are now universally accepted, who at the outset incurred the angry and vehement oppo- sition of religious people, but surely he ought to be the last. Is it too much to hope that he will be the last? It seems barely possible that so striking an example of the tremendous mistakes into which pious men may fall regarding dangers to their faith, can fail to impress them with the necessity of greater caution and courage in their attitude towards the explorations of the physical universe which are now going on in every direction. It ought also to put an end to the curious attempts of which we, every now and then, hear from religious bodies to make some kind of treaty between religion and science, in which each shall lay down certain limits beyond which it will agree not to go. All such schemes are based on the assumption which was applied to Darwinism—that there is some authority competent to answer for science, and decree where it shall stop and what it shall examine. There is no such authority ; there never was, and never can be. Religious men can draw up creeds and confessions of faith on which they can agree to stand, and can trace the boundaries of their own beliefs, but a scientific man can do nothing of the kind. Im fact, he is bound not to do it. Continued inquiry is to him a condition of progress. It is his duty to treat nothing in the physical. field as beyond question. Science, too, does not mean what he believes, but what is,—and therefore he can never tell to-day what he may be compelled by new facts to believe to-morrow. Another lesson which I trust theologians have learned from Darwin’s career is, the folly and injustice of holding scientific discoverers responsible for what seem the probable moral or social consequences of their discoveries. Half the odium heaped upon Darwin was due to this. It was thought apparently by many alarmed souls that he ought to have kept the result of his enquiries to himself, lest it should unsettle some people’s religious faith, or loosen in others the bonds of social obligation. It now appears by the confession of his revilers that, had he done so, he would have committed a great mistake, even from their point of view. They now acknowledge that what they thought were necessary or very probable consequences of his revela- RAINFALL FoR AvcuUsT. 43 tions were not necessary or probable consequences at all; but, on the contrary, these revelations were a flood of light on “ the world’s great altar stairs” ; that nobler theistic conceptions are furnished by the doctrine of creation by evolution than by the doctrine of creation by special fats. Thus, whatever judgment posterity may pronounce upon his genius and his work, it is already incontestable that in the field of seience few, if any, men of our time have done so much to extend the bounds of actual knowledge; while in the fields alike of science and theology, no man has ever exercised so great an influence over contem- porary thought, as Charles Darwin. Aaintall for August. Height Toran Faun Y 2 | Nos TO Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest ot above | fall. IDavg Fall, | neaviest sea Fall. level. 1882. 1881. Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 1°68 | 20 | 23:04 |* 20:19 18 0:20 . _ (J. W. Robson) HAuiFAx...(F.G.S. Rawson)| 365 | 2°60 | 16 | 34:80 | 29°66 ifs hus Lexps ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 |1°630 | 21 | 18-305 [415-468 | 18 | 0-360 HorsrortH ... (James Fox)| 350 |2°150 | 19 29°550 |+20°366 | 26 | 0°320 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...) 350 | 1°93 | 16 | 19°30 | 15-81 30 0-28 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 2°56 | 17 | 27:79 | 24:23 2, 0°43 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...;) 520 | 1°97 | 17 | 20°50 | 18°36 30 0°29 Gooue ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 2°54 118, 21°02 | 16°50 22 0:43 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.| 10 | 3°18 | 18 | 18°29 ies 25 0°73 Lawton) * This is the average to date for 16 years, 1866-81. + Average of 28 years, 1853-62 and 1865-82. { Average of 13 years, 1870-82. Meports of Sacieties. Barnstey Narurauists’ Socimty.—Meeting Sept. 12th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—The botanical section reported that all the flowering plants known in the district, except about 25, had been observed and dated. Amongst these were (Aug. 10th), Gentiana Amarella, Inula dysenterica, Impatiens noli-me-tangere, Melilotus album, Sedum telephium ; 22nd, Dro- sera rotundifolia, Hydrocotile vulgare. The vertebrate section reported many birds, amongst which were—Aug. 7, spotted flycatcher, coot, moor- hen, magpie; 20th, wheatear, whitethroat, redstart, swift ; Sept. 5, wild ducks, geese, three terns, snipe, green woodpecker, many sparrow-hawks, kestrels, magpie, ring ouzels—all by Mr. R. Creighton, of Hemsworth, 44 Tor NaturRa.ist. A letter from him on Sept. 11th records five herons, some of them young. He thinks they have bred in the woods by Hemsworth dam ; if so, we may have another heronry. No doubt it will be protected by W. H. Leatham, Esq., M.P., as that at Walton was by Mr. Waterton. Sept. 8, sparrow-hawk and six terns; 10th, gold-crested wren, great, biue, and marsh tits, five herons, coots, moorhens, lapwings, three of swallow tribe. Last sand-martin noted on 11th, and two ring ouzels shot at Penistone. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE EnromoLocicaL Socrery.—Monthly meeting, Aug. 28th, the president (Mr. 8. J. Capper) in the chair.—Mr. T. von Sebbe read a paper entitled ‘‘ Our Holidays at Tunbridge Wells,” in which he detailed (and exhibited) the entomological captures made by himself and son in that neighbourhood during the early summer, con- cluding with some remarks on the general scarcity of insects during the whole of the present season. Mr. CO. J. S. Makin read a paper on “ Silk and Silkworms,” in which, after briefly sketching the history of sericulture from its origin in China to its introduction into England in 1685, he gave a detailed account of the life-history of several of the silk-moths which have, within the last few years, attracted the attention of silkworm breeders, such as Bombyx Yama-mm, B. cynthia, B. pernyi, B. cecropia (the silk-moth of the United States), A. atlas, &c. He illustrated his paper by specimens of each species, and by living larvee (worms) of B. mort, B. cecropia, and B. Royle. MANCHESTER CRYPTOGAMIC SocieTy.—Monthly meeting, August, Dr. B. Carrington, F.R.S.E., in the chair.—Captain Cunliffe exhibited a beautiful series of mosses, mounted for microscopical examination. Some of the sections of the stems and leaves of Sphagna were excellent as scientific objects, and admirable as specimens of manipulative skill. Mr. William Jones, of Llandudno, sent a few freshly gathered mosses, from the Orme’s Head, for distribution amongst the members. Mr. C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S., editor of the Naturalist, sent copies of his paper on the development of Osmunda regalis. Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited speci- mens of Lejeunia calyptrifolia, collected by Mr. C. Wild at Tyn-y-Groes ; he also exhibited specimens of a sphagnum new to Europe, Sphagnum sedoides, Bridel, which had been found at Finisterre. A collection of lichens, which had been collected by W. H. Scholes in South America, and specimens of the male plant of Radula germana (Jack), collected by F. Rogers on Ben Cruachan, July, 1881, and Radula commutata (Gottsche), from the herbarium of Dr. Carrington, collected in the New Forest by C. Lyell, 1818, were exhibited by Mr. Pearson. Mr. Cunliffe exhibited a quantity of starch which he had obtained from the rhizome of Pieris aqwilina, and stated that the starch grains of this fern differed con- siderably from the starch grains of L. filix-mas; the hon. secretary, a number of mosses recently collected in New Zealand. Dr. Carrington then read a short paper on the Manchester water supply at Eccles, where — it had been the subject of some complaint in reference to its drinkable qualities. —T. Rogers, Hon. Sec. Reports oF SociEri£s. 45 OVENDEN Naturatists’ Soctery.—Mr. J. Spencer gave a brief descrip- tion of some new discoveries which he had lately made in fossil botany. These included a new species of fossil aquatic plant, which differed from Astromyelon Williamsoni in the radiating plates of the bark being com- posed of three rows of cells, whereas those of the latter plant are only composed of one row of cells. He had also found another of these water- plants which differed from the others in having a vascular axis, whereas the other species have cellular axes. He had also made some more important discoveries in fossil fungi, forming interesting additions to our knowledge of these fossil parasites. But perhaps the most interesting addition to our knowledge of these coal-plants has been his discovery of a new species of fossil plant, forming a ‘“‘ link” between two well-known species. No two species of plants can be more distinct in their internal organization than the fossils known under the names of Sigillaria vascu- lave and Lepidodendron Harcourtii. The newly-discovered plant occupies an intermediate position between them. S. vasculare has a woody cylinder surrounding a vascular axis or pith, while LZ. Harcowrtia has no woody cylinder, but it possesses certain peculiar vascular bundles, which proceeded from the pith to the leaves, which were small and numerous. The new plant combines within itself both these characteristic features of those well-known plants. This is one of those innumerable facts which support the great doctrine of ‘‘ evolution,” and which are continually forcing themselves upon the attention of scientific observers. WAKEFIELD NATURALISTS AND PHILOSOPHICAL Sociery.—Annual meeting, Sept. 6th, Mr. J. Wainwright, F.L.8., president, in the chair. Mr. HE. B. Wrigglesworth, secretary, read the twelfth annual report, which stated that there had been no increase in the number of members, though the society had made steady progress during the past session. There had been twelve meetings. The lecture programme had been very successful, and the council thanked those who had taken part. The society had had three rambles during the year, which were well attended. They had kept in view the collection of information on the flora and fauna of the district, with the object of its ultimate publication ; and a great amount of original matter was in the possession of the various sections, ready for the press. During the year the society had to deplore the loss of two of its oldest members—Mr. William Talbot and Mr. John Wilson. The Scientific and Fine Art Exhibition was opened Nov. 10th, 1881. Mr. J. Wainwright was re-elected president, and Mr. E. B. Wrigglesworth hon. secretary. A sub-committee was appointed to consider the question of procuring the old Town Hall for the purposes of the society. YorRKsHIRE Naturauists’ Unton.—Wakefield, Sept. 9th.—The fifth meeting of the year was planned for the investigation of Haw Park and surrounding district, with Wakefield as the final rendezvous, but as on account of the game preserves the local secretaries were not able to obtain permission to work Haw Park Woods themselves, the area of 46 THE NATURALIST. investigation was made to include a rather wider extent of ground, ali, however, lying between Wakefield and Barnsley. Five routes were arranged, and for the most part carried out according to programme, although the attendance was not at all what it ought to have been in a rich district so convenient of access for the masses of the members of the West Riding societies. Mr. C. W. Richardson, one of the local secre- taries, conducted a party which left Haigh station for Woolley Edge, Seccar Lane, and Woolley Hall, park, and gardens, returning from Crigglestone station. The other local secretary, Mr. HE. B. Wriggles- worth, led a party which, starting from Darton station, visited Pye, Husband, Wind Hill, Cow-car and Haigh Hill Woods, and also returned from Crigglestone station. A party, led by Mr. J. Wilcock, and mostly conchologists, left Kirkgate station, Wakefield, proceeding by way of Belle Vue to Agbrigg, thence along the banks of the Wakefield and Barnsley Canal to Haw Park, and afterwards through Chevet Woods, returning to Wakefield by way of Sandal, Castle Hill, and Moat. Mr. J. L. Chaplin’s party left Westgate station for Walton, from which they visited Berg and Greenside quarries, and afterwards keeping the high road through Winterset and Ryhill Pits, returned from Ryhill station. Mr. J. Wainwright, F.L.S., president of the Wakefield Society, and a small party, drove in the afternoon to Woolley Hall and Park. There were also a few members exploring the district on their own account, unconnected with any party. At 5-25 p.m. an excellent tea was provided in the Board School, Westgate, the sectional and general meetings being also held there. The chair of the general meeting was occupied by the ~ Rev. Wm. Fowler, M.A., vice-president. It was found that the Barnsley, ' Bradford (2), Dewsbury, Doncaster, Heckmondwike, Huddersfield (Liter- ary and Scientific Society), Ilkley, Leeds (3), Liversedge, Malton, Ripon, and Wakefield societies were: represented. The individual attendance was very meagre, only about 40 or 50 members being present. The. minutes of the Grassington meeting were read and confirmed. Thanks were voted to Sir Lionel Pilkington and Mr. G. B. Wentworth for permission to visit their estates, to the Wakefield School Board for the use of the Schools, and to the local secretaries, on the proposition of Mr. Thomas Lister. The list of new subscribers included Dr. Crowther and Mr. T. Stevens, both of Wakefield. Mr. Lister then handed in a notice of motion on behalf of Mr. W. E. Brady, the secretary of the Barnsley Naturalists’ Society, to the effect that at an early meeting of the Union he should move, either personally or by deputy, the following resolution: ~ ‘‘ That having taken into consideration the large number of our members who, from commercial and other engagements, are unable.to attend the Saturday meetings, and having further considered the objectionable effects which the prohibitory system now followed admittedly exercises upon the members thus debarred from attending an equitable share of the Union’s meetings ; this meeting recommends that in future one-half of the excursions and meetings of this Union should be held on Satur- Reports oF SocieriEs. “47 days, and the other half on some other days, and that the annual meeting should be held alternately upon Saturdays and Mondays, or some other day which may afterwards be shown to be of greater advantage.” It was pointed out that the present practice of the Union was (at all events up to last year inclusive) to hold half the excursions on Monday and half on Saturday, and the chairman announced that the motion would come on for discussion at the annual meeting at Selby, next March. The reports of sections were then taken. Mr. Fowler reported on the plants, that, owing to the lateness of the season, and the fact that the coal measures (proverbially unproductive in plants) were the only strata visited, there was but a poor display of specimens. The mostnoticeable were Chelidonium majus, Bidens tripartita, Littorella lacustris, and Sagittaria sagittifolia. Mr. H. T. Soppitt then mentioned that Haigh proved to be a very productive place for fungi, of which he had collected the following :— Agaricus (Amanita) vaginatus Bull, A. (A.) rubescens P., A. (Lepiota) - granulosus Batsch., A. (Clitocybe) laccatus Scop., A. (Collybia) macu- latus A. & 8., A. (C.) tuberosus Bull, A. (Mycena) galericulatus Scop., A, (Stropharia) semiglobatus Batsch., A. (S.) sruginosus Curt., A. (Coprinus) radiatus Fr., A. (Panzolus) separatus L., A. (Galera) hyp- norum Batsch., Marasmius peronatus Fr., Russula emetica Fr., R. ochroleuca Fa., Lactarius rufus Fr., L. glyciosmus Fr., Paxillus involutus Fr., Hygrophorus psittacinus Fr., Boletus calopus Fr., Polyporus versi- color Fr., Dacrymyces stillatus Nees, Scleroderma vulgare Fr., Lycoper- don gemmatum Fr., Spumaria alba D C., Sphzerobolus stellatus Tode, Ceuthospora phacidioides Grev., Puccinia hieracii, P. lapsani, Adcidium tussilaginis Pers., Coleosporium tussilaginis Lev., Trichobasis suaveolens Ley., T. rubigo-vera Lev., Melampsora betulina Desm., Pilobolus crystal- linus Tode, Peziza calycina Sch., P. granulata Bull, Bulgaria inquinans Fr., Ascobolus ciliatus Sch., Helotium aciculare, Fr., Sphcerotheca pannosa Lev., Erysiphe martii Link, Chetomium elatum Kze, Corticium sambuci P. For the Geological Section, Mr. Thomas Tate, F.G.S, president of the section, reported as follows :—The district is situated exclusively upon the middle coal measures, ranging from the Barnsley coal seam, exposed south of Crigglestone station, up to the Havercroft rock, capping Ryhill. The chief seams are the Beamshaw, or Stanley Main, the Winter, or scale coal, and the Crofton seams, the latter seen east of Walton station on the Great Northern railway. The Woolley Edge rock makes a fine escarpment of coarse grit with quartz pebbles. As it approaches Wakefield, which stands upon it, this rock assumes a fine- grained flagey structure. The Oaks rock also forms a prominent feature in the landscape, as at Heath Common. It is also exposed in the Agbrigg and Greenside quarries, and in numerous cuttings on the Midland railway. These fresh-water sandstones contain much drifted vegetation, usually fragmentary, so that good fossils could not be obtained, Specimens of estuarine, or fresh-water shells (Myalina modiolaris, Anthracosia acuta, Anthracomya), from the coal shales, were exhibited. 48 THe NAtvUuRALIST. In the absence of the officers of the Vertebrate Section, Mr. Thomas Lister of Barnsley reported all three of the linnets, grey, green, lesser redpoll, two crested grebes, kestrel, three of the tits, ringdove, lapwings numerous, coots, moorhens, bullfinch, magpie. Migrants—redstart, whitethroat, blackcap, three of the swallow tribe, whinchat, wheatear, willow warbler last heard in song : total, 9 migrants, and 25 resident and water-birds. In the absence of the officers of the Conchological Section, Mr. H. Pollard, the secretary of the Leeds Naturalists’ Club, reported that Mr. Wilcock’s party had found 41 out of the 91 species and varieties which had been known to occur along their line of route, that though none of them were rare, some of them were very local in their range. The best captures included Helix aculeata, Zonites excavatus, Z. fulvus, Z. nitidus, Vertigo pygmea, Limnea palustris, var. tincta, Neritina fluviatilis, Bythinia Leachii, Planorbis nautileus, Pisidium fontinale, var. Henslowana, Physa fontinalis, and Succinea elegans. A search amongst a quantity of mud recently taken from the bottom of the Canal, yielded very good examples of Anodonta cygnea and Unio pictorum. For the Entomological Section its officers reported. The secretary, Mr. E. B. Wrigglesworth, reported on the coleoptera that the following beetles were taken :—Notiophilus biguttatus, Fab., N. rufipes, Curt., Carabus catenulatus, Scop., C. clathratus, Linn., Leistus ferrugineus, Linn., Calathus cisteloides, Prz., C. melanocephalus, Linn., Harpalus ruficornis, Fabr., Callidium alni, Linn., Anchomenus prasinus, Munb, Olisthopus rotundatus, Pk., Silpha rugosa, Linn., Necrophorus ruspator, LEr., Colymbetes fuscus, Linn., Aphodius lnridus, Payk., A. punctatosulcatus, St., Cryptorhynchus lapathi, Linn., Chrysomela polita, Linn., Otiorhyn- chus picipes, Fabr., Tachinus subterraneus, Linn., Staphylinus pubes- cens, DeG., Ilybius ater, Er., &c., &c. The president, Mr. G. T, Porritt. F.L.8., reported on the lepidoptera, that Nonagria fulva had been found not uncommonly in a rough field at Haigh, and the larvee of Coleophora ceespititiella were in thousands on the seeds of the rushes srowing in the same field. Other species taken included Tryphena fimbria, Hydreecia nictitans, and a number of tortrices. Hymenoptera were plentiful at Haigh and Woolley Edge. In connection with the business of the Vertebrate Section, the secretary remarked that he thought the Union could hardly visit Wakefield without in some way referring to the great loss it had sustained in the decease of Mr. William Talbot, author of ‘‘The Birds of Wakefield.” The subject was continued by Mr. Lister, who spoke from a long friendship and intimate knowledge of Mr. Talbot ; by Mr. J. M. Barber, who referred to the fact that Mr. Talbot was the first to suggest the establishment of the W.R.C.N.S. (now the Y.N.U.); and by the chairman, who paid a high compliment to Mr. Talbot’s worth, and stated that he knew much more than ever he professed to know. A reference to the forthcoming meeting at Pilmoor, and a vote of thanks to the chair, concluded the proceedings. —W. D. R. Diary—Westngs of Societies. a7 Oct. 3. Tivemodee Noatunticts ee Tate +, 8. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field. Club. - — ,, 8. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—“ The ‘Structure and Life a : ae -of the Common Frog.” Mr. H. Hebblethwaite.- ar aan 2 Belew Naturalists’ Society —Geological Section. 4. 4 Hntomological Society of London, 7 p.m. __- Teese = Raat Society. —Entomological- Section, Oe 0, =o MO. “Botanical Sections j to yetes SS a5 b (Cope ames Us) (arene ar Vertebrate Section. ar ts Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.—Excursion to. Thirsk for Pineer » Focal See., Mr. W.-Gregson, Baldersby, Thirsk. Tea and Meeting at Depot Hotel, Thirsk Junction. 4 % Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30. oe 4, 10. Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. oe 11. York and District Naturalists’ Field ab: 13. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 16. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-80 . m. - -,, 17. Bradford Naturalists’ Society. She escieal Evening, 7 30 p-m. 17. Barnsley Naturalists’ Society—Geological Section. 20. North Stafferdshire Naturalists’ Field Club. —Excursion to Coppen- Ss hall, - - Bradley, Church Eaton, and so Eaaeer, > Er: Lynam : 24. Barnsley N aturalists’ Society. eae $0. Lancashire and Cheshire Eipomblo tal Sine _» 81. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—Report of the Botanical. Section sae ~~ for 1882, Messrs. W. West, and H. T. Soppitt. — = ieee eee Naturalists’ Society. = Geological SUN TO- OUR SU BSCRIBERS. Vor VIII. commenced with the August number, and all : _ subscribers who have not sent their Subscriptions (4/-), are = _requested to do so at once, to the Editors, care of Mr. ‘iB. ees Market Place. Comer, Huddersfield. THE ¢ ‘QUARTERLY J OURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY. 08 This Journal | circulates widely amongst. Conchologists - throughout the world, and contains every. es articles cone ae all departments of the Science. - ‘Double numbers are at present being issued, , Price I /- each, oe or as per annum, post free. PUBLISHED BY J. W. TAVLOR,. ot Ann’ Ss Alors: Leeds, to a whom. should be sent all communications ; -and to whom Post oS gee aie. should be made > payable. = es Loxpow: ‘-HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, ‘PIOCADILLY, Ww. THE SCOTTISH N ATURALIST, . Karly Migrations. of Birds.—James Varley... Ne eee (AS ee ete ae ie OBE _. Bottle-nosed Dolphins. —Thomas Bunker... ER Nae eG . Cychrus rostratus in Semerdale,— Wim. Denison Roebuck ee OO _ Acherontia Atropos at Huddersfield.— James Varley — eg NO etait, ane 26 das Entomological Notes.—Bradford.—J. W. Carter.. Urs San Seed Wide io D6 oo Primos: in. Yorkshire.—G@co. T. Porritt, ELS. DEES Sy ae od oe DT ~- New Yorkshire Mosses.— W: West me, ys IRS ER Gye 5 UO, RAINFALL FOR SEPTEMBER... Pee a ee aes (a ee 89 Rerorrs or Socreries:— : Bradford Naturalists’ Bcc. s eee ee ee eg OU) - Laneashire and Cheshire Entomological Scciciy Bice fy is aie se ee bee OL Manchester Cryptogamic Society — ... 04 Reg eae ics oa ae 61 ent rests Union. —Thirsk secting Ret et ae ee Dash 62 ee “HUDDERSFIELD: f B. Brows, Marxut Piace Corner. ne The Effects. of the Weather ¢ on Insects, ele Ormerod. ee ae ae s a Oh er _ Barnsley Naturalists’ Society Cee Naren Searborough Scientific Society Be eee Se a Raf te See! = =» TO CORRESPONDENTS: = = - year. Intending new. subscribers should send in their names immediately. -_ eurrent month, to insure insertion in our next Este, and should: be written on. THE NATURALIST i is published on the first of every. teenth ae bee 4 j= a year, post free, payable in advance. The volume commences in August ofeach AH communications, “except Advertisements, ‘Exchanges, or. Short Queries, g = = should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of the - one side of the sheet only. : er AUTHORS WISHING FoR REPRINTS oF THEIR PAPERS can. ase ee on the* following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four — - pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 5s., 100 copies Gs. Gp. Not exceeding eight - | 2g Yj, -in 1877 » by Mx. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S.; one on ‘ Yorkshire Micro-lepideptera ie Graduated List of se Birds.” specially prepared for _ pages, 25 copies 5s., 50 copies Gs. 6b., 100 copies Os., and so on in npr ee tion.. Printed covers and separate title pages extra. 3 oe = ALL COMMUNICATIONS M UST BE ADDRESSED TO 1 THE EDI TORS” Y CARE OF MR. B. BROWN, PUBLISHER, HUDDERSFIELD. _ TRA NSA CTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NATURA LISTS’ UNION. PART ve FOR 1877 contains the commencement of ‘The Birds of Yorkshire, seo = by Mr. W.E. Clarke, M.B.0.U. 3 of an ‘‘ Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- a water Mollusca of- Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a complete list-of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that —. order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on *‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera Gn 877, 2 by Mr. Win. Prest ;papers by Mr. S. L. Mosley, on ‘‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Poyllidee ; and a eport on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S. PARTS I. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’s Be Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water ~—_ Mollusca of Yorkshire; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr. Parsons ; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora of the’ East- = S Riding ” ;- papers en Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. Yorkshire Ichneumonide, by Mr. 8. D. Bairstow, F,L.S, ; and-on Vorkshives Een SS observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. : are - Ww. DENISON: Rorpuck, Sunny Bank, - Leeds, es Wu. E. CLARKE, ETS 4 Secs. — ia 5, Hast View, Hyde = Road, Leeds Bes, oH. Ww. “MARSDEN, “NATURAL HISTORY. AGENT AND. BOOKSELLER. ———— € ie ad ee of all kinds, of the best make on the dowest terms. Pritish and European Macro Lepiipptcns Preserved Larve of rare - British | Lepidoptera. = BOOKS.—New and Second: hand, on Natural taste Subjects. es ee The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggsi in England. Catalogues on application. “Bijou List of British Butterflies,” Beautifully printed in colours Se reference and labelling, 6 és LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. Intevlenved. 5/- 2237 “MIDLAND ROAD, CLOUCESTER. oe Original Articles. SPHAGNUM TORREYANUM, SULLIVANT, IN BRITAIN. By H. Boswe .t. TaIs moss, which appears in Braithwaite’s Sphagnacez as Sph. cuspi- datum, variety Torreyi, has heretofore escaped notice in Europe, but during a ramble this summer I fell in with it in the neighbourhood of Whitchurch, Shropshire, and it may be looked for in wet bogs in other parts of the country, when better known. Its aspect is that of very tall and robust cuspidatum, and it is doubtless rightly placed as a variety of that species. My specimens agree exactly with American ones, and also with the figure and description of S. Mendocinum, in Sullivant’s Icones, which Braithwaite unites to Vorreyanuz; but Ran and Harvey in their catalogue of the mosses of North America, treat the latter as distinct. It appears to have been found only in California, and I have not seen it, but probably specimens would show its identity with Torreyanum. The most striking features are, the large size, very long stout stems, large triangular stem-leaves, and long semi-tubular branch-leaves. Oxford, Oct. 12th, 1882, NEW AND CRITICAL EUROPEAN MOSSES. et By G. Limpricar. ; ( Translated.) In the German magazine, ‘“‘ Flora,’ No. 13, 1882, are a few notes on ‘some new and critical mosses, by Gustav Limpricht; as they are species nearly related to our British ones, a translation of Herr Limpricht’s notes may be of interest, in calling the attention of our British muscologists to these species, which should be looked for here. — Aypnum (Limnobium) styriacum, n, sp.—Synoicous; in extensive, depressed, soft cushions of a sordid-, yellowish-, or golden-brown- green colour, stem filiform, very slender, up to 8 c.m. long, procum- bent, rootless, almost simple or repeatedly furcate, at the base destitute of leaves; branches irregular, slender and flaccid, rootless; leaves loosely disposed, standing-off erect on all sides, almost spoonlike- concave, slightly longitudinally-plicate, from sub-cordate to ovate, with a slightly decurrent base, gradually narrowed to a somewhat reflexed lanceolate point, margin entire ; nerve firm, furcate, the longest arm N.S., Vou. virt., Nov., 1882. 50 THE NatTURALIST. extending above the middle of the leaf; the leaf-cells above more rhomboid, in the middle of the leaf somewhat winding almost fusi- form, yet proportionately always short and wide, at the base of the leaf rhomboid-hexagonal, in the angles of the leaf rectangular yet not concave ; the large flower-buds rooting at their base contain both sexual organs, yet each are separate, and are surrounded by their own involucral leaves, whereby the young flower-buds often appear to be only male ; if, however, they are unfolded they show in the inside the rudimentary archegonia surrounded by the yet less developed peri- cheetial leaves. All the involucral leaves are nerveless, and of a looser cellular texture, the inner perichztial leaves erect, lengthened out lanceolately ; drawn out abruptly into a moderately long point ; pedicel about 1 c.m. long ; capsule cernuous ; operculum high conical, red. ‘ A longitudinal section of the capsule shows between the operculum and the theca two large cells, which probably form the annulus, but whose character, as also that of the peristome and spores, can only be determined from -the perfectly ripe capsule. The spores probably ripen in autumn. Discovered by J. Breidler in four different stations, all in the neighbourhood of Schladming, in Styria, about 2000 metres high. This species has already a previous history; my friend J. Breidler sent me the first specimens of it as Limnobium palustre, male; dioicous (?), and communicated to me that Juratzka held it to be Hypnum palustre. Schimper, on the contrary, had declared it to be an unknown Limnobium which he doubted bclonged to Hypuum palustre. This new species is distinguished from ail allied ones by its synoicous inflorescence. It pos- sesses a certain similarity in habit to Hypnum palustre, it however shows, in a cross section of the leaf, shorter and wider cells, leaf- angles never concave, and a constantly stronger furcate nerve. From weaker forms of Hypnum cochlearifolium it is easy to distin- guish it by the form and pointing of the leaves, Limnobium cochlearifolium. Venturi in Erb. erittog. Ital. series 11, Fasc. X. (1871); ‘‘ Hedwigia,” 1872, p. 71. Of this species (as of many others) Schimper has, in the 2nd ed. of the “Synopsis,” (1876) taken no notice, and consequently — describes l.c. p. 778, a perfectly sterile plant from the Pyrenees, as Hypnum Goulardi, Schimp., n. sp., which belongs here. Venturi has himself, even in ‘‘ Bryinez ex regione italica Tirolis, Tridentina dicta,’ “‘ Revue Bryol.,” 1879, p. 62, placed before it Schimper’s name (here written in error H. Gounodii and cochleariforme), but the LimpricHot: New anp CriticaL EKuropEan Mossss. 51 name Hypnum cochlearifolium possesses the priority ; moreover, Venturi (1.c.) had already described the fertile plant. Since Geheeb, in ‘“ Flora,” 1881, p. 296, has announced the discovery of Hypnum Goulardi, Schimp. for Germany, I hold it time to speak as I do lest the false name should become naturalised. Geheeb remarks (l.c.) that he had observed on Breidler’s specimens from Keeskar, female flowers, whereby the plant would be dioicous : but it is monoicous, as Venturi had already stated in the diagnosis. The specimen in the Erb. crittog. Ital. Venturi collected in the High Alps of Rabbi in the Tyrol. In my herbarium are also specimens from the Neunerspitz, near Innsbruck, legit Venturi, from the Myringer Alps, on the Ross Rogel, near Innsbruck, leg. F. Arnold (ex herb. Juratzka), from Keeskar, in the Obersulzbachthal ; Pinzgau leg. J. Breidler, and from the Guadenthal, near Dollach, in Carinthia, leg. J. Breidler. Brachythecium Venturi. Warnst “ Flora,” 1881,n. 34. In J. Milde’s “ Bryologia Silesiaca ” 1869, is a remark on Brachythecium populeum Br. and Sch., but which, through the mistake of the printer, has not been inserted in the right place, p. 335, but only upon p. 336 after Brachythecium plumosum. Wad the author of Brachythecium Venturii taken notice of this remark, and compared the diagnosis of Brachythecium amoenum, Milde, “ Hedwigia.” 1869, n. 61, it would probably not have escaped him that the characters of his new form agree with those of Milde’s species. To be sure Br. Venturii should have, according to the description, strongly-nerved inner perigonial leaves, but in the specimen of the original from the hands of the author I find the inner perigonial leaves perfectly nerveless. Milde called his plant, whilst he fell in with the view of Juratzka, le. “ Bryol. Sil.” a critical form of Brachythecium populcum, Br. and Sch. ; a similar form (for never do even two individuals of the same variety agree) is Brachythecium Venturii, and if I also regard both plants as belonging to the circle of form of Brachythecium populeum, yet this form is far from being a collective species in the meaning of Warnstorf’s “ Monograph of the Sphagna.” Dicranum comptum, Schimp. Syn. ed. II. p- 97.—Dr. A. Sauter, the discoverer of this species, forwarded me specimens of the original _ for examination; they, however, only consisted of a few stems. According to my view, this species shows no relation to Dicranum longifolium, with which the author of the species compares it, but to a form of Dicranodontium circinnatum, Wils.—a view which may be 52 Toe NATURALIST. arrived at from the comparison of the diagnosis of both species. Specimens agreeing in every particular have been also collected by J. Breidler from the classic station. SEMERDALE : NOTES ON ITS PHYSICAL FEATURES AND MOLLUSCAN FAUNA. By Wm. Dentson RogesBuck. SEMERDALE, in the vicinity of which I spent my vacation this year, is—as Mr. Baker says—unique among the North Yorkshire Dales in its shape and character. One of the contributory valleys of Wensley- dale, it differs entirely in its physical aspect from such as Coverdale, Bishopdale, Cotterdale, &e., all of which merge gradually into the main valley. Semerdale, on the contrary, is almost completely isolated : the hills which enclose it stand boldly out towards the Yore and approach each other so closely, near Bainbridge, as to leave but a very narrow outlet for the Bain river, which carries into the Yore the the whole drainage of the dale. One consequence of the virtual shut- ting off of this little basin of not more than 20 square miles of country is that it contains one of the largest of the very few Yorkshire lakes, which, with the usual re-duplication of syllables all meaning the same thing, is called Lake Semerwater (Lake-Sea-Mere-Water). It covers some 105 acres and contains various species of fish, more especially bream. Trout are likewise abundant, especially in the affluents, as are also such smaller fish, as loach, minnows, &e., and erayfish swarm everywhere. The lake, which has but one outlet into the Yore (the Bain), is fed by numerous streams, the three most important of which —Cragdale Water, Raydale and Bardale Becks—unite before entering it. The mountains which guard Semerdale—of which Counterside, Wetherfell (2015 feet), Greenside (1852 feet), Fleet Moss, Cray Moss, the Stake (1818 feet), and Addleborough (1564 feet), are the chief summits—vary but little in height, and do not fall below 1600 feet until they reach comparatively near to the main river of Yore. Bain- bridge, at the outlet of the dale, is 762 feet above sea level, so that the actual difference in altitude which the little basin presents is about 1000 feet. Geologically, so far as the imperfect maps at command ean show, the formations represented are carboniferous limestone in the valley, presenting the usual characteristic -‘ scars,’ and Yore- dale Rocks in the upper reaches of the tributary dales, while the RoErsuck : SEMERDALE. 53 highest summits are capped by millstone grit. The point of junction between the base of the Yoredale rocks and the limestone below is well marked on all the streams, more especially at Park Scar on the Cragdale Water, by a series of beautiful waterfalls. The hills are covered with coarse grass, or bents, and are much used for pasturage. There is no heatherland, only very straggling plants of heather being to be found. The district—once the famous Forest of Raydale—is now moderately wooded, especially up the Raydale stream. There is marshy ground at the foot of the lake, in which Parnassva palustris grows abundantly, and through which, for the first mile of its course, the Bain flows with a very sluggish and muddy stream, affording suitable stations for the growth of Potamogetons and the yellow water-lily. Its course is afterwards much accelerated, and at Bainbridge it dashes over shelving slabs of limestone, afterwards joining the Yore opposite Askrigg. 3 During the stay of myself and some friends at Bainbridge, which was our headquarters for the first fortnight of August, the vicinity of the lake and both its shores, together with the three tributary dales, and the slopes and summits of some of the hills, were visited. So far as natural history was concerned, the only observations made were upon the mollusea. Of other things I only recollect seeing specimens of the fish I have before mentioned, finding a specimen of Cychrus rvostratus, and noting the water rat, peewit, magpie, dipper, frog, bull- head or miller’s thumb, the small garden white, small tortoise-shell and small heath butterflies. The weather was not very favourable for mollusca, as there was no rain whatever till nearly the last day of our stay, and shells were for the most part somewhat difficult to find. I now give my list of shells, all of which have passed the scrutiny of my friends Messrs. J. W. Taylor and William Nelson, to whom I am indebted for assistance in _ determining some of the more critical specimens, as well as confirming my own determinations. An examination of the subjoined list at once shows that the species of the montane or sub-alpine type are represented, usually in abun- dance, and that the fiuviatile forms are almost entirely absent. I failed to detect any shells but Anodonta in the lake itself. The total number, twenty-seven only, of species and varieties presents but a meagre show, and my expectations of the capabilities of the district, based upon its geological and physical aspect, were distinctly disap- pointed, though there can be no doubt that further research at another season of the year, or under more auspicious meteorological conditions, 54 Tae NATURALIST. especially if undertaken by a more experienced collector, will add various species and varieties to the list. Such a result is still more likely if the streams and the woodlands (which I did not exhaustively search) are well examined. I do not anticipate, however, that Semer- dale will prove a very prolific distriet, certainly by no means so pro- ductive as Mill Gill and Whitfield Gills (situated on the other side of the Yore) are. Its climatological conditions are against it. It is of a northerly aspect, with the encircling hill-ranges to the south, between it and the light and heat of the sun, and thus likely to be more cold and bleak than the valleys which are situated on the northern side of Wensleydale, facing the south. Anodonta anatina, L. Very abundant in Lake Semerwater. Limnea truncatula, Mull. Common along road sides near Stalling- busk, and near the bridge at Bainbridge. Ancylus fluviatilis var. gibbosa, Bourg. Found near Stallingbusk in 1877, by Mr. H. Crowther. Arion ater, L., the black slug. Abundant about Counterside, Carr End, Marsett, Stallingbusk, &. Ranges altitudinally as high as 1500 feet on Raydale Grainings. A. hortensis, Fer. Common on Bainbridge veleeee om and near Stallingbusk, Marsett, and Counterside. Limax agrestis, L., the field slug. This usually common as was abundant everywhere. Succinea putris, L. Common at the foot of the Lake ; also found near High Blean, and a single dead specimen near the waterfall in Bar- dale. Vitrina pellucida, Mull. Young specimens abundant under stones on Bainbridge village-green ; a few also obtained near Stallingbusk and Marsett. Zonites cellarvus, Mull. One found at Carr End, near Marsett. Z. alliarius, Mull. Not uneommon near Bardale Force, Marsett, Counterside, High Blean, and Stallingbusk. Z. nitidulus, Drap. A few specimens found about Marsett, near the | Knight’s Close, and Bardale Falls, and in Bank Wood, Cragdale. Z. radiatulus, Ald. | Three or four specimens found under stones by the road sides near Sta!lingbusk. Z. crystallinus, Mull. Onespecimen found in company with the last- named. RoEBUCK : SEMERDALE. 55 Helix hortensis, Mull. Occurs along Scar Top, near Bainbridge. H. arbustorum, L. Common along the Scar Top; occurs also about Stallingbusk, Counterside, and in Bardale. H. arbustorum, var. flavescens, Moguin-Tandon. With the type, not uncommon on Scar Top. H. rufescens, Penn. Near Stallingbusk Church, in Bank Wood, Cragdale, and at Carr End, near Marsett, abundant. H. lispida, L. Very common. Scar Top, Bainbridge Village-green, round the Lake, about Counterside, Carr End, Stallingbusk and High Blean. Hf. sericea, Mull. One near Semerdale House, and one at Knight Close Force, Marsett. H. rotundata, Mull. Common everywhere. H. rupestris, Stud. Common on limestone walls, about Bainbridge, Sear Top, Carr End, Stallingbusk, High Blean, Counterside, and in Bardale ; also on the summit scars of Addleborough hill (1564 feet altitude.) Pupa umbilicata, Drap. Common about Bainbridge, Counterside, Carr End, Marsett, Bardale waterfall, Stallingbusk, and High Blean, and on the summit Scars of Addleborough. Vertigo pygme@a, Drap. A few specimens found near Carr End, in damp places. Balia perversa, Lu. Several specimens at Carr End, and a few on Scar Top, near Bainbridge. Clausilia rugosa, Drap. Not uncommon on Scar Top, about Stalling- busk, near Semerdale House, and one at Knight Close Force, near Marsett. oe Clausilia rugosa var. dubia, Drap. Two specimens near the bridge over the Bain, at Bainbridge, one on Scar Top and one near Stallingbusk. Not common. Cochlicopa lubrica, Mull. Common about Bainbridge, High Blean, Stallingbusk, Marsett, near Bardale Force, near Semerdale House, and at the foot of Semerwater Lake. The results of my investigation of the mollusca of other parts of Wensleydale will be given in a supplementary paper, to appear in an early number of the Naturalist. ; Leeds, Oct. 19th, 1882. Short Hotes and Queries. Lars Migrants NEAR Hatirax. - Numbers of swallows and also martins have during the past weck been constantly on the wing in the Ryburne Valley. I counted a score yesterday, and many are flying about to-day, October 17th.—F. G. 8. Rawson. Harty Micrations oF Brrps.—On July 10th, whilst working in my garden, I heard the well-known cry of gulls, and on looking up, had the pleasure of seeing 25 black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus); they were flying due south, and continued to pass over in twos and threes for nearly amonth. July 27th, five curlews (Numenius arquata) passed over. Aug. 5th, on going out at ten o’clock at night, there was a flock of birds passing over which were very clamorous, but I could not make out their species. Sept. 24th, we have a very large flock of fieldfares (Turdus pilaris) in Mr. John Beaumont’s and Mr. R. H. Tolson’s parks, at Dalton. This is the earliest date I have of them. Sept. 27th, a large flock of swallows passed over, flying due south ; they were all Hirunde rustica.—J AMES VARLEY, Huddersfield, Oct. 16th. Borrie-NosrD DotrHins.—Boitle-nosed dolphins (Delphinus tursio} in the Humber and Ouse, have beeu very numerous this autumn. Three were shot several miles above Goole, and Mr. Jno. Harrison has handed me a rough sketch of one, with its dimensions. Our mem- bers have been very fortunate in finding Volvor globator this year. The members of the Y. N. U. who attended Snaith meeting, will probably remember obtaining a good supply there ; had any of them been with Mr. Lord and me on the 7th mst., we could have shewn them a series of ponds or delvings reaching two miles, with Volvox in almost all of them. We also found it abundaut in a pond at the edge of the moors a fortnight since ; I was much surprised at this, as the place was simply a pond in a peat bog.—THomas BUNKER. Cychrus rostratus IN SEMERDALE.—On the 17th August last, I found a specimen of this rather uncommon though widely distributed beetle amongst stones by the road side, at Counterside, a village near the foet of Lake Semerwater.—Wm. Drnitson Roesuck. Acherontia Atropos At HupDERSFIELD.—I have received a very fine specimeu of the death’s head moth (Acherontia Atropos) from Mr. Lee, Somerset Road ; it was taken at Brockholes, Sept. 28th last —J. VARLEY. EntomoLocicaL Nores.—-BRADFORD.—The season 1882 is without doubt the worst we ever experienced. In early spring, Phigalia pilosaria was not nearly so common as usual, and this is the more remarkable when we take into consideration the great abundance of larvee feeding in June, 1881. Pieris napi, which last year was very abundant, at Shipley Glen, has this season scarcely been seen; Abraxas ulmata seems almost to have dis- appeared from Hawksworth, where we usually saw it in thousands, but this season it turned up somewhat commonly at Shipley Glen, where, although we have visited the exact spot once, twice, and three times a week, for several years, we never saw it before. Larentia salicata has not been seen at Shipley Glen, and only one specimen observed in the SHort NotEs AND QUERIES. 57 Bingley district ; and a number of other species which are usually common, have, this season, rarely been observed. The most interesting capture which I made is one specimen of P. stratiotalis, which I took at Frizinghall, in July, and which Mr. Porritt informs me has only been recorded from three other Yorkshire localities. At the same place I took H. nymphealis very abundantly, S. cembralis a few, and P. trigonodac- tylus flying over coltsfoot, all of which are new to our district record list. —J. W. Carrer, 14, Valley-st,, Bradford, Sept. 10th. IcHNEUMONS IN YORKSHIRE.—Several ichneumons secured during the year have been named for me by Mr. J. B. Bridgman, of Norwich, as follows :—Ichneumon luctatorius, L., Grassington, Aug. 7th, 1882. TI. nigritarius, Gr., Edlington Wood, Aug. 5th, 1882. * J. albicinctus, Gr., Edlington Wood, Aug. 5th, 1882. Perilissus filicornis, (Gr.), variety ? Lepton Great Wood, near Huddersfield, Sept. 23rd, 1882. *P. vernalis, (Gr.), Yorkshire, June, 1882, (locality not certain.) * Tryphon signator, Gr., Edlingion Wood, Aug. 5th, 1882. Those marked * are new to the Yorkshire list.—Guo. T. Porrirr. New Yorksurre Mossss.—I have collected the following mosses which are not recorded for Yorkshire in the London catalogue of British mosses and hepatics :—Gymnosiomum tortile, Schwg. Ingleborough, at 2000 feet, and . Malham, above the Cove, at 1100 feet ; Sphagnum cuspidatum, Ehrh., var. falcatum, Russ. Baildon Moor; S. subsecundum, Nees., var. awriculatum, Schpr., Adel; and S. cymbifoliwm, Ehrh., var., con- gestum, Schpr. Whernside, Baildon, &c.—W. West. THe Errects oF WeaTHER ON Insects: By Miss Ornmrrop.—This lady, the well-known entomologist, has recently delivered a lecture on the above subject, at the Royal Agricultural College, to a large number of students, under the presidency of the Principal, the Rev. J. B. McClellan, which we think deserves to be widely known. We therefore make no apology for inserting a short abstract of her remarks, which, though perhaps in some respects not new to many entomologists, yet must interest all. The lecture was principally directed to the effects of rain, frost, heat, drought, &c., on insect life, and the methods by which these influences may be brought to bear practically in the course of common agricultural treatment in diminishing the amount of insects injurious to our crops. Miss Ormerod showed how, in addition to its direct influence on insect life, the effects of the weather may be traced for one, two, or more years in its promotion of the growth of special weeds, as, for instance, charlock, which may be the food-plant of some special crop pest, and also in its interference with the regularity of measures of cultivation by which plant and vermin are usually cleared out. Reasons were advanced why common farm insects were uninjured by even extreme cold, it being shown that they select some special locality under leaves or stones, or form a cell, or in some way supply themselves with shelter, and there they pass into a quiet, motionless state, the animal 58 THE NATURALIST. functions decreasing in power with the increase of the cold. Still, even if totally frozen, many kinds of caterpillars are not injured so long as the freezing takes place in the shelters they have made for themselves. In the earth-cells, in which many kinds of caterpillars or grubs pass the winter, they are protected from drying winds and sudden changes of temperature, and these cells also appear to exclude the wet, so that the caterpillar hes clean and dry within, without risk of its breathing pores being choked by mud, which, though possibly not of importance to it while torpid, is a very serious matter when it wakes from its wintry sleep. It appears, in fact, that so long as they are in their own cells these common farm pests will survive a greater amount of cold than is likely to occur in these islands. If they are not in their own cells, ‘circumstances will affect them very differently : and if, by ploughing, digging, or any other operation, the caterpiilars and chrysalids can be thrown out of their cells.or other wintry defences, and scattering them, mixing them with the soil and exposing them to drying winds, to alternate freezing and thawing, or to lying soddening in the rain or wet ground, when too torpid to move, that thus great numbers are got rid of. Thus, in the case of the maggots and pupee of some kinds of the diptera (or two-winged flies) we may throw them on the surface, or turn them down so deeply in autumn cultivation, that any flies that may develop will have no power to work their way through the quantity of earth above them ; and the best known remedy for the wheat midge is the method in which this plan is carried out in Canada and the United States of America. This is, when the ‘‘ red maggot” is lying at the bottom of the stubble or a little below the surface in autumn, to skim off with the first turn-furrow of the plough about two inches of the surface-soil, with all the stubble, weeds, and vermin in it, and turn it to the bottom of the furrow ; then raise another slice with the second turn-furrow, and throwing it over the first, bury it some inches deep. By this means the pest may be got rid of, if the surface can be left undisturbed until after the natural time of development for the wheat midge in,the following season has passed ; for even if these gnat- flies develop, their delicate powers are quite unsuited for piercing through the firm ground above them, and consequently they perish. It is, how- ever, necessary that the ground should not be turned up again too soon, or the chrysalids or maggots in their cases may develop, and we shall have no benefit from their temporary burial. In the case of saw-flies, the cocoons may be thrown out in scores from under gooseberry bushes ; in masses as large as a man’s fist from under the pine-trees they have infested in autumn ; and, in the case of beetle larve or chrysalids, we may get rid of some very injurious ones in this way ; but the wireworm, having the instinct to bury itself when the weather is too cold for feeding, can only occasionally be dealt with in a torpid state; and the cockchafer-grubs, which are a great pest, also bury themselves safely too deep to be easily reached. In many cases the egg, whether laid singly or in clusters, is so placed as to be protected from rapid drying or sudden changes of temper- RAINFALL FOR SEPTEMBER. 59 ature. This locality is often either a little below the surface of the ground, as with one or more of the onion flies, the carrot fly, cabbage-root flies, and others, or amongst damp herbage, or on, or close to, the plants at the ground level, as with the daddy-longlegs or the click beetle (from whose eggs we are infested with the wireworm) ; and many others lay similarly. (To be continued. ) Raintall for September. Height | Toran Faun of 2 Noe to Dare. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest | _° above Days Fall, | Beaviest sea Fall. lena 1882. 1881. Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 1°64 | 17 | 24°68 |* 23°63 30 0:26 (J. W. Robson) Hairax...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 1°86 | 11} 35°94 | 32°34 ie ae _Leeps ... (Alfred Denny)... 183 |1°185 | 17 19°440 |+17°912 27 0-480 HoRSFORTH ... (James Fox)! 350 °|2°070 | 19 -24°620 +23°459 27 0-340 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...| 350 ‘71 | 15 | 22-01 18°52 27 0°72 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 3°18 | 16 | 30°97 28°30 19 0°72 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...; 520 | 2°90 | 15 | 23°40 21°56 26 0°59 GOOLE ... (J. HARRISON) ...) 25) 1°49 | 17; 22°51 18°92 1 0°37 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.| 10 | 1:43 | 17 |16-169 | 19:72 1 0°37 Lawton) | * Average to date for 16 years, 1866-81. + Average of 28 years, 1853-62 & 1865-82. + Average of 13 years, 1870-82. Reports of Societies. BaRnstEY Narturatists’ Soctery.—Meeting Oct. 10th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—An interesting paper was read by Mr. Frankland on *‘Harly Reminiscences of Birds and their Eggs, among the Cleveland Hills.” The botanical section have added to their long list several flowering plants, amongst them—Aug. 29, EHpilobium angustifoliwm, Sparganium simplex, Solanum nigrum ; Sept. 25, Cerastium aquaticum, Sedum telephiwm, Nuphar lutea ; Sept. 7th, Reseda luteola ; 27th, Clematis vitalba, Antirrhinum Orontium. Few insects have been observed, amongst them being Nonagria fulva and Celena Haworthii—the first new to the district. Amongst birds noted are, nightjar Aug. 21, whitethroat Sep. 5, landrail 19th, male gold crest and landrail 22nd ; magpie, grey linnet, and twite numerous at Ingbirchworth; larks in song; swallows and | martins in flocks at Stainborough Park ; straggling instances of swallows in Cockshaw-road, near Barnsley, 28th ; martin Oct. 2nd ; swallows in flock at Monkbretton Grange—the last seen by the chairman. Great spotted woodpeckers, jays, and kingfishers noted near Barnsley.—T. L. 60 THe NATURALIST. BraDForD Naturaists’ Society.—Meeting Aug. 22nd, the president in the chair, who gave a number of interesting extracts from his entomo- logical diary, dealing more particularly with species of lepidoptera peculiar to the Fens. Mr. B. Illingworth described rambles to Grange, Witherslack, and Kendal, and remarked upon the enormous number of wasps’ nests observed at the latter place. Mrs. Broadley exhibited several marine objects, including razor-shell, &c. ; Mr. Carter, Helix lapicida from Burnsall; Mr. Illingworth H. Blandina from Grange ; and Mr. Soppitt C. catenulatus from Heaton Woods. Meetine Sept. 5th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Firth exhibited O. filigrammaria from Rombalds Moor (Wharfedale), and L. olivata from Shipley Glen: Mr. Carter M. flammea from Wicken Fen, received from Mr. Porritt ; P. alpina from Perthshire, 1881; P. trigonodactylus from Frizinghall ; 7. caudana and P. solandriana from Rawdon ; Mr. Illing- worth a large number of V. Autiopa from America ; Mr. Terry P. phleas from Rawdon, M. arcuosa, M. rubiginata, and a large number of com- moner species from Shipley Glen, and a peculiarly marked specimen of P. brassice from the South, which gave rise to an animated discussion. Mr. West showed specimens of the pearl mussel (Unio margaritifer) from Ireland ; Mr. Soppitt Acme lineata, Balea perversa and Carychiwm mmi- mum from Ingleton, Helix pulchella from Otley, and the following plants : Ceterach officinarwm from Poole, and Filago germaiica from Baildon. A subscription list towards the ‘‘ Darwin Memorial Fund ” was commenced by the members. Meetine Sept. 19th, Mr. Fawcett in the chair.— Mr. Scorah gave an interesting lecture on ‘‘ Micro-Photography.” Mr. Illingworth exhibited O. filigrammaria from Rombalds Moor (Airedale), WN. fulva and N. glareosa from Shipley Glen, L. Alexis and P. phleas from Blackpool ; Messrs. Soppitt and Firth gave accounts of the recent meeting of the Y.N.U. at Wakefield, and Mr. Soppitt remarked that the district was extremely rich in fungi. Meetine Oct. 3rd, Mr. Soppitt, v.p., in the chair.—The evening was devoted to conversation and the exhibition of specimens, of which a good number were laid on the table. Mr. Bennett showed beautiful fruiting specimens of Hippophae rhamnoides from Skegness; Mr. Soppitt, on behalf of the Vicar of Arncliffe (the Rev. W. Boyd, M.A.), fine mounted specimens of Polemonium ceruleum and Dryas octopetala, from Arncliffe Clouders, the only Yorkshire habitat for the latter species ; Mr. Oxley, a large number of plants from Derbyshire and Cheshire, amongst which? were a number of rare species collected by Mr. Searle, including Colchi- cum autumnale, Festuca sylvatica, Hordeum sylvatica, Campanula latifolia, Vacciniwm vitis-idea (in fi.) and Ulex nanus. Mr. West showed several species of local fungi, amongst which was a fine specimen of Merulius lachrymans (dry rot fungus), from the cellar of Mr. Henry Ripley, of Bradford ; also a large number of foreign marine shells.—J. W. CartTsEr, Hon. Sec. REpPoRTS OF SOCIETIES. 61 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENToMoLOGICAL Socrety—Monthly meeting, Sept. 25th, in the Free Library, the president (Mr. 8. J. Capper) in the chair.—Mr. Benjamin Cooke, of Southport, read a paper on ‘* Classification,” as applied to British insects. He recommended the adoption of a system of arrangement based on the character of the metamorphosis undergone in the earlier stages, as preferable to a system founded on the structure of the perfect insect only. Mr. Cooke also considered that in each order the carnivorous species should take prece- dence, on account of the greater amount of differentiation in the organs of the mouth. During the conversazione which followed the meeting, Mr. Cooke exhibited specimens of Rhyssa pwiswasoria, from the New Forest, Hampshire ; Mr. Walker, preserved larvee of Agrotis Ashworthii ; and Mr. J. Wall (under the microscope), specimens of the house-fly infested with parasites. MANcHESTER CryptToGAmic Society.—Monthly meeting, Sept. 13th, Captain Cunliffe presiding.—Several of the members had recently made excursions to the Breadalbane mountains, and exhibited some of the rarities brought home from that district ; Mr. Squire Ashton showed specimens of Timmia, Ulota Ludwigti, and Hypnum Oakesii ; Captain Cunliffe, specimens of Orthothecium rufescens, Dicranella squarrosa, and Stylostegium cespiticium. All the parties had found the beautiful Hypnum crista-castrenses fruiting more abundantly this year than had hitherto been seen, and Mr. Ashton had very kindly made up a few packets for dis- tribution. Mr, Win. Horsfall contributed freshly gathered specimens of Cryphea heteromaila from Tenby. Mr. H. Boswell, of Oxford, sent specimens of a Sphagnum new to Britain, which he had discovered at Whitchurch, Salop. It had hitherto been found only in America, where it is known as Sphagnum Torreyanum (Sullv.) Mr. Boswell also sent specimens of Sphagnum intermedium, var. pulchrum (one of the prettiest of the bog mosses), from the same locality, and Tortula princeps from Blair Athol. The hon. sec. exhibited several species of frondose hepatics from Southport, the Pallavicinia hibernica being remarkable for its strongly pungent odour when dry.—TxHos. Rogers, Hon. Sec. Meetine, October 11th, Capt. Cunliffe in the chair.—Mr. James Cash _ exhibited and distributed specimens of a moss which he had collected on Meal Tarmechan, during an excursion to the Highlands in company of the vice-president, in September last, and which he had now determined by microscopical examination to be the rare Myurella apiculata. Mr. Cash also exhibited a few interesting mosses he had gathered in Mont- gomery during the present month (October), Scleropodium ceespitoswm. Myrinia pulvinata, and Tortula latifolia being amongst the number. The two latter species are new records for that district. Mr. W. H. Pearson, Specimens of the new hepatics described by Dr. Spruce in his recent memoir on the Cephalozie, namely, Cephalozia leucantha, (Spruce) collected by Mr. Sim near Banchory, Scotland, and C. eraria (Pearson) from the mouth of an old copper mine near Tyn-y-groes, N. Wales ; also the following :—Jung. Helleriana, Nees, a species new to Britain, 62 ! Tor NaturRAList. collected by Mr. G. Stabler at Mardale, Westmoreland ; the rare Marsu- pella Stableri, found on Cader Idris by Mr. G. A. Holt—this being new to Wales ; specimens of Harpanthus scutatus, from Tyn-y-groes, collected by Mr. C. J. Wild—a rare species only previously found in Wales at Beddgelert,— and Anthelia Jwratzkana from Ben Lavigh, collected by Mr. Peter Ewing, this being the second station in Britain for this rare hepatic.—T. Rogers, Hon. Sec. ScarBoroucH Screntiric Soctery.—The annual fungus foray took place on Saturday, September 30th. The day was fine, and the ramble much enjoyed by an enthusiastic party of mycologists. | Fungi were in abundance, and some interesting specimens collected: Ag. (Amanita) excelsus, Ag. (Mycena) rosellus, and Cortinarium russus, by Mr. W. Robinson ; Ag. (Omphalia) Postii, new to Britain, and Ag. (Amanita) Friesii, by Mr. G. Massee. The exhibition was held in the Society’s room, and being open to the public in the evening, was visited by con- siderable numbers. The common kinds were arranged according to their edible or poisonous properties.—G. M. | YorkKsHirRE Naturatists’ Unton.—Thirsk, Oct. 7th.—The sixth and closing meeting of 1882 was planned for the investigation of Pilmoor, a tract of waste land adjoining the main line of the North Eastern Railway. The meeting was fixed to be at Thirsk Junction, and parties were organ- ised for Leckby Carr and Gormire Lake. Unfortunately for the success of the first meeting ever held so late as October, the weather was very unpropitious, rain falling throughout the day. The attendance was con- sequently the smallest ever known at a Union meeting, only ten members being present. The excursion was nevertheless a successful one, so far as the results were concerned. Three parties were arranged. One con- sisted of Messrs. Soppitt and Roebuck, accompanied by Mr. R. Thackwray, of Brafferton, as guide. The route taken was over Pilmoor, through Brafferton Spring Wood, thence to Raskelf, and along the borders of Sessay Wood to Pilmoor Junction, and by rail to Thirsk Junction. Upwards of a hundred species of fungi were collected, and a few mollusca. The second party included Messrs. Wiliam Foggitt and Robert Lee, of Thirsk, and a gentleman from Darlington, who investigated the botany of Leckby Carr, attention being also paid to the birds. The third party drove to Gormire, and included Messrs. Percy Lund, B. M. Smith, Moss, and Hey, the Rev. F. Addison and the local secretary acting as leaders. The main object of this detachment was the geological examination of the escarpments of the-Hambleton hills, and some attention was paid to the~ mollusca. The tea and meeting were held at Strickland’s hotel, Thirsk Junction. The chair of the general meeting was occupied by Mr. H. T. Soppitt, of Bradford. The minutes of the Wakefield meeting were con- firmed, and upon calling the roll it was found that the following seven societies were represented : Bradford (2), Ilkley, Leeds (3), and Ripon. The list of new subscribers included Prof. L, C. Miall, F.L.S., F.G.S., Reports OF SOCIETIES. 63 Leeds, Mr. John Rookledge, F.R.M.S., of Easingwold, Mr. H. Jowitt, of Bishop Thornton, and the Rev. Frederick Addison, of Thirsk. Mr. B. M. Smith, the secretary of the Ripon Naturalists’ Club, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Wm. Gregson for his services as local secretary, and to Viscount Downe, Capt. Gallwey, and Messrs. B. T. Woodd and C, F. H. Bolckow, for permission to visit their respective estates. This was seconded and carried. The reports of sections were then given, beginning with the geological, for which Mr. Gregson reported that they had visited the glacial beds in the gravel pits adjoining Thirsk Junction, and found therein shap granite, encrinital limestone, several water-worn gryphee, also Cristellaria rotulata, and Astarte striato-sulcata. The party then drove to the western escarpment of the Hambleton hills, where they investigated sections of the middle and lower oolites, and also some of the upper liassic strata. The middle oolites are represented in the face of the cliff by about 30 feet of Oxford clay, between 100 feet of calcareous grits above, and the same thickness of Kelloway rock below. They succeeded in finding several species of Belemnites, Ammonites communis, A. Boulbiensis, Gryphea incurva, G. convoluta, Grevillia erosa, Pleuromya granata, P. contracta, Leda galathea, Rhynchonella plicatissima, Pecten substriatus, &c. Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, secretary of the Vertebrate Section, reported that the only observations in ornithology had been those made at Leckby Carr by Mr. Robert Lee, who had seen thirteen common residents—the starling, rook, jackdaw, magpie, goldcrest, wood pigeon, meadow pipit, redbreast, yellow-hammer, common bunting, blue-tit, chaffinch, and lap- wing. Of other vertebrata had been observed, both at Leckby Carr and Pilmoor, the squirrel, weasel, water vole, toad, frog, and common or smooth newt. In the absence of the officers of the Conchological Section, Mr. Wm. Denison Roebuck stated that shells had been collected by each of the three parties out during the day, but that the total list was only a meagre one. Mr. Soppitt and himself, who had visited Pilmoor, Braf- ferton Spring Wood, and the lanes north-west of Raskelf, had not been as successful as they expected, having only found 16 species and varie- ties, viz. :—Planorbis complanatus, P. corneus, P. contortus, Limnea truncatuia, Arion ater and var. rufus, A. hortensis, Limax agrestis and Mr. Butterell’s newly-described var. niger; Vitrina pellucida, Zonites alliarius, Helix nemoralis, H. cantiana, H. hispida, Vertigo pygmea, and Cochlicopa !ubrica. Mr, W. Foggitt obtained, at Leckby Carr, specimens of Helix hortensis, H. cantiana, and H. hispida. Mr. Percy Lund, of Ilkley, and some of the Ripon members, who had had the advantage of coilecting upon calcarecus soil—the slopes of the oolitic escarpments above Gormire Lake,—obtained Zonites cellarius, Helix nemoralis, H. hortensis, H. arbustorum, H. cantiana, H. hispida, H. rotundata, H. lapicida, Bulimus obscurus, Clausilia rugosa, and C. laminata. In the absence of the officers of the Entomological Section, there was no report given, but from statements made by various mem- 64 Tue NaATvuRALIST. bers, it appeared that Carabus violaceus had been found at Pilmoor, and Bombus leucorum noted there and at Gormire, the individuals of the latter species being in both cases females in their hybernaculum, or winter resting-place. The Botanical Section was unrepresented by its officers, and Mr. Wm. Foggitt, of Thirsk, reported that, notwithstanding the lateness of the season and the very unfavourable weather, 235 phaner- ogams and a considerable number of cryptogams had been collected or seen ; the former included Berberis vulgaris, Drosera rotundifolia, and anglica, Silene anglica and noctiflora, Trifolium arvense, Comarum palustre, Pimpinella magna, Oenanthe phellandrium, Torilis nodosa, Sambucus ebulus, Scabiosa columbaria, Artemisia absinthium, Filago minima, Gnaphalium sylvaticum, Erigeron acris, Crepis paludosa, Vaccinium oxycoccos, MHieracium tridentatum, Origanum vulgare, Calamintha clinopodium, Acinos and wmenthifolia, Nepeta cataria, Lysimachia thyrsiflora, Rhynchospora alba, Hordeum murinum, all from Leckby Carr and neighbourhood. The interesting fungus Geo- glossum difforme was exhibited from the sandstone quarry at Leckby. Twenty-five species of mosses were gathered, among which were the following :—Sphagnum acutifolium, var. rubellum, S. intermedium, S. cuspidatum, 8. subsecundum, 8. rigidum, Campylopus pyriformis (ft.), Bryum atropurpureum, Aulacomnium palustre (ft.), A. androgynum, Tetraphis pellucida (ft ), and Brachythecium albicans. Six species of hepatics were gathered, Mylia anomala being among them. Mr. Soppitt supplemented the remarks of Mr. Foggitt by an account of the day’s investigation of fungi, which had been found very abundant. The district investigated was Pilmoor, Brafferton, Spring-wood, Sessay Wood, &c., and resulted in 92 specimens of fungi being collected ; amongst these were Collybia maculatus, C. tuberosus, Pholiota radicosus, P. squarrosus, Spheronema subulatum, Russula nigricans, Cortinarius crulescens, C. torus, Torrubia ophioglossoides, Lactarius vellereus, L. piperatus, Boletus luteus, B. scaber, B. elegans (Leckby Carr), Polyporus salicinus, Scleroderma verrucosum (Leckby Carr),and Puccinia clinopodii. [A short distance above Sessay, I noticed Phragmidium bulbosum (at least what I took to be that species) exceedingly common, the pustules on some of the plants rather small and not so scattered, whilst on others, the pustules were very much larger and scattered all over the leaf. Upon examination, I found that the spores differed considerably, especially in the smaller pustules, the septa being more numerous, and the apiculus much longer than in the larger pustules. Both forms were sent to Mr. C. B. Plowright, who replied :—‘‘The two phragmidia are distinct ~ species, hitherto in this country confounded together as P. bulbosum. That with fewest septa is P. violaceum, Schultz. ; that with most, P. rubi, Pers.—the old bulbosum.”] Mycologists would do well to examine their P. bulbosum. Votes of thanks to Mr Foggitt and the Rev. F. Addison, for acting as guides, and to the chairman, closed the proceedings,— W.OD.R. j SJ sie Published, Feap v0, boor ds, THE. Insect HUNTER’S. COMPANION, By. the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A., ‘Being instructions for Collecting , Rearing, Setting, and Preserving Butserdiies e e and. Moths, Beetles, Bees, Flies, and other Tnsects. —-0 ie Pie: THIRD EDITION. as AN D “EXTENDED BY” A. B. FARN. THE CHAPTER ON ue pines BY EDWARD NEWMAN. -CONTEN TS.-——How to obtain the Bae by ee ; boxing female eee ; pairing insects, “ How to obtain Larva by beating : the Bignell tray ; Sweeping ; searching by night; how to rear the larve; sleeving’; hybernating-larve ; “parasites ; preserving larve. PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pupe + forcing oe THE PERFECT InsEcT.—Localities; net ; mothing : honeydew ; 3 -sugaring light; indoor light; grouting; smoking; killing’; relaxing ; setting : orease : ; ~ mites; mould ; cabinets and store boxes ; painting : arrangement: and nomen- ~elature ; ‘number of specimens and manner of placing; transmission by post ; entomological diary; books. . ‘MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA; COLEOPTERA; Te ee 2 mENG OF GALL-FLIES. ~ = PRICE ONE SHILLING. ee : ; “LONDON: SONNENSCHEIN x ALLEN, -PATERNOSTER : SQUARE . ‘The Ealauilociat's Monthly Maravins. x Price 6d. monthly, 24 pages. 8vo, with occasional. Illustrations, — coe by J. W. Doveras, R. MacLacuzan, ELR.S., E. C. 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Mosley ; with text revised by a Fellow of the Zoological Society, A cheap edition is ae at 1s., and: the - Birds or Eggs may be had a i ‘separate, May. be. had of SL. MOSLEY, Beaumont Park, ‘Aiddersteld; ork: Ee p ROBSON, ‘Bellerby: oe West Hartlepool. Diary. —Meeings of Societies. Nov. i. Wakoficla: Naturalists’ and Piesopien Ca ee Entomological Society of London, 7 P= i aes SE eee . Linnean Society of.London, 8pm.9 = > S a . Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30. i eee — Leeds Geological -Association.—‘‘The Fossil Fems ‘of the Coal _ Measures.”"——Mr. J. Spencer, Halifax. : 7. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. - - -,, 4%. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. Sig ee ease, - s, 8. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. = ee ,, 10. Dewsbury, Naturalists’ Society. a _» 981. Bradford Naturalists’ Society: Pato of fe: ‘Vertebrate and Conchological Sections Messrs. J. Firth, and H.T. Soppitt. », 16. Linnean Society of London. ~ s 20. Leeds Geological Association.—Meeting for exhibition of specimens. = », 20. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. — eae » 20. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. 2 Mosties at Stone. BY » zt. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. » 17. Bradford Naturalists’ Society. —Report of the Bntomotogieal See- a vas J. W.. Carter. =" = : TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS. a . Vole NAL? ‘commenced with the August nee aa an subscribers who have not sent their Subscriptions Gay dite requested to do so at once, to the Editors, care of Mr: AS Pere BROWN, Market Place Comer, Huddersfield PI ae OF He bo EH + eo : JUST PUBLISHED, = a “JOHN WHELDON'S. BOTANICA: CATALOGUE, = Containing over 1 600. 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' his 3 ‘Epirep BY Cuas. igs Hopxrex, F. L S anp G. T. Porritt, F. Bline ae es Be DECEMBER, 1882. VOL. VIL. ee CONTENTS co if ‘e oy _. Page. ee - Ontervat ARTICLES, ‘ke. rie pay | - On the Classification of Insects. Concluded, Banana: Cooke og eNO. ‘ _ Contribution toa List of Homoptera of Lancashire and Cheshire. —Benjamin Bie et 53 LY 2 Tae ee eee Soe ne is oe oe seo tes iar i}. “RAINFALL FOR OctopeR Beg ES eo eee oe noes Os ae ee _ Nores, ‘&O.: Se alee oa Badger, Otter, ‘Polecat. —Geo. Roberis oa pacha cba | ~The Golden-eye Duck and White Sparrow at Elland. Zo C. eee Hes | __—‘Fieldfares near Huddersfield.—Geo. Roberts Gi, Sees | SA ipa wed _. Snow-Bunting.—Geo. Roberts. Ci est i Zivce Entomological Notes.—Go. 7. “Porritt, RES Oe oe Ag ee ADS? BERN ps op. ds Butterfield se fs ie Cychrus rostratus at Grassington and Gilstead. =a W. Carter... : i ‘Cychrus rostratus at Huddersfield.—S. L. Mosley... ©... auto nse ie | Sirex gigas at Huddersfield. —G. C. B. Madden . 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W. DENISON RoEBUCK, Sunny. Bank, é 3 Leeds, er ee Wan eo Guages. >, Hast Vi ‘iew, aes Park Road, eed H. W. MARSDEN, a ee NATURAL “HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. = 53 ‘Gapineis ad apparatus of all kinds, of the best ae on the lowest terms. British and European J Macro- Lepidoptera, Preserved Larvee of rare British ee Lepidoptera. ~ BOOKS.—New and ee on Natura: History Subjects. The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggs in England. Catalogues on application. Ba ape List of British Butterfies.” Beautifully printed in colour 4 Graduated List of ae Birds.” specially prepared for reference and iabelling, 6d. os LEPIOPTERISTS CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, 5 . Spy es = * 37. MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER. Original Articles. ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. By BENJAMIN COOKE. Some of the ideas in this paper were produced at a meeting of the Northern Entomological Society, held on the 26th December, 1857. My views are now somewhat modified as to the details of an arrange- ment of the class Jusecta, but I still adhere to the principle of classification which was advocated in that paper—a principle which was not new, but has been acted upon in the arrangement of more than one order of insects. Mr. Dallas, in his “ Elements of Entomology,” after stating his reasons for the adoption of the Cibarian system of classification, in his work says (p. 58)—‘“‘ But, for my own part, I must confess that I think the adoption of the metamorphoses as the foundation of the arrangement of insects leads to a more philosophical result.” Coin- ciding with Mr. Dallas in this view, my object is to carry out this system, and to endeavour to show that the orders of insects follow one another in a more natural and regular course than in the system of classification which is founded on the structure of the mouth. The principle of classification which will be here advocated is this : to begin with the highest development, and proceed in regular eradation to the lowest ; care being taken in the details to associate tugether those which have a close affinity throughout the various stages of their existence. This principle seems to me to be applicable to all classes of animated beings. It is not new, as I stated before; and, whether accepted or not, it is manifest that unless some principle be adopted, classification will always be in confusion. It is obvious that carnivorous animals which prey upon others belonging to the same order as themselves, will possess the highest development ; their muscular powers in proportion to their size, their strength of bone and of jaws, and their agility, are all necessarily greater than those of animals which they have to subsist upon. The predaceous tribes, then, whenever such exist, should be placed at the head of each order: thus, in the mammals, the lion, the tiger, the leopard, &c. ; in the birds, the eagles and falcons still claim the highest rank. There are exceptions to this rule in the case of insects which are only partly predaceous, and of inferior structure ; these will have to be arranged along with the nearest allies. In order to show the necessity for some guiding principle in the arrangement of insects, I give, ina tabular form, the systems proposed by those British authors who have published their views in a separate N.S., Vou. vitl., Dec., 1882. 66 . Tue NatuRAtist. form, on the whole of the class Insecta, or rather the whole of the British insects ; omitting the orders Dermaptera, Dictyoptera, Strep- siptera, Aphaniptera, Homaloptera, and Aptera, for reasons to be afterwards explained. The works from which the table is taken are —“ Systematic Catalogue of British Insects,” by Stephens, date 1829 ; “Guide to an Arrangement of British Insects,” by Curtis, date 1829; “ Tntroduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,” the “ Synopsis of the Genera of British Insects,” at the end of the second volume, by Westwood, date 1840; “The Insect Hunters,’ by Newman, published about the end of 1857. ‘This last work I did not see or know any- thing about until after my paper for the Northern Entomological Society was read. It is based on the Metamorphotic system, whilst the outer authors have cee the Cibarian. STEPHENS. CURTIS. WESTWOOD. | NEWMAN. 1. Coleoptera | 1. Coleoptera | 1. Coleoptera | 1. Lepidoptera 2. Orthoptera | 2. Orthoptera | 2. Orthoptera | 2. Diptera 3. Thysanoptera| 3. Hymenoptcra 3. Neuroptera | 3. Hymenoptera) 4. Neuroptera | 4. Coleoptera 4, Trichoptera | 4. Neuroptera | 5. Trichoptera | 5. Stegoptera 5. Hymenoptera] 5. Trichoptera | 6. Hymenoptera 6. Lepidoptera | 6. Lepidoptera; 7. Lepidoptera] 6. Neuroptera 7. Diptera 7. Homoptera | 8. Homoptera | 7. Orthoptera 8. Hemiptera | 8. Hemiptera | 9. Heteroptera | 8. Hemiptera 9 Bees 9 ieee Feu Diptera i It will be seen that three of ovr authors commence vie the order Coleoptera, and Westwood states his reason for so doing. He says: ‘This order comprises the extensive tribes of beetles, and, in respect to the size of some of these insects, or the number of individual species, must be regarded as occupying the foremost rank among insects.” (Introd. 1., p. 33.) The omission of the orders ‘belong: mentioned has now to. be explained. The Dermaptera, Leach, or Euplexoptera, Westw., con- taining the family Forficulide, also the Dictyoptera, or Blattidee, will be included with the Orthoptera. The Strepsiptera, or Stylopide, are considered to belong to the Coleoptera. The Aphaniptera, or Pulicidz, and the Homaloptera, containing the families Hippoboscidze and Nycteribide, are both placed among the Diptera. There remains then the order Aptera to be disposed of. Curtis divides it into two orders, viz., Thysanura and Anoplura. Sir John Lubbock, in his Cooke: ON THE CLAssIFICATION oF INSECTS. 67 “ Monograph of the Collembola and Thysanura,” does not seem to regard them as belonging strictly tu the class Insecta, though nearer to this class than they are to the Crustacea or Arachnida. According to Stephens the order Aptera consists of the two families Pediculidz and Nirmide. Now it is possible that the Pediculide, or at least the greater portion of them, will have to be associated with the Hemiptera. Of the Nirmidz, most of which are called bird-lice, I will not express an opinion, except that they ought not to form a distinct order of insects. Restricting, then, the class Insecta as it has been done by Westwood and by Newman, and carrying out the metamorphotic system of arrangement, the class will be separable first of all, into two divisions, which may be characterised thus : Division I, Division Ii. Pupa unable to feed. Pupa able to feed. In the second division the pupa is as active and voracious as the larva, and in some cases more so. In the first division there is much _ difference in the power of motion possessed by the pupa, and this is most evident among the Diptera ; in a large proportion of this order the pupa is wholly incapable of any motion: whilst of those which live in the water up to the time of their assuming the perfect state, the pupze of some families possess considerable power of motion. 1 will now proceed to state my views as to the number of orders in the class Insecta, and as to their arrangement on the principle of commencing with the highest development. The following table exhibits six orders in the first division, and six orders in the second, viz :— Division I. Division If. 1. Coleoptera 1. Neuroptera odonata (Dra- 2. Hymenoptera gon-flies only) 3. Diptera 2. Neuroptera Hetera 4, Lepidoptera 3. Orthoptera 5. Trichoptera (caddis-flies) 4, Hemiptera. 6. Stegoptera (Newman in part 5. Homoptera or) = Neuroptera planipennia . Thysanoptera (Haliday) 1. CotzopreRsa.—lIn the year 1861 Waterhouse published a “ Cata- logue of British Coleoptera,” in three forms, one of which was intended for labelling cabinets—a most valuable boon to collectors and students of this order at that time. The arrangement was purely a tarsal one. After ten years, when the number of British species had considerably 68 THE NATURALIST. increased, another catalogue was issued by Dr. Sharp, which I believe is now generally accepted by British coleopterists. It differs chiefly from the preceding in the removal of the Trichopterygidz, Pselaphidz, &c., from the Pseudotrimera, to positions of nearer alliance; also in the restoration of the Hydrophilidz to a nearer connexion with the Dytiscide. The principle of the arrangement seems to my mind exactly the one which I have been advocating or supporting, and I .consider Dr. Sharp’s catalogue to be a model for the arrangement of all other orders of insects. If the principle is a good one as regards the Coleoptera, I cannot conceive any reason why it should not be carried out in the whole class. The arrangement of the Coleoptera may be compared to the railway system: if a person wishes to travel from Chester to Southport, he takes the train to Birkenhead, and he there comes to a terminus ; he crosses the river in a steam-boat, and then makes his way to Tithe- barn-street station, in Liverpool, where he enters upon a distinct line of railway. So it is with the beetles; when we get through the Geodephaga and Hydradephaga, we come to a terminus, and then change to another line, as it were, going on with the Brachelytra. 2. HymeNnoprera.—There may be a choice, in the commencement of this order, between the ants and the wasps; I prefer the latter, and if we begin the British species with Vespa crabro, we have a fine and a formidable insect to take the lead. To get into a hornet’s nest is proverbial ; to get into an ant’s nest would be, comparatively, a weak expression. 3. DipteRA.—In his investigations on the Hymenoptera, Westwood says (Introd., vol 2, p. 81) -—“It seems to be admitted on all hands that the insects, which are the real analogues of the present order (Hymenoptera) exist in the dipterous order, almost every hymenopte- rous group having its representative in the latter.” In arranging this order on the same principle as the Coleoptera, there can scarcely be two opinions as to which family to begin with. Walker says of the Asilidz (‘‘ Insecta Britannica—Diptera,” vol. 1, p- 47)—‘‘ These flies are all carnivorous, and are the most powerful and generally the largest of the Diptera. They destroy Coleoptera and Hymenoptera, as well as insects of their own class.” 4, LepipopTERA.—Three out ‘of the four British authors before mentioned commence the British species of this order with Papilio Machaon; and I believe this commencement is almost universal with British lepidopterists of the present day. Here, then, we have the ; CookE: On THE CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 69 same principle in operation, which seems to have been the guiding one in the arrangement of the Coleoptera. The British butterflies are so few in number of species, that we have nothing to compare with the magnificent genus Ornithoptera of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, which takes the lead in a general collection. 5. TRIcHoPpTERA.—This order is intended to contain. the insects commonly known as caddis-flies only—in fact the species monographed by M’Lachlan under this title. He has recently revised, and I think improved, the arrangement of the British species, beginning with the genus Neuronia and ending with the minute species, that is to say the family Hydroptilidz. It would be difficult now to find any departure from the principle of classification advocated in this paper. 6. STEGOPTERA.—Newman includes the caddis-flies along with the Neuroptera-Planipennia under the title proposed. If it be permitted to restrict the name to the latter insects as a separate order, the title is surely worth retaining in preference to Neuroptera-planipennia, which was proposed only as a division of the Linnzan order. The separation of these insects into a distinct order is not a proposal of mine; I only advocate its adoption. M’Lachlan has monographed the British species, but if we are to deal with them on the same principle as with the Trichoptera, the arrangement will want revising. This order terminates the first division of the class Insecta, and I think there may be observed a regular gradation from a hard-bodied, strong, and well-defended class of instcts, tu a soft-bodied, weak, and defenceless one. Division II. Order 1.—NervRoprera Oponata.—lIt will be observed that I propose to separate the Neuroptera of Linnzus into four distinct orders —two belonging to the first division of the Insecta, and two to the second, according to the nature of the metamorphosis. Fabricius proposed the Odonata for the dragon-flies, and I do not like to drop the title of Neuroptera, as it 1s done in the two orders in the first division : hence the combination. I believe, also, that Fabricius considered the Odonata to form a distinct order, therefore there is nothing new in the proposition which I make ; it is only an attempt to restore that which has been allowed to drop. The reason for so doing is this: it has become very evident of late years that the sexual characters of insects, the genitalia and their armature including the anal appendages, are of high value in classification, and also as a test in the distinction of species. Now, the male genitalia of the dragon- flies differ from all other insects, so far as I am aware, in being situated, not at the tip of the abdomen, but at its base underneath: 70 THE NATURALIST. This of itself one would think sufficient to separate them as a distinct order. An opportunity of witnessing the pairing of these insects may perhaps not often occur. I had once a most favourable one, and the species noticed was one of the larger kind. It was in a part of the New Forest, Hampshire, in September, 1856, and remembering what Westwood says on the subject (Introd., vol. 2, p. 38), I did not neglect this opportunity. Without going into particulars, I was perfectly satisfied of the truth of the statement alluded to, and that Burmeister’s assertion to the contrary is without foundation. I may add that, after pairing, the male does not let go his hold of the other sex by the back of the neck, but assists her in the act of oviposition. Besides the above distinction, the Odonata has no close relationship with any other tribein the Neuroptera of Linneus. Their eminently predaceous habits, their rapid and graceful flight, their very large eyes, their powerful jaws, their antennee—in fact their whole organisation, places them at a great distance above the insects which will compose the next order. 2, NEUROPTERA-HETERA.—This order will contain the families Perlidze, Ephemeridz, and Psocide ; the Termitidze not being natives - of Britain. 3. OrTHopTERA.—The species of insects belonging to this order, and inhabiting Britain, are few. They are comprised in the following families :—Blattidse, Forficulide, Achetidz, Gryllidz, and Locustide. 4, HemiprrEra.—It will be seen that three of our British authors separate the Homoptera as an order distinct from the Hemiptera proper, and I think they have done wisely. The tendency in the present day is to multiply families and genera, many of the proposed families in the Hemiptera being represented by only one or two British species. And if entomologists agree with the authors alluded ) to, each of the two orders will contain far more British species than there are in each of the preceding. ' There being no British species analogous to the Geodephaga among the Coleoptera, the order will commence with those which represent the Hydradephaga, namely, Notonectidz, Hydrometridz, &c.; and this has been done by both Curtis and Westwood. The tribe Reduvina contains predaceous insects, but of inferior construction, and are more nearly related to the Anthocorina. 5. HomoptErs.—The catalogue of these insects, published by the Entomological Society of London in 1876, does not include the Aphids and Coccide, and the arrangement is somewhat novel to British entomologists. CookE: HomorTera or LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Ck 6. THYSANOPTERA.—This order, consisting of the single family Thripide (all very minute insects), was proposed by Haliday, and adopted by Westwood. I recognise it as a distinct order, in deference to the opinion of so eminent an entomologist as the proposer of the title, and the principal investigator of the group. I must now conclude. The subject is so vast that it is not an easy matter to compress it into the limits of a paper without running the risk of being misunderstood.- I have repeated very little of the paper published in the Zoologist in its original form. It has been my aim to avoid as much as possible the introduction of anything new in principle and in nomenclature. My sole object is to aid, if I can, in bringing the classification of insects into a more systematic form than it is at present. J have carried out the details, in the arrangement of my own collection, chiefly in the orders Hymenoptera, Diptera and Hemiptera ; but these details will require a thorough revision, and this cannot be done properly without assistance. Southport, Sept., 1882. CONTRIBUTION TO A LIST OF THE HOMOPTERA OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. [THE NORTH OF LANCASTER EXCEPTED. | By BENJAMIN COOKE. CIXIID/A. Cixius cunicularius, F. Manchester, Hazelgrove, Marple. C. nervosus, L. Manchester. C. brachycranus, Scott. Marple, August, 1865. C. pilosus, Oliv. Bollin Valley, near Bowdon. C. stigmaticus, Germ. ‘‘ The Brushes,” near Stalybridge, June, 1863 DELPHACIDZ. - Liburnia pellucida, F. Manchester, Rivington, Bowdon. L. discolor, Boh. Hazelgrove, Marple. L. neglecta, Flor. Manchester. APHROPHORID &. Aphrophora alni, Fall. Hazelgrove. Philaenus spumarius, L. Abundant. P. lineatus, L. SBollin Valley. ; MEMBRACID&. Centrotus cornutus, L. Warrington. ACOCEPHALID &. Strongylocephalus agrestis, Fall. Manchester, Southport, Bowdon, Marple. G2 Toe NatTuRAList. Acocephalus rusticus, F. Manchester, Southport, Bowdon, Hazelgrove. A. bifasciatus, L. Rivington, Stalybridge. A. albifrons, L. Southport, Hazelerove. A. flavostriatus, Don. Southport, Hazelgrove. BYTHOSCOPID A. Macropsis lanio, L. Bowdon, Hazelgrove, Pettypool, Delamere. Idiocerus adustus, Schaff. Manchester, Lytham. I. populi, L. Manchester, Rivington, Southport. Bythoscopus flavicollis, L. Manchester, Rivington, Greenfield, Hazelgrove Pediopsis cereus, Germ. Southport. P. nassatus, Germ. Manchester, Bowdon. Agallia puncticeps, Germ. Hazelgrove. TETTIGONID &. Euacanthus interruptus, L. Manchester, Bowdon, Hazelgrove. TYPHLOCYBID&. Alebra albostriella, Fall. Hazelgrove. Cybus smaragdulus, Fall. Manchester, Southport, Hazelgrove. Chlorita viridula, Fall. Bowdon. C. flavescens, F. Manchester, Bowdon. Dicranoneura variata, Hardy. Southport. Typhlocyba decempunctata, Fall. Pettypool. T. quercus, F. Bowdon. T. ulmi, L. Abundant. T. geometrica, Schr. Manchester, Southport. T. rose, L. Manchester, Bowdon, Hazelgrove. T. blandula, Rossi. Dowdon, Hazelgrove. Eupteryx tenellus, Fall. Bowdon, October, 1878. E. urtice, F. Manchester, Bowdon. E. pictus, F. Manchester, Bowdon, Hazelgrove. E. stachydearum, Hardy. Manchester, Aughton, Bowdon. K. pulchellus, Fall. Manchester, Rivington. Hazelgrove. JASSID A. | Cicadula sexnotata, Fall. Manchester, Bowdon. - n Thamnotettis torneella, Tett. Manchester, Hazelgrove, . T. quadrinotata, F. Bowdon, Hazelgrove. Athysanus subfusculus, Fall Manchester, Bowden. A. prasinus, Fall. Manchester, Bowdon, Hazelgrove. Allygus mixtus, F. Manchester, Southport, Hazelgrove. DELTOCEPHALID. Deltocephalus abdominalis, F. Manchester. D. sabulicola, Curt. Southport. D. striatus, L. Bowdon, Hazelgrove. D. socialis, Flor. Rivington, Pettypool. D. ocellaris, Fall. Bowdon. D. pulicaris, Fall. Bowdon. +] RAINFALL For OcTOBER. We PSYLUID ZA. Psylla Forsteri, Flor. Manchester, Southport, Hazelgrove. . alni, L. Manchester, Hazelgrove. . salicicola, Forst. Bowdon. . fumipennis, Forst. Bowdon. . eratzegicola, Forst., Manchester. . mali, Forst. Bowdon. . fraxinicola, Forst. Manchester, Rivington, Southport. Trioza urtice, L. Bowdon, Hazelgrove. AMaintall for October. ach tae) Ine} elas) slaol tac! Height | Toran Faun of < || Nox To Dare. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain- | of heaviest ot above fall, Dic ena es on Fall. heaviest sea Fall. level. 1882. 1881. Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 369 | 23. 28°37 |* 27:19 24 0°70 (J. W. Robson) Hauirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)| 365 | 4°50 | 19 , 40°44 37°40 ie, ty LEEDS ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 ;3°640 | 30 23-080 +20°615 19 0°785 HorRsForTH ... (James Fox)} 350 |4°040 | 24 28°660 |{27°170 24 0°710 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...| 350 | 4°77 | 24 | 26°78 21°56 24 115 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ie 853 | 4°94 | 27 | 35°91 34°61 24 1:00 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...) 520 | 4°41 | 21 | 27°81 25°83 24 1:18 Gooun ... (J. Harrison) ..| 25 | 4:21 | 25, 26-77 | 21°27 24 1°50 Hutu (Derringham) (Wm. 10 | 5°64 | 26 18°292 | 25°36 24 1°72 Lawton) * Average to date for 16 years, 1866-81. + Average of 28 years, 1853-62 & 1865-82. t Average of 13 years, 1870-82. Short Notes and Oueries. BADGER, OTTER, AND Potecat.—Can any zoologist give particulars, through the columns of the Naturalist, of the occurrence in Yorkshire of the three above-named animals for the last ten or twelve years? As these interesting quadrupeds are now rare, I have no doubt many naturalists would be glad to see a comprehensive account of recent occurrences. — Gro. Rozerts, Lofthouse, Wakefield, Oct. 31st. THE GoOLDEN-EYE Duck anp Wuits Sparrow at ELtanp.—On the 5th Noy., two males and one female of the above duck, in nearly mature plumage, were shot on the garden pond, Marshall Hall, the residence of Mr. John Smithies. A few weeks ago a beautiful white sparrow was } shot at Elland Hall. Evolution has no chance here ; as soon as a variety appears, it is either shot or captured.—C. C. Hanson, Greetland. FIELDFARES NEAR HUDDERSFIELD.—From a report at page 56 of last month’s Naturalist, I perceive that fieldfares were observed near Hud- 7A THe NATURALIST. dersfield on Sept. 24th. Can any other correspondent corroborate this observation? It is difficult to distinguish immigrant missel-thrushes from fieldfares when at a distance, especially if the respective notes of the birds are not heard. My earliest date for the appearance of the field- fare for the last twelve yearsis Oct. 12th.—Gzro. RoBErts. Snow-Buntinec.—Last winter I bought a snow-bunting of a bird-catcher for the purpose of making myself acquainted with its song and notes, and also for the purpose of noticing any changes of plumage. The bird had been caught some time during the previous winter near Leeds, and having been confined in a small cage, its tail was worn to astump. Its plumage was a uniform rufous-brown and black above, and a dirty white beneath. I gave it a pretty large cage, and fed it with canary seed. About the middle of March last it began to sing. Its song is weak for the size of the bird ; its notes, however, are mellow and full, and one peculiar note, generally uttered at night, is very loud and piercing. It sang only for a short time in spring, and always ceased singing if 1t saw anyone watching. For the first eight or nine months it kept continually jumping and dancing within the wires at the front of the cage, and at night never perched, but sat in a corner. About September it seemed to acquire a new dress without throwing off any of the old. It has now a full plumage, tail included, has lost its habit of dancing, and has begun to perch both in the daytime, and at night when roosting. The new plumage is similar to the old, except in being brighter, in having a red-brown crescent on the breast, and a few white feathers on the crown and round the eyes, and more conspicuous white feathers in the tail. Mudie says that the snow-bunting in a wild state never perches. I presume that the reason it did not perch at first was that it had been confined in a small cage without perches, and that it was without tail, consequently unable, or less able, to balance itself on a perch. The feet of this species are not grasping feet, but more fit for standing or running on the leaves of aquatic plants, like the feet of the skylark, which bird, judging from the prolongation of the toes, has doubtless originally been a marsh-bird. The claw on the heel of my caged bunting was (before being shortened) nearly three-quarters of an inch in length. The bill is yellow, tipped with black.—Gzro. RoBERTs. ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES.—Through the kindness of Lord Wal- singham, I have recently added to my collection a pair of Steganoptycha rufimitrana. His lordship bred a series, in June last, from larve found in Norfolk, on fir (Abies cephalonica); previously the species was only known, as British, by two Cambridge specimens, and one bred by Lord Walsingham last year. Other additions to my cabinet include Platypteryx sicula, from Bristol; a pair of Dianthecia Barrettvi, taken by the late Mr. R. W. Sinclair, at Howth; Gymnancycla canella, bred from pupe sent me last year by the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield, of Guestling, near Hastings, to whom I am also indebted for a batch of larve, now feeding SHort NorEs AND QUERIES. 75 on Salsola Kali; Bactra furfurana, taken this season near Dublin, by the Rev. G. C. B. Madden, of Armitage Bridge ; several Cedestis qyssel- inella, taken this season at Dollar, N.B. ; Pterophorus Bertrami, taken in Carmarthenshire, and P. punctidactylus, in Cardiganshire, both by Mr. Nelson M. Richardson.—Gero. T. Porritt, September, 1882. Brnewey.—I quite confirm Mr. Carter’s remarks about the past season being a bad one generally for macro-lepidoptera. The comparative scarcity of NV. mundana and P. pilosaria was very noticeable. A. meny- anthidis, N. Dahlii, H. glauca, C. ferrugata, and A. fumata are the only insects, as far as 1 remember, that occurred in their normal numbers. D. templi, A. inornata, and an Hupithecia, perhaps fraxinata, one of each, are the Only additions for this locality. S&S. crategalis was plentiful on Blackhills, and not uncommon on the southern slopes of Harden Moor. My brother was so fortunate as to secure Tinea fulvimitrella in Hawks- worth Wood in June, thus adding another to the few already known British localities. — EK. P. P. Burrerrieip, Wilsden, Bingley, Nov. 9th.— [Other Yorkshire localities for Tinea fulvimitrella are Bramham, Don- caster, Rotherham, Scarborough, and Sheffield.—G. T. P.] Cychrus rostratus At GRASSINGTON AND GILSTEAD.—I took a single specimen of this beetle at Grassington, on the 6th of last August. I pulled up a small patch of Sedum acre to bring home, and out rolled the beetle. I have also a specimen from Gilstead, in Airedale, taken by Mr. Firth, last spring, from under a stone.—J. W. Carrer, Bradford, Nov. 16th. Cychrus rostratus At HUDDERSFIELD.—It may interest Mr. Roebuck to know that last winter I took two specimens of this beetle in this district. They were hybernating under stones.—S. L. Mostey, Huddersfield, Nov. 15th. Sirex gigas AT HuDDERSFIELD.—This autumn I had another Sirex gigas brought to me from Almondbury, by the same person and from the same place as the one last year.—G.C. B Mapprn, Armitage Bridge Vicar- age, Huddersfield, October. Sphagnum Austini, Sull., iv S8.W. Scornanp.—-Mr. Jas. McAndrew has a note in the Scottish Naturalist, No. xlviu, p. 378, that he has found this moss and its var. imbricatwm (of both of which he has kindly sent us specimens), in large hassocks, on Moss Raplock, on the farm of Clatter- ingshaws—the scene of one of Robert Bruce’s victories. He also finds it, but not in plenty, in Barend Moss, Laurieston, near Castle Douglas, and in Auchencairn Moss, near Auchencairn. These are all in Kirkcudbright- _ shire, and are new to prov. 13 of Watson. Its distribution is now, therefore, 12, 13, 18 a.—C. P. H. THE Errects oF WEATHER ON Insects : By Miss OnmMEROD (Concluded), —The effect of weather as a means of destroying insect eggs, was next _ touched on, and it was laid down that the weather influence that seems 76 THe NATURALIST. to be mainly depended upon as an agent for this purpose is desiccation, — that is, drying the egg by throwing it out. from its natural locality to such influences of air and sunshine as may dry up the contained fluid, and thus prevent the embryo within from developing. It is possible to prevent attack by turning the eggs down to an ascertained depth, at which, although the tenant may hatch out, yet if the ground is ina natural state the insect cannot penetrate it. If the earth is cracked, of course the deep crevices admit air, and alter the state of the case, but it is plain that we can destroy great numbers of eggs by throwing them out, upwards or downwards, from their natural place of deposit, and also we may diminish the quantity of eggs laid above ground by decreasing the number of places proper for egg-laying. Clearing away neglected weeds will demolish many nurseries of coming attack, good liming will keep the click beetle from laying eggs to infest the meadow with wireworm, or a better plan is penning sheep on grass that it is particularly desirable to protect, thus not only preventing oviposition, but destroying the young grubs just beneath the ground from its being sodden with matter injurious to insect life. The use of chemical manure, such as super-phosphate, has been found to decrease the ravages of the cabbage-root maggot ; while, as the onion-flies lay their eggs very frequently either just below the surface of the ground, or if possible at the base of the bulb, it has been found that if onion bulbs are earthed up from time to time the flies are thus obliged to lay their eggs at haphazard, on the leaves or ground, or at least not in such a position that the maggots, if they hatch at all, can make their way to their food, and this prevents very much of the attack, and agrees well with the plant-growth. Passing to deal with larvee, the lecturer pointed out that in this country the conditions which are most favourable for the hatching of the larvee of the greater part of our insects are moderate warmth, together with some degree of moisture, while heavy rain, and especially rain following a term of warm dry weather, is most destructive to larvee exposed to it, as well by its immediate effect upon them as presenting them food caused thereby to be unsuitable to larval life. The turnip fly, or beet fly, or whichever it may be, was very injurious till the rain washed it off, or started the plant, or in some way put an end to its ravages ; and it was pointed out that when we look at the injury caused by overplus of rain in some years and deficiency in others, and the benefits that might possibly be derived from a more extended plan of field cisterns, it is so plain that a better regulated distribution of water, both as an external application to clear off insect vermin and for absorption by the roots to press on the growth, would be thoroughly useful, that the point of how far it could be managed by steam power at a paying rate is well worth thinking of. Miss Ormerod con- cluded : The coolness and darkness of the night, or the bright sunshine, as distinguished from the cloudy light of many of our summer days, all have their effect on insect life, some of which we can utilise, and some of which, although we cannot alter them, will benefit us, if we notice them, Snort Notes anD QUERIES. (ite by preparing us for coming attack. The common cockchafer is quiet under the leafage in the heat of the day, and may then be shaken down and destroyed ; and, though we do not often suffer from injury caused by the grub of this beetle to the amount to which it ravages in Germany, yet the extent to which it has destroyed young pine plantations near Salisbury in the last two years shows that we need to keep it in check, lest it should rise to be as severe a pest as the grubs of various kinds of chafers are now proving in the Southern Island of New Zealand. * The daddy-longlegs grubs come out at night to feed, or travel on the surface, and are then open to rolling or other measures of destruction ; some of our turnip and cabbage caterpillars are similarly open to attack at night, or in the dusk hours, and the great caterpillars of the death’s-head moth, which sometimes do great harm to the leafage of the potato, are variable in their time of feeding, so that it is desirable for someone interested in the matter to ascertain the habits of the special caterpillars before setting destructive operations on foot. The click beetle, the parent of the wire- worm, may be swept up in great numbers in the evening from grass ; and, on the other hand, the turnip flea-beetle rejoices in the sunshine, and then flies far and spreads rapidly. It is points such as these that we need to know more of ; it is the province of the entomologist to give the name of the insect, and to know the precise history of its method and place of existence ; but it is the province of the agriculturalist to notice, in real practical and continuous observation, the various influences which act upon it, and, may I not add, when observed to make them known. It is a matter of great importance—it is nothing less than the daily bread of the nation, which, for want of attention, is being in many cases abso- lutely thrown to the insect-vermin, whilst the landholder is distressed for want of the crops which need not have been lost. NOTICES OF BOOKS.—“ Children’s Flowers : the Friends of their Rambles and their Play.” London: Religious Tract Society, 1882.—We have received a copy of the above from the author, and though we are not quite sure that in some respects it comes within our scope, yet we cannot refrain from giving it a word or two of praise. It professes to be a book written for children, and for the purpose of interesting them, and eiving them instruction about our common wayside flowers ; and for this purpose all must concede that it is an eminent success. We know children who can barely read, but who can understand what is read to them in simple language, who are quite captivated with it—who will | gather all the flowers they meet with in their rambles through the fields, , and eagerly demand of nurse or teacher to read to them what this book } says about them. Lach flower and plant is described in simple, untech- | nichal language, that any child can understand, shows how, by dissecting | them, they can compare the various components of the flowers and leaves of each plant with others, thus imparting both interest and instruction, » and no doubt will sow the seeds of future and further enquiry into these 78 THe NaTuRALIST. *‘beauties of nature.” A short moral lesson is also attached to each flower or plant, which, without being in. any way partisan in character, may be studied with profit even by children of larger growth. We heartily commend the book to all who have young families, as a most useful and interesting birthday or christmas present, and one which will be thoroughly appreciated by any child of from 5 to 10 years of age, and possessed of ordinary intelligence. We should have been glad had the authoress—who is a native of our own town—been pleased to affix her name to the book ; but as she has not, although she is well known to us, we must preserve her incogivito. Renorls of Societies. Barnstey Naturarists’ Soctery.—Meeting Noy. 7th, Dr. Lancaster in the chair.—A paper of great interest to our coal district was given by Mr. H. B. Nash, entitled ‘“‘How the Coal Measures were formed.” Observations of birds during the last few weeks: September 15th, willow warbler and chifichaff in song, last recorded ; Oct. 1, a great spotted woodpecker visited a garden at top of Church-street. It occurred on several days: not noted before in the town. It has again been | recorded in the neighbouring parks and woods. Oct. 4th, a night-jar ; Sth, redwings and fieldfares observed; 17th, a swallow noted ; 23rd, latest notice of house martins ; 29th, Ray’s wagtail (a late stay) and the _ grey wagtail, a partial migrant from north-west Yorkshire in winter to our valley streams and warm mill-ponds; 25th, sandpipers and water- rails by the Calder—the latter seldom seen with us; woodcocks first noted ; 28th, yellow-hammer, hedge accentors, wrens, larks in song, the latter heard up to the present time (Noy. 18th); 29th, kestrel, gold- crest, grey wagtails, moorhens noted by Mr. J. Parkins between Wake- field and Barnsley; 30th, a barn owl set up from a field by Mr. J. Dymond, of Burntwood, and chased by four rooks and other birds ; a pied blackbird noted several days in Locke Park, Barnsley: a skua gull, examined by Mr. G. Parkin and pronounced a young Richardson’s skua, shot at Cudworth (not noted previously in our district); Nov. 17th, kestrel seen at Belk Farm, Worsborough ; 18th, one seen by me near Dodworth. Both were hovering over fields and copses, and were often’ seen further away from the town, and occasionally the sparrow-hawk.— TuHos. LisTER. ; ae Oe ee BrapForD Naturauists’ Soctety.—Meeting Oct. 17th, the president in the chair.—The evening was devoted to the exhibition of microscopic objects. Messrs. Fawcett and Kershaw showed a large number of — objects, inclnding sheep-tic, parasite from pig, larva of O. antiqua, section of meteorite showing fluid cavity, &.; Mr. Oxley, stained — sections of stems; and Mr. West, Draparnaldia plumosa, &c., from Reports or Societtés. 79 Clayton. Mr. Soppitt gave an aecount of the recent meeting of the Y.N.U. at Thirsk, and stated that he had collected about 90 species of fungi. He exhibited specimens of Phragmidium violaceam and rubi, collected at that meeting—two species hitherto in this country confounded as P. bulboswm, and pointed out the characteristics of each. He also showed Tetraphis pellucida, in fruit, collected on the same occasion. Mr. Illingworth showed C. Hdusa, A. Galathea, S. Algeria, &e. Meetine Oct. 3lst, the president in the chair.—The recorders of the botanical section (Messrs. Soppitt and West) reported on the work done by that section during the year 1882. They stated that the number of plants added to the list during the year was 110, viz :—phanerogams 11, fungi 55, mosses 16, hepatics 6, lichens 12, and alge 10, making a total of 1,444 species actually observed by members of the society in the districts under investigation. Mr. Soppitt exhibited and described a number of micro-fungi. Meertine Nov. 14th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Firth reported on the work done by the vertebrate-zoological section during the year. He stated that the additions to the list were few in number, and consisted of the whiskered bat (Vespertilio mystacinus) from Ben-Rhydding, little bittern (Ardetta minuta) from Frizinghall, the great-crested newt (Triton cristatus) from Baildon, and the common snake (Tropidonotus natrix) from Wilsden, making a total of 164 species recorded for the district, viz. maminalia 20 species, birds 136, reptiles 4, and amphibians 4. For the conchological section Mr. Soppitt gave an elaborate report and list of species of land and fresh-water mollusca, in which he enumerated 101 species and varieties, amongst which were Spherium vrivicola, Shipley and Seven Arches ; Anodonta cygnea, Bradford Moor and Saltaire: Neritina juwiatilis from Shipley, Bingley, &c.; Pupa ringens from Shipley Glen. Mr. West showed Nitella mucronata from a pond near Bedford—the second British station.—J. W. C. LANCASHIRE AND CuHESHIRE ENntTomoLocicaL Socrety.—Monthly meeting, Oct. 30th, the president (Mr. 8. J. Capper) in the chair.—Mr. C. H. H. Walker read a paper entitled “‘ The Entomology of the Antedi- -Juvian World,” which he illustrated by coloured diagrams of its fauna and flora. He referred to the necessity of the study of paleontological entumology for a proper idea of the classificatien of recent insects ; and » with reference to discussions which have taken place at recent meetings of the society on the subject cf connecting links between different orders of insects, he instanced the presence of insect remains (forming a group known as the Palzodictyopterz) in the carboniferous and permian series _ of strata, which are generally considered to be intermediate in structure between the Orthoptera and Neuroptera. To illustrate the paper, Mr. _ J.T. Moore sent specimens of fossil insects from the Ravenhead (St. Helen’s) collection in the museum, and Mr. Walker exhibited a slab of , slate containing fossil dragon-flies. Mr. Frazer, of Crosby, exhibited a 80 THE NATURALIST. hermaphrodite specimen of the fox moth, Bombyx rubi.—J. W. Ets, Hon. Sec. Port Evizapeta Naturatists’ Soctety.—The meeting of this society, on October 19th, was one of unusual importance, the subject of discus- sion—viz., ‘‘Injurious Insects ’”’—being of vital interest to agriculturalists and commercial men. Mr. Russell Hallack, president, occupied the chair. Mr. 8. D. Bairstow, F.LS., introduced the question, briefly alluding to the ravages of insect pests. Scientific research has failed hitherto in elucidating the causes which operate in producing the vast swarms of destructive insects at certain periods. Gregarious locusts, living peaceably together, by some curious and inexplicable communica- tion of purpose, suddenly take wing and fly towards distant parts m | countless myriads. Butterflies, beetles, flies, &c., of great rarity one ! season, appear in swarms during the succeeding. How may these facts be explained? By scientific and practical observation. The first is desirable, the latter essential. Thus, farmers and horticulturalists who are constantly working amongst their crops, are the proper persons to discover cause by recording effect. Much difficulty is encountered in this country through the utter absence of popular books or magazines. We have no gardener’s chronicle, agriculturalist’s guide, no text-books or useful monthlies, and few, if any, of our press publications devote columns to the furtherance of Natural History observations. The naturalists petition ‘‘outside aid.” They require notes and specimens, and will undertake for their part to accumulate observations and suggested remedies, forwarding all correspondence to a proper centre for purposes of determination. A most valuable and interesting letter was read by the secretary from Miss E. A. Ormerod, F.M S., the well-known farmer’s friend, and several pamphlets were distributed amongst the members. Mr. Bairstow also exhibited a pen-and-ink sketch illustrating the life- history of our common fig-moth, with comments thereon, as an example of personal observation.—[Communicated by 8. D. Barrstow, F.LS., late of Huddersfield. | Rreon Naturatists’ Ctus.—A very pleasant evening, under Mr. E. A. Ebdell’s presidency, was spent, and a number of exhibits were handed round for inspection, including—Mr. Lickley, prehistoric chisel of rein- deer horn, found 1878 in Stammergate, 14 feet below the surface, three antique keys found near the Minster, blade of old dagger found near _ Quarry Moor, three coins and fossil from Whitby lias; Mr. T. Pratt, — M.R.C.V.S8., Hozoon canadense from Laurentian limestone, Montrose; ~ Mr. D. W. Moss, several fossils from magnesian limestone of Wormald — Green; Mr. G. Malthouse, cowslips, primroses, and violets in flower. | Mr. J. Waite reported capture of the following moths this month :— — P. populi, HE. tiliana, H. pennaria, H. auwrantiaria, H.. defoliaria, 0. i filigrammaria, G. flavago, H. micacea, N. C-nigrum, &c. The swallow — was seen the third week in October, and the house martin the fourth — week, at Borrage. “y - Diary.—Meetings of Societies. . Heekmondwike Netavalicty ‘Societe 7-30 p-m. . Leeds Geological Association, 8 p.m. . Liversedge Naturalists’ Society, . Bishop- Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—Anuual Meeting. . Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. . Entomological Society of London, 7 p-m. . Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. Ase Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. ~ -y 18. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. », 18. Leeds Geological Association. — » 18. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. 3, 21. Linnean Society of London. 30. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society. DVO DH wi Da ee BO - TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS... Vol. VIII. commenced with the August number, and all subscribers who have not sent their. Subscriptions (4/-). are requested to do so at once, to the Editors, care of Mr. ee Brown, Market. Place Corner, Huddersfield. JUST PUBLISHED. “JOHN WHELDON'S BOTANICAL CATALOGUE, oe Containing over 1,600 Works on Alge, Ferns, Fungi, Floras, Lichens, Mosses, Forest and Fruit Trees, Grasses, Orchids, Sagar, ae Sta ~ Tea, Agriculture, &o: ee See Sent Post- -FREE, FOR THREE Boog ric & oe J OHN : WHELDON, 58 Great Queen-st., Lineolive Inn Fields, London, W = — See Ta BXCHANGE. COLEOPTERA. —Duplicates,—Chrysomela graminis and fastuosa Gene - Tim. coraria, Psodes pini, Lina populi, and a beautiful Chrysomela from’ North America. Desiderata.—numerous Geadephace, &e. Sei. MOSTEY, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield. a ee digeeten: Birds (Weavers, ade for a aaon or Noid History Book. Paxton’ s Botanical erty, for some other Bobk.—G. ROBERTS, Lofthouse, Wakefield. THE Nt \OTTISH N ATURALIST. ee eee Magazine of Tatura History, commenced in 1871, Edited by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M. D., . Fob: s. Subscriptions (pad in advance) 4s. per annum, post free. —=—- "-Epixsvnen AND Loxpon : WiLtan BLACKWOOD. AND Sons. a ust st Publishell, Feap 8005 boards, THE. INSECT. HUNTER’S. COMPANION, By the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M. As? re Being instructions for Collecting, Rearing; Setting, and Preserving Butterflies and Moths, Beetles, ee Flies; and other Insects.. Re THIRD EDITION, : REVISED AND EXTENDED BY VAS SRS _FARN. ee THE CHAPTER ON Coueorrna, BY EpwWARD NEWMAN, soe inthe =| ae Ge cen CON TENTS. _—How 0 obtain the ibe by searching ; hae etal ee: #2 pm pairing insects: Howto obtain LARV# by beating : the Bignell tray ; sweeping; searching by-night; how to rear the larve ; sleeving ; hybérnating larve ; - _ parasites } preserving larve. PUPA-DIGGING ; (preserving pupe ; forcing ss era “Tae PERFECT ‘InsEct.—Localities ;- net ; mothing ; : honeydew : ; sugaring; — _ light; indoor light: grouting ; “smoking ; killing; relaxing : setting + grease ; ~ mites ; ; mould ; cabinets and store boxes: ; painting : arrangement and nomen-. : -clature ; number of specimens and manner of placing; transmission by post; are entomological diary; books. MicR0O-lEPIDOPTERA; COLEOPTERA; EEYMENOPTERA; Dog ge ‘BREEDING OF GALL-FLIES. eee . PRICE: ONE SHILLING. 0 ¥ 232 oe Se TONDONS SONNENSCHEIN & ALLEN, PATERNOSTER eee } ‘The Entomologist’ 8 ‘Monthiy Magazine, Price 6d. monthly, 24 } pages 8vo, with oceasional Illustrations. i nS Conducted by. ak Ww. Dovetas, R. MacLacuian, F.R. gs E. Cc. Rye,” é Pa AS., “Hi. T. Sarton, F.R.S., &e. ~ Mea nF This Masons onienied in 1864, contains ‘standard Articles and Notes on. ee all ‘subjects corthected with Entomology, and especially on the Insects of the se Bee ) » we ~~ we bt CO Or —~ SN. bo ee wo - ae “ho bo Oo Z 09 ra Be ee “Loxpow: HARDWICKE & BOGUEH, 192, PICCADILLY, W. THE SCOTTISH N ATURALIST, ‘ 23, agusine of Natural Wistory, commenced in 1871, “maitea by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D. F.LS. =* _ Subscriptions (paid in advance) 4s. ‘per annum, post free. ED BURGH AND LONDON : : WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, ’ THE INSECT HUNTER’S Co : ee JOSEPH. GREENE, MEAL,” ee Being instructions for Collecting, , Rearing, Setting, and Preserving Butterflie ae ‘Moths, Beetles, fo Flies, and Does Be Be SN Ri THIRD. EDITION, “ ‘REVISED AND EXTEN DED- BY A OB FARN. THE CHAPTER. ON Uo BY EDWARD Newman. CON TENTS. —How to obtain the ae by ‘dar ohne boxing. fone mothe Si ‘pairing insects. How to obtain LARV# by beating : the Bignell tray ;_ “sweeping : ; searching by night; how to rear the larve ; sleeving ; hybernating larvee 5 parasites ; preserving larves. PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pupe ;. forcing pupees THE PrRrncr InsEct.—Localities ; net ; mothing : é honeydew ; ; ‘sugaring ; Fi light ; indoor light ; grouting; stmoking ; killing ; relaxing ; setting : grease ; - mites ; mould ; cabinets and store boxes; painting : arrangement and. momen=" clature ; number of specimens and manner of placing ; transmission by post ; ‘entomological diary ; books. , Micro- LEPIDOPTERA ; Na ELYMENOPTERAS BREEDING OF GALL- “FLIES. - PRICE ONE SHILLING. Pe oe LONDON : SONNENSCHEIN & ALLEN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, The Entomologist’: S Monthly 7 Magarin! Price 6d. monthly, 24 pages 8vo, with occasional Illustrations. Conducted by J. W. Doveras, R. MacLacuzan, F. R.S., HE. iC. ‘Ryg, : : HAS, We. SraInron, FUR Sh ere oe ° This Magazine, commenced in 1864, contains standard Articles’ and Notes on. all subjects connected with ‘Entomology, and especially on, the Insects of the ‘© ,./ « British Isles: Se ee Subscription 6s. per volumes post free. The volumes commence with the a une number i in each year. The early volumes are out of print, but can be ecu obtained by purchasers of the entire series. In this case the price of vols. 1. to V. is 10s. pervol, Th _ succeeding vols. (strongly bound in clouh) ¢ can be had rot ies. or together at 7s. “per vol. Fe ae _ LONDON: JOHN VAN YOORST, AL Patemoster Kew, Hane Naturalist Series of “o On BRITISH NATURAL HISTORY, iS ote accurate tend: aaa heures of every. ‘species: aus ‘every drawn by 8. L. Mosley ; 3. with text revised by a Fellow of the. Zoological A cheap edition is a! at a and. abe Birds or p Hees. may j separate. st May be ed of S._L. MOSLEY, ae Park, rade BM Sh ae oS ee ees Page ae Wi est ee re JOURNAL OF THE ues NATURALISTS’ UNION, «GENERAL FIELD CLUB RECORD. NEW SERIES. , 2 i -Eprrep sy Cuas. P. Hosxirkg, ES anp G. T. Porrirt, F.L.S.” ) exci =~ FEBRUARY, 1883... - VOL, VIII. & ~ CONTENTS, > Se re ; ¥ Page. ' § a “Oniervar AnrictEs, &e.: ies Sean sy aha | Scarcity of Winter Birds. a as, Roberts .. ee Wha 97. ie _ A Physiological Arrangement of the British a =A. a. Swinton . SS, DOR earn oS The Gooseberry Caterpillar oe One POMS Sy é too Natural History | Notes from “South Wares —Continued, ane D. Barston 5 CMR 4 PLS. ; | 02 || . “Ramveane FOR DECEMBER | i. : os ES gs eee ea a ~ Rainfall Observations. Harold Smith, PALS. Se ee en eRe eS eT Norws, hore Dehn os Oe - Badgers i in Yorkshire. a5) C. Hanson eae TaN Cae Se ae [RE 108 _ Entomological Notes;—G. 7. Porrttt. «:. Lose (Sane ee a Ue aa Ue nL Oo) Uilomolct Notes from York.—T. Wilson eas mabe Smee} eee oo Sal ‘Opmrvany. —James: Varley. —G “ Boos. ee a Specie ee ea Sart Ne 110, cf ioe Reports oF. Socrermns : passe | ; Ske Barnsley Naturalist?” Sootehy eae aan Hts. violas US ee ni " Beverley 1 Field Naturalists’ and Scientific Society Ria OR SS ee SER ea ‘Bradford. Naturalists’ Society... ‘ a a Rime nsvemen saenvere ots MILs) — Sptamic Society Mee CS va So et CRT I at a. “HUDDERSFIELD : BB Brown, ‘Marxwn Puacn. Golo oe oe observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. Seton BEE ok To “CORRESPONDENTS. Tae WN IATURALIST i is published o: on the first of every month, ‘enue 4/ a year, post free, payable in advance. The volume commences in August of each year. ‘Intending new subscribers should send in their names immediately, = ~ - All communications, except Advertisements, Exchanges, or Short Queries, iby should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 16th of the: _ current month, to insure insertion in our next issue, and should be written « on one side of the sheet only. AUTHORS WISHING ror REPRINTS or THEIR PAPERS can have her on the. following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 58., 100 copies Gs. Gp. Not exceeding eight pages, 25 copies 5s., SO copies Gs. 6b., 100 copies QOs., and so on in propor- tion. Printed covers and separate title pages extra. ALL COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDITORS | CARE OF MR. B. BROWN, PUBLISHER, H UDDERSFIELD. TRANSACTIONS of the YORKSHIRE NATURA LISTS’ UNION. PART I. FOR 1877 contains the commencement of ‘‘The Birds of Yorkshire,” by Mr. W. E. Clarke, M.B.O.U. ; of an’ “* Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- — water Mollusca of Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on “‘ Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera- in 187 7,” by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F-L.8.; one on ‘ Yorkshire Micro-lepidoptera Li in 1877, » ioe Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. 8. L, Mosley, on *‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psyllide; and a eport on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S. PARTS II. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’s Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Yorkshire ; ; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by Dr. Parsons ; ; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora of the Hast~ Uy Riding”; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. Yorkshire Ichneumonide, by Mr. S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; and on- Youlsiire WV DENISON ROEBUCK, Sunny Bank, ! Leeds, ey 8 Ww. E. CLARKE, — Bees 5, Hast View, ae Park Road, Leeds, H. WwW. M ARSDEN, : NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. Cabinets and apparatus of ail kinds, of the best make on the lowest terms. British and European Macro-Lepidoptera, Preserved Larvee of rare British 4 Lepidoptera. BOOKS.—New and Second-hand, on Natural History Subjects. 2 ‘The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggs in England. Catalogues ri on application. ui ee List of British Butterfies,” Beautifully printed | in colours x os Graduated List of ee Birds,” specially prepared fox 5 reference and labelling, 6d. ‘‘ LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, 5/- € (37. MIDLAND: ROAD, ee | | | | . Original Articles. SCARCITY OF WINTER BIRDS. By Gero. Roserts. SINCE the end of September, the scarcity of birds in this, the Loft- house district, has been remarkable. No flocks of redwings, fieldfares or bramblings appeared at the usual time. Few bullfinches have been seen, and tree-sparrows are much less frequent than they were last winter. TFieldfares have been cbserved in this district in gradually decreasing numbers for nine or ten years, and redwings have been noticed in less numbers for six years. About the end of last October, the only birds seen by the writer during a walk of two miles along a brook-side, were, in addition to house sparrows, one robin, one chaffinch, and one blue titmouse. The scarcity does not arise from lack of food: haws, and various other winter fruits were, and still are, tolerably plentiful; and the weather, save about one week when deep snow covered the ground, has been mild and favourable. It has long been surmised that birds from northern districts move southward at the beginning of winter, and that the deserted districts are partially filled up by birds from more northern regions : in other words, there has always been a general tendency among what are called resident birds to emigrate southward before or during winter. The question arises—may the four or five severe winters that we have had lately, have encouraged and developed that inherent tendency to migrate southward, or may they have induced some entirely new migration? Immense numbers of our small birds have perished during the arctic winters that we experienced previous to 1881-2 ; if such winters had continued, and no migration or shifting of quarters had taken place, nearly all of our small birds would have been exter- minated. When we find that birds perish from cold and hunger when a southward flight of five or six hours would place them in a more genial and bountiful region, a want of fore-knowledge and instinct seems to be displayed, so that it is not unreasonable to suppose that the series of severe winters might bave quickened the migrative impulse, and caused them to withdraw from northern latitudes in greater numbers, and, as just hinted, new or more lengthy preservative migrations may have originated. All migrations must have had a beginning, and they are subject, like everything else, to modification. When once a bird, or a flock of birds, have been driven to take a longer flight, or to deviate from the usual course, we may infer that N.S., Vou. vill.. FEB., 1883. 98 THe NatvUrRattsi. _ the journey each day will not be forgotten, and that the impulse to take the same route especially if the journey has been favourable and preservative, will not be lost when the same seasonal circumstances come round again. The following birds are migratory in Scandinavia :—rook, starling, redbreast, song thrush, pied wagtail, meadow pipit, hedge sparrow, black-headed bunting, skylark, wood-lark, brown linnet, chaffinch, haw- finch, ring-dove, and stock-dove; that is to say, they leave in autumn for Central or Southern Europe, and it is not improbable that many of our birds may leave us and join them in their winter quarters. It is true that accessions of birds are regularly observed in autumn in Britain, but as a rule these birds will only form the outer fringe of the migrative tide that is passing along the Continent; and on their arrival here they do not stay long in one place, unless there happens to be an abundance of food in their path, but keep shifting, and eventu- ally are lost to observation. It is rational to conceive that terrestrial birds will keep as much to the land as possible on the Continent, and not risk themselves across the North Sea. When they appear in extra- ordinary numbers on our coasts, the occurrence doubtless arises from their being driven from their course by storms, rather than from any inclination or eagerness to visit us, because our northern shores in winter are nearly as forbidding and inhospitable as those the birds are deserting. It would be interesting to learn if the scarcity of winter birds is general over Britain, or if accessions have been observed in the south of England. If the seareity is merely local, the idea of an over-sea migration can scarcely maintain its ground, and we may consider it more likely due to insular, partial movements. Lofthouse, Wakefield, Jan. 5th, 1883. A PHYSIOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA.* By A. H. Swinton. THe Linnean system of arrangement being enunciated as a linear projection of a Darwinian tree of descent, it becomes evident the clearer we can trace the gradation of the organic structures in any group of life-forms, the more perfectly we shall be able to marshal their columns and draw them up into a single front. Nor is it necessary * Read at a recent Meeting of the Entomological Society of London, Swinton : PoystoLocicaL ARRANGEMENT OF LEPIDOPTERA. 99 to our intent that we should be acquainted with all the scions of the group in question, past and present, any more than it is essential to an artist that every leaf and twig appear in a painting; for, when links are missing, the shadowy tree of life is not one whit less perfectly indicated by coupling aright those that come under our immediate observation. The simpler the material, the bolder the drawing. In the Naturalist for Oct., 1881 (p. 45) I observed that it has been a long standing practice with authors of works on British butterflies to treat the five groups represented in this country in the following order :—Papilionide, Nymphalide, Erycinidz, Lycznidz, and Hes: peridz ; but that since the first family, according to Dr. Scudder and others, has close affinity with the last, the method is only plausible on the principle of extremes meeting, the better arrangement every way being Nymphalide, Erycinide, Lycznidz, Papilionide and Hes- peridee. I also added that if physiological reasons could ever be got to prevail over the fancy for having the butterflies first, I would like- wise suggest a further arrangement of the five groups of lepidoptera, showing the development of a structure at the base of the abdomen attributed with the faculty of hearing, that highest of insect senses, thus: Noctuina, Bombycina, Geometrina, Butterflies, and Sphingina. Since writing this, a new light has broken upon the subject, and it has become evident to me that the Darwinian tree may be co-ordinated with two lines; namely, that discovered by Linneus, in which the mere connexion of the organism being taken into consideration, the branches are thus projected vertically as the shadows fall, and that of more late origin that has taken its rise in the study of structural development, where the branches are projected horizontally, and the degree of perfection of the species is also estimated. The horizontal line of Linneus thus shows the connexion or the scions in families and genera, the vertical line of the Darwinian school zzdicates the evolution of races as far as progression is implicated; and we must believe there has been, on the whole, such progressive development of lepidoptera, although there is not extant sufficient geological. evidence to quarrel about. But whether true in causation as in actuality, that arrange- ment of the groups of the lepidoptera which I have suggested, may be taken as a good outline of the new structural and physiological method which I have previously advocated in my “Insect Variety ”’ ; while that worked out with so much pains by Edward Newman, will furnish a good example of the Linnzan or horizontal co-ordination. I will now show how his latest systematic co-ordination may be projected vertically, and with what result. Instead of the arrangement 100 Tot NaTuRAList. Diurni, Nocturni, Geometre, Drepanule, Pseudo-Bombyces, Noctuz, and Deltoides, as adopted by that author, ranking the insect from physiological data we should have the following order :—Noctue, Pseudo-Bombyces, Drepanule, Deltoides, Geometrze, Bombyces (or the Nocturni of Newman’s arrangement from the genus Procris to the genus Saturnia), Diurni and Sphingina (or the remaining portion of the Nocturni of Newman). It is evident we have in this way greater harmony as regards structure, and that certain insects of lower organic perfection than the rest are more thrown together, instead of being isolated as heretofore among those more highly organised, as always must result from a horizontal projection.. The Deltcides where certain of the males are fan-footed, ally themselves with the faleate-winged Drepanule ; the Noctuze, in the fan-footed Catocale bridge over the passage to the fan- footed Geometree ; the tailed Geometre of the genus Urapteryx form a passage to the genera of the Bombyces, Saturnia, and Endromis ; while both Geometers and Bombyces alike exhibit transition to the butterflies. The Diurni, or butterflies, again, pass into the Sphingina and their allies, where we find assorted such rudimentary forms as the genera Hepialus and Psychide, that form a natural passage to the case- bearing micro-lepidoptera. Another link, according to Mr. A. G. Butter, is found in the clear-winged A‘geriide (Trans. Ent. Soe., 1878, p. 121), and these lowly forms, by way of the aquatic genera of the Pyralides, Acentropus, and Hydrocampa, form a transition to the trichopterous forms of tl:e Neuroptera. If anyone is desirous of further following up this essay towards a fresh arrangement of the British Lepidoptera, I should suggest the procuring of an exchange list such as is sold by Mr. Cooke, of Museum- street. If he then will number the groups from the Noctuz back- wards as suggested, and draw a line dividing the first two columns of the Nocturni from the last four, the matter will flash upon him at Once Perhaps he may gain thereby some new light regarding the mysterious tree of life. July 26th, 1882. THE GOOSEBERRY CATERPILLAR, OR LARVA OF NEUATUS RIBESI, By Miss Oxmerop, F.M.S. [ApsTRacT OF ParEr 1n Jour. Roy. Coz. Acric.. CrrenczsTER. | THE Gooseberry Sawfly is perhaps one of the commonest of our garden pests, and by means of its caterpillars regularly year by year causes damage from, we might say, one end of the kingdom to the other. It OrMEROD: THE GoosSEBERRY CATERPILLAR. 101 is at the same time a thoroughly good example of how, by a knowledge of the habits of a so-called pest, also a little thought on the reasons for good or bad action of the remedies, an injurious attack may be kept down with very little trouble and hardly any expense. In this case infinite troubie is yearly taken in pinching the grubs, shaking, dusting, syringing, trampling, and all kinds of remedial means, too often with very little effect, except in the case of Hellebore powder, which if properly done and with good powder, appears to get rid of the attack very surely, but at the same time has the disadvantage that if applied near the time when the berries are to be of service for table use (unless great care is taken in clearing them of the powder), the eaters are in danger of severe—possibly fatal—illness. A far simpler course is to clear away the coming brood in the larva state from beneath the bushes. If we start the attack—say of 1852—from its very beginning it stands thus :—In the autumn of 1851 the caterpillars of the last brood when full fed went down from the bushes into the ground, perhaps only two inches deep, but if the soil was light, possibly to a depth of six or eight inches. Here they made themselves each a cocoon, or outer easing of a kind of secretion, which formed a bluntly oval brown case, about half-an-inch long, in which each grub or larva passed the winter still in its larval state. When spring came, and the gooseberry and currant bushes were coming into leaf, then the grub changed to the chrysalis, and the chrysalis shortly developed, and from it came the perfect gooseberry sawfly, to lay its eggs and thus start a brood of caterpillars on the young leafage just ready for them to feed on. Here we see at once how to forestall attack, and practically the point is worked forward in some of the gooseberry growing districts near Isle- worth. If the soil is removed from beneath the gooseberry bushes after the fall of the leaf, with this soil we remove the grubs, and are just in that proportion freer from attack next year. But some degree of care is necessary, and want of this at times leaves the larve as much in possession (for all practical purposes) as if nothing had been done. The earth and contained grubs ought to be so disposed of by burning, throwing where it will be trampled on, or other means, that these grubs will be destroyed, or they will develope as if nothing had been done, and if left near the bushes, the sawflies will (as in previous generations) as soon as developed just walk or fly to the new leafage and start the new course of injury. A good example of this was given in a case where, last autumn, the earth was disturbed and removed in due course from beneath the bushes of a gooseberry ground near Isle- worth, but it was not taken away. Month after month it lay in lines 102 Tue NaATuRALIST. between the rows of the gooseberry bushes, and (presumably) there, under it, the larvee passed the winter unhurt, and all ready for spring action, for now, on the 6th of July, the bushes in many cases are badly stripped, and the caterpillar of the summer brood may be seen, with its bluish green skin spotted with black, and in its characteristic position, that is, fastened by its caudal proleg to the surface of the leaf, and by the others to the gnawed edge on which it is feeding. When once these grubs are in possession, remedies are troublesome to apply, and, in districts where gooseberry growing is one of the gardening trades, co-operation is necessary to destroy the ‘“‘ pest” totally. How ever, there are a very large proportion of cases in which, by examining the soil to see how deep the grub cases lie, and then clearing them away and destroying them, much good would be done. ' NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. ( Continued. ) By 8S. D. Batrsrow, F.L.S. - { MusT now continue my first walk on African soil, and spare diver- gent pleasures. When an acquaintance returns from foreign parts, we naturally ask, ‘‘ What did you see?” but on the face of it this isa stupid question. What does he not see? Out of a world of novelties I choose the most striking—those which, once seen, are ever remem- bered—first impressions, pleasant reminiscences —Olim meminisse guvabit. Tortoises abounded on the flats, and I counted over fifty dead carcases, bleached and decaying. Millipedes (/udus?) were in countless thousands—living, dead, and dying; indeed the Myriapoda represent a grand study, though hitherto apparently neglected, for I cannot find a published work on South African species. Turning over a stone on the slope of Cradock’s Kloof, I was delighted to come across a small family of scorpions. At first the fighting fiends, or inveterate poisoners,* were torpid and motionless, but « gentle tap on the anal weapon of self-defence provoked some annoyance. They fenced and guarded in a wonderful manner, and bold as brass; they were also sneakish as puff-adders, never losing sight of a chance to make a bolt, and elude further vigilance and warfare. I speedily discovered that in order to bottle my formidable antagonists I must extemporise a rude instrument of capture, a la forceps. Experience has since taught me there are few “police bracelets” to beat ancient * The poison is emitted through a small orifice situated over spur of tail, and. connected to the main supply. Barrstow: Naturat History Nores—Souta Arrica. 103 sugar-tongs or wooden clothes-clips. It is a fact worthy of passing remark that kloofs and mountains maintain the highest vegetative development upon their southern slopes. I have observed also that scorpions prefer a southern position, and are somewhat gregarious. in disposition. Rivers bisecting or subdividing localities, separating human habita- tions into states and sections, spread out their tributary arms for the dispersion of animal tribes and species, each diminutive territory evincing a distinct generic or specific faunal and floral localisation at once striking and significant. On this slope occurs one species of Arachnid ; on that, another quite dissimilar. I submit no theory of universality, nor do I desire to place undue stress thereupon ; never- theless, a collecting-box comparatively regulated and stored will reveal, in a couple of hoards from different positions, a wonderful contradiction of natural existences. 1 remember New Brighton, Cheshire, as the happy hunting ground for JV. zonaria, and Penmaen- mawyr for A. contiguaria. Uf course food-plant may partly solve the problem of eccentricity in both insects; and whilst the Cheshire sand- hills provide peculiar advantages in respect of position, &c., for zonaria, it is quite probable that much patient search will eke out a new locality for conéiguaria, endowed by Nature with equal requirements for this insect’s welfare. But here, a paltry stream cutting up level ground where food-plants on either side apparently correspond, separ- ates families and separates species. Here is a tiny brook; on either hand a declivity. Zeritis Alpheus"—(1 humbly scrape to thee, O Prince of Lycenide !)—patronises a southern ground, and rarely, though a magnificent flyer, intrudes upon the opposite domain. Away with fancy freaks and theory! Buzz! Buzz! Bzzz! Isita bee? Buzz! orawasp? Buzz! Itis a beetle. Buzz, Buzz, Bzzz? Please remark, the final consummation of Buzzes changes form. What a trifle to write about, | hear you say. No, sir, not a trifle. The final buzz has Jed me to many a grand Buprestis. Netting is useless amongst Mimosa bushes, whose thorn-spikes have demeralised into shreds the well-cut breeches of more than one astute Coleopterist. My maxim is ‘ Wait, watch, listen.”” When the last hermaphrodite Buzz, indicating curiosity satisfied, is pronounced, then I go for that beetle. 'A tap on the bush, and whack tumbles the old grumbler into my helmet. It is impossible to conceive a more beautiful insect than Hirsuéa of the South. The head, thorax and elytra are sprinkled with gamboge—yellow tufts of powdery hair; and over the base of * An extremely local butterfly. 104 THe NATURALIST. antennz and hind legs are two tufts of bright scarlet, with a row of seven tufts of the same colour running along the Llytra- coste, gradually diminishing in size from base to apex. I have described this insect* in a rough manner, not paying attention so much to scientific and synoptical nomination as the subject warrants. My desire is merely to give you ‘“a reflective idea” of the wondrous beauty of this noble Coleopteron, and spare-you the disgust of any pedantic assumption. To select one type of loveliness amongst the Buprestide in preference to others is a difficult task ; and to my mind, many of the smallest and most slighted species are superior to their big relations in every respect save clumsiness. In Hirsuta’s company IT found a splendid Longicorn—Zovgraphus oculator and Cantharis— Mylabris oculata; also a large number of Longhorns, commonly termed ‘Spanish Flies”.t These are readily discovered, as they diffuse a strong, and not unpleasant { odour of lasting power. An Africander youngster who accosted me one day, gave them the name of “ Smellers;’’ and he was not far wrong. They always appear to be friendly, however, and to pedestrian Naturalists, who now and again sniff Kaffir location breezes, the selection of the least of two evils produces ‘‘ peace, good-will” towards “ Smellers.” As I journey along, the inevitable Cetonia, yclept Pachuoda marginata buzzes about on all sides. This insect, whose bump of destructiveness is so extraordinarily developed, is a perfect pest to horticulturists, ex- hibiting, as it does, a ruining propensity for dahlias, aud those of the most perfect kind in particular. I strongly suspect Maryginata is opposed to Blue Ribbon Army principles. Mr. Wilson, the affable botanist and chief gardener of St. George’s Park, in this town, ordered a certain tree to be cut down. From the stump issued, as I believe, sap of an alcoholic kind. The top of this stump in circumference would be about twelve to eighteen inches, and thereon liquored, in a most reprehensible manner, over a dozen fat Marginatas, evidently acting on the maxim “ First come, soonest served.” The sight swelled my bosom with indignation, and inwardly I heaved a sigh of compassion ; and though I do not aspire to teetotalism, a ‘kinder sort’er hope busted up” that before long Sir Wilfrid Lawson would visit the Eastern province. From the aforesaid incident and addendum which follows, experimental philosophers might sketch a moral lesson, for Marginata is one of the very few beetles § which deteriorates in spirits. * Julodis hirsuta.—Prof. Westwood (authority). + A weak Provincialism. { Opinions differ on this point. j § I mean deceased beetles of course. Batrrstow : NatuRAL History Notes—SoutH Arrica. 105 The sober brown colour of its elytra is displaced by a shade of Isabella. After capturing a few Marginatas at pleasure, I come across another fine Longhorn, a species of Ceroplesis. This genus is well represented here, but as the various species are so closely allied, and differences minute, I refrain from inserting doubtful names. A pretty little Cicindela Capensis (?), evidently out of its latitude, because unaccom- panied by friends, rushes in a semi-flighty manner across the sandy path. The ‘‘pop” of a drawn cork, and one slight seething hiss, announces—Verdict : “‘ Death by drowning;” and my Tiger Beetle succumbs to fumes of liquid gin. I have labelled this insect ‘“* Doubtful,” for a simple reason that, as 1 presume there are two species occurring simultaneously together, and very much alike, I have not yet persuaded myself—which is which ? Capturing two specimens of the huge Mantuora (possibly Mazillosa), a fine Anthia thoracica, recognised by all Coleopterists, A4nthia 10- guttata,.and several dung-rollers, I re-ccommence the stone-turning process. As an old minister used to remark when desirous of emphasing a grand point, and bringing it home to his audience, “ put your finger on” the stone-turning process. It merits a moments digression. Our fathers have taught us that Rolling stones gather no moss. Slightly altered to the tune of Entomology, this proverb stands thus: Rolling of stones discloses lots of beetles. The idea is axiomatic. Are you acquainted with some aspiring student, or would-be author, who, anxious to write a book on Natural History, pining for criticism and everlasting fame, yet lacketh the one thing needful—a subject? Let him take the cue from my advice, and christen his book “Stone-turning,” with an inaugural and fashionable couplet, something after this style : A stone o’er hurled Reveals a world ! If insects could speak to us in some known language; if each departed grub had left us the legacy of its history; if the swaddling clothes of chrysalids, discarded in imagin(e)ary flights ; If......... I must dissemble. Labyrinthine realms of Fancy’s “ifs,” will lead me into endless misery unless the sequel is broached. I say, then, that as there are “‘ books in running brooks,” so there is a world beneath a pebble. Kneeling upon the ground, pipe in my mouth* straining every nerve, I succeed in topsy-turveying a big stone, and rush forward to investigate—what? The stock of an old curiosity * Tobacco is conducive to discovery. 106 Tue NatuRAList. shop; emblems of a thousand histories ; tragedies, fictions and farces ; curious specimens of animated matter ; carcases of deceased beings ; germs of future lives; and perfected atoms. What a sentimental medley ! snails, slugs, beetles, bugs, millipedes and caterpillars, ants, spiders, scorpions, and orthopterous creatures in all stages of existence. But at present I am “‘ Bairstow on Beetles,’ not ‘ Bairstow on the World.’ There are nearly a dozen species of Coleoptera revealed to view, one of which I recognise as Anthia. It is of a dusky colour, with metallic bronze-like lustre on the elytra, utterly devoid of spots or markings, but an Axtéa nevertheless, a stridulous Anthia, and a gregarious Anthia. The moment an intruder was announced, this family squeaked vengeance in loud and unmeasured terms; indeed half-a-dozen young mice could scarcely excel in the vituperative department. That such a faculty with this insect, is provided as an intelligible medium of communication, or warning of danger, I have not the slightest hesitation in asserting, and feel assured that expres- sive and sympathetic utterances are produced from apprehension of consequences, a remarkable discernment of possible calamity affecting the entire community. When I handle one of them it immediately vociferates against such encroachment upon the liberty of a natural subject, dué the cry is not continued, and extra violence or oppressive digitation does not compel emotion. (To be continued., Rauntall for December. | Height _ Torau Fauu of Ne. ro Dare. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest of above | fall. Dayen so cee Fall. Heaviest : all. fecal: 1882. | 1881. Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 4°22 | 21 | 37:24 |* 33°55 6 Li (J. W. Robson) HALirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 6°70 | 21 | 55:25 49°28 ae Fe Leeps ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 2°98 | 27 | 29:04 | +24°85 26 0-49 HorsForRTH ... (James Fox)! 350 | 3°89 | 24 36°55 | +32°80 6 0°72 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...| 350 | 5°15 | 24 35:39 26:25 6 1°63 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 5°95 125» 50°51 45°13 6 1:70 WENTWORTH CasTLE(do.)...| 520] 5°59 | 23 37-41 | 31°74 6 17a Gootk ... (J. Harpgison)...| 25 | 4:99 | 20 34:44 | 25:29 6 1°63 Hut (Derringham) (Wm.| 10/ 5:49 | 19. 33°28 | §25°96 6 1°91 Lawton) | * Average to date for 16 years, 1866-81. + Average of 28 years, 1853-62 & 1865-82. + Average of 13 years, 1870-82. § The annual average for 30 years, 1850-79, is 22°347 on 151°15 days. SmitH : RAINFALL OBSERVATIONS. 107 RAINFALL: RESULTS OF 25 YEARS’ OBSERVATIONS ON THE BEVERLEY ROAD, HULL. YEARLY FALL. ee ee *Days. Inches, | Days. AW ETay eS Lisette tess 26°42 | 182 1858 | 22°42 135 || Wettest Year—1872......... 386°d1 221 1859 | 21:12 | 170 | Year with largest number 1860 | 31°74 205 of Days—1877 ............ 29.33 222 1861 | 19°97 163 || Driest Year—1864 ......... 18:27 152 1862 | 23°69 174 || Year with least number of 1863 | 24°63 155 Days—lSasme cress. occcs 22°42 135 1864 | 18:27 152 | 1865 | 23°80 iA 1866 | 29:20 202 | 1867 | 24:10 184 1868 | 26°54 163 | 1869 | 28:29 189 1870 |-25-81 | 172 | AVERAGE 1871 | 25°69 170 YEARLY FALL IN=EACH 1872 | 36-51 | 221 FIVE YEARS. 1873 | 22:09 180 1874 | 20°19 176 1875 | 28-87 178 Years. Inches. D ays. 1876 | 30°77 191 1877 | 29°33 922 l 1878 | 27-86 | 212 || 1858 to 1862.................. Uso 169 1879 | 25:92 eSat TS635.00. LS Gnesi hace cat 2AsOOwiE: leve 1880 | 31°94 WO L868 to: 18 fOR ese 28°57 183 1881 | 27°61 TO lod So GON US (ecco tee eecescs 26°25 189 1882 | 33°91 DOH i 187-8 t08 1 SSBF seccc cece ceeee 29°44 , 194 * Days—by “ Days” is meant the number of days in which any rain was measured, without any reference to quantity. A Fall of One Inch of Rain is equal to 100 Tons per Acre. Number of Days in hich 1 inch or more fell AVERAGE RAINFALL FOR THE 20 ___im the 25 Years. YEARS 1860 to 1879. January ............ Zo) IAG eal °32.. 2 26:16 | At London ...... 26:46 MED EMATY, «2... 42.2055 Or iieaiueedsi:.-.. 24: 24:08 | ,, Exeter ...... 33 22 Marvel -..-......--.- 1 | ,, Sheffield...... 31:97 | ,, Penzance ... 44°15 EPL sa c.us'doy cies: Sd lege Malton Aca 27°95 | ,, Edinburgh 37°84 LL a ree 2 | ,, Manchester 34:66] ,, Belfast ...... 35.57 PRET ee See cike at Sue Za Bolton | 5. sen 4638 | ,, Seathwaite, 2017 Fach See ree eee 8 |/cesiiineoln °5.¢ 22:28 Cumberland 144:50 Sela See awicicediws Me ,, Hunstanton 21:41 eptember ......... era 5 RT OTA Cu Pals ales Beeeaesrotee +l : Fall of Rain at the Stye Head of Borrow- ee 4 | dale, in 1872, amounted to 243-98 inches. HAROLD SMITH, F.M.S. Heaviest Fall in one day )| Fulford House, Hull, Ji . 1883. 2°00 on August 21, 1858. ord House anuary 108 Tae NATURALIST. The total Rainfall for the Six Months—October, 1857, to March, 1858, was only 3°58. The average Fall for each 5 years shows a steady increase in number of days on which Rain was measured, and a similar increase in quantity, with the exception of the fourth period, the average of which was reduced by the two dry years 1873 and 1874; the last period shewing an average annual excess of 3 inches over the year’s average fall for the "25 years. Wettest Liege was the second half of 280), with fall of 22:27. Short Hotes and Queries. BADGERS IN YORKSHIRE.—In compliance with Mr. George Roberts’ request for a list of the occurrences of the above animals in Yorkshire, I report for this district as follows :—One Sunday morning in 1832, Mr. John Taylor, of Stainland, went into Hardplatts Wood, accompanied by his famous dog ‘‘ Jack.” They encountered a fine full-grown badger, and immediately commenced the struggle for existence. Mr. Taylor was not slow to perceive that the badger was going to be the fittest, but, providing himself with a heavy cudgel, after a tough fight he secured the survival for his four-footed companion. Less than three years ago, a fine badger was caught in Turner Wood, Rishworth ; it is in the possession of Mr. Wheelwright, of Ripponden, on whose estate it was captured. It was thought to be an escape.—C. C. Hanson. ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES.—A short time ago Mr. A. EK. Atmore sent me a series of Tortria Lafawryana, a species he had added to the British list from specimens taken at King’s Lynn in 1880, and which species had been announced as new to science in France so recently as 1876. During the past season Mr. Atmore reared it rather freely from larve found feeding between united leaves and tops of Myrica qale. When in London last month, Mr. W. H. Tugwell very kindly gave me a fine series of each of Nola centonalis, Eimomos autumnaria (alniaria) and Nyctegretes achatinella—all from Deal recently. I am also indebted to Mrs. Frazer for a nice set of Crambus furcatellus, captured by herself in the Highlands of Scotland during the past summer ; and lately I have ascertained that some tortrices I netted in Wicken Fen last Whitsuntide, and which had been put on one side since then, include Phoxopteryx paludana, P. biarcuana, and P. siculana.—G. T. Porrirr. EntromontocicaL Nores From YorkK.—-The past unfavourable season has not furnished you with inany good lists of captures from collectors through- out the county ; and I think it cannot be questioned but that there has been a decided dearth amongst all orders of insect life, from what causes it is difficult to say, unless the three or four preceding bad seasons have been effectual in destroying, in some stage or other, insect life. In this neighbourhood, the Diurni have been particularly noticeable by their absence, as I only remember seeing one A. cardamines, one A. Atalanta, a few V. urticew, no P. Phiwas, and no L. Alexis, although P. brassice and SHort Notes anpd QUERIES. 109 Napi were fairly common. The same may be said of the Sphingidee and Bombycidze—one SW. ocellatus larva, one or two D. vinula, and one bifida, no larvee of B. quereus, D. furcula, or LH. lanestris. The Geometreze were sub- ject to the same conditions. I did not give the Noctue trial all the season with sugar, so I cannot speak so certainly of them, but I believe they were affected in like manner. However, I have met with afew which I had not previously taken in this locality. Dianthecia cucubal : I reared a number of this from larvee found on Lychnis flescucult. They are very hardy larvee, not requiring near so much attention as Hupithecia dodoneata. Karly in April I was glad to see in my room a specimen of this pug, the larva of which I had beaten from oak the previous season. I have also the pleasure to add to my list Chrysoclista bimaculella. This rare and pretty little insect fell to my beating-stick in this neighbourhood ; I hope I shall be able to find more of it another season. Tinea fulvimi- trella, another rare species, turned up in this locality ; also Gelechia luculella. A very good example of Lavema ochraceella turned up in fair numbers. It has the open habit of sitting on the upper side of the leaves of Hpilobium hirsutum quietly until boxed, though it requires a sharp eye to detect its presence. The Terebrant portion of the Hymen- optera have been more plentiful, especially in the early part of the year. I found amongst them the following :—Ichnewmon varipes, three examples | _ taken at Holgate ; Dicelotus parvulus, one taken at Acomb Wood ; Pheo- genes stumulator and P. fulvitarsus, found by beating, Acomb Wood ; Oryptus erythropus, U. parvulus, and C. dubius, these three species bred from Hmphytus cinct iis. C. dubius (Tusch) is new to Britain. Phygadeuon vagabundus, found at Holgate ; P. oviventris, bred from EF. cinctus ; Hemi- teles aveator, found at Holgate; H.formosus, H. fragilis, bred from W. cinc- tus ; Campoplex erythrogaster, beaten out of oak, Acomb Woed ; Mesoleius caligatus, M. rufolatris, and M. napans, found by beating ; M. dubius and M. awlicus, bred from HL. cinctus ; Bassus planus and B. pictus found by beating, Holgate ; Limneria virginalis and L. erucator, captured in Acomb Wood; FPerilissus sp., found in wood; Nematopodius ater (Brischke), two examples bred from E cinctus, two others captured at large ; Trematopygas discolor, found at Holgate (Mr. Bridgman: ‘‘I believe it is this species”) ; Lissonota variabilis, captured at Holgate ; Polyblastus rivals, var., found in wood; Kelytus ornatus, var., one example by beating. A few of these have been recorded before for this locality, but, having bred these, I record their hosts. The same remarks that have | been applied to the order Lepidoptera apply to the aculeate portion of | the Hymenoptera—hardly any to be seen. Of course there are exceptions in all the orders, and there are one or two here—Bombus lucorum and B. muscorum, the former of these abundant all the season, the latter very } common in the autumn. There is also one apparently new to the county, Andrena Trimmerana. I took two examples of this in this neighbourhood ) flying in hedge bottoms ; also Andrena sp. which remains unnamed. Sirex | juvencus,—On Sept. 11th, whilst I was passing along one of the paths in the 110 THE NATURALIST. York Nurseries, I picked off the ground a very fine female example of this Species. It had evidently not been there long, as it was in very fresh condition. There is no record of this siricid from the York neighbour- hood since 1875; this is therefore the more remarkable, since the last notice of it was a notice of it taken flying on the top of York Minster (see Transactlons of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, Parts I. & IT.) Odynerus pictus.—I discovered two or three colonies of this insect during the past summer making their earthen cells on some hard glass lights. They formed them on the glass, and, curiously enough, I was able to see the larvee in the interior as they progressed from the egg to maturity. The cells were filled by the parents with sawfly larve, and fastened up. Here is a wonderful instance of forethought or sagacity: the parent knows exactly what size to build the cell so as to contain sufficient food for its larva.—T. Witson, Holgate, York, Jan. 16th, 1883, OBITUARY.—Jas. Vartey.—Another representative of the old school of working naturalists passed away on Sunday, Jan. 7th, in the person of James Varley. Born May 3rd, 1817, at Primrose Hill, Huddersfield, he lived for sixty-four years within a comparatively short distance of the same spot. His taste for Natural History was evidently early developed, for he was, I believe, one of the founders of the Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, which is now perhaps the oldest provincial society of the kind in the United Kingdom ; and thirty years ago his name appears to have been a household word with the naturalists of the West Riding, whilst he was also well known as a successful collector by the leading lepidopterists of the country. My own almost earliest lessons in the science were received from him, and I well remember the fear and trembling with which, as a small schoolboy, I used to take my specimens to him to name, and the joy and excitement I felt when, on one of my earliest visits, he presented me with my first half-dozen larvee of Saturna carpini. In the year 1864 he somewhat excited the entomological world by rearing from avery large quantity of larvee a good series of the deep black-bordered variety of Abraxas grossulariata, which, although repeatedly bred in Yorkshire since, up to that time appears to have been quite unknown. The form at present very properly bears his name—variety Varleyata. Besides entomology, he took equal interest in ornithology, and of both lepidoptera and birds he formed extensive and rich collections. His health failing, and becoming reduced in circumstances, he sold the former, several years ago, to Mr. Bennett, of Bradford, but his fine collection of birds was, I think, still in his possession at the time of his death. Of late years he has been unable to do as active work in his favourite pursuits as formerly, but his numerous notes and his papers in this journal! will be evidence to- our readers of the keen interest he still took in all matters pertaining to them. He was twice president of the Hudderstield Naturalists’ Society— the last time during the year 1880. Mr. S. lL. Mosley, Beaumont Park, near Huddersfield, intends writing a sketch of Mr. Varley’s life, and will Ss Reports or SociErtes. 111 be glad of any anecdotes or other suitable information from any of his correspondents and friends.—G. T. P. Aeports of Societies. BaRnstEY Naruratists’ Soctsty.—Meeting Dec. 19th, Dr. Lancaster in the chair.—A very interesting paper was read by Mr. R. Creighton, on the Trochilide, or ‘‘ Humming Birds,” many choice specimens of ‘skins of these minute and brilliant birds being exhibited by him, and their range from the sonthern to the northern parts of the American continent described. Annuat Mestine, Jan. 19th.—Mr. T. Lister was elected president, and Mr. W. EH. Brady hon. sec. But little progress was reported in entomology and _ botany. In ornithology some particulars were given of the effect on birds before and after the snow-storm of Dec. 6th, and the intense frost of the 12th. Birds were rendered tame by the cold and starvation, and some were found dead. Starlings, bullfinches, blue tits, blackbirds, and even jays, came about houses and garden-sheds in the town and villages. The Rev. J. Johnson writes of a flock of golden plovers near the Vicarage, Denby. After the melting of the snow, daws, rooks, meadow pipits, grey and pied wagtails, and redpolls stirred about in the fields in quest of food. A few have cheered us with their song—as missel thrush Dec. 3rd ; thrush Jan. 3rd ; blackbird, 4th.—T. L. BEVERLEY Fietp NATURALISTS’ AND SOIENTIFIC SocteTy.—Meeting llth January. A resolution was passed to make application to the Gilchrist Trustees for their series of lectures to be held in Beverley during the next winter session. Mr. H. M. Ellis presented a number of coal-measure fossils to the society, and Mr. Swailes, on behalf of Mr. C. Dixon, exhibited a fine specimen of the waxwing, shot recently in Pig- _ hill-lane. Mr. R.Cherry showed the following lepidoptera :—Tephiosia crepuscularia, Agriopis aprilina, Amphidasis betularia and its black variety, Cherocampa elpenor, and Gramnesia trilinea. Mr. F. Boyes _ reported that a specimen of the hooper, or whistling swan (Cygnis ferus) _ had been shot near Beverley on the 22nd ult., and also that a bittern and | several goosanders (Mergus merganser) had been seen in the neighbour- | hood. After the specimens had been duly examined, a highly interesting _ and instructive lecture on the ‘‘ Transit uf Venus” was given by Mr. J. A. Ridgway, F.2.A.S., who illustrated his remarks with diagrams - and models showing the means employed to measure the distance of the sun and planets from the earth. BRADFORD Natura.ists’ Soorsty.—Mecting Jan. 9th, the president, | Mr. J. W. Carter, in the chair.—Mr. Saville exhibited a specimen of Trichomanes radicans ; Mr. West, a number of mosses from Malham and _Gordale. The president gave his inaugural address on ‘‘ The Orders of | Insects,” and briefly reviewed the different systems of classification that have from time to time been propounded, and explained the different 1A THE NattRAList. orders according to the Cibarian system, in a very lucid and interesting manner. The lecture was fully illustrated with examples of each, and also by diagrams.—H. L. Oxtey. MANCHESTER CryproGamic Soctety.—Annual Meeting, the president, Dr. Carrington, in the chair.—The hon. secretary read the annual report, which briefly enumerated the various discoveries made by the members during the last year, and the new localities recorded for the rarer species. Tt was remarked that the exhibitions and distribution of the rarer species of cryptogams had been a pleasing feature in the society’s proceedings. The thanks of the society were accorded to Mr. Chas. Bailey for a copy of his recent paper on the ‘‘ Structure of the Characeez,” to Dr. Braithwaite for a copy of the last published part of his ‘‘ British Moss Flora,” and to the Royal Microscopical Society for their journals, reports, and pro- ceedings. Dr. Carrington was re-elected president, Capt. P. G. Cunliffe and Mr. W. H. Pearson were elected vice-presidents, and Mr. F. Rogers hon. secretary. After the election of various other officers of the society, the hon. sec. made some observations on specimens of Pottia cavifolia which had been sent from Llandudno, and he exhibited specimens of its variety caning from the Continent, which Dr. Wood thought might possibly be found in Britain, if attention were paid to the genus. The interesting Continental moss Pharomitrium subsessile was exhibited ; the specimen had been gathered by Prof. Schimper in Styria, and was interesting on account of its representing a well marked out division of the genus Pottia. Tt is, however, not yet knownas a British moss. Mr. Atkinson exhibited specimens of Pezziza aurantia, which he had seen growing in large beds near Bowness in September last. The partally dried specimens smelled faintly, like dried rose petals. "3 Meerine, January, 1883, Capt. Cunliffe, F.R.M.S., in the chair.—Mr. J. Cash exhibited a fruiting specimen of Leucobryum glaucum, var. minis, gathered near Lyndhurst, New Forest. Mr. Geo. Stabler sent a specimen of Schistostega osmundacea which had been gathered on Dec. 30th, 1882, in the caves of Bis Parlis, Penrith, Cumberland, by Mr. Martindale, the moss not having been hitherto recorded for this province. Mr. W. H. Pearson brought before the notice of the society the discovery of a new British hepatic, Cephalozia Jackit (Limpricht), which Dr. Spruce had detected in specimens of Jung. byssacea, collected by Mr. W. Wilson in Cheshire, near Warrington, Apyil, 1841. The species does not appear in the recently published memoir on Cephalozia by Dr. Spruce. Captain Cunliffe exhibited a fine series of recently collected mosses, Didymodow eylindricus and Campylostelium saxicola, being abundantly in fruit. Dr. J. B. Wood sent fruiting specimens of Ewrhynchiwm circinnatum, collected — in Italy by the Marquis Bottini, and a new European moss (Aypnwit — Bottinii (Breidler) discovered by the Marquis Bottini in Etruria, May, — 1881. M. Robert du Buysson, Brout-Vernet, France, was elected a corresponding member of the society. : Tinnca ee of Tioudos 8 p.m are » 9. Leeds ‘Geological Association. The Metallurgy of Silver, » 4 “B.-A, Burrell, F.C.S., 8 p.m. , 6. Leeds Naturalists’ Clab. Pit Be Selby Naturalists’ Society.—‘‘ Animal Lite, in its Lower Forms,” . J. M. Kirk, 8-15 p.m. , 6. Bradford Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. » 9. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. » 6. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club/ », 7. Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. » 7. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. , ; » 8. Beverley Naturalists’ Field Club.—** On the. Cellular Tissues & z Plants,” Rev. W. Smith. 5, 9. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. -,, 13. Leeds Naturalists’ Club.—Celebration of 500th Meeting, by Social : ‘Tea, at Powolny’s Restaurant. » 14. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. » 15. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. 4 ,, 19. Leeds Geological Association. | ' -,, 19. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. oe 20. Leeds Naturalists’ Club. i » 20. Selby Naturalists’ Society.—‘‘ The Physical Geography of the Sea,” _ W.B. Bellerby, 8-15 p.m. , , 20. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—Microscopical Evening & 30 p.m. 22. Beverley Naturalists’ Field Club. : +g, 22. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club.—Meeting at Leck. 96. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. yeh Leeds Naturalists’ Club. ooo Ate a. Cassell’s oe Natural History—Birds, one vol., strongly bound, 300 illustrations, and Paxton’s Botanical Dictionary, first edition, for other Natural ‘History: Bodéks.—G. Roperts, Lo Wakefield. ’ THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OK CONCHOLOGY. This ‘Journal circulates widely amongst Conchblonen throughout the world, and contains every quarter Be dealing with all departments of the Science. ‘Double numbers are at present being issued, price 1/- each, = or 4/4 perannum, post free. PUBLISHED BY ). W. TAyLor, St. Ann’ s Works, Leeds, to ig hora should be sent all communications ;-and to whom Post Be nee Orders also should be made payable. SSIS Ce ii, SLT aaa = r Lonpox : pe ICS & BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, W. THE SCOTTISH N ATURALIST, 6 Hlagazine of Datural Vistory, commenced in 1871, Edited by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D., F-.L.S. ‘Subscriptions (paid in advance) 4s. per annum, post free. i i } Lp ‘ESmBuRGH AND LONDON : WitiiaM BLAcKWwoop AND Sons. THE ‘NEXT ANNUAL _ MEETING WILL BE HELD ee ACER. ata “On SATURDAY Afternoon, Mar. ard Hor sae Election of Officers, and the fixing oe pee for ue ae “ Hxeursions of 1883. — ) In the Evening at Six p-i-, the President of the Union, JOHN GILBERT BAKER, ESQ., F.R.S., &o, Of the Royal Herbarium at Kew, will deliver the Armnual Address, ‘the subject of which will be— — = as The present position of the Knowle of the Geography of the British Plants, with special reference to ie orth of a aD ; : "oeagae The Meetings for Election of Boctienal Officers will commence at : eri Three o’clock. Further particulars: will be given in the usual E circular shortly to be issued. . : se WM. DENISON ROEBUCK, Sunny Bank, Loeds ; wM. EAGLE CLARKE, aD; East View, Leeds ; wa, eyo CHEESMAN, erhe Crescent, Selby, Tocal Seo. N. B. _Excvrstons, Manber are pegieael to forward ae one . the Secretaries, Suggestions of suitable places for the Excursions - Annvuat Menrine or 1884. Societies” desirous ‘of. having Annual Meeting of 1884 held in their town, should-at once send in their invitations. Preference will be given to towns possessing st able railway facilities, and which are prepared to Organise a Coy e _ sazione or Exhibition on the occasion, ‘ Sectional Orrrcers.—Members are aucsaal he be pre with nominations of suitable gentlemen to acy as Officers, of JOURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE N botiies UN ah | 7 AND _ GENERAL FIELD OLUB RECORD. “NEW SERIES. a8 iif pty y _ Eprrep sy Cuas. P. Hopxiag, F.LS., anv G. T. Porritt, F.LS. | | MARCH, 1663.’ VOL. VIIE’ | age cleoptera of the ierpo0! Disbrict—Part mm. fubous, F. es septentrionalis, Gyll. » flavicollis, Stu. A lineatus, F. The following have occurred in fewer numbers : — Haliplus fluviatilis, Aubé. Moderately common. Hydroporus picipes, F. Three specimens. assimilis, Pk. Four specimens. memnonius, Nic. * eigrita, F. j Moderately common. 5. angustatus, Stu. In addition to the above I have to record :— Huliplus fulveus, ¥F. A single specimen on the Hightewn shore. (J.W.E.) Hydroporus nigrita, F. Common in a pit on the Sandhills near Hall-road Station. Noterus sparsus, Marsh. Common in a pit near Waliasey, April. (J.W.E.) Colymbetes exoleéns, Forst. 1 picked up a dead specimen of this species, which is new to the district, on the bank of the Alt, near Hightown, in May last. Agabus paludosus, F. Mr. Kinder has a specimen of this handsome species, taken by himself in the district, he believes at Crosby. Gyrinus distinctus, Aubé. Mr. Chappell informs me he has taken this species in pools at Leasowe, in April. | 116 THE NATURALIST. PALPICORNIA. Of this small group of beetles, which has had little attention paid to it, fam able to enumerate about 435 species as having occurred in our district. Of the genus Helophorus alone I have to record 10 out of the 12 species given as British in Dr. Sharp’s last catalogue ; and of the puzzling genus Cercyou I give a list of 14 out of the 18 British species. HYDROBIUS. H. fuscipes, L. Abundant in pits. A smaller variety with paler legs occurs on the Sandhills. PHILHYDRUS. | P. testaceus, F. Common in pits, Westminster Road. - (F.K.) P. melanocephaius, Ol. A single specimen from the same locality. (DT) ENOCHRUS. Li. bicolor, Pk. A single specimen with the above. (F.K.) ANACAENA.” A. limbata, F. Common in pits. A. variabilis, Sharp. Not so common as the preceding. LACCOBIUS. L. minutus, L. In the Fender, Bidston Marsh. (A. H. May.) L. nigriceps, Th. I have a single specimen, taken on the Wallasey sandhills, in April, 1876. BEROSUS. B. affinis, Bruilé. I used to take this species frequently in claypits behind Wavertree Park; Mr. Kinder takes it sparingly about Westminster-road. LIMNOBIUS. : L. truncatellus, Th. Crosby, September. (I. Archer's diary.) HELOPHORUS. FI. xugosus, Ol. On the shore at Crosby. (F. K.) H. nubilis, F. Bidston Marsh, in November, 1862. (Mr. Archer’s diary.) H. intermedius, Muls. Crosby, September. do. H. agquaticus, L. Abundant in pits. H. Mulsanti, Rye. One specimen from the Hightown shore, May, 1832. (J. W. E.) | Hi. griseus, Ubst. Common. Hf. granularis, 1, Common, especially near the sandhills. Hf. ceneipennis, Th. Altear rifle ground. (FF. Archer’s diary.) i. arvernicus, Muls. IL have a single specimen, taken along with granularis. (J. W. E.) J ELLs : CoLEorpTERA OF THE LIVERPOOL DISTRICT. 1] H. dorsalis, Marsh. Altcar rifle ground. (Mr. Archer’s diary.) HYDROCHUS. : HI. angustatus, Germ. Mr. Kinder takes this species commonly in pits near Westminster-road. OCTHEBIUS. O. bicolor. Germ. Two specimens from the Fender, Bidston Marsh. (J. W. H.) O. rujimarginatus, Steph. Several specimens among rejectamenta on the banks of the Fender, in October last. (J. W. E.) CYCLONOTUM. C. orbiculare, F. Abundant at the edge of a pit at Liscard, last April. (J. W. E.) SPH@RIDIUM. L. scarabeesides, i. Common in dung. S. bipustulatum, ¥. With the above, but less common. S. marginatum, ¥. Taken with the above. (I. K ) CERCYON. C. obsoletus, Gyll. Common in dusg on the sandhills. C. hemorrhous, Gyll. A single specimen, loc.? (J. W. E.) C. aquaticus, Muls. Moderately common about Kirkdale. C. flavipes, F. The most abundan’ of the genus with us. | (F. K.) C. lateralis, Marsh. A few specimens on the sandhills (J. W. EK.) Moderately common about Kirkdale. (F. K.) C. littoralis, Gyll. Common under rejectamenta on the shore. C. depressus, Steph. One specimen from Aigburth, and one specimen from Hightown. (J. W. E.) C. unipunctatus, l. Common in dung. C. quisquitius, L. Common. C. melanocephalus, L. Abundant. C. terminatus, Marsh. One specin:en, Wallasey (J. W. E.) Common at Litherland (IF. K.) C. pygmaeus, Il). Two specimens from Hightown (J. W. E.) C. lugubris, Pk. One specimen from Hightown (J. W. E.) CU. -analis, Pk. . Common. MEGASTERNUM. AM. boletophagum, Marsh. Common in dung. CRYPTOPLEURUM, C. atomarium, F. Common about Litherland (I. K.) Two specimens from Hastham J. W. E.) In conclusion, J would call attention to the valuable results which may be achieved by systematically working one locality; as an instance of which,"the number of species (many not hitherto recorded 118 Tur NATURALIST. from the district) taken by Mr. F. Kinder in the fields near West- minster-road, only a short distance from the city boundary, and a locality which we would probably think as unproductive of good species of insects as any locality could, well be. A WORKING MAN BOTANIST. {| A correspondent sends us the following notice, and although our friend Mr. Whitehead is still living, and we trust will live for many years to continue his useful work, we make no apology for publishing it.—Ep. Nat. |] “Mr. John Whitehead, of Ashton, has been a diligent student of botany for upwards of thirty years, but during the greater portion of that time he has devoted himself more especially to the study of mosses. Asa boy his scanty pocket money was expended in the purchase of botanical works, and his spare time after work hours was then, and is now, given to botanical rambles and researches. In the first year that he began the study of mosses, in 1859, he was tortu- nate enough to make two important discoveries, viz., Dicranella Schreberi, var. elata, Schimper, found in Stirrup Wood, Charlesworth, and Atrichum crispum, Staley Brushes, which was said by the late Professor Schimper, of Strasburg, to be a very interesting addition to the flora of Europe. The late Mr. John Nowell had known this ~ moss for some time, but failed to get it determined. The following may also be mentioned :—AHeterocladium hetcropterum, found near Bolton (1863), in company with his friend, Mr. R. Scholefield, the first and only locality in England where this moss has been seen with fruit; Hedwigia ciliata, var. striata, Wilson, near Grasmere (1867), the first locality in Epgland, and only found hitherto in two places in the world ; Buxbaumia aphylia, Tintwistle (1867), an addi- tion to the Manchester flora, and hitherto known only in two localities in England ;. Rhynchostegium depressum, Marple (1867), the third station in Britain ; Seligeria tristicha, near Castleton, Derby- . shire (1868), the first locality in Britain; DPlagivthecium Borrerianum, Arthog (1876), hitherto called by some of the principal writers on mosses, Hypnum elegans; but by cultivating this plant, under favour- able conditions, for three months, Mr. Whitehead was able to show that it had been incorrectly named by all authorities except Dr. Spruce in 1846, when the moss was new to science; deligeria acutt- folia, Arncliffe, Yorkshire (1868), new to Britain ; Brywm rufum, near Litton, Yorkshire (1879), new to science; Carex ornithopoda (a sedge), A Work1NG Man Boranist. 119 new to Britain, found in Miller's Dale (1874), by Mr. H. Newton, and first named by Mr. Whitehead ; Jungermannia Nevicensis (a liver- wort), Ben Nevis (1876), new to science. Among Mr. Whitehead’s numerous correspondents are Dr. Spruce, the late Mr. William Wilson, author of the “ Bryologia Britannica,” Professor Babington, Sir Joseph Hooker, Professor Balfour, Mr. H. C. Watson, and Professor Schimper, of Strasburg. In his Synopsis of European mosses, Schimper refers to Mr. Whitehead as “ sharp- eyed,” and they were introduced to each other when the Professor visited this country in 1865. Dr. Braithwaite published in 1877 a work on Sphagnums (bog mosses) with dried specimens, those for the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire being collected and prepared by Mr. Whitehead; and be is contributing to the same gentleman’s superbly illustrated *‘ British Moss Flora,’ now in course of publication. He is also providing specimens for a new edition of Wilson’s © Bryologia Biitannica,” which is being brought out by the Rev. J. Fergusson, of Brechin. In addition he is pre- paring a moss flora for North Derbyshire, and another for a circuit of ten miles round Ashton. Mr. Whitehead was one of the founders and first president of the Manchester Cryptogamic Society, is now the president of the Ashton Linnean Society, and the United Field Naturalists, and the Ashton Biological Societies number him among their vice-presidents. He possesses a small but valuable library of scientific works, his herba- rium is probably unequalled for variety and completeness, and he is a not infrequent contributor to our botanical journals. It will be seen that Mr. Whitehead has done good work in the cause of science, of which he is an enthusiastic lover, and his chief characteristics are untiring energy, modesty, and a willingness to impart his knowledge to others.” NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. (Continued. ) By 8S. D. Barrstow, F.L.S. AGAIN, we might excusably imagine that when daylight was exposed on the raising of a stone, beetles would immediately, without premedi- tation, rush away in all directions. My own experience points to an opposite result. They wait for the word of command, when one signal trumpet annihilates the colony. Insects may give expression to their affections by means of audible (or inaudible to human ears) specific 126 Toe NatuRALisT. calls, and who has proved that they are inaccessible to feelings of friendly interest or Good Samaritanship? Darwin has exposed marvels of biological research. He elevates the poor earth-worm to a platform of usefulness. Lubbock, unconsciously perhaps but never- theless powerfully, proclaims the sovereignty of fragile ants, and the more we learn, not the less do we exhibit our insufficiency of wisdom. Study the domestic economy and life-history of our insects as we will, the time is yet far distant for the revelation of structural, susceptible and expressible utility. In this respect effect is fact, but cause, theory. Adverting to the stone turning once more, I have always understood that species of the genera Chrysomela and Cassida were Phytophagous insects. There is a lovely Chrysomela not uncommonly taken here wnder stones, quite dormant, and where one occurs I generally find companions. The regular hunting ground for this insect is some distance from the food-plant. Cassida atrauta (a noble fellow) I have never captured in any other situation. I should like to hear if any of my home friends can enlighten me as to the reason. When once we recognise the food-plant of a Cassida, we are tolerably sure wherever it is growing to find thereupon our desired acquaint- ance. In this respect the genus is exceptional. Thus, C. Tigrina (Olivier) feeds on a species of Solanum. I have seen the plant in a dozen localities widely separate, and no matter whether it is commonly distributed or isolated the beautiful and auriferous-spotted Tvgrina in larval stage with excrementitious tail, or the perfect insect is almost a certain accompaniment. I have well nigh exhausted my premier list of beetles, always excepting the dozens of species whose names are un- known to me. Professor Westwood, that most urbane friend of the antipodean Coleopterist, is rendering every assistance in the naming process, and | may have to speak further on subsequent finds at some future date. My companion in nearly every love-labour is Mr. Sloman Rous, a most zealous and painstaking naturalist of the 18-carat stamp. He has the finest private collection of beetles in South Africa, and duly considering vast and insuperable difficulties of identification, I am bound to acknowledge that few men approach him in point of general knowledge on the entire group. As we are constantly together, comparing notes and hunting Entomons, I am tolerably safe to pilfer (?) his opinion in many things, unconsciously stating it as original. He will pardon the loan. In the arrangement of his cabinet he is a stickler for two subsidiary articles. The first, corrosive sublimate, as a preservative against Acari and beetle pests, requires no comment ; but the second is so Barrstow: NaturayL History Nores—Soutsa Arrica. 121 palpably “ good” that I recommend it strongly to cabinet-makers and collectors. Instead of cork for lining cases, he adopts the pith of the American aloe. This is cut into long strips of the required thickness, and being lighter and more impressible than cork, is, I think, infinitely superior. I noticed also that the names of specimens were neatly written on cardboard of different shades, thus: Dark-red...class ; rose colour...genus ; pink...species. No wonder that relations of pinned and defunct beetles are happy when the latter are immortalised in gems of caligraphy inscribed on artistic and appropriate tablets. As. a back-form student in botany, I naturally remark the prickly appearance of the majority of African bushes. As an ardent sports- man I naturally feel the quality and power of the prickles. These attain to all sizes from one line to one foot long, assuming the most grotesque shapes imaginable. A good old lady who resides peaceably in the sanctity of an un- sanctified canteen (celebrated for miles around as a fishing-tackle depository) owns a small museum of local prodigies. Let us take a seat at her supper table. We don’t require a bill of fare after the fashion of ‘ Three in Norway.” Stout and oysters, nothing more, (I hear. you exclaim, “Quite enough too!’’). As edible molluscs rapidly slip away from view, Mother B. entertains her guests, while exhibiting treasured curios one by one in a most affable manner. Here are four fine specimens of Paper Nautilus, taken on the adjacent beach; also a couple of huge Tritons, and hosts of smaller shells. “This,” she remarks—perceiving our attention fixed upon a black billiard ball, only more so,—‘‘ was cut out of the paunch of an ox, and is composed of hair soldered together by constant licking and salivary manipulation.* And now,” says she, “I think I shall puzzle you. Can you name these for me!” ‘ Buckhorns! ” stammers a neighbour. I, remembering the old truism, “where ignorance is bliss,” &e., assume a violent cough and say nothing. We “give the riddle up,” and the old lady inwardly chuckles and outwardly heaves, as she answers, “‘a pair of Mimosa Thorns,” A better substitute for buck-horns I have never seen, an] placed over the door of a gentle man’s hall these spikes could perplex a sportsman of keen discern- ment. I have jotted down a few examples of shape, which will convey a vague idea of the numerous enemies and demoniacal obstacles a collector's pants or gauze net contends with in a South African bush. The originals were all gathered from one small bush. Some of the ——_— —— se. 9 8 * The largest specimen I have ever seen. 129 THE NATURALIST. withered and sapless thorns are appropriated by small ants. Splitting one down the centre, I am tolerably safe to find the hollowed space inhabited, but am not equally certain as to where the place or places of ingress and egress are bored. (To be continued., Short Hotes and Queries. Sericomyia borealis.—I would call the attention of your readers to this very conspicuous and interesting fly, of whose life-history so very little is known. It is one of the largest and handsomest of the hover flies Syrphide ; the antenne are plumose, and the body marked with bands alternatety yellow and piceous. It seems for the most part to frequent the hilly districts of England and Scotland, being more especially fond of the hill tops. It is chiefly remarkable for its curious habit of making a harmonious piping sound while sitting on the stones apparently at rest ; the sound has been mistaken for singing at a distance. It is also said to cause some annoyance to visitors to the hill-tops by flying towards them in a threatening manner, but this requires corroboration. It will be observed that Mr. J. C. Dale suggests that this may be the insect referred to by Ray as having been met with near Settle, and proving very annoying (Nat., Jan:, 1883, p. 93). To anyone interested in the subject T would suggest a reference to the notices in the Ent. Month. Mag., Dec., 1881, p. 159, and Jan., 1883, p. 188, and the very interesting letters of Mr. Swinton and Mr. Hellins in the same publication, Jan., 1882, p. 189. I should be very glad to hear of fresh observations on these and other points in the life-history of this insect. Sericomyia borealis is a stout-bodied fly about the size of the large Valucella, which are parasites on the humble bee, and so curiously mimic them.—K. N. Biomrietp, Guestling Rectory, Feb. 17th, 1883. A Wortp tn Miytature.—-Through the kindness of Mr. Loran, smack owner, of Hull, I had forwarded to me, a few days ago, a ‘‘ specimen ”’ from the North Sea ; it consists of a female edible crab, Cancer paqiius, unfortunately deceased in transit, and measuring about 8in. across the carapace. On the back were eleven oysters, Ostrea edulis, the largest about 3in. by 2in., twenty or thirty Anomia ephippvwm and its variety aculeata, several Saxicava rugosa, and three or four Ascidians. On the upper valves of the oysters were numerous Serpule, SS. triquetra, annelides forming sand tubes, patches of polyzoa and egg capsules of one of the whelks. In the interstices of the shells were four medium-sized and several minute specimens of the plumose anemone, A. dianthus, the largest of which was furnished with two distinct mouths. The large claws were furnished with a forest of Sertularian and Tubularian zoophytes, and the pedipalps were infested with what appeared to bea SHort Nores anpD QUERIES. 123 species of sponge. On breaking the mass up into suitable pieces for my aquarium, I also found three small crabs of another species, not yet determined. I have handed over the refuse sand, &c., to a friendly microscopist for examination. Unfortunately many of the animals had died from expesure to the air; had it been otherwise, the whole would have formed a splendid object for a large tank.—J. D. BurrsreE.t, 2, St. John-street, Beverley, Feb. 11th, 1883. BapGeER IN CLEVELAND.—A fine male badger was caught afew days ago near the river Lees, by Mr. Thomas Braithwaite of Red Hal] Farm, near Yarm, The weight of it is about 25ibs.—W. Greason, Baldersby, Thirsk, January 29th, 1883. Scarcrry oF WintER Birps.—Referring to the letter in the January No. of the Naturalist upon the scarcity of birds, both residents and winter visitors, at the present time, I can fully confirm the writer’s remarks respecting many species. We have very few fieldfares or redwings this winter. I myself have seen none, but hear of one or two small flocks having been noticed by other persons. The absence of woodcocks has been a great disappointment to the majority of sportsmen. Covers from which some of these birds have been invariably killed in former years, have been entirely blank this winter, and I have only heard of one or two having been shot in the neighbourhood in the month of October. The first bird observed was shot on the 16th of that month. Not a single short-eared owl has been recorded, though a few generally accompany the woodeocks here. Hooded crows are of much more frequent occur- rence than former]y—in fact they are becoming abundant in this locality. Since Oct. 25th, when I first saw one, very few days have passed without my hearing their harsh croak. The first flock of siskins appeared on the 28th o? October, and these birds, as well as gold-crests, were abundant from that date until about Christmas, when they left us. Some large flocks of snow buntings made their appearance about Nov. 25th, on the higher cultivated land a few miles from here. Snipe and jack-snipe have not been nearly so numerous as in previous winters. The first jack-snipe seen was shot on the llth December. During the last week or two a few magpies have come down to us from the hillside plantations, which does not often occur. The peewits have never left us, although they usually do so; and, about the commencement of this year, a large flock of golden plovers, consisting of several hundreds, paid us a visit for a few days. Starlings, song-thrushes, blackbirds, and wrens suffered severely during the three consecutive hard winters of 1878-79-80. but the two latter are again increasing—much more so than the two former. Song-thrushes have been entirely absent this winter, but a few made their appearance about the 3rd inst. Bullfinches have been unusually plentiful ; skylarks have been scarce, but began to re-appear the first week of this month (February). Tuitlarks were fairly numerous in December, but they have 124 THe NATURALIST. now left us for their favourite locality—the moors. Considering that we have had no prolonged severe weather, the average number of wild fowl has visited us, among them being a flock of eight wild swans, and a single specimen of the red-breasted Merganser. On the 3rd of January a great erey shrike was shot here, being the second bird of this species which has been kil'ed in this neighbourhood within the last few years. Another specimen was seen during the last week in January. Unless we have an exceptionally severe winter the wood-pigeons quit this immediate locality for districts where large woods give them shelter close to an abundance of food, such as turnips. This is the case now, but farmers within a few miles say they have far too many of these birds. I think the stockdoves accompany the wood-pigeons in these local movements, both birds re-appearing here on the return of spring. We have about the same number of tree sparrows as in former years, and I may say the same of chaftinches, greentinches (one of our commonest species), yellowhammers, tits, hedge-sparrows, and robins. I observed a pied wagtail on the 4th instant, the first I have seen for many weeks. To sum up, we do not appear to have anything like the scarcity of birds here, which prevails near Lofthouse, and the diminution in numbers chiefly applies to our winter visitors. —THos. CarTER, Burton House, Masham, Feb. 12th, 1883. ADDITIONS TO THE WENSLEYDALE SHELL List.—Since the publication of my notes on the shells of Wensleydale, I have been favoured, by friends, with additional information. Another of my boxes has turned up, containing specimens picked out of moss brought home from Whit- - field Gill, near Askrigg. The species are Planorbis albus and P. parvus (gluber, Jeft.), neither of which has hitherto been recorded for the dale. For the detection of these forms I am indebted to Messrs. Wm. Nelson and Jno. W. Taylor. It is from them also that I derive information of another addition, Pisidiwm amnicum, a bivalve, which they found at Cover Bridge, in 1877. This brings up the tale of fresh-water forms to thirteen, and the whole Wensieydale list to fifty-five. My friends have also furnished me with notes of additional localities for other species. They found Helix sericea and H. pulchella near Wensley, and Mr. H. Pollard tells me that he has taken various species near Hawes, including Helix hortensis, Bulimus obscurus, Pupa wmbilicata, Claustlia rugosa, and C. dubia, as well as others which I have already recorded for that place on other authority. — Wa. Denison Rorxsock, Leeds, Feb. 14th, 1683, | Erpata.—We regret that several errors occurred in Mr. T. Wilson’s paper, on page 109 of our last (February) number. Line 9 from top of page 109, should read ‘‘ larvee, not requiring so much attention as some Be, ace i others. Eupithecia doneata, early in April.” Line 16 from top should read “Iuculella, a very good example. Laverna ochraceella turned up in fair numbers.” Line 25 from top, ‘‘ Tusch” should read ‘‘ Tasch.” Line 29 from top, ‘* rufolatris” should read ‘‘7uwfolabris,” and ‘‘ napaus” | Hantrax...(F.G. 8. Rawson) RaINFALL FOR JANUARY. PDs should read *‘ napaeus” Line 4from top of page 110, ‘'1875” should read ‘‘ 1835.” OBITUARY.—Bensgamin Cooxe.— It is with the deepest regret I record the death of my late friend Mr. Benjamin Cooke, of Southport, who died suddenly on the 3rd inst. He was born on the 16th September, 1816, and was the son of Mr. Isaac Cooke, founder of the well-known firm of Isaac Cooke & Sons. cotton brokers, Liverpool. From earliest childhood he and his brother, Mr. Nicholas Cooke, were remarkable for their intense love of insects, astonishing their friends by covering the walls of their nursery with moths, butterfles, &c., spread out so as to show their beauties to the best advantage. This natural taste very greatly developed at the Friends’ School, York, where great attention was, and is still, paid to the cultivation of a love of Natural History in the scholars. _ Mr. Cooke was not content with studying one order of insects only, but was wonderfully acquainted with insect life generally—indeed, unless it was Diptera, I do not know to which order he paid the greatest attention. His knowledge of species was truly astonishing, as numerous friends can testify who have sought his assistance in naming their specimens. You will miss, I am sure, a valued correspondent, as the papers from his pen you have from time to time published have added much to the interest of your useful periodical.—S. J. Capper, Huyton Park, Liverpool, Feb. 18th, 1883. Raintall for Janwary. Height Toran Faun of 0 TO DatE. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest ot above | fall. [pays| — Ae Fall, | Dezviest sea a x Fall. ieeik 1888. 1882. W. Robson) | Ft. In HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...} 350 Bs (J. 365 | 8°40 | 21 8°40 6°05 28 Deleh 2 | LEEDS ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 3°74 | 22 3°74 +1°79 8 0°745 | HorsForTH ... (James Fox)} 350 | 3°98 | 24 3°98 12°36 28 0°58 PATELEY BRIDGE...(E. War-| 436 | 4°31 | 13 4°31 0°26 29 189 burton, M.R.C.S.. L.S. A.) BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) . 350 | 3°37 | 18 3°37 2°46 28 —6071 eS ccivonrri (Oe eam 853 | 6°55 | 23 6°55 4°19 28 1°54 | WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...) 520 | 4°69 | 19 4°6Y 2°90 28 0:97 GOOLE ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 2°12 | 21 212 1°65 24 0°45 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.} 10 | 1°92 | 19 iis 504 | §1°92 24 0°56 Lawton) SS a EE BES Se ES * Average to date for 16 years, 1866-81. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 & 1865-83. { Average of 14 years, 1870-83. § The annual average for 30 years, 1850-79, is 22°347 on 151°15 days. Reports of Societies. BaRnsLtey Natura.ists’ Soctery.—Meeting Feb. 15th.—The report of the Conversazione and Exhibition, Jan. 25th, was favourable, there was a small balance to the credit of the Institute. There is little to report as to insects and flowers. Mercurialis perennis flowered first week in January ; Tussilago farfara, February Ist. Mr. H. Garland, of Wood- hall, reports that he has a fine specimen of the Bohemian wax-wing, obtained near that place, Dec. 20th ; this, and the Richardson’s skua, obtained at Cudworth, Oct. 27th ; the snow-buntings, Dec. 26th ; and the Sclavonic grebe, reported by Mr. M. G. Parkin; are the rarest occasional winter visitants to this neighbourhood the present season. Song-thrushes are decreasing, and need more protecting. The songs of birds are increasing daily—skylarks, early in January ; chaftinch, Feb. 9 ; yellow-hammer, Feb. 16th. The traces in the snow of an otter were observed at Woodhall, early in January.—Tuos. ListEg. BrapForp Naturatists’ Soctety.—Meeting Jan. 23rd, the president in the chair. —Mr. Firth reported taking H. leucophearia, at Saltaire, and also exhibited a beautiful series of H. defoliaria, from Shipley Glen. The president—a drawer from his cabinet, containing, amongst others, S. ocellatus, S. convoluwli, and D. Galw. Mr. Soppitt named some ferns sent from Timsbury, Somerset. Mexrrine, Feb. 6th, the president in the chair.—Mr Soppitt exhibited three specimens of Geaster, from Norfolk. The president exhibited specimens of the whole of British butterflies belonging to the order Papilionidze, and described their characteristics, and geographical dis- tribution. Mr. West—a large number of British and American plants, to illustrate the Nat. Ord. Hricace. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE EHNToMOLOGICAL SocieTy.—Meeting, Jan. 27th, the president (Mr. S. J. Capper) in the chair. The officers elected for the current session were Mr. S. J. Capper, president ; Mr. Robert Brown, vice-president ; and Dr. J. W. Ellis, honorary secretary. The president then gave a short address, in which, after thanking the members for his re-election, he referred to the entomological work during the past season. The past year had been a most prosperous one, 15 new members having been elected. He believed this was a greater number than in any previous year. Seven members had left through removal from Liverpool and other causes, and the society now numbers 67 against 59 members at the beginning of the year. At the eleven meetings which had been held 18 papers had been read, most of which had evinced a considerable amount of care, thought, and talent in their preparation. The secretary read the annual report for 1882, and the financial statement. showed a good balance in the bank. Mr. E. R. Billington read a paper — entitled ‘‘ Fourteen Days in Trinidad,” in which he detailed his expe- riences, entomological and otherwise, in that charming West Indian island, describing very vividly, and occasionally with much humour, its Reports oF SocietiEs. 197 fauna aud flora, its scenery, and the character and mode of life of its inhabitants. A short discussion terminated the proceedings. Leeps Naturauists’ Crus AND ScIENTIFIC AssovraTIon. — 500th meeting, Feb. 13th.—This was celebrated by a tea and social gathering of members, with Messrs. Hobkirk and Porritt present as visitors, at Powolny’s Rooms, the evening being devoted to a conversazione, at which numerous interesting objects were shown. The proceedings after tea commenced by the president, Mr. Thomas Fairley, F.R.S.E., giving a brief veswmé of the Club’s history. Its double title shows its twofoid origin, the Naturalists’ Club and the Scientific Association coalescing (in 1872) by a process of mutual gravitation, after modest beginnings and independent co-existence. The subsequent history was that of a gradual unfolding, and steady and continued progress. The naturalists have usually predominated, but this is simply because they have been more numerous and more active than the students of other sciences ; and as the society’s scope includes the whole range of physical science, it only remains for the students of any particular branch to emulate the zeal and energy of the naturalists, to secure for their subject its due preponder- ance. Speeches were afterwards made by Mr. Jas. Brodie (the ‘‘ parent ” of the Naturalists’ Club proper), Mr. Thomas Hick, B.A., B.Sc., Mr. B. Holgate, F.G.S. (ex-presidents), Mr. Wm. Hagle Clarke, and Mr. C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S. The meeting then became an informal and most enjoy- able converazsione. The president showed various calculating instru- ments, Mr. F. W. Branson, F.C.S., an incandescent lamp for micro- photography and Mr. B. A. Burrell, F.C.S., a case of silver ores. Mr. Clarke showed, for Mr. Edwd. Bidwell of London, a beautiful series of instantaneous photographs of bird-life at the Bass Rock and Farne islands. Mr. H. B. Hewetson brought water-colour drawings of birds of his own execution, and Mr. Grassham a splendid German book of birds. An old work, ‘‘ Natural History” (1645) was shown by Mr. J. T. Beer, and models of the internal eye and ear by Mr. Geo. Hainsworth. An album of photographs and autographs of Yorkshire naturalists, to which various members contributed, was on view. Mr. Edwd. Atkinson, F.L.S., showed dried specimens of Linnea borealis, and a collection of the turf- mosses was sent by Mr. W. West. A box of rare lepidoptera was shown by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.8., and Mr. W. Barwell Turner, F.R.M.S., had numerous objects, including original drawings from the microscope and a copy of Piaget's ‘‘ Les Pediculines,” with photographic plates. Microscopic objects were shown by him, by Mr. Fairley, Mr. Emsley and Mr. J. W. Dixon. The meeting was altogether a decided success, and will probably form the precedent for an annual gathering of similar character.—W. D. R. Port ExizaperH Naturawists’ Society. — Annual meeting. — The financial and secretary’s reports were adopted, and the following officers selected for the ensuing session :—president, R. Hallack, re-elected ; vice-president, S. Rous, re-elected ; hon. secretary and treasurer, 8. D. 128 THe NAtTuRALIST. Bairstow, F.L.S., re-elected. The report showed good progress, and was very satisfactory. Hntomology seems to be the favourite science, botany ranking second. The following notes of a ramble on New Year’s Day (midsummer in South Africa), sent by our friend the founder of the society, Mr. 8S. D. Bairstow, will. we venture to think, be read with interest :—‘‘ We have it on good authority that the weather on New Year’s Day, even from a naturalist’s point of view, was all propitious, leaving nothing to be desired. Arriving at Sandfontein, our friends, after visiting the lovely miniature of a waterfall on Mr. Conrey’s farm, employed a coloured guide, who led the way across country to the Uiten- hage springs. Here they pitched their imaginary tents, and whilst one or two dignified officers of the society, viz., Messrs. (hush !) ‘* did a snooze,” the beetle-men prowled about in search of spoil.. A magnificent longicorn yclept Zoographus oculator innocently ruminating on a sweet- scented mimosa blossom, awoke to find himself in Mr. Bairstow’s odiously odorous prison bottle. Another specimen, similarly situated, soon sniffed the benzine breeze dispensed by Mr. Amphlett. The emerald beauty, Cetonia aulica, narrowly escaped with its life, but Mr. Rous made sad havoc amongst the family of a certain white butterfly (Pieris gidica), and Mr. Read boxed bugs (Hemiptera) ad infintum. Three species of Redwwius were taken on the Ornithogalum. Escort John now receives his dismissal, and with it a good sample of golden leaf and cut cavendish, and inwardly hopes ‘‘we may meet again.” Although recent rains have considerably improved the appearance of bushy regions, the naturalists failed to discern any floral novelties, and, according to Mr. Hallack, who is conversant with our district botany, the best find of the day was frail and fickle Glethyllis spiralis. A pretty specimen of our curious tree-frog and several interesting larvee were taken en voute, and the naturalists arrived at Uitenhage just in time to be too late for the train. Nothing daunted, they visited the farm of Mrs. Stewart, near the railway station, in the homestead of which they were hospitably entertained, and in the grounds of which some local Coleoptera were captured. The naturalists returned to Port Elizabeth by the 7.45 p.m. train, not a bit the worse— tanned hides and aching bones always excepted—for spending New Year’s Day with Dame Nature and her relatives. Rreon Screntiric AssocraTion.—First annual meeting, Feb. 13th.— Mr. T. C. Heslington presided. The secretary, Mr. B. M. Smith, read the report, which stated that the club, which was commenced in February last, had now 120 members, their object being to establish a museum and publish a record of the fauna and flora of the district, from Harrogate on the south to Richmond on the north. The Marquis of Ripon was elected president, and Mr. B. M. Smith secretary. It was resolved to accept the tenancy of a house in Park-street, at a rental of £23 per annum, for a museum, Mr. G. Waite being accepted as a resident curator. Several new members were elected. lary y—Meetings of Societies. mere “March 1. Anda Society of ae 8 p-m. 3. Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union,—Annual Meeting at Selby For _ particulars, see cover. ! Leeds Geological A'ssociation.— “ Fossil Capnsepou:, es ate ee ea Sm, Bed. S., of Halifax. 6: Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—‘‘ Darwinism,” J. E. Wilson. 6. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. 6. Bishop Auckland’ Naturalists’ Field ‘Club. » t Waketield Naturalists’ Nociety. 7 8 oe eee 9 . Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. - A . Beverley Naturalists’ Society.—‘‘ On es Geditholey of the if -- »-.. Hast-Riding.” F. Boyes. bee 4, 9: Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. -,, 0. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 8 pm. So 14. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. We) vite ene » 15. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. — Bad kt ieee ,, 17. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—“ Coal,” F. Bamford. » 19. Leeds Geological Association.—* The Geology of the Inner . 2, Hebrides, ” J. E. Wilson, Bradford. 4, 19. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7 7-50 p.m. | ) Pas 22. York St. Thomas’ Field Naturalists’ Society. _ Per fs Eee ie sea ie ‘Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society. a ae nar 4, 26. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. -_,, 26. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. 99. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club.—Annual Mecting ae ~~ ab Stoke, Local Secretary, Mr. Kirkby. | EXCHANGE. 5 - Qassell’s Popular Natural Histor Birds one. vol., strongly bound, 300. ‘illustrations, and Paxton’s Botanical Dictionary, first edition, for other — be a oe Books. ——G. ee ee Wakefield. THE QUARTERLY j OURNAL OF (ONCHOLOGY. This Journal circulates widely amongst Conchologists ; throughout the world, and contains every ‘quarter articles goals ae with all departments of the Science. ; Double numbers, are at present being issued, price 1/- each, ne Or 4/4 per annum, post free. “ ny PUBLISHED BY J. W. TAvLor,’ St. oe S Works. Lecds: tou be whom should be sent all communications ; and to whom Post. fee oo Orders also. should be made pean ~TNY PIRI “ Loxbon : -HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, Ww. Tis SCOTTISH N ATURALIST, 3 #lagajine of Datural Arstorp, commenced in 1871, “Edited by F. BUCHANAN. WHITE, M. D., F.L.S. _ Subscriptions (paid. in advance) 48, per annum, post free. _ Bbixaunen AND Lonpon : WILLIAM, ia eween AND SONS. eT I co. THES ext ee, ANNUAL MEETING: WILL BE HELD -IN THE PUBLIC ROOMS, PARK STREET, SELBY. On SATURDAY Afternoon, Mar. ard, For the Election of Officers, and the fixing of places # fon the Excursions of 1888. In the Evening at Six p.m., etlie President of the Union, JOHN GILBERT BAKER, E80., F.R.S., &, Of the Royal Herbarium at Kew, will deliver the Annual as the subject of which will be— “The present position of the Knowledge of the ; Geography of the British Plants, with special — | reference to the North of England.” | Slee The Meetings for Election ofiScctional O: Onan will commence ake -'fhree_ o’elock. Further particulars will be given in. the ustial earcular shortly. to be issued. WM. DENISON ROEBUCK, -. Sunny Bank, Leeds! eo WM. EAGLE CLARKE, Hones: 5, East View, Leeds ; WM. NORWOOD CHEESMAN, _ -~ The Crescent, many Local Sec. N.B.—Exctrsrons. = Mewtee. are requested S forward ay once to the Secretaries, suggestions of suitable places for the Exeursions.. ae ANNUAL MeETING OF 1884. —Societies desirous of having the Annual Meeting of 1884 held in their town, should at once send in- their invitations. | Preference will be given to towns possessing S' it- able railway facilities, and which are prepared to organise a Cc nver- sazione or Exhibition on the occasion.. Secriova Orricers.—Members are requested ‘to be with nominations of suitable gentlemen to act as Officers of . JOURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION, GENERAL FIELD 6LUB RECORD. = 8 ¢ NEW SERIES. | coe py Cuas. P. Hosxing, F.L. S., AnD G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. Mo sel. § APRIL, 1883. 7 2. VOL. VIE = ye CONTENTS. “Onsen ARTICLES, &e.: : On the ‘Present State of our Knowledge of the Geography of Be lage Soe Plants. J. Gilbert Baker, F.R.S., he. s : : : Nores, Ros me ay ~ Otters in ‘Halifax ar : - Bird-Notes from Newton Keyme,1 near r Tadeaster . Notices of Books. es ee | ‘Ramat | FOR ‘FEBRUARY : Rerorts OF SocteriEs : gs ak ‘Barnsley Naturalists’ Socicty Beverley Field Naturalists’ aut Scientific Society as ‘Malton. Naturalists’. Society Manchester ‘Cryptogamic Ragicey: CASE. ‘Thomas’ s Field Naturalists’ Society, Uae ae Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society .. i _ Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. oo 2 ee _ B. Brown, Market Prace Corner. 10. CORRESPONDENTS. sun THE NATURALIST i is published on the first of every. ‘month, Caio al _ a year, post free, payable in advance. ‘The volume commences in August of edch : - year. Intending new subscribers should send in their names immediately, ~ All communications, ‘except Advertisements, Exchanges, or Short Queries, _. should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of the Br current month, to insure insertion in our next issue, and should be oS on one side of the sheet only. AUTHORS WISHING FOR REPRINTS or THEIR PAPERS can have tim on a following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies Ss., [OO copies Gs. Gp. Not exceeding eight — = pages, 25 copies By. 5O copies Gs. 6b., 100 copies Qs., and so on in propor- tion, Printed covers and separate title pages extra. > ALL COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDITORS CARE OF MR, B. BROWN, PUBLISHER, HUDDERSFIELD, TRANSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. _ . . PART I. FOR 1577 contains the commencement of ‘‘ The Birds of Yorkshire,” es by Mr. W. E. Clarke, M.B.O.U. ; of an “‘ Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- water Mollusca of Yorkshire,” by Messrs. Wm. Nelson and J. W. Taylor; a complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature of that order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on “* Yorkshire Macro-lepidoptera ~ ieee 8 1877, ” by Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S.; one on “ Yorkshire Micro- lepidoptera Pe an 1877. ” by Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr. §. L. Mosley, on *‘ Yorkshire Diptera,’ P and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psyllide ; and): a a » report on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G,S. PARTS Ik. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. / Olatke’s _ Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land and Fresh-water _ Mollusca of Yorkshire; an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by _. Dr. Parsons; the commencement of Dr..Parsons’ ‘*‘ Moss-Flora of the East- -Riding”; papers on Yorkshire Lepidoptera in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. : on — ~ «Yorkshire {chneumonide, by Mr. S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S. 5 and on Nouishiror ie Sor Hymenoptera, observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. W. Denison Rorsuck, Sunny Bank, Leeds, ae 8 hee Wm. E. CUARKE, ees. 5, Hast View, Roe Park Road, pene 4. Ww. M A RS D EN, NATURAL ‘HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER. Cabinets and apparatus of all eee of ihe best makes on the leivesk terms, aes . British and European Macro- TeEere prev ES Larvee ‘of rare. British a Lepidoptera. a ‘BOOKS ._New and Second- hana? on Natura! History Sibjesta: i. The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggs in Enea “Catalogues on application. : ere “Bijou, List o British Butterflies,” Beautifully printed in clout Sieg 6d. : Rae Graduated List of British Birds.” rie ee el for reference and labelling, 6d. - <‘ LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth 8/6. Interleaved, Ble 37 MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER. Original Articles. ON THE PRESENT STATE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF BRITISH PLANTS. By J. Giupert Baker, F.R.S., &c. THE ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION, AT SELBY, ON MARCH 3RD, 1€83. WueEwn Professor Williamson and Mr. Denison Roebuck first spoke to me at the York Meeting of the British Association about undertaking to fill for a yéar the presidental chair of your Union, I felt at first very unwilling to accept the responsibility. Greatly interested as I have always been in what concerns the Natural History of my native county, when I lived in Yorkshire my time was so much taken up by business engagements, that in order to collect the material for my book on ‘‘ North Yorkshire,’ I was forced to almost entirely neglect the two other Ridings, and I left the county for London too soon after it was finished to be able to find time for visiting those inter- esting tracts in the West and East Ridings that I should have been so glad to have had an opportunity of exploring ; and I also felt that, since I have lived at Kew, my attention has been so much occupied with other kinds of botany, that in anything relating to home-work, I had not only not progressed with the times, but that I had forgotten a great deal of what I knew familiarly twenty years ago. As however, I failed to convince your representatives that these excuses were good ones, I accepted their invitation, and beg now to thank you heartily for the compliment which it implies. When the time came round that I had to select a subject for this present address, I thought I could best utilize the occasion by asking you to consider for a while what is the present state of our knowledge of the geography of British plants, with a view that, in thinking the matter over, our attention might be specially drawn to considering what are the grooves in which further research may be profitably pushed forward. At the outset you will, I think, all be prepared to admit readily the proposition that in Natural History, in an eminent degree, the general rule holds good that the value of our work, whether as individuals or societies, will depend very greatly upon its being carried out upon a methodical plan. The facts of Natural History are so infinitely numerous, that if a naturalist does not go about his work methodically, he may toil hard and long, and yet have very little of any value to show, as the result Nis:, VOL. vill... Apr., 1883. 130 THe NATURALIST. of all his labour. So long as the facts remain as mere isolated facts, they can only interest and be remembered by a limited number of specialists ; 1 but when our facts can be made to illustrate general laws, their value rises to a higher level, and in Natural History in general, and botanical 7 geography in particular, the value of our results will depend very greatly upon our attempting to realise for ourselves beforehand, as clearly and fully as we can, what it is we want to get to know, and ct chialinhinttiercntminanaian then setting to work systematically to collect and arrange the facts that elucidate the subject we have selected. What I am going to say will all have exclusive reference to our indigenous British plants of the more complicated types of structure, flowering plants, and vascular Cryptogamia, of which the number of specific types is estimated by different authorities at a figure varying from 1,200 to 1,500. But I should like to pause for | just one moment to point out to those amongst you who are not | botanists, that our British flowering plants and ferns have been studied so long and by so many different observers, and under such favourable circumstances, that we probably know as much about them, from different points of view, as about any set of organised beings whatever ; and that for this reason they furnish a field of research specially adapted to support general conclusions. There is a special fitness in taking stock of the position which we occupy in our knowledge of British botanical geography just now, as we are in the position of an army that has lost its leader. My late friend, Hewett Cottrell Watson, who died eighteen months ago, made the study of the distribution of British plants the labour of his life, and worked at it through fifty years with unremitting patience and diligence. When he first turned his attention to the matter—when he was a student at the University of Edinburgh, attending the classes of Professor Graham, about 1850—botanical geography had no footing as a separate field of study. The only idea which botanists had then in registering plant-stations was to guide collectors to the places where they could gather the rarities. His first work was an octavo volume of 300 pages, entitled ‘‘ Outlines of the Distribution of British Plants belonging to the division Vasculares,’ printed in Edinburgh in 1832, when he was 28 years old, for private distribution. Under the title of ‘‘ Remarks on the distribution of British plants, chiefly in connection with latitude, elevation, and climate,” he published what is substantially a new edition of the same work in London, through Longman’s, in 1835. In the same year he published the first volume of the ‘“‘ New Botanist’s Guide,’’ and the second DD SL A Te Baker, F.R.S.: Grocrapuy oF British PLANTs. 131 followed two years later. ‘This is planned upon the lines of the old ‘‘ Botanist’s Guide”? of Turner and Dillwyn, and enumerates the special localities of the rare plants of England and Scotland, taking them county by county. In 1843 he issued the first part of a much more elaborate work on the plan of the Outlines. This was only carried out through the series of natural orders, following the Candol- lean sequence, as far as the Papaveraceze, when the plan being found to be too cumbrous, the work was discontinued. ‘The first volume of his “‘ magnum opus ”__Ovybele Britannica—appeared in 1847, and it was followed by vol. i. in 1849, vol. ii. in 1852, and vol.iv. in 1859. It was his own original idea to apply the term Cybele to a systematic treatise on the geographical distribution of the plants of any particular tract of country, applying it as parallel to the term /loro, which has been used for a long time for a systematic description of the orders, genera, and species of any given tract. It is in the Cydele that we have his plans for registering the details of plant distribution brought out and used in their full development. To each individual species he applies four different measuring-scales, each adapted to measure its distribution from a different point of view. To record its range ot station he uses a series of adjectival terms, such as agrestal, paludal, glareal, sylvestral, &c. To register the horizontal distribution of the species he divides Britain into eighteen provinces, founded, as far as possible, on river drainage, so as not to infringe upon county bound- aries. Yorkshire is the only county that can claim a province to itself. What he calls the ‘“‘ Peninsular province” includes the three counties of Cornwall, Devonshire, and Somerset, and so on through the series. He traces the distribution of the species through these eighteen provinces by giving for each a line of figures indicating the provinces in which that particular species has been ascertained to grow. For further detail, suitable to be used in local work, these provinces were afterwards subdivided into 88 sub-provinces and 1]2 vice- counties. The vertical range of the species he registers by means of two regions of climate and altitudes, each divided into three zones. The Agrarian region includes all that portion of Britain in which it is possible, so far as climate goes, to grow corn and potatoes. Of course it includes the whole area of the island at sea level from north to south ; it includes also the hills up to 600 yards of elevation in the north of England, and up to 400 yards in the Scotch Highlands. All above this is mountain, rock and heather, with a temperature like that of the low levels in Arctic latitudes. Then he deals with each species from a historical point of view, classifiying them into natives, colonists, 137 THE NATURALIST. denizens, and aliens, according as they are aboriginal inhabitants of the country, or appear to have been introduced through man’s agency, acting either indirectly or directly. And, finally, he separates out the species into their types of distribution—British, English, Atlantic, Germanic, Scotch, Highland or Intermediate, according to whether they are dispersed through the whole of the island, or preponderate in some part of it.. In a “ Supplement of the Cybele” that came out in 1860, the horizontal range of the species is traced through the 38 sub- provinces. In the three volumes of the “ Compendium” (1868-70) the species are again traced out through the provinces. Of course the earlier works raised up a number of helpers, who gladly aided him to make the later ones more complete. In the ‘‘ Compendium,” in addition, the dispersion of each species beyond the bounds of Britain is traced out; and finally,in “ Topographical Botany,” 2 vols., 1873- 74, the horizontal distribution of the species through the 112 vice- counties is traced out. Of this work only a limited number of copies was printed for private distribution. At the time of his death, Mr. Watson was engaged in the preparation of a second edition of it ; this Mr. Quaritch has undertaken to publish, and my friend Mr. Newbould and I have been engaged for the last year in seeing it through the press, and we expect it will be ready about midsummer. What, then, still remains to be done? I make answer that, in the first place, we expect from every local or county Natural History society that if such information be not already placed on record, they should set to work to collect and publish a full account of the horizontal and vertical range of the plants of the area they deal with, explaining the circumstances under which each grows, what is its rarity or common- ness, and all particulars as to how it adapts itself to the different soils and geological strata that occur in the district. We have in Watson’s “ Topographical Botany,’ a separate catalogue for each of the five vice- counties of Yorkshire, but three out of the five still need dealing with in the way I have just indicated. The information in botany, which, primarily and particularly, we ask from you as a county society, is a full account of the distribution of species through the West and East ridings. For the West-Riding the genera] sketch contained in the ‘‘West Yorkshire” of Dr. Arnold Lees and Mr. Davis is excellent as far as-it goes, and there is also the small Flora of Miall and Carrington, but much more than this is still needed; and for the East-Riding there is nothing to turn to except the list in “ Topographical Botany,” and the scattered records in Baines’s “ Flora of Yorkshire” and its supple- ment. Looking beyond the bounds of Yorkshire, through the rest of Fated ay sueieneiatetnetnenenhtntinihon sieetimehidiiiie ne aati initiate entnainatineti > Baker, F.R.S.: GroGrRapHy oF BritisH PLANTs. 133 the north of England, we have no such records for the very interesting counties of Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Lancashire. Jattempted long ago to collect notes about the Lake district, and if no one else enters the field, shall feel inclined to publish them, incomplete as they are ; and whilst speaking of this matter, I cannot leave it without expressing a hope that some day we may see in print, the full material which Mr. Warren has gathered together for Cheshire, which would be specially acceptable, because we have no recent flora for any western county. Broadly speaking, the external conditions which affect the dispersion of species may be classified under three heads. By these I mean, first, how a species is influenced by climate; secondly, how it is influenced by soil ; and thirdly, how its dispersion at the present time is affected by its past history, and the changes that have taken place in the conformation of sea and land in past times. A fourth influence, to estimate which at its full value is one of the great lessons we have learnt from Mr. Darwin, is brought about by the large extent to which plants depend on insects for their fertilisation. This has been fully dealt with of late years by many investigators. Speaking of the other three factors, I should say that, for Britain as a whole, the vertical and horizontal range of each species has been so fully registered that the climatic range of the British plants is fully worked out, but that under the two other heads there are several fields of work that want further following out. In tracing out the pedigree of species, a great deal still remains to be done in gathering together, sifting, and testing the evidence derived from paleontology. As an example of a valuable recent contribution to our knowledge in this department, I may cite the memoir on the Ferns of the British Eocene Strata, recently published in the Transac- tions of the Palzontographical Society, by Mr. Starkie Gardiner and Baron von Ettingshausen. It would appear already in the eocene period, that the present sub-orders, and many of the present genera of ferns, were already differentiated, and there is no evidence of the existence then of any type of subordinal value that is not in existence now. ‘There are at the present time eight distinct sub-orders of Filices, each distinguished by a characteristic type of sporange. Out of the - forty-three British ferns which exist at the present day, thirty-seven species belong to Polypodiacexw, three to Hymenophyllacez, two to Ophioglossaceze, and one to Osmundacee. Jour sub-orders, Gleiche- niacee, Cyatheaceze, Marattiaceze, and Schizzeacez, are at the present day not represented in Britain, nor, in fact, anywhere in Europe. In the 134 — THE NATURALIST. eocene fern-fiora, three sub-orders out of the eight are absent, Cyath- eaceee, Hymenophyllacez, and Ophioglossacez. In Polypodiacez there are ten species, all apparently belonging to genera now known, Adiantum, Pieris, Woodwardia, Polypodium, and Acrostichum. There seems every reason to believe that the eocene Acrostichum is identical with Acros- tichum aureum, one of the the commonest tropical marsh-ferns of the present day, both in the old and new world. Gleicheniacez is represented in the British eocenes by a single unmistakeable species. At the present day there are eighty species of this sub-order, widely spread in the tropical and south temperate zones, and two of them extending into temperate Asia. Of the sub-order Osmundacez, there are two species in the eocene beds, one of them apparently identical with O. regalis, and the other with O. javanica, a species confined at the present time to tropical and temperate Asia. Of Schizeeaceze there are two species of two genera, and of Marattiaceze one species in the British eocene beds. Not long ago I asked one of our most experienced paleontologists to tell me, in general terms, what point of knowledge had been reached in the investigation of these early tertiary beds, and he estimated the number of their generic types, now known, at five hundred, of which four hundred are still in existence; and of species, at two thousand, of which, perhaps, fifty are still in existence. I suppose no competent authority would estimate the lapse of time between the close of the miocene period and the present day at less than five hundred thousand years. The most curious point about these rich tertiary floras is that there seems, broadly speaking, to be no geographical differeitiation in them. In Greenland or Austria, or in our own island, at fournemouth, or in the London basin, they appear to contain substantially the same types. It is likely that in the next twenty years we shall reap a rich harvest from paleontological work. Upon the general question of evolution, an important light is thrown by studying the flora of Britain in comparison with that of Continental Europe. The most important general character of the British flora is its utter want of any distinctive individuality. Leaving out of count a few doubtful Hieracia, Willows, Rubi and Roses, I can give only two good instances of British plants that do not occur in Continental Europe. One of these, Potamogeton lanceolatus, is known in Cam- bridgeshire, Anglesea, and the north of Ireland ; the other, Hriocaulon septangulare, is found in Skye and Galway ; and, across the Atlantic, it is widely spread in North America. It is now generally believed that Britain was last separated from the Continent towards the close of the glacial period. I do not think any competent authority would SHort Notes AND QUERIES. 135 consider that it was an extravagant suggestion that Britain may have been an island for a hundred thousand years.* If, then, out of 1400 species which it produces, not one is distinct, this is a very sig- nificant fact. Perhaps the most important of all the generalizations established by Mr. Watson’s labours was his separating out the plants of Britain according to their types of distribution. He worked out the fact that out of the 1425 British plants 532 are spread through the length and breadth of the island ; that a little over 600 are either confined to England or become quite rare when the Scotch border is crossed, and soon cease in a northern direction; that out of these, 70 show a preference for the western and 127 for the eastern side of the island ; and that the boreal element is represented by 200 species, which are concentrated in the Scotch Highlands, and occur southward only amongst the mountains. And here again, the seas that separate Britain from the Continent seem to be of very small account. The 500 species universal in Britain are mostly spread over the whole area of the Continent ; the 200 boreal species are plants of Scandinavia, which often extend southwards to the Alps of Central Europe. The 600 characteristically English species are plants of the great Central European plain ; and the moisture-loving types, restricted with us to Ireland and the south-west of England, creep up from Portugal and the Asturias, and the country round Bordeaux, just as if no broad channel of waters intervened. The memoir 7 in which, long ago, Prof. Edward Forbes tried to work out what these types of distribution imply, is well known. I will not pursue the subject further now, than to point out the striking testimony which this whole series of facts furnishes to the long-continued stability of the present condition of things, as regards our specific types. (To be continued. ) Short Hotes and Queries. Otrers 1n Hatirax Pariso.—About 70 years ago Squire Pinder shot an otter from Elland Bridge, as it was fishing on the daimstones, in the grey of the morning. About 40 years since, James Hobson and others caught one in the Calder, in a large fishing-net ; another was caught at * See Wallace’s “Island Life,” p. 318. +Memoirs of Geological Survey, vol. i., p. 336. See also the shorter paper in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, vol. xvi., p. 126. 136 THe NATURALIST. Brighouse since then. Over 60 years since, James Turner and John Nutton, of Greetland, were rat-hunting on the Calder under North Dean Wood. Their dog went up a drain from which there was a small stream flowing. They soon heard a fierce combat going on, the water became muddy and stained with blood, and .out bolted a bitch otter and two cubs. The mother escaped, but the cubs were caught and kept alive for a short time. In September, 1873, some men were strolling on the banks of a small stream at Cotton Stones, Ripponden. They had two dogs—a lurcher and a terrier—the former weighing 50tbs, and the latter 22thbs. The dogs were set behind the remnants of an old burr-wall, and whilst they were digging in at each end, an otter made its way out at the top, between the wall and the bank, and made for the stream, which was so shallow that it could not dive. The fight then commenced. The strength and tenacity of the otter were remarkable ; it could have both dogs down at once. It soon had them both covered with blood, got from them and ran up a drain, from which they dug it out. It again made for the stream, the dogs and men after it ; and whilst the dogs worried, the men struck it across the back with a rail-pole, which rebounded as if they were striking at a tight-blown football. One man, who held it by the tail so that its hind feet could not touch the ground, said-if it had been tailless they could not have captured it; but holding its feet from the ground placed it at a disadvantage with regard to its wrestling powers. The otter weighed 173tbs, and measured 4ft. Gin. from tip to tip. The skin was not perforated by the dogs’ teeth. On Aug. 19th, 1876, a large otter was caught in a box-trap on the Calder. It had been seen to go up a drain near Messrs. Clay’s dyehouse at Sowerby Bridge. In the winter of 1881 an otter was seen by the night-watchman at North Dean station, which, on being followed, ran into the Calder. It was traced on the snow and on the mud by the river-side, but not caught.—C. C. HANSON. Brrp-Notrs rrom Newron KyME, NEAR TADCASTER.—The Rev. J. W. Chaloner, rector of Newton Kyme, writing on the 2nd or 3rd of March, says that the week before last he saw nine goosanders together at that place, which is very unusual. The week of his writing he noted a pair of black-spotted woodpeckers. He has now in his yard a fine specimen of a wild duck having assumed the plumage of a mallard. NOTICES OF BOOKS, &c.—Hepatice Britannice Exsiccate.—Fasc. 11. of this useful set of specimens has just been issued by Messrs. B. Carrington, M.D.,and W. H. Pearson, and contains some very rare and interesting specimens, amongst them being Cephalozia ewraria, C. Fran- cisct, Nardia (Marsupella) Stableri, Lepidozia Pearsoni, Petalophyllum Ralfsvi, &c., &c.—in all 65 species and varieties. Subscriptions may be sent to Mr. W. H. Pearson, 6, Seedley Park Road, Pendleton, Man- chester. Raintall for February. Height TovaL Faun of Hel NO: To Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest © above ial. Days eas cms cy 21) Ball pews all. teeal: 1883. | 1882 Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 2°11 | 17 7°40 | *5°40 1 0°32 (J. W. Robson) Hatirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 3°38 | 20 | 11°78 9°47 10 0°46 LeepDs ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 1°99 | 18 574 | F318 17 0°32 HorsFORTH ... (James Fox)| 350 | 1°90 | 17 5°88 | $482 17 0°32 PATELEY BRIDGE...(E. War-| 486 | 4°45 | 19 8°76 ||4°29 burton, M.R.C.S.. L.S.A.) BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...| 350 | 2°33 | 14 5°70 4°18 it 0°42 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 3°95 | 17 | 10°50 7°16 1 0°73 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...) 520 | 2°64) 15.) 7°33 2°90 1 0°47 Gooner ... (J. HARRISON)...} 25 | 2°24 | 15 4°36 3°69 11 0°45 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.} 10 | 2°44 | 15 4°36 | §2°88 10 0°59 Lawton) * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 & 1865-83. { Average of 14 years, 1870-83. § The total average for 32 years, 1850-82. || For year 1880. Reports of Societies. BarnstEy Narurauists’ Socrery.—Meeting Feb. 27, Mr. T. Lister, president, in the chair.—An interesting paper was read by Mr. T. Rose, entitled ‘‘ A Holiday in Holland, Belgium, and North France,” with graphic descriptions of the places visited, interspersed with notes on Natural History. Meerinc, March 15th, Mr. Lister presiding,—A valuable paper on “‘ Carbon,”’ with experiments, was given by Mr. G. M. W. Hutchin. Mr. G. H. Teasdale reported that an owl had been heard in Silkstone Hall Wood, before the last severe frost. A pied blackbird was seen near Dodworth station on March 8th. A flock of the common snipe flew to north-west on the 5th; the lapwings had returned to their old haunts Feb. 25th; many pied wagtails and yellow-hammers noted on the llth. These last birds sang on the 16th Feb., and chaffinches on the 9th. The missel and song-thrush, and the above-named songsters, have frequently been heard during the present frost. ‘Thrushes are still scarce here, but more numerous near Hemsworth.—T. L. Beryertey Frevp Naturauisrs’ AND ScienTIFIC Socrety.—21st meeting, held February 22nd, the President (Mr. J. A. Ridgway) in the chair. After the routine business had been disposed of, the Rev. W. Smith read an interesting ‘paper on the ‘Cellular tissues of Plants,”’ illustrating his remarks by a number of carefully prepared micro-slides and dissections of living specimens. Amongst the exhibits were 47 species of Gramince, 16 Carices, and a very fine horn of the red deer, dug up in Swinemoor, Beverley, brought by Mr. Boyes; a pair of waxwings, Ampelis garrulus, shot in Beverley Westwood, by Mr. Cheny ; micro- slides showing plant-culture, by the Rev. W. Smith, and living specimens of diatoms, marine alge, and crustacea belonging to the Pycnogonide, by Mr. Butterell. : Meeting, March 8th. The President (Mr. J. A. Ridgway) occupied the chair. The Rev. E. J. Barry presented to the Society two store cases for insects. A number of carefully prepared micro-slides of animal parasites, chiefly from birds, were shown by Mr. John Watson, and Mr. Butterell exhibited specimens of two zoophytes, Plumelaria faleciu and Sertularia operculata, 138 THe NATURALIST. Matton Naturatists’ Socrery.— Annual general meeting; Mr. G. W. Slater in the chair. Mr. T. Lister, the secretary, read the annual report, and Mr. W. Hodgson, the treasurer, the financial report. Mr. M. B. Slater was then called on to report on the work of the botanical section during the year. He chiefly referred to what had been done at the meeting of the Naturalists’ Union at Selby, quoting from the report of that meeting, and the president’s address. He also mentioned some of the best plants obtained during the year. One of the rarest and most interesting, sent by Mr. Barugh, of Octon Grange, was Buplewrum rotundifolium. An important thing sent by Mr. Boynton, of Ulrome, was a moss found on an embedded log, supposed to be the remains of an ancient lake dwelling, Antitrichia curtiperdula.. Mr Chadwick next gave an account of what had been done by the geological section, Mr. A. H. Taylor reported for the — conchological section, and Mr. A. W. Walker for the ornithological. The election of officers was then proceeded with; the Hon. H. W. Fitzwilliam. M.P., was re- elected president, and Mr T. Lister secretary. At the next meeting of the Society on April 16th, Mr. T. Lister, the secretary, will read a paper on British Grasses. Mancuester Cryprocamic Socrrty.—Monthly meeting; Dr. B. Carrington, F.RS.E., in the chair. Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited a specimen copy of the Fasc. III. Hepaticee Britannice LExsiccate, containing many new and rare species, amongst which were noticed Mersupella Stablert, Cephalozia Francisci, C. eraria, C. Turneri, Bazzania trilobata, Lepidozia Pearsont. Dr. J. B. Wood sent specimens of Burbaumia indusi ta, and B. aphylla, both species having been gathered by himself in the same locality during his visit to the Vosges, August, 1872; the B. indusiata growing on rotten wood, and the B. aphylla, on the ground. He also sent specimens of Dichelyma capillaceum in fruit from Norway and N. America. Mr. George Stabler and Dr. R. Spruce were elected honorary members of the Society.—T. Rocrrs, Hon Sec. Meertine, March 9th, Captain P. G. Cunhffe, F.R.M.S., in the chair.—Mr. James Cash exhibited specimens of Cinclidium stygium from Malham: Tarn, and read an interesting paper on its history asa British moss;* Mr. Wm. Forster, aremarkably handsome and robust variety of Polystichum angulare: it belonged to the multilobum type of variation, and was strongly set with bulbils along the rachis of the frond.—Tuos. Rocrrs, Hon. Sec. Sr. THomas’s Firetp Naturatists’ Socirty, Yorx.—Monthly meeting Feb. 22nd, in St. Thomas’s Schools, Lowther-street. Mr. 8. Walker occupied the chair. Mr. Guy showed specimens of Huclidia glyphica, Euclhidia mi, Mania typica, Plusia chrysitis, Hadena pist, Dianthecia capsincola, Calocampa exoleta, and P. monacha. Mr. Wilkinson sent for exhibition the following lepidoptera :— Catacola sponsa, O. promissa, Polia chi, Agriopis aprilina, Epunda nigra, Euplexia lucipara, Hadena protea, H. peregrina, H. thalassina, and Cloantha solidaginis. Mr. R. B. Cook exhibited the following British land shells :— Helix virgata, from Bristol and Kent, with the variety alba, from Bristol, and the variety swb- maritima, from Weston-super-Mare ; also H. caperata, with a rare unnamed variety, and the variety ornata, all from Bristol. Mr. Barker showed the follow- ing nocturni:—Smerinthus ocellatus, S. populi, Sphinx ligustri, Cherocampa * Will be published in our next issue. Reports or SocierieEs. 139 elpenor ; also a fine example of Acherontia Atropos and its chrysalis; he also sub- mitted living specimens of Zimnea palustris, and other fresh water shells, from Strensall Common. The chairman exhibited a case of geometre, containing, among'st others, a fine series of the annexed, showing in many instances great deviation of colour:— Urapteryx sambucata, Ennomos erosaria, E. angularia, Epione apiciaria, Eurymene dolabraria, and Selenia lunaria. Mr. C. D. Wolsten- holme then gave an interesting paper on ‘‘The Snipe” (Scolopax gallinago), describing its structure and habits, with special reference to the remarkable humming sound produced by the male bird during breeding time, supposed to be caused by the position of the wings in the falling flight of the bird. The paper was illustrated with a series of eggs of the snipe, together with a specimen of the bird. He also exhibited an egg of the griffon vulture (Vultur fulvus) taken in Spain. A conversation on the various exhibits concluded the meeting. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENToMoLoGicAL Soctery.— Monthly meeting, February 26th, the President (Mr. 8S. J. Capper) occupying the chair. The President, in the course of a short adé@ress, referred to the death of an old member of the society, the late Mr. Benjamin Cooke, of Southport, and he gave a short resumé of his life as an entomologist. The honorary secretary (Dr. Ellis) read a paper, entitled “Passive means of defence in Insects,” in which he briefly noted a number of cases of protective resemblance in various orders of insects, and afterwards alluded to cases of so-called ‘“‘mimicry” in lepidoptera. During the conversazione, Mr. Robert Brown exhibited a specimen of Myssta zonaria which had remained nearly 20 months in the pupa state, and Mr. J. Wall ex- hibited scales of lepidoptera under the microscope. Yor«sHire Naturatists’ Unton.—2lst Annual Meeting, Selby, March 3rd, 1883.—This year the Union was received by the Selby Naturalists’ Society at a microscopic soirée and conversazione, in the Public Rooms, and their enthusiasm and kindly hospitality to fellow- members from other districts left nothing to be desired. The annual meeting for transaction of business was held at 3 p.m., under the genial chairmanship of the Rev. William Fowler, M.A., of Liversedge. There was a moderately large attendance, numbering about 70 or 80, the the following 23 societies (out of 35) being represented :—Barnsley, Beverley, Bradford, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Elland-cum-Greetland, Goole, Halifax, Heckmondwike, Huddersfield (2), Ilkley, Leeds (3), Liversedge, Malton, Scarborough, Selby, Wakefield, and York (2). On the sugges- tion of the chairman the minutes of the previous annual meeting, being somewhat long, were taken as read. The Shipley Field Naturalists’ Club was then admitted into the Union on the motion of Mr. H. S. Ward, seconded by Mr. J. W. Davis, F.S.A., &c., of Halifax. Thanks were then voted to the new subscribers (Mr. Hugh Richardson, Ackworth, and Mr. W. Officer, Hull), and to the donors of gifts to the library (including 24 volumes of British Association reports and a set of the Ashmolean Society’s publications.) The following annual report was then read by Mr. W. Hagle Clarke, one of the secretaries :—‘‘ The Council, in presenting their Twenty-first Annual Report, congratulate 140 THE NATURALIST. the members upon the Union having now attained its majority—in itself a strong evidence of vitality—and while considering that it is at present in a sound and healthy condition, more especially as regards its member- ship, feel that they would be failing in their duty were they not to express their opinion that the attendance at the meetings calls for the serious attention of the members. Tue Firtp Mrerines during the year-—for each of which the usual arrangements were made and circulars issued—were six in number. The places visited were—Beverley on Whit Monday, May 29th ; Snaith on Saturday, June 17th ; Scarborough on Saturday, July 15th ; Grassington on Monday, Aug. 7th; Wakefield on Saturday, Sept. 6th ; Thirsk for Pilmoor on Saturday, Oct. 7th. There have been —probably to a greater extent than in most years—remarkable fluctua- tions both in the attendance at, and the success of, the meetings ; and while there cannot but be gratification with the manner in which the anticipations of the promoters of some of the excursions were realised, it is matter for regret that at others the attendance was discouraging, particularly as it involved heavy pecuniary loss to the Union in respect ef the guarantees entered into for the tea. The smallness of the attendance was not attributable to any inaccessibility of the place of meeting, for the three places with which most disappointment was felt were convenient of access to large centres of population. The weather accounted for two of these failures, as the Thirsk meeting was utterly marred by rain, and the Scarboro’ one partially so. The smallness of the attendance at Wakefield is more inexplicable, considering the very central position of that town. On the other hand, the Grassington meeting, fixed for one of the most remote and inaccessible of places, was remarkably successful, both as to attendance and as to the character of the work done; and. the Council feel that this circumstance demonstrates that the members appreciate to the full the importance of arranging for the investigation of localities whose natural history is but little known. RartLway ARRANGEMENTS. — During the past year the railway companies have granted us increased facilities. The North Eastern Railway Co. have, in connection with each of our meetings, allowed our members to obtain return tickets at reduced fares to the place of meeting, on production of the stamped card of mem- bership at the booking-office. The privilege has been conceded by all the other companies in Yorkshire for the present meeting, with the additional convenience of its being made available on through tickets. It is hoped that members will avail themselves largely of these concessions, and so insure the success of our future meetings. —THE SOCIETIES in union at the commencement of the year were 31 innumber. Out of these, the Hud- dersfield Scientific Club has virtually ceased to exist. On the other hand five newly established societies, ail of them vigorous and flourishing, have been admitted. These are—Beverley Field Nat. Soc., 43 members; Ilkley Scientific Club, 53; Ripon Nat. Club and S. A., 98; Scarboro’ Scientific Society, 60; and York St. Thomas’s F.N.S., 47: total, 301 members. The statistics furnished by the different societies show that Reports OF SOCIETIES. 141 the 35 societies possess in the aggregate 2100 members, which, with the 300 subscribers, shews a total individual membership of about 2400 mem bers—an increase of 322 during the year. Pusiications.-—Part V. of the Transactions is now in the printer’s hands, and will be issued as soon as possible, to be followed by the other parts in arrear. Various causes have combined to retard the punctual issue of the Transactions, but arrangements have been made with the view of overcoming these hindrances. Various papers of value have been received during the year for publication in the Transactions. Mr. Porritt’s Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Yorkshire—a work which our lepidopterists have much needed for some time—has been completed, and is now in the hands of the printer. The Report on the Fungus Foray of 1881, with the full list of species then. collected, has been completed by Mr. Massee, and papers have been received from the Rev. H. H. Slater and others. It will be well here to point out again how inadequate the present income of the Union is, and your Council would suggest that a systematic effort to increase it should be made. Calculation shows that if the Union pos- sessed 500 regular subscribers at 5s. (not an extravagant number to expect), it would permit of the issue of about 200 pages of printed matter each year, and so enable the publication committee to cope with the large amouut of valuable manuscript now awaiting publication. The balance available for this purpose on the amount of the present average income will only admit of about 60 pages per year. It should not be forgotten that the expenses of the meetings and the general management have first to be defrayed out of the income, and that the surplus only— or excess of income over expenditure—is available for the publications. The expenses just mentioned are not, however, liable to increase propor- tionally with the increase of the income, and they may be considered as practically a stationary amount. Consequently it will be seen that the whole of any increase in the Union’s income is available for the publica- tons.—THE Liprary, which consists of books and pamphlets acquired by donation or by exchange, has benefitted during the year by some accept- able additions. Besides the exchanges, several members—amongst whom Mr. G. T. Porritt and Mr. C. P. Hobkirk, who have each given a large number of donations, may be cited—have contributed in this way. Mrs. Windsor has presented a copy of the ‘ Flora Cravoniensis,’ and the British Association 24 volumes of their reports. Several nuinbers of the Mineralogical Society’s Magazine, one of which is a geological map of Sutherland, have been received from that society ; while from the Tyne- side Naturalists’ Field-Club have been received a complete set of seven vols. of the valuable Natural History Transactions of Northumberland and Durham. Income.—The number of subscribers has remained stationary at about 300, the withdrawals having nearly balanced the additions to the list. When the arrears of transactions have been over- come, it may be expected that the number of subscribers will again increase. Proposep Map.— On this head there is nothing to report, the 142 THe NATURALIST. map committee not having met during the year.—In conclusion, your Council trust that the coming. year may be one of prosperity, and that their successors will, at the close be able to make a more satisfactory report than the present one.” —THE BAaLANCE-SHEET, which showed a balance in hand, was also read. There was some discussion as to the heavy cost of some of the meetings, in course of which the secretaries explained that about £4 was the minimum cost at which an excursion could be worked, involving as it did the issue of 2,500 or more copies of a closely-printed circular, and its postage to members, besides incidental expenses. In the case of meetings costing more than this, it was caused by the failure of guarantees which had been given to tea-providers. The report and balance-sheet were then adopted, on the motion of Mr. Thomas Hick, B.A., B.Sc., seconded by Mr. C. D. Wolstenholme, of York. The excur- sion programme for 1883, as recommended by the Council, was then arranged as follows :—Doncaster for Sandal Beat, Whit-Monday, May 14; Ifiley for Flamborough, Monday, June 11; Strensall Common, Saturday, July 14; Washburn Valley, Bank Holiday Monday, Aug. 6; and Malham, Saturday, Sept.1,; being an excursion for each of the Parliamentary divisions of the county. The sixth excursion (the fungus foray), on which a sub-committee had been appointed to consider and report, was left over for the decision of the Council, to whom the sub- committee was directed to report. The invitation from the Barnsley Naturalists’ Society, for the following annual meeting to be held in their town, was accepted for the first Tuesday in March, 1884. The election of officers was next proceeded with. Mr. John Gilbert Baker, F.R.S, of Kew, was unanimously re-elected president, on the motion of Mr. Hick, seconded by Mr. John Emmett, of Boston Spa. Mr. Wm. Denison Roebuck and Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke, F'.L.S., both of Leeds, were unani- - mously re-elected joint honorary secretaries, on the proposition of Mr, Washington Teasdale, F.R.M.S., of Leeds, seconded by Mr. J. J. Stead, of Heckmondwike. Auditors were also chosen, Messrs. B. Holgate, F.C.S., and W. B. Russell, L.L.B., both of Leeds, being re-elected. A letter from Mr. John W. Taylor, of Leeds, was read, wherein he offered, with the view of stimulating original investigation in Yorkshire con- chology, two prizes—value one guinea and _ half-a-guinea—for the best collections (accompanied by remarks) of Helix arbustorwm, special atten- tion being paid to variation and distribution ; adding that original notes of any kind, whether upon embryology, anatomy, habits, food, or relationship to soil and climate, would add to the merit of the collection, and that neatness of arrangement of the specimens or literary finish in the accompanying notes (however desirable in themselves) were to be regarded as quite of subsidiary importance. Mr. Taylor’s offer was accepted with thanks, a hope being expressed that the competitors retain their collections, on the motion of Mr. J, W. Davis, seconded by Mr. W. D. Roebuck. The draft of a new prospectus, embodying the constitution and practice of the Union as set forth in numerous resolu- ELE Gain: i pany 4 ; ; 4 é. Reports oF SociErizs. 143 tions scattered up and down the minute books, with such changes as experience gained during six years showed to be advisable, was then read by Mr. Clarke. The adoption of the recommendation of the Council that it be authorized was then moved by the Rev. W. Fowler, and seconded by Mr. Roebuck. Mr. Fowler pointed out that a prospectus or circular, setting forth the Union’s objects, aims, and methods of proce- dure, was very much needed, and expressed an opinion that it would lead to a considerable increase in the membership. Mr. Roebuck explained that the principal changes proposed in the existing practice were the raising of the minimum subscription to 5s., and the establishment of an executive, or working committee of ten members, in addition to the president and secretaries. He defended the raising of the subscription, on the ground that the experiment of fixing it at 2s. 6d. had failed, the members of the afhiliated societies generally not having taken advantage of so low a minimum to anything like the extent that might reasonably have been expected. It was explained, too, that existing subscribers of less than 5s. who kept up their payments without interruption, and were unable or unwilling to pay more, should retain their privileges at the old rate. The discussion that took place had reference to the tenure of the presidency, the prospectus being alvered in this respect to suit the views of the majority of the members present, and the prospectus was unanimously adopted as amended. Thanks were voted to the president ; to the secreta- ries and other officers ; and to the Selby Society for their reception of the Union that day. It was now 4-30 p.m., and the meeting was adjourned until 6. In the meantime the sections held their annual meetings, which resulted in the election of the following officers :—The Vertebrate Section elected Mr. J. Cordeaux, M.B.O.U., of Great Cotes, president, and re- elected Mr, W. Eagle Clarke, F.1.S., of Leeds, secreiary ; the Conchological Section chose the Rev. W. C. Hey, M.A., of York, as president, and re-elected Mr. J. D. Butterell, of Beverley, as secretary ; the Entomo- logical Section re-elected both their officers, Mr. Geo. T. Porritt, F.L.S., of Huddersfield being president, and Mr. E. B. Wrigglesworth, of Wake- field secretary ; this section also passed a resolution inviting Mr. S. L. Mosley to act as recorder in economic entomology, with the view of drawing the attention of members to this important subject; the Botanical Section re-elected their president, Mr. Thomas Hick, B.A., B.Sc., of Harrogate, and their cryptogamic secretary, Mr. Geo. Massee, of Scarborongh, choosing for their phanerogamic secretary Mr. P. F. Lee, of Dewsbury ; while the Geological Section elected Mr. J. W. Davis, F.L.S., F.G.S., of Halifax, as their president, and re-elected their two secretaries, Mr. J. HE. Wilson of Bradford, and the Rev. E. M. Cole, M.A., of Wetwang. 13. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society... 16. Leeds Geological Association, 8 p.m. : » 16. Malton Naturalists’ Society. 74 British: Grasses,” T’.. Lister. 4, . 17. Bradford’ Naturalists’ Society.—‘ Coal,” F. Bamford, 7-30 p.m. », 18 & 19, Beverley Field Naturalists’ Society. — Conversazione. » 19. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. Epi ak. ca Naturalists’ Society.—Excursion to mes Grae | 00 5). 21. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m: 5, 23. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. » 23. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. ,, 2S. York St. Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. #1180; Lancashire and: Cheshire Hubomeloeient ep ocicky. Hie EL A NT Ct Hi. _ Ewald’s ‘Life and Times of Lord Beaconsfield, ” 5 vols, steel plates, pub. at 42s. 6d.; Dr. Pye Smith’s- “Scripture and Geology ’ ’—presentation copy — to Prof. Phillips, contains the handwriting of the author, and Prof. Phillips’ ea Sees eee eg es ' . . : _ Plants of Chatham district, Kent—for works on Natural Histon — = Ge Roperts, Se sod THE QUARTERLY JOUR 7 rer throughout the world, and contains every quarter articles deane mae all departments of the Science. : $5.) Double numbers aré at present being issued, price tf- each, nee yvOF, 4/4 per annum, post free. '. Puptisuep py J. W. Tavior, St. Ann’s Works, Leeds, to _ whom should be sent all communications; and to whom Post as oe Orders-also should be made payable. | . XIII Desa is Lonow : HARD) WICKE & BOGUE, 192, ‘PICCADILLY, Ww. B THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST, ka ee os Magazine of datural Bistorp. commenced in 1871, : Rated by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D., F. L. 5. Subseriptions (paid in advance) 4s, per annum, post free) “Eprspunar. AND LonDon : WILLIAM BLackwoop AND SONS, } Bh har DE Sa ea : book plate ; MS, list of the Shells of Wakefield and district: MS. list of — et! ‘khis ; Journal - circulates widely amongst Conchologists | os By the Ry. J OSEPH GREENE, M. nes Being seedy for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and ee Butterflies 33 : and a Beetles, BES Flies, and other Insects. ge ieee Bee THIRD EDITION. REVISED © AND EXTENDED BY A.B. FARN. THE CHAPTER ON sen oa BY EDWARD NEWMAN. _CONTENTS.—How to obtain the Bes by searching ; boxing ferale moths ; __ pairing insects. How to obtain LARV by beating : the Bignell tray ; sweeping ; searching by night; -how to rear the larve; sleeving; hybernating larve; parasites ; 3 preserving larve. 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Catalogues on application. : “Bijou List of British. ec wk Beautifully printed in colours as 2 Graduated List of eee Birds.” specially waiaes for reference and labelling, 6d. as ene CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, 5/- 37, MIDLAND ROAD, CLOUCESTER.- Origmal Articles. ON THE PRESENT STATE OF OUR KNUWLEDGE OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF BRITISH PLANTS. (Concluded. ) By J. Giipert Baker, F.R.8., &c. [Tur ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION, AT SELBY, ON MarRcH 38RD, 1&83.] ANOTHER important set of facts bearing upon the pedigree of our indigenous plants, is furnished by their distribution beyond the bounds | of the island. Some of the common plants of the north temperate zone have an extremely wide dispersion. Let us take a few of our best known ferns as instances. Osmunda regalis is spread in the old world from Sweden to Japan, and reappears in the Himalayas, the Alps, and the mountains of the Indian peninsula. In Africa it is found in - the Barbary States, Abyssinia, Cape Colony, Angola, and Sierra Leone; and in America it is spread: from Canada and the Red River as far south as Rio Janeiro. Oystopteris fragilis is found everywhere in Europe and Asia, from Iceland eastward to Kamschatka, and from the Arctic Circle southward tothe Himalayas, where it reaches an altitude of 15,000 feet. It reappears in the mountains of Abyssinia, Fernando Po, Bourbon and Cape Colony, in Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Sandwich Islands, and in America is found in the temperate regions both on the north and south of the equator, and in many places in the tropical zone amongst the Andes. Aspidium aculeatum, Nephrodiwm filia-mas, and Pteris aquilina are spread equally widely. Of the 1425 British species only about 300 are restricted to Europe, whilst 450 reach America, 250 the Himalayas, and nearly 100 the southern hemisphere. We always take for granted that a species has spread from a single centre, and if this be the case, what an enormous amount of time we must allow for this wide diffusion of types to have taken place, and what an amount of change in the configuration of sea and land must have taken place since they first started upon their travels ! Another important field for investigation is the light thrown upon the pedigree of species by the study of our more variable specific types. I can see no solution that will in any way account for a wide mass of facts except the Darwinian one—that between slight individual modifi- - cations, varieties, and sub-species and species, no clear line of demar- cation can be drawn. Every fresh year teaches us that, even amongst organisms which have been studied as closely as our British flowering plants, specific types that have been supposed to be stable and uniform N.S., Vou. vill. May, 1883, 146 THe NATURALIST. are in reality plastic and variable. For instance, within the last year or two Mr. Nicholson has shown us that no clear line of demarcation can be drawn between Papaver Rheas and Fapaver dubium, and Mr. Arthur Bennett is fast reducing Potamoyeton to the condition of Salix and Hieraceum. Within the bounds of Britain we possess about two hundred of what Sir J. D. Hooker and Dr. Boswell call “ sub-species ”— - types of a kind that the majority of descriptive botanists place upon a par with species, but which are not limited quite so definitely. In addition to these 1400 specific types, we acknowlege 300 or 400 named varieties—types between which and their species no clear line of demarcation can be drawn, but yet which are considered to be thought worthy of a distinctive name. It would be a very inter- esting subject for inquiry what this proportion that exists in our flora, of six species of full rank to every one sub-species, and every two varieties, implies. For my own part, if I were asked to explain it, I could only say that I was completely unable to do so. Although I do not think that any further work in this direction is at all likely to modify the conclusion that has already been indicated, there is a wide field here for collecting and correlating facts, many of them of a kind that can be investigated suitably by a local country botanist with limited leisure. For instance, it would be quite within the scope of anyone with a small garden, to raise from seed for a few years some of the numerous varieties of Viola tricolor, and its sub-species arvensis, lutea, and Curtisii, and keep a record of what happened; or to bring half-a-dozen of the native Epilobia or Rumices into his garden, and make experiments in hybridizing them. Work of this kind can be done far better in a quiet little garden in the country than in a large establishment like Cambridge or Kew. There is no one now that I know of who has any large number of these “ critical’ British plants under cultivation, like Mr. Watson used to have twenty years ago in his small garden at Thames Ditton. In accounting for the variation of our more variable specific types, I do not think that the Darwinian principle of the propagation by natural selection of characters that aid the organism in the struggle for existence will carry us very far. In Aubus, for instance, in which of all our indigenous generic types we get the widest range of variation between remote extremes without any clear line of demarcation, one can scarcely believe that any varietal or sub-specific type (a few hybrids like A. psewdo-ideus, and manifest degradations like 2. Leesi, excepted) possesses any character or capacity that, in the struggle for life, will give it an advantage over any other. The two facts in Rubus Baker, F.R.S.: Grocrapuy or Bririsa PLants. 147 that have most attracted my attention in this connection are these: the first, that in Yorkshire some of the types which though plentiful are sharply limited as regards individuality, in the neighbourhood of London, though not more plentiful, slide off into others through gradual intermediate stages. I have found that this holds good for R. discolor, leucostachys, and diversifolus. The other fact is, that in the interior of the Lake country, round the shores of Windermere, Derwentwater, Ulleswater, and Coniston, the common types of the surrounding country, especially cosszus, corylifolius, and discolor, do not penetrate. Turning next to the influence of soil, 1 found that in the North Riding 40 species out of 872 natives, or one species out of every 22, were manifestly influenced in their distribution by a predilection for limestone rock, and that in the same area 40 species were restricted to the neighbourhood of the sea. In this last case, no doubt chemical reasons are the determinant element, but there are two points about the matter worthy of further inquiry. Many of these characteristically maritime species grow inland occasionally, like Armeria maritima amongst the Wensleydale lead mines, and Plantago maritima on the Teesdale sugar limestone.. In some cases, as Cochlearia officinalis, we have two well-marked varieties—one on the shore, and the other amongst the mountains; and we find that many of these types, characteristically maritime when wild, grow easily without any special treatment in inland gardens. As instances I may cite cabbage, seakale, and celery. We want some one who is both chemist and botanist to investigate the circumstances under which these maritime plants grow away from the sea, and explain to us what it implies. As regards the minute circumstances connected with soil that affect species-distribution, gardeners could teach botanists a great deal, if they would keep their eyes open, in the routine of their daily work. The most valuable recent contribution to our knowledge in this direction is Kerner’s ‘‘ Cultur der Alpenpflanzen” published at Innsbruck in 1864, of which an excellent abstract in English appeared in the number of Mr. Robinson’s periodical called “The Garden,” for Dec. 10th, 1881. Kerner’s observations refer to the plants of the Alps of Central Europe, and in the first place he classifies the species into three groups, according to the amount of humus, or vegetable matter, which they need. In the first group, those that can grow in a soil, poor in humus, he places the alpine Crucifers, Crassulacez, Alsines, Silenes, and most of the Compositz. In the second group, composed of species that grow well on soil composed of vegetable humus and 148 THE NATURALIST. inorganic detritus mixed in equal proportions, he places the Potentillas, Primulas, Gentians, Orchids, Leguminosz, Umbelliferze, Cyperacee, and grasses. In the third group, which need a soil rich in humus, he places the Junci, Luzulas, Heaths, Vaccinia, Ferns, and Lycopodia. In a second list he classifies the species in three groups, according to whether they succeed best in soil containing lime, or whether lime harms them, or whether they are indifferent to it. Among the lime- lovers he places Campanula pusilla, Cypripedium Calceolus, Draba aizoides, Dryas octopetala, Primula auricula, Scabiosa lucida, Rubus saxatiis, and Phyteuma orbiculare ; amongst the lime-haters he classifies Allosorus crispus, Asplenium septentrionale, the Droseras, Linnea borealis, Lycopodium alpinum and Selago, Viola lutea, Salix herbacea, Trientalis europea, and Scirpus cespitosus;’ amongst the species indifferent to lime he places Aspidium Lonchitis, Gentiana verna, — Lychnis alpina, Saxifraga aizoides and stellaris. And, finally, he again classifies all the species under three groups, according as to whether they grow best in a sandy ora clayey soil, and are indifferent in this respect. So that we get a full classification of all the species noted, made from three different points of view, which is eminently suggestive in its bearing upon their dispersion as wild plants. We have in the North of England five hill-masses of different and well-marked lithological constitution—the porphyritic Cheviots; the slate hills of the Lake country; our great hill-mass of North-East Yorkshire, made up of lias and oolite; and the great backbone ridge of the Pennine chain, underlaid by limestone grits and shales of carboniferous age. Several years ago I made a calculation* that out of the 201 boreal plants of Britain we had 102 in the North of England, and that out of these, in the Cheviot range there were 38, in North-East Yorkshire 33, amongst the slate hills (which have a damper climate and rise to a higher level than the other three ranges) 79 species, and amongst the Pennine chain in the North Riding, 76. ._I should like to see this contrast between the four hill-masses worked in detail, not for the montane species alone, but also for the plants of the British type, and for those of the English type that reach up amongst the mountains. How is it, then, in Teesdale there is such a nest of mountain plants concentrated within a limited area at a com- paratively low level? Out of the 100 montane plants of the North of England, ten species are almost or quite restricted to an area of a few square miles in the superagrarian zone in Upper Teesdale—a few * On the distribution of the montane plants of the North of England, in Trimen’s ‘‘ Journal of Botany,” Sept., 1871. Baker, F.R.S.: Grocrapny or British PLANts. 149 Square miles which it so chances fall within the bounds of three counties, Yorkshire, Durham, and Westmoreland. - Another point that I should wish to commend especially to the study of the botanists of the north of England, is the distribution of the - species of what Watson calls the Intermediate type of distribution. These are about 40 in number, and are concentrated, so far as Britain is concerned, amongst the hills of the north of England. But then they are all, I believe, plants that reappear in Central Europe, and with us they form an outlying colony, widely dissevered from their central area. I believe it would be found, if their general distribution was worked out, that they are species of a comparatively boreal tendency, so far as climate is concerned, and that they have a special affinity for limestone, and that the want of limestone has kept them from spreading northwards into Scotland. But itis quite time that I should come to a conclusion. In one sense it has been a great pleasure to me to come down to Yorkshire again, after nearly twenty years of absence, and take the chair at the annual meeting of a society that represents more than two thousand of the inhabitants of my native county, banded together for the promotion of Natural Science ; but it has also made me remember how many of those with whom I worked and rambled a generation ago have passed away from amongst us. Since I left Yorkshire how many of the botanists that were then old or middle-aged have gone to join the great majority —Henry Baines, John Nowell, Willam Mudd, James Ward, James Backhouse, John Tatham, Silvanus Thompson, Gerard Smith, Abraham Stansfield, William Bean, John Windsor; and now we have lost our leader, Hewett Watson, the father of British botanical geography, who, although he left the county at a very early age, was also a Yorkshireman. Like clouds that rake the mountain summit, Like waves that own no curbing hand, How fast has brother followed brother From sunshine to the sunless land. Within this last quarter of a century Darwin has pulled up the old tree of Natural History by the roots, and planted it in fresh soil. _A new generation has arisen, and in this present paper I have done my best so to direct their steps that they may walk as worthy successors of those whose places in our ranks now know them no more. ON CINCLIDIUM STYGIUM, Swarrz. By Jas. CasuH. THs moss, which is of arctic or sub-arctic type, occurs in this country only in three recorled localities, namely—at Malham, in the West- Riding of Yorkshire ; in the Breadalbane district of Perthshire—on Ben Lawers ; and (according to Schimper’s Synopsis) at a place called Tuddenham Bog, in Suffolk.* Its natural home is Northern Europe, where, particularly in Sweden and Norway, it is said to be abundant. It is also found in the Arctic regions, being included, with many other British species, in the list of mosses collected by Dr. Lyall during one of the expeditions sent out to search for Sir John Franklin. Its association with such mosses as Splachnum Wormskioldvi and Mnium hymenophyllotdes leads us to hope that these and kindred species, as yet unknown to us, may also some day be found in Britain. Moreover, when we find, in a list of forty-eight arctic mosses, no fewer than forty-two which have been recorded as British, the fact seems to indicate a very close correspondence between our own moss flora and that of regions much further north. The history of Cinelidium stygium as a British moss is not a little interesting to Lancashire muscologists, especially those who are old enough to remember its fortunate discoverer, John Nowell. In speaking of Nowell as its discoverer, I merely give utterance to the current belief, though, as we shall presently see, Nowell did not, at the time of the discovery, do more than share the credit with certain muscological acquaintances, namely—John Hanworth of Lobb Mill, and William Greenwood of Lumb Butts. The discovery was made in the summer of 1836. When the moss was picked up on the bog near Malham Tarn, none of the three could identify it. They were, however, acute enough to see that it was a rare thing, and convinced themselves by subsequent investigation—apparently before communi- cating the moss to any of the experts then living—that it was new to the British flora. I cannot say whether they sent specimens for identification to anyone besides Mr. Wm. Wilson, who at that time (seventeen years before the publication of his “ Bryologia Britannica”) was known throughout England as the best authority on British mosses ; but the presumption is that they did not, if we are to judge * Since this WAS written I have ascertained that the moss was found on Ben Ledi, in 1864, by the late Mr. McKinlay (this being the first Scottish locality), and that a year or two later it was discovered near Balquhidder, by Mr. John Shaw. 3 CasH: On CINCLIDIUM STYGIUM. 151 by a letter they sent to him dated Sept. 12th, 1836. That letter bore at the foot the joint signatures of Hanworth, Greenwood, and Nowell —(and they appear in the order here given)—a circumstance which seems to show that no one claimed priority over the rest. It was the first letter, apparently, which had reached Mr. Wilson from the Todmorden muscologists, and I have no doubt that Cinclidium stygium was the interesting medium of introduction between Nowell and Wilson, forming the commencement of a lifelong acquaintance, and of extensive correspondence on matters muscological. The writers intimated to Mr. Wilson the discovery, “in the vicinity of Malham, Craven, June 13th and 14th ’—‘‘on a very. wet bog near Malham Tarn, a species of moss which,” they said, ‘‘ appears to us not to be described in volume 2nd, part 1, of Hooker’s ‘ Brit. Flora.’ ”’ The letter at this point bears a memorandum in Mr. Wilson’s writing giving the name of the moss, Cinclidium stygium. The writers enclosed specimens of the moss for Mr. Wilson’s acceptance, with remarks on its general appearance. “It has,” they said, “much the appearance of Bryum punctatum. It was growing along with Hypnum scorpioides and Bryum dealbatum. We will thank you to give us your opinion of it, as we think none more.competent than you, who have displayed so much zeal in collecting and investigating the various species of the British musci.” Mr. Wilson lost no time in communicating the fact of Cinclidiunm having been added to the list of British mosses, to his friend Dr. W. J. Hooker, then Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow. To the author of the “ Muscologia ” it was a highly interesting discovery, for in the second edition of that work, published in 1827, he had included this very moss in the list of Continental species of which, up to that time, Great Britain could not boast the possession.* Acknow- ledging Mr. Wilson’s communication in a letter dated Nov. 28, 1836, he says :—‘‘I am delighted to find that Cinclidium stygium has been found in Britain, and hope, from what you say, in fruit.” In a subsequent letter to Mr. Wilson, he wrote: —‘I shall be glad to obtain specimens of Cinclidium stygium, and to announce its exact habitat.” And again, Jan. 25th. 1837, not having got the desired specimens, he wrote: ‘“‘ My dear Sir—I begin to be anxious to hear from you again, especially upon the subject of Cinclidium styginm, of — which I am very desirous, as I scarcely need tell you. to possess British specimens. Will you intercede on my behalf with the * Tt is curious to find Dicranum Schraderi, Mnium turgidum (Aulacomniwum turgidum), and Bryum squarrosum (Paludella sq.) in the same list. 152 THe NATURALIST. discoverer, and enable me to obtain specimens? for I do not yet know the name of the lucky individual who detected it.” After this, Mr. Wilson sent specimens to Dr. Hooker through a friend in Liverpool, as, under the postal system then prevailing, it was impossible to send them direct. Dr. Hooker wrote, on the 15th Rebraary, 1837, to Mr. Wilson a letter, in which occurs the following passage :—“ Thank you for having sent to Liverpool for me the Cinclidium. Surely the persons who discovered it must be men of some knowledge, and acuteness too ; and if so, they deserve to be encouraged.” It is quite certain that the Todmorden worthies received from Mr. Wilson the encouragement of which the Glasgow Professor considered them so deserving. After receiving his acknowledgment of the specimens first sent, they dispatched to him ‘a number of specimens for general distribution,” and in the letter which accompanied them they said :—‘‘ Our situation in life (being that of labourers) will not admit of us going so far at any time, the distance being nearly forty miles from Todmorden.” At the time of which we write, Hanworth, Greenwood, and Nowell seemed to be pursuing their botanical labours jointly, and it is curious to see letter after letter with their three signatures at foot. There is one dated May 28th, 1837, which though it refers to certain mosses besides that which is the subject of this note, I will take the liberty of quoting in full: — ** Lobb Mill, May 28th, 1837. “Dear Sir— We received your valuable communication of the 19th November, together with an abundant and interesting supply of rare mosses, such as we have long wished to see, and for which we beg you will accept our most sincere thanks. ‘Our reason for troubling you again so early is, that you desired directions to the spot where we found our Cinclidium, which will be best found (if you start from Malham) by going directly to the place where the water discharges itself from the Tarn ; then turn to your right in the direction towards Gordale. The distance, we think, where it grows is not above a quarter of a mile from the bye-wash, in a hollow place on the moor, on which grow Carex teretruscula and Menyanthes trifoliata, which we think will not fail to attract your attentiou. ‘We thank you very kindly for your remarks on Hypnum flagellare, which is far from being uncommon with us, growing in nearly all the ravines or Clough holes, but the fruit is always-rare. Leuwcodon we have not yet found near Todmorden. ncalypta streptoearpa we found on an old wall near Bolton Bridge, Wharfedale, April, 1835. Hypnum rugulo- swm we found in Gordale Scar, near Malham. Caso: On CINCLIDIUM STYGIUM. 153 ‘* We take the liberty to enclose a few specimens which we are not just satisfied about. No. 1is what we had named Grimmia ovata at the time we made our list. We found it only in small quantities, and the fruit was very young. We have found it in a better state since. We think it does not agree with your specimens of G. ovata; perhaps it is the G. Doniana. [Mr. Wilson makes a note that it is this latter species.] We hope you will forgive us disappointing your expectations. No. 2 is that which we had named Pterogontwm gracile, but we find that it does not agree with your specimens of that plant. We have never seen it in fruit, but we think the leaves—at least some of them—are two-nerved at the base. [Mr. Wilson’s note is that this moss is Hyp. catenulatum ; some of the leaves were two-nerved.| No. 3 we have thought was Trichosto- mum microcarpum, [Mr. Wilson writes ‘‘ Not so” but the capsules appear rather cylindrical in shape. No. 5 we have thought was Didy- modon flexifolium [which Mr. Wilson confirms], but we have not seen it in fruit. No. 6 is what we have called Didymodon rigidulwm—(perhaps an aquatic variety—W.], but you will see that the capsules are cylindrical. No. 8 we think may be Hyp. albicans—[‘‘ Probably ”’], but we have not seen it in fruit. No. 9 is what we have named Hyp. murale—[H. con- fertum], but we think that the leaves are serrated. ** Perhaps you will think that we are taking too much liberty in pre- senting these specimens in their present condition, but we trust that you will excuse us, as we have no other person to apply to for information on this subject ; and should we ever be able to render you any service in procuring for you any plants in our vicinity, we shall ever feel happy to do so. ‘* We remain, yours truly, ‘¢ Joun HanwortTH. ‘¢ WILLIAM GREENWOOD. ‘<< Joun NOWELL.” In a P.S. the writers ask for exact directions to Weissia trichodes (Brachyodus trichodes), near Littleborough. I do not know what became of Hanworth and Greenwood, but Nowell continued to correspond with Wilson, and in a letter dated October, 1838, he wrote :—‘‘I have the pleasure to inform you that this summer I have had a botanical ramble to Malham and Ingle- borough. I found Cinclidium stygium in considerable plenty in the station on Malham Moor; but unfortunately the finest of the fruit had been eaten off by something, so that I did not get very many specimens in fruit ; but I got a good supply in a barren state. I find the Hyp. - gugulosum in two or three places in the neighbourhood of Malham, but notin plenty. I-found Weissia pusilla (Seligeria pusilla) on shady rocks in Gordale, and also on Ingleborough, but very sparingly. ‘The following I found in Ingleborough :—Tetraplodon mnioidses (very rare), 154 THE NATURALIST. Encalypta rhabdocarpa (abundant), Distichium capillaceum (in fr.), Bar- tramia gracilis (rare), Leskea moniliformis (barren), Bryum Zierit (fr. very rare), Muium serratum (rare), Amblyodon dealbatus. This I also found in wet places, near Settle, but very sparingly.” Ina P.S. he adds—“TI have found Weissia trichodes in several places in the neigh- bourhood of Todmorden, but not common; I have also found Grimmia saxicola | Campylostelium) in Ramsden Clough, near Todmorden. The place where Cinclidium stygium grows on Malham Moor is not above 500 yards from the outlet of the Tarn, in the direction towards Gordale.” Such is the early history of this interesting moss, in Britain. It still grows in the bog at Malham, and, from the accounts given of its condition and abundance by our friend Mr. Cunliffe, who gathered it so lately as in 1880, it is likely to grace this its first English habitat for many a long year to come. Cinclidium stygium.—I see, in the April No. of the Naturalist, that you will print next montha paper on the history of Cinclidium stygium. I think it probable I may be able to give some additional information. I was with Mr. E. Skipper, editor of the “ Suffolk Flora,” when he discovered the moss growing in a small bog at Tuddenham, near Bury St. Edmund’s, Suffolk. It was in November, 1860, that we met with it, but from its habitat supposed it a Mnium. Mr. Skipper, however, sent a piece to Mr. John Nowell, of Todmorden, who at once replied it was Cinclidium stygium. In that month, and in the November of 1862, Mr. 8. found it beautifully in fruit and in good condition, though earlier in the year (September) the fruit was quite immature. I know he sent specimens to a good many botanists—among others, to Mr. Wilson. It was thus, probably, that Dr. Schimper was aware of this locality.—E. N. BLooMFIELD, Guestling Rectory, near Hastings, April 14th. Short Hotes and Queries. Arriva or Micrants 1x Rysurn VatLey.—Willow wren April 2nd, swallow, 13th ; martin, 17th; sand-martin, 17th; Ray’s wagtail 17th ; Sandpiper, April 19th.—F. G. 8. Rawson. Economic Entomotocy.—Having been elected by the Y.N.U. as the recorder of Economic Entomology for the county, I appeal to the mem- bers, and to all naturalists who are not members but resident in the county, to help forward this desirable work, by forwarding me notes or specimens, or both, of any kind of insect ravages which may come under their notice. With the help of the members of the Union this might be : : | | | SHort NoTEs AND QUERIES. 155 made one of the most important items in the Union’s work, but without such help I shall be able to do very little. I particularly solicit commu- cations on all insects found to be injurious to field or garden crops, such as daddy-ionglegs, turnip flea, beetle, aphides, wireworms, larve of various kinds, &c. ; also notes of any remedies which have been found serviceable—either artificial, as chemical dressings, or natural, as the counter-action of other insects, insectiverous birds, &c, Such notes, however small, will be of great service in drawing up a report at the end of the year, which probably will be sent free to all who help forward the work by rendering assistance. I would also ask that readers of the Naturalist should call the attention of horticultural and agricultural societies to the fact of such appointment. It will be my duty to forward advice upon the best known and most simple remedies to persons seeking that advice, but such communications must always be accompanied by specimens of the insects, and of the injuries done by them, and any notes or information relating to the same. Miss E. A. Ormerod, F.M.S., has kindly offered to assist me upon the more difficult points. Besides the information asked for above, I should also be glad of such as relates to any kind of imsect ravages, either to stored grain, grocery stores, clothing, or any which directly or indirectly affect the interests of man.— S. L. Mostty, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield. Foumart (Mustela putorius) IN YoRKSHIRE.—Eight years since, a foumart was seen running across a field at Three Nuns, Kirklees, and shortly after, one was caught in Strangsty Wood, Elland, by Roland Brook, probably the same animal. Seven years ago B. Sykes, contractor, Rishworth, trapped a fine specimen, but has not heard of any in that locality since. The keeper over Clowes Moor informs me that in the winter of 1861-2 he and his father trapped three foumarts ; and fourteen years since in December, he traced one in the snow across Cudworth pastures, which join up to Clowes Moor, and following the trail, he came up with a shepherd and his dog just giving the coup de grace to a fine dog or male foumart. The next (and last) instance occurred five years ago, when he trapped one on the moors shot over by Messrs. Whitehead, of the Royal George Mills, Greenfield. During the winter last past, the keepers have captured four stoats or ermines, one a beautiful variety, marked with red stripes. In 1854 two local men caught a pine or beech marten (Martes foina), at Romfolly, near Hebden Bridge ; it measured 2ft. Gin. from tip to tip, and had a splendid fur. It was kept ina cage at a public-house, and was exhibited to visitors. —C. C. Hanson. ADDITIONAL WENSLEYDALE SHELL-Nores.-—I have now to record that, as Mr. J. W. Taylor informs me, the specimens of Helix rufescens which Mr. Robert Scharff collected at Hardraw Scar appertain to the variety rubens—a variety which has, as yet, not been recorded for Britain in a formal manner. Mr. H. Pollard gives me Hawes as an additional locality for H. rupestrvis; and Mr. James Ingleby lately sent me 156 THe NATURALIST. specimens of Limnea peregra from Coverdale, which he found in damp. grass in swampy places near the river.—Wm. Denison Rorpuck, Leeds. Leptoscyphus interruptus (Nees).—This very rare hepatic has lately been found in Cheedale, Derbyshire, by Mr. G. A. Holt, of Manchester. In Dr. Carrington’s “‘ British Hepaticz,” no mention is made of any locality in Derbyshire for this species; it is, however, given in the London Catalogue of British Mosses and Hepatics” for province 8, which includes Derbyshire. Can any reader say if this species has previously been found in Derbyshire, and where? or is Mr. Holt’s discovery new to the county ?—W. H. P. Since sending the above, with reference to Leptoscyphus interrwptus (Nees), I find that it is recorded in ‘‘ Synopsis Hepaticarum,” (1844). ‘‘In Anglia (Matlock, Derbyshire), leg., W.. Wilson.”—W. H. P. Rhizomorpha subcorticalis IN YORKSHIRE.—Mr. C. C. Hanson, of West Vale, has sent us a curious specimen of fungoid vegetation to be named. He writes us that he found it ‘‘on stripping the bark off a dead maple tree ; it was between the bark and the wood, but adhering to the wood, on which it left a beautiful imprint, and was many yards in length.” Being unable to name it ourselves, we sent it to Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., of Kew Herbarium, who determines it to be the celebrated Rhizomorpha subcorticalis (see Berkeley’s Outlines, p. 42), and that it is an abnormal condition of the mycelium of various species of fungi of the genera Poly- porus and Xylaria, vegetating under the bark. In Sir J. H. Smith’s Eng. Flora, by Sir W. J. Hooker, vol. v. pt. 2, p. 235, it is referred to Xylaria (Spheria) Hypoxylon, where it is further remarked—‘‘ though, as Fries observes, every production so named is not to be referred to this species. Withering long ago perceived the connection. The editor of the last edition is, however, most probably wrong in referring it to Rh. imperialis. I perfectly agree with that most judicious author, M. Fries, as to the desirableness of excluding from the list of fungi all such doubtful productions. Nothing, however, can be more interesting, and, as regards the physiology of these plants, more instructive, than the correct reference of such abortive forms to the perfect species.” —We should be glad to learn whether any other observer has come across any specimens of this curious production, and under what circumstances.— CARS Ei: NOTICES OF BOOKS.—“ On Cephalozia (a genus of Hepaticze) : its Sub-genera and some Allied Genera: By Richard Spruce, Malton.— Printed for the Auther, 1882.”—This, the latest work of a distinguished naturalist and explorer, will be studied intently by all who are interested in the Hepaticee, for in it are given some of the results of many years of careful observation in different parts of the world : whether in the woods, dales and heaths of his native county ; or in the South of Ireland bota- nizing with the late Dr. Taylor ; or rambling in the Pyrenees with his friend Dr. Southby ; or alone in the wilds of South America ; supple- mented by years of quiet microscopical study, only interrupted by painful Snort Notes AND QUERIES. 157 illness, till of him may appropriately be said * Old experience hath attained To something like prophetic strain.” And so, in addition to other important work, we have this unpretentious book with its brown paper back—‘“‘ dear, as books go now,” as someone remarks, but which we conjecture will soon be difficult to be purchased, as only a limited number of copies have been printed. In it we find, as far as we can judge, food for future years, for no superficial study can grasp the large questions which are raised by the author, and a conscien- tious student must feel that before he can accept or reject the author’s conclusions, he must have a wide and clear knowledge of the plants in question. Here are shown that characters used by other systematists are unreliable, and systems so based are shaken or overthrown by the author’s genera reduced in rank, species reduced into varieties, &c., &c. Fortunately the author is not one of those iconoclasts who pull down a system and have nothing to set up in its place, for we find here outlines of a natural arrangement, supported by scientific illustrations, and indi- cations and suggestions of affinities—some perhaps bold, as, for instance, when sketching the affinities of several genera he states that we shall probably find with every tribe a genus having pouched fruit—which, if not found hitherto, has either escaped our notice, or, being weaker than other plants, has succumbed to them in the struggle for place, or has not yet been evolved. It would be difficult to indicate, in the short space at our disposal, the affinities pointed out and the systems suggested, with an account of the characters upon which the author bases his conclusions ; suffice to mention that the mode of insertion of the branches on the stem, the origin and structure of the angles of the perianth, the structure of the walls of the capsule, and the number of the sexual organs, are the author’s leading characters ; and in this memoir is the method proposed by him well demonstrated. Several new genera are proposed by him : one to contain the Jung. albescens of Hooker, another the two new species of Dr. Carrington, Jung. myriocarpa and Jing. Nevicensis. The species peculiar to our flora are all fully elucidated and described, and as they are amongst the most perplexing of any in the tribe Jungermaniacee, all British hepaticologists are under obligation to the author for making these the special object of his study. Several new additions to our flora are made: Cephalozia heterostipa, Carr., et Spruce, which may be lying hidden in many herbaria as an alpine form of Jwng. inflata, Huds., with which it has some points in common, but is distinguished by its postical branches, some flagelliform, the presence of stipules, and different perianth ; @ephalozia leucantha, S., found by J. Sim on rotten wood near Banchory, Scotland—a species previously found by Continental botanists in similar localities, but confounded by them with Cephalozia catenulata (Huben.) from which it is quite distinct, being of a paler color, leaves of a different shape, &c. Cephalozia aeraria, Pears., found about the mouths of old copper mines in Wales is a small species distinguished 158 THe NATURALIST, from Cephalozia divaricata by its inflorescence being on lateral branches, its uncinate leaves, and other characters. A species which had erroneously been looked upon as a form of Cephalozia connivens (Dicks.), is named by the author Cephalozia multiflora, and from the full description given, there will be no difficulty in determining the Cephalozia multiflora of Spruce, whatever there may be of the Cephalozia multiflora of other authors. Several species only previously announced as British, are fully described by the author, and their stations given. The book can be obtained from Mr. J. W. Slater, Malton, or Mr. Wesley, Hssex-st., Strand, London, 6/- Laintall for March. Height ToTraL Faun of UNO). To Dats. | Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest of above | fall. Days Fall. heaviest level. 1883, | 1982, . Ft. | In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 1°20} 14} 860 | *7°86 i 0°30 (J. W. Robson) Hairax...(F.G.S. Rawson)| 365 | 1:50 | 17 | 13°20 | 14:04 19 0°35 LEEDS ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 0°52 | 18 6°26 | 74°84 19 0°26 HORSFORTH ... (James Fox)| 350 | 1°31 | 14 lo eel 19 0°40 Paretey Bripes...(E. War-| 436 | 1°62} 13] 10:38 | 19:01 | 19 0°37 burton, M.B.C.S.. L.8. A.) BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...) 350 | 1°39 | 15 7°09 5°82 19 0°42 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 1°36 | 21 | 11°86 | 10°38 19 0°42 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...) 520 | 1°59 | 18 8°92 6°55 aig. 0°42 GooLe ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 1°29 | 15 5°65 5°32 19 0°30 HULL (Derringham) (Wm.} 10§ Lawton) * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 & 1865-83. + Average of 14 years, 1870-83. § No Returns. || For 4 years, 1880-83. OBITUARY.— Mr. Rocrr Earnsoaw.—We have to record the death of one of our most eminent local botanists, at the age of 53. Mr. Harnshaw had been a member of the Ovenden Naturalists’ Society since its commencement, and was well known as a botanist far beyond the limits of his own district. During the existence of the West-Riding Consolidated Naturalists’ Society he was frequently sent to represent his society at their meetings, and was several times called upon to assist in naming the specimens collected during the day’s ramble, this being . considered not only an honour, but as a rather severe test of his know- ledge of botany. He was one of those humble workers in science who seem to be fast dying out—men who loved to spend their time and money in the pure desire for knowledge, and who, according to the high Reports oF SocietigEs. 159 authority of Prof. Williamson, F.R.S., ‘‘ form the life-blood of science,”’ for without them no scientific association can flourish. He was, when well, full of energy and enthusiasm, of a gentle and peaceful disposition, ever ready to help young beginners in the study of botany, and to render all the aid he could to the science he loved so well. A kind father, a faithful husband, and a tried friend, he has gone to his rest without leaving an enemy behind him, and amid the tears and true sorrow of numerous relatives and friends.—J. OGDEN. Aeporis of Societies. Barnstey Naturatists’ Society.—A summary has been given of the remarkable occurrences of the winter season. The most curious or rare have been partly recorded, as Richardson’s squa, Oct. 27th ; waxwing, Dec. 20, by Mr. H. Garland, who obtained another the year before at same place, Bolton-on-Dearne ; and the Sclavonian grebe, Jan., 1829. Several gulls, flocks of wild geese and ducks in the Dearne valley, when inundated by the snow floods about Feb. 25th. Thrush, with eggs, noted at Swithen March 4th, this rich songster again becoming more plentiful there than at Hemsworth, and was heard also at Brighouse April 18th. Blackbirds more numerous at Barnsley, increasing slowly after the winter of 1880-81. The secretary read letters from magistrates and police officers that his application for enforcing the Birds’ Protection Act would be attended to. Starlings, meadow-pipits, pied wagtails, partially migrating in the late frosts, are returning in numbers. The grey wagtail has not yet gone to its breeding haunts, the north-west Yorkshire hills. Golden- crested wrens, kingfishers, a few herons, a carrion crow, many jays and magpies, reported in different parts. Several reports received of swallows and other migrants—one swallow as early as April 2nd, another 3rd and 5th ; cuckoo 10th and 13th ; willow warbler and chiffchaff April 8 ; tree pipit, llth. Martins seen by Mr. G. J. Dymond on the 17th at Darfield and Parkgate ; redstart and lesser whitethroat near Silkstone. Wheat- ear, usually the first visitant—average date March 26th—seen at Woolley Edge by Dr. White, Apr. 4th ; a fine stoat taken by Mr. R. Creighton at Hemsworth, Feb. 26th. A toad was seen by Mr. J. Dewhirst, of Womb- well, in his greenhouse, to cast his black skin and eat it—the new skin being of a whitish tint—Feb. 16th. BraprorD Narouratists’ Socrery.—Meeting Mar. 20th, the president in the chair.—Dr. W. H. Evans gave a paper on ‘‘ Land and Fresh- water Shells,” minutely describing their characteristics, mode and tenacity of life, habitat, &c. The lecture was illustrated by a large number of shells, some of them very rare. Mr. Eastwood exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Rudd, a specimen of S. convolvuli, taken at Great Horton eight years ago. Meertne April 3rd, the president in the chair.—Accounts of rambles were given by several members. Mr. Oxley exhibited Ranunculus 160 THe NATURALIST. Lenormandi, in bloom, from Rombalds Moor ; Mr. Soppitt, a species of fungus, Dedalea unicolor, and Mr. Bennett, bred specimens of S. carpini. Meetine April 17th, the president in the chair.—Mr. F. Bamford gave a very interesting paper on ‘‘ Coal and its Distribution.” Mr. Bennett exhibited Planorbis spirorbis from Althorpe, Lincoln ; Mr. Ulingworth, a number of insects from America; and Mr. West, mosses and lichens from Ingleton.—H. L. O. BEVERLEY FieLtp Naturatists’ aND ScrentIFIc Soctety.—Fortnightly meeting, Apr. 5th. Mr. R. Stuart exhibited a nicely mounted case of waxwings, Ampelis garrulus, which were shot last December in Lincoln- shire, also a pair of water rails, Rallus aquaticus, shot on the river Hull. Eggs of the following species were shown by Mr. J. B. Hood, viz. :— Great black-backed gull, Larus marinus ; lesser black-backed gull, L. fuscus ; herring gull, L. argentatus ; common gull, L. canus, taken in Scotland ; black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, taken at Scotter Moor, Lincolnshire ; and the kittiwake gull, Rissa tridactyla, from the cliffs at Flamborough. The president, on behalf of Mr. Key, showed a fine ~ geries of butterflies from Singapore, the large size and beauty of the _ Specimens attracting much attention. A collection of British butterflies, chiefly taken in the neighbourhood of Beverley, was brought by Mr. R. Cherry ; Mr. J. J. Marshall exhibited a large specimen of the fresh- water mussel, from Skelton, near York ; and Mr. Butterell a large and brilliantly coloured example of the sea mouse, Aphrodite aculeata, sent for exhibition by Mr. Dinsdale, smack-owner, of Hull. It was reported by Mr. Swailes that the first summer migrant, a wheatear, Saricola cenanthe, waS observed in Westwood on the ist April. MancHESTER Oryptocamic Socizry.—Monthly meeting, April, Capt. Cunliffe in the chair.—The hon. sec. read notes communicated from Mr. J. Martindale, of Kendal, on Gonionema compactwm, Nyl. Mr. J. M. Barnes, of Milnthorpe, was elected an honorary member of the society. A communication was read by Captain Cunliffe from Mr. Robert de Buysson, of Brouet-Vernet, France, who had sent specimens of Grimnua arvernica, Phil., for the use of the society. The species has recently been discovered as new to Kurope, and is fully described in the ‘‘ Revue Bryologique ” for 1882. Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited the following rare hepatics :—Jamesoniella Carrington, Balf., found on Ben Lavigh by Messrs. Wild and Holt; Leptoscyphus interrupta, Nees, found in Chee- dale ; and Cephalozia fluitans, Nees, on Carrington Moss, by Mr. Holt. Mr. Pearson also exhibited Cephalozia Turneri, found by himself at Dolgelly (new to Wales). Hypnuwm nitens, from a swamp in Western Manitoba, gathered in March last, was exhibited by the secretary. Mr. . J. Cash read a most interesting paper on Mr. Wm. Wilson’s first visit to Scotland, 1827, and his first visit to Ireland, 1829-30. It was replete with notes made at that time on the discoveries and rare gatherings of cryptogams and flowering plants, and included some interesting corres- pondence with Hooker, Arnott, Borrer, Harvey, &c.—THos. Rocsrs, Hon. Sec. May 1. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—‘The Study of Mosses,”’ Mr. Eastwood, 7-30 p.m. See : 33 1. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. ms 1, Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. S 2. Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. # 3. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. »> 3. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. 7. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—‘‘ Exhibits and Records in Local Ornithology,” preceded in the afternoon by an Excursion to Fixby. 8. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. 11. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 12. (Whit Monday—Bank Holiday.) Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union : Excursion to Doncaster for the Green Park Wood and, Sandal Beat. 16. Bradford Naturalists’ Society. 17. York St. Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. 19. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. 19. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Excursion to Norland Moor. 19. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club.— Excursion to Uttoxeter: Leader, Mr. Wilkins. . Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Paper by Mr. John Armi- tage. - 21. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. 24. Linnean Society of London. —Anniversary Meeting, 3 p.m. 28. Leeds Geological Association, 8 p.m. ee 98, Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. 29. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—“ Parasites,” Mr. J . Paull. EXCH AN GE. Having just arranged my collection of eggs, I find I have many duplitates which are all good specimens, and side blown Can spare Osprey. Peregrine, Kite, Buzzards, Goshawk, Curlews, Hoopce, Wovdpeckers, Red-wi inged Starlings, Capercaille, Quails, Ostrich, Emu, &c. I will exchange for species notin golicction. —W£aAtLTER Ratnr, Ramsden Terrace, North- street, Leeds. : THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY. This Journal circulates widely amongst Conchologists throughout the world, and contains every quarter articles dealing - with all departments of the Science. i Double numbers are at present beme issued, price 1/- each, or-4/4 per annum, post free. PUBLISHED BY }. W. ‘Taytor, St. Ann’s Works, Leeds; to ~ whom should be sent all communications ; and to whom Post _Office Orders also should be made payable. OOO SI Lonpon : HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, Ww. THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST, A Magazine of Hatural History, commenced in 1871, ‘Edited by F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D. F.LS. Subscriptions (paid in advance) 4s. per annum, post free. EDINBURGH AND LONDON: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. e ust Published, Pag 8v0, fous THE INSECT HUNTER'S COMPANION, By the Rev. JOSHPH GREENE, M.A., Being instructions for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and ere Butterflies — and Moths, Beetles, as ee and other Insects. THIRD RD EDITION. REVISED AND EXTENDED BY A. B. FARN. THE CHAPTER ON COLEOPTERA, BY EDWARD NEWMAN. : : : ra) : CONTENTS.—How to obtain the Egg by searching; boxing female moths ; pairing insects. How to obtain LARV# by beating : the Bignell tray ; sweeping ; searching by night; how to rear the larve; sleeving; hybernating larve; parasites ; preserving larve. PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pupz ; forcing pupz; THE PERFECT INSECT.—Localities; net; mothing; honeydew; sugaring ; light ; indoor light; grouting; smoking; killing; relaxing; setting: grease; mites ; mould; cabinets and store boxes; painting: arrangement and nomen- clature ; number of specimens and manner of placing; transmission by post ; entomological diary; books.. MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA; COLEOPTERA; HYMENOPTERA; BREEDING OF GALL-FLIES. é PRICE ONE SHILLING. LONDON : SONNENSCHEIN & ALLEN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, The ne Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine Price 6d. monthly, 24 pages Svo, with occasional Illustrations. Conducted by J. W. Dovczras, R. MacLacuian, F.R.S., E. C. Rye, AA-Si57 Az. ®. "STAINTON, F.R.S., &e. This Magazine, eee in 1864, contains aad Articles and Notes on all subjects. connected with Entomology, and especially on the Insects of the British Isles. Subscription 6s. per volume, post free. The volumes commence with the June number in each year. eis The early volumes are out of print, but can be occasionally obtained by purchasers of the entire series. In this case the price of vols. 1. to V. is 10s. per vol. The succeeding vols. (strongly bound in cloth) ean be had separately or together at 7s. ~ per vol. : LONDON: JOHN VAN YOORST, 1, Paternoster Row. _ N.B. —Coramunications, &c., should be sent to the Editors at the above address- = Naturalist Series of Handbooks On BRITISH Se HISTORY. Handbook f., now publishing 21 Monthly Parts ai 28. each, on BRITISH BIRDS; THEIR NESTS AND EGGS,” Containing accurate hand-coloured fetes of every species and every variety. drawn by 8S. L. Mosley ;- with text revised by a Fellow of the Zoological Society. A cheap edition is published at 1s., and the Birds or Eggs may be had separate. May be had Peg “MOSLEY, Beaumont Park, Hudderhelde ord. E, ef a ROBSON, Bellerby ae, West Hartlepool. a : [PRICE FOURPENCE, ‘POST FREE] . a AL ae list: - TOURNAL oF 1 HE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS UNI 10N, : = a SE ear Pee = AND_ SS PES Tee ts ee -CONERAL PIBLD Lua RE CORD. Pe 2 aS ey = s Ro i=S a = ‘Eprrep py Onaa, P. Hopxtrg, BL. . AND GT. Poritr, LB * Westy «JUNE, 1693. “VOL: VIII. ve eS ae CONTENTS. (ee _OntarNan. “Anereres, oe : ee, : LO ee ee cot - Caddis-Fly Hunting i in 1 1882. ks ze Swinton, gome ri rmcns ae ee ee 161 ~ Loval. Birds of the “Wilsden District. —E. P. P. Butterfield PI Ee NGOS oe ee ‘Natural History Notes from South Africa—continued. oe Ba. Bair stow p (RL. vi. .) 166 we : e Page. Raman ‘VOR ABRIL oe Ere ee ie ee ee EE ee Nores, &e. ie g oe Oe ee ee ae ‘ ae | Natural History Notes from Wharfedale —George: Rober ts A Ce ee oe Ly le -Reporss: OF ‘Socrmrms : me ee oS = oe pe ee = sy a Pes Chee : ce : ey Barnsley Naturalists’ Society .. SE es, fe i eS oe: 172 Beverley Field Natw alists’ and Scientific: Society ee ee : se ty ancashire and. Cheshire Entomological Society 3 5 a Be ee ATS Yorkshire Naturalists” Union. —Doncaster. Meeting ee BE eG re oy 3 enn ees eal - ee oe ~ a eS = ! | a. "HUDDERSFIELD 2 Sy ae B. Brows, Marker ‘Pracn ‘Convmr. TO CORRESPOND ENT S. THE N ATURALIST 3 ig s published on the first of every pont. ee 4) Ps a year, post free, payable in advance. The volume commences in August of each _ year. Intending new subscribers should send in their names immediately. All communications, except Advertisenients, Exchanges, or Short Qteries, ‘should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 1Sth of the ~ eurrent month, to insure insertion In our next issue, and should be Maes on one side of the sheet only. est AUTHORS WISHING For REPRINTS op THEIR PAPERS can hove thee on the following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four “pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 5S., 100 copies 6s. Gp. Not exceeding eight . pages, 25 copies Os., 50 copies Gs. 6b., 100 copies Qs., and soon In-propor- 4 Hoe Printed covers and separate title pages extra, ALD, COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED LO THE aprons CARE OF Te B. BROWN, PUBLISH. ik, val UDDERSFIELD. TRA NSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NA TURA LISTS’ UNION, : | PART I. FOR 1577 contains the commencement of ‘‘ The Pins of Yorkshire, 2558 by Mr. W. EH. Clarke, M.B.O U. ; of an ‘“ Annotated List of the Land and Fresh- water Mollusca of Yorkshire, ” by Messrs. Wm: Nelson and J. Ws Taylor; a. complete list of Yorkshire Hymenoptera, with references to literature: of that _ order, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck; a paper on ‘‘ Yorkshire Macro- -lepidoptera in. 1877, > by Mr. @. T. Porritt, F.L:S.; one on ‘* Yorkshire Micro- lepidoptera in 1877, by Mr. Wm. Prest ; papers by Mr... L. Mosley, on ‘* Yorkshire Diptera,’ and on the Yorkshire species of Hemiptera of the Family Psylde ; and a report on Yorkshire Botany in 1877, by Dr. H. F. Parsons, F.G.S.° — es PARTS I. AND III. FOR 1878 contain the continuations of Mr. Clarke’s Birds of Yorkshire, and of Messrs. Nelson and Taylor’s Land ‘and Fresh-wate: Mollusca of Yorkshire ; ;-an elaborate report on Yorkshire Botany in 1878, by - Dr. Parsons ; the commencement of Dr. Parsons’ ‘‘ Moss-Flora ofthe Hast. Riding” ; papers on Yorkshire Pepidepiors 4 in 1878, by Mr. Porritt, F.L.S. soe Yorkshire Ichneumomde, by. Mr. 8. D. Bairstow, F.L.S.; and on Yorlahire- ee observed in 1878, by Mr. W. Denison Roebuck. See oe W. Denison RozBuck, Sunny Bank, i Leeds, : I Seis Wa E. CLARKE, —° es 5, ope View, oo Park Road, Leeds, a: HL W. M A R SD 2 N, NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER, Cabinets and ee of all kinds, of the best ele on the lowest ‘terms, Pritish and European acre VE Preserved Larva. of rare British Lepidoptera. ~ BOOKS.—New and Second-hand, on Note aie Subjects, The largest and best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggsi ie tingid, Catalogues Ys ‘on application. — Bayou List of British Butterfies,” Beautifully printed in colours m Graduated ‘List of 4 Birds? specially prepared for reference and labelling, 6d. es LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CANADA, ” Limp Cloth, see Interleaved, 3/- (37. MIDLAND ROAD; GLOUCESTER. Ane " Pre ee . : ¢ \ 3 Z mn r : c a 3 ‘ yy RW WE QL uP RL en eck se we res me mL Yaa Sih | mk A sat a Cre ic ls te ct oe RN at a a a a a cae a ne lt a a atl Nar re A a tl ak Ya VY gt ys y / Ex MA WV y Rout view oF SUTVRES => > > = ~ a = NATURALIST. PI. vi. B. BROWN, Publisher, Huddersfield. Original Articles, CADDIS-FLY HUNTING IN 1882. By A. H. Swinton. My friend Mr. King has just written to say he quite envies us south- erners in our fine localities for Trichoptera. As chance has it, I have just been reading in the “ Bulletino della Societa Hntomologica Italiana ” an interesting account of the pursuit of a Helivcopsyche in a watercourse at Atrani, of which the males are as black as the prince of Morocco, while the females are garbed in the russet-grey of Nancy ; and whose larve, previous to transformation, have been noticed to seal their cases with an operculum, and to anchor them to stones with threads of silk. Iam quite captivated by the manners of the Helioco- psyche, and feel rejuvenescent as a Nimrod. Well, here we are, at the end of June, among the crimson willow herbs and the yellow water-lilies of the river Wey Beside the lock stand some vine-mantled cottages, and a little wicket takes you on to the rustic wooden bridge that spans the eddies. Listen to the pleasant gush of the water, and the. melodious chirp of the young throstle frem its cage suspended on the wall: how the bull-frogs of Atrani would have fired a volley of Brekake, hake, koax, koax, koax, in soft response and gratitude. Look how invitingly the roses and currants trail their lustrous branches in the darker water. ‘‘ The very place!” you exclaim, “for Heliocopsyche.” The forest flies rest idly on the rushes, and desecrate not the sweet sounds and shadows of the afternoon with their buzz. Now is your chance for‘a sweep among the rank grass and ropy flowers: the net has hitched on a thorn, and all the boys are down upon you—“ Caught a jack, sir?’ The Trichoptera flicker like moths in a barrel of bran, and you wish the boys and spaniel anywhere. Next, some workmen have been rolling in the marsh hay, and here is the proprietor arrived to give you a history of their misdeeds. Now then for the longhorns. Nothing but the yellow Lepto- — cerus senilis and the black Leptocerus aterrimus. My thoughts revert to the Trichoptera of Atrani, and something whispers to me, perchance there was a time when senzlis and aterrimus were one in matrimony. Summer is gone, and the scene changes to Glasgow. I am seated with my friend, recapitulating my heroic deeds. As he calls the roll of the slain, I hear Molanna angustata, Leptocerus cinereus, Tinodes Waeneri, Hydropsyche angustipennis, Neureclipsis bimaculata, Cyrnus trimaculatus, Sisyra terminalis—all from Guildford. Then comes a conventional rarity, Setodes notata, only hitherto taken at Weybridge N.S. VOL. VII... JUNE, - 1883. 162 THE NATURALIST. and at York, on the meanders of the Ouse probably. There is likewise an unseasonable occurrence in the fourth month, provided the Roman numeral be not transposed, of an autumnal sort, anabolia nervosa. Being in possession of the titles of our books, let us turn to the biography within; for, without a knowledge of the latter, entomology is likely to expire in the mephitic air of the heirloom of verbiage Now, evidently the rarity is either an importation into this country, a relic of a state of things that is dying out, or its distribution is imperfectly made out; and the untimely occurrence in the dearth of miracles may point to two annual appearances on the Wey. ‘Then as to love or strife. Here is a sly and portly Phryganea grandis, female I believe, who when poked from a slimy crevice of my rustie bridge, was as filthily redolent of excrement as any lace wing. Being naturally not too particular, I applied a pocket lens at the time, and brought into view certain clear drops that were exuding from a scent-pore beneath the fourth segment of the abdomen. Another autumnal Trichopteron I netted flying near a rivulet in the island of Bute, possessed a piquant zest for honey ; its name, I learn, is Awabolia nervosa. What senti- ments can insects associate with aromas to us so opposite ! Before taking my leave, I while away a little time looking over my friend’s collection. I learn that Huecyla pusilla has an apterous female that waddles over the rushes—(and where will you find a tribe of insects in which this trace of domesticity is wanting ?)—and likewise that we have an insular dwarf which attains to great dimensions in parts of the Continent, and in Switzerland becomes mottled. The - first of these peculiarities, in Asynachus cenosus, is by no means startling, since the size of a species merely depends on the amount of food consumed in the immature or larval form; and this will depend on the climate, annual sunshine, or nature of the food, as may be easily made a matter of proof or observation. Binfield House, Guildford. ——w LOCAL BIRDS OF THE WILSDEN DISTRICT. By E. P. P. BurrrerFiex. THE following list (with a few notes) of some of the scarcer or more local birds which breed annually, or which have bred within recent years in this district, may be consideoed of sufficient general interest to justify their publication. Such a list, even if but a short one, will better serve as a basis to the ornithologist from which to draw a just notion of its avian peculiarities, than a long list of accidental visitors- BUTTERFIELD : LocAL BIRDS oF WILSDEN DISTRICT. 163 It is now generally agreed among ornithologists that, to have a proper conception of the avifauna of a country, such stragglers must be dismissed from consideration as of doubtful value or but little interest. The following observations embody the result of many years’ expe- rience, and although all error may not be eliminated, I trust that the moral element which should aim at making them accurate has not been wanting. Tawny owl (Strix aluco).—A pair or two breed annually in Bingley Wood, or about St. Ives, the seat of W. Ferrand, Esq. I saw a brood at dusk one summer’s eve, [ think in 1881, alight in a sycamore tree beneath which I was standing. They had apparently just left the nest which had been built, I conjectured, in the crevice of a huge rock hard by. Pied flycatcher (Muscicapa atricapilia).—A pair commenced building their nest in a beech tree in Bingley Wood, in May, 1881 (see Naturalist, vol. v., p. 171), but from some cause or other they discontinued operations—a result I very much deplored. It is an exceedingly local bird, and I cannot state on what occult principle it selects its breeding quarters, but doubtless it is connected with its food supply. | : Dipper (Cinclus aguaticus). Breeds not uncommonly every year. My brother and I found a nest last spring near Bingley, which was built in a hole in some masonry constructed to divert a portion of the water of the beck, for the purpose of supplying motive power to drive a waterwheel belonging to a mill. Beside the nest my brother found a little fish, which we both thought had been brought for the young by their parents, but had been accidentally dropped ; and on my brother giving it to one of the young, it was bolted with evident relish, which is, I think, a presumptive proof of its ichthyological proclivities, although a great deal has been said and written to the contrary. Ring ouzel (LZurdus torquatus).—Breeds abundantly in Harden Clough, and occasionally on Black-hill. Sedge warbler (Sylvia phragmitis).—Although this is regarded as a common and generally-distributed bird, it is somewhat scarcer in this neighbourhood. It has been, however, commoner these last three — than the preceding ten years. * Blackeap (Sylvia atricapilla).—Not so common, and more local than its congener, the garden warbler. Its song differs from the latter species in being shriller, and performed in a more hurried manner, besides lacking compass and melody. 164 THe NATURALIST. Wood wren (Sylvia sylvicola)—Common in Bingley Wood and Goit Stock Valley, but seems partial to some parts of the wood, and to prefer woods of old growth to young plantations. Goldcrest (Regulus cristatus)—A common bird in winter, though I have not succeeded in finding its nest in this locality up to present time, but it perhaps breeds occasionally, for I saw a brood in Cot- tingley Moor plantation in 1881, which I felt sure had been bred there. It however breeds plentifully about Drebley. in Upper Wharfe- dale, especially in fir trees of considerable age ; and I cannot assign any particular reason why it should not breed here more commonly. Cole tit (Parus ater).—Plentiful in winter, but it only occasionally remains to breed. Marsh tit (Parus palustris}—Not quite so common in winter as the lastmamed, but a few more remain to breed, although it is by no means common in the breeding season. Long-tailed tit (Parus.caudatus)—Breeds occasionally. I found a nest a few years since, built in a holly hedge. It was an exquisite piece of workmanship, and greatly excited my admiration. I have known of but two nests, neither of which had two holes, as Mr. Selby asserts—one for ingress and the other for egress. Grey wagtail (Motacilla boarula)—A pair or two breed sede: in the Goit Stock Valley, particularly near the waterfall, where the “ dun umbrage o’er the fallen stream romantic hangs.” Here it is at home, consorting with the dipper.. Ray’s wagtail.—This is one of the species that seems to have a penchant for certain localities in which to breed—returning year after year, as L have known it, to nest about a particular slope of a meadow field. or more often in clayey fallow or cornfields, especially where coltsfoot grows, under the leaves of which I have frequently found its nest. Hawfinch (/’ringilla cuccotkraustes).—A pair bred in the -aelhee hood of Bingley in the year 1878. Lesser redpoll.—Breeds plentifully about Manywells and Cottingley Moor plantation. Twite (Fringilla montium)—Common on the high moors in the district, particularly about Denholme, where it breeds in great numbers. It occasionally breeds near the village. Bullfinch (Loria pyrrhula)—One of Mr. Ferrand’s gamekeepers tells me a pair breed about St. Ives nearly every year. It used to BUTTERFIELD: Locat Birps or WILSDEN DISTRICT. 165 breed about here more commonly. A few come to feed on elderberries every autumn on Blackhills. Spotted woodpecker (Picus major).—A pair has bred in Bingley wood for two or three years successively. I believe it leaves this locality in autumn, returning in February. Creeper (Certhia familiaris).—Common in winter, but very rarely remains to breed. It is an interesting sight, and one which never palls upon my sense from its frequent repetition, to see it busily engaged, running up the trunks of trees, in search of food. It is almost invariably in company with titmice in winter. Kingfisher (A4lcedo ispida).—It is not so common in summer as it formerly was. I found a nest containing young in the Goit Stock Valley a few years ago, but have not found one since. Nightjar (Coprimulgus europeus).—Breeds on Blackhills every year. I once found two young nightjars in Cottingley Moor plantation, and it was quite obvious they had been hatched in the place where I found them, although there was not a trace of a nest, not even a slight depression in the ground, and judging from the relative sizes of the young birds, one of them must have been hatched fully a week before the other. Stock dove (Columba Enas).—Several pairs breed about Mr. Ferrand’s estate every year. My brother and I found a nest in March, 1881, at the old ruins in Bingley Wood, which we at first mistook for the nest of a ring dove. During the same summer we got very near a pair, without at all disturbing them, in Bingley Wood. Common sandpiper (Totanus hypoleucos)—About the Manywells reservoir, a pair, and sometimes two, may be seen every summer. I shall never forget my first flushing an old bird from its nest. It rollicked and tumbled about in front of me, pretended to be incapable of flying, and screamed so piteously that it was with some difficulty I restrained myself from giving it a chase, although I knew it was all a ‘‘pious fraud.” Usually it is strictly terrestrial in its habits, yet one which I saw in the Goit Stock Valley, a few years since, could perch on trees with great facility, and should exigency require, it will betake itself to water and swim with apparent ease, as I once witnessed one which had been disabled with a gun-shot wound, plunge into the river Wharfe to elude its pursuers, and swim to a point beyond the middle, when, upon seeing my brother and I on the opposite bank, it turned round and swam again to the left bank, where it remained concealed amongst the tangled mass of roots. 166 f Tue NATURALIST. Common snipe (Scolopax gallinayo).—Breeds not uncommonly about marshy places in the immediate neighbourhood, but more frequently about our moorlands bogs. In referring to the foregoing list, it will be seen at a glance from what we know of the habits of the birds contained therein, that the district to which the notes apply is of an elevated or sub-alpine character. NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. ( Continued. ) By S. D, Batrstow, F.L.S. I am dwelling somewhat lengthily upon the Mimosas, for they took a strong hold of my “ first impressions.’’ Their blossoms* are power- fully alluring to vast swarms of insects, and a sunny day amongst them is as a night, wind due west, spent amongst the sallow catkins, haunts of revelling Noctuas at home. I give an example. At Fort Beaufort, the other day, from one solitary tree I bottled four specimens com- prising three species of Longhorn beetles, three species Buprestis, two Chrysomelas, and eight Cetonias (amongst the latter a few Aulica), all different species. Besides these there were hosts of butterflies, chiefly Lyczena, and other inebriates. This bush flourished on the town-side of the river Kat. I crossed the bridge, and tramping miles of country with limited success, returned to find the scene of early happiness bright and glittering in Entomon splendours, and encircled by a million _ winged fairies whose musical instruments agreeing in difference, - appeared to produce one humming note. The Batrachians are a curious group of creatures here, but it was upon the Mimosa I saw for the first time my trusty little friend the tree-frog Hyperolius (Rappia) Horslockii, which Mr. Trimen informs me occurs in many parts of South Africa, and also in Madagascar. You may be acquainted with the European Arborea; you may know that the tree-frog exhibits a dual capacity for adherence : first, the toes terminate in distended, rounded, flattened fashion, and are naturally endowed with a remarkable viscidity, as I shall prove; second, the abdomen is blessed in ‘‘ means to a similar end,” being capable of glandular depression or expansion. The hind-legs are very long, and trustworthy as propellers or jumpers. I brought home the specimen referred to, and placed it on my table, intending to “ spirit ” him away * They give forth a delicious fragrance. Sugaring does not pay during the period of bloom. Barrstow: NatTuRAL History Norrs—SoutH AFRICA. 167 speedily, when lo! and behold! the torpid imp of insignificance, with neer a hint or caution, But, with mien of ’scaping thief, he jump’d right on my cabinet door, Squatted on a glazed window that beautifies my cabinet door, Jump’d, and squat, and nothing more. —in other words, he leaped at one bound from my table-top on to the glass of my cabinet door—a distance of four good yards. I was much amused to see how “pat” he deposited himself, not screwing and twisting about to ensure comfort, like a dog. Several ladies who were in the room at this moment also leaped out of the room. In my first ramble I was gratified in securing a fine specimen of one of the Neuroptera, with long linear hind-wings over twice the length of its body. One might be excused for mistaking it for a Dipteron with prolonged poisers. Another insect was a stranger to me—one of the peculiar antennze-clubbed Neuroptera, belonging, I think, to the genus Ascalaphus. It is a most voracious creature. Another fly*—a dark, murderous blood-sucking rascal of about an inch long —was common, humming about, sounding death-knells to victims. He is a terrible fellow, and will attack a lovely Anthocaris with as little compunction as a brother of his own order. I have often watched him pretending to snooze at rest on a rock, then pouncing,t running, or flying in a direct way upon an innocent fly. A large species of Ophion frequents low bushes. Jphiolax (and doubtless Vipio) is represented by many and beautifully variegated species. I should imagine Vollenhoven’s surmise that these genera may be accounted exotic was perfectly accurate. They include various inter- esting Ichneumonus. Chrysids I do not consider numerous, and saw- flies require much patient hard work. Glancing momentarily into the world of Hymenoptera, consolidating a grand majority of Ichneumons within a restricted area, those having dusky wings of indefinite visible neuration and interlacing, predominate. The same perhaps may be said of the bees, wasps, &c. There are black wing-forms, blotchy black, apically black, but the transparent forms bring up the rear. Unless, therefore, large series of specimens are compared, we cannot readily determine them. All the more difficult are they to recognise on the wing. ' The following list of butterflies completes my first day’s observa- tions :—Pieris Hellica,t P. gidica, P. charina, Anthocaris achine, Colias electra,t Danais chrysippus, Pyrameis cardui, Hrebia sabacus (n. sp.), _ * Dipteron—most likely one of the Asilide. ¢ The legs are admirably provided with bristles for “‘ gripping.” t+ These were the commonest butterflies. 168 7 THe NATURALIST. Chrysoplanus lara, Zeritis chrysaor, Z. perion, Z. thyra, Pyrgus elina, and several other species I failed to identify. I am quite astray amongst the Mantide. They are quite foreign to me, but the yellow forms appear to mimic the plants which they frequent, even as do the yellow spiders and others. Of the Cicadz and Arachnide I shall speak later on. My premier and sweeping impression of faunal characteristics was one pertaining to philosophy or sentiment. It was this: ‘“ How grand | are the provisions which Nature ordains for such frail creatures as insects!’ I might adapt the same inference with reference to the higher animals. She uses her blessings with admirable discretion, and those who study ‘‘ utility ” have a giant task alone to discover the organs of defence and agression, and the means whereby the sexes are attracted. ‘The task grows big indeed when we peer into the maze of Nature’s creative purposes, and method of dovetailing ¢his to — that. Altogether, I wrote down my first ramble “ profitable,” and of course I include the fine-feeling romances in this verdict. Now a word or two about an able article which appeared in the Entomologist, some couple of years ago, on the Rhopalocera of Natal. It was both gratifying and disappointing. It is pleasing to know that we have such an earnest and painstaking naturalist in our midst, hailing more especially from Afric’s garden. I should feel less disap- pointed had that article first passed the scrutiny of our meritorious curator, Mr. Roland Trimen, of wide reputation as author and gentle- man. He it was who sifted the deiris of a scattered literature and constructed a firm basis of reference, being assisted ably by the creme de ia creme of our Colonial entomologists, and rendering, on all occasions, Czesar’s due unto Cesar. Personally, I should no more think of registering a new take unless it were submitted to Mr. Trimen than should [ think of penning these words minus my fingers. Had not the article referred to commenced with the following paragraph, it would never have been touched upon by me: “.. ...... but the list (T'rimen’s) is evidently incomplete, since I have taken several new species myself.’ Task, what guarantee has the writer that /zs new species. are new? I ask, is there such a thing as completion or perfection to discovery? For my own part, during a short space of time, what with home and colonial aid, a long list of new species is speedily metamor- phosed, doubt precedes certainty, commonness perhaps rarity; and, indeed, an intimate contact with our unpretending yet well-informed — colonists, who do not always publish their knowledge to the world, has Batrstow : NaturRAL History Notes—SoutH AFRICA. 169 gone far in proclaiming my own impoverishment. As Miss E. A. Ormerod very tersely puts it (and especially is this desirable in our Colonies), ‘“‘ the chief thing seems to me, to have a centre that cares for the surroundings.” Mr. Trimen, therefore, I regard as the centre of butterfly lore, not self-constituted, but acknowledged as the leading spirit by all. Considering general beauty, specific variation, diversity of form, and structural attractiveness of our insects, taken in order of merits, or merits of order, my first impressions give precedence respectively as follows :— Coleoptera. Hymenoptera—Diptera. Orthoptera. Lepidoptera. Hemiptera. Arachnida. Neuroptera. A general survey-—casual or concise—from visitor or native, results in confirming the appointment of Coleoptera to the first place of honour. Ageregating all the species which occur in the eastern districts alone, from Cape Agulhas to Durban, it might be possible to under-compute the whole at a quarter of a million. I do not doubt a collector working regularly year by year, would add daily to his list of species. Is it not, therefore, singular and lamentable that home entomologists— whose advantages are so pronounced—spend their time almost exclusively in the treatment and study of threadbare subjects, whilst thousands of foreign species remain unworked, unknown, and when willing hands of willing entomologists droop from sheer destitution, in absence of material aid, and mutual intercourse. Specialists do certainly serve their day and generation, but generalists must take the lead. In a country like South Atrica, conforming to an order or a genus means snatching at gold when diamonds surround —another term for heartache. Heaping up collections is a secondary affair. Walking out of darkness into light precedes. I may not bid adieu to the dear old Coleos until I have mentioned an early impression relating to protective instinct, or protective provisions. Beetles exist capable of ejecting an acidulous secretion as -- an obstacle to, or a means of, ejectment from depredatory enemies. Anthia 10-guttata belorgs to these blockaders, and directs its formic acid battery with tolerable success, forcible enough to cover long distances. Occasionally when my foot has been deposited gently upon an enraged captive, the liquid has actually reached my eyes, causing 170 THE NATURALIST. a severe smarting sensation of pain, and smelling palpably of nitric acid. I could have testified to its identity. It produces likewise a similar yellowish effect. Dr. Palmer, of Fort Beaufort, assures me that venomous reptiles, and various other vertebrates, discharge formic acid. A friend sent to me a singular fish, one of the Plectognathi—a species of Tetraodon* (Plate vi.), first cousin to Diodon, referred to by Darwin in his “‘ Beagle Experiences.” The specimen was quite fresh, and recently captured. I had it preserved, and the taxidermist told me that his venturesome cat, intruding too imprudently within mew- seum precincts, bit off forbidden flesh, and biting—died—a poisoned thief. Formic acid again, no doubt! The spines of Tetraodon, I believe, affected my flesh, and this fact suggested the following query to my mind, viz.:—When Tetraodon is inflated, floating help- lessly on or near the surface of the sea, does it discharge poisonous matter at will for self-protection? ‘It fills with air a thin and extensive membranous sac, which adheres to the peritoneum the whole length of abdomen. When thus inflated it rolls over and floats belly upwards, without any power of directing its course.” When the tiger claw (!) jaws of this peculiar fish are brought to market, they may realise a fancy price. You will remark Hymenoptera and Diptera in my list are classed co-equally, but I omit Formicide from the former. The ants constitute a world unto themselves. An interesting species of Odynerus has often arrested my attention. It makes a nest in the stalk of some Ornitho- galum, and continues a recess for concealing or burying carcases of larval-slaughtered Diptera. Another species I took, some time ago, alive in a mud cocoon of some lepidopterous insects. There was no hole of egress. One remarkable wasp—a rarity—deserves special treatment, Its body is covered with a soft greyish flavescent pile, sparingly distributed, black antennze thickly pectinated, longer than thorax, thorax and scutellum deeply rufous, metathorax distinct, shapely and tuberous. Abdomen: base of seg. 1 having narrow greyish fulvous band, discontinued beneath. Middle of seg. 3 with corresponding band, broader, extending around abdomen, narrowing on under side. Legs pilose, apical tibial spines conspicuous and fulvous. Wings: smoky black, of varying depth, glossy and semi- transparent, with dark-blue tinge, obscuring towards disc, and forming a distinct dirty band. Fore wings having a decided grey streak, bisecting radial areola to nerve and continued almost at right angles to * Trimen. ; ; ete stoVe Veit spac hi RAINFALL FOR APRIL. 171 edge of disc, at top of proediscoral areola and irregular triangular spot of grey. First humeral clearly defined, pale smoky. Hind wings smoky, deeper than in fore, converging from radial to anal margin. Probrachial areola pale smoky, very distinct, long din. (To be continued. ) Raintall for April. Height ToraL Faun of Be || NOs To Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest | of above | fall. |pays| —————| “Fall, | Heaviest evel: 1883. | 1882. : Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 3°04 | 10 | 11°64 | *10°05 28 0:98 (J. W. Robson) Hairax...(F.G.8. Rawson)| 365 | 2°96 | 11 | 1616 | 19°84 28 0°88 LeEps ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 2°85 |13| 911 | +6°69 28 0:99 HORSFORTH ... (James Fox)| 350 | 3°46 | 11 | 10°65 | {9°77 28 1°05 PATELEY BRIDGE...(E. War-| 436 | 3°23 | 10 | 13°61 §9°98 28 1°06 burton, M.R.C.S.. L.S A.) BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...; 350 | 3°29 | 10 | 10°48 9°35 28 13 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 3°34 | 10 | 15°20 14°41 28 0°90 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...} 520 | 3°29 | 10 | 12°21 10°52 28 1:00 GooLe#:... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 2°15 | 10 7°80 8°68 29 0°50 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.} 10 | 1.60 | 14 7.01 5°75 19 0°39 Lawton) * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 & 1865-83. { Average of 14 years, 1870-83. § For 4 years, 1880-83. ———- Short Dotes and Queries. Naturan Huisrory Nores rrom WHARFEDALE. — The following observations were made in Wharfedale during a three days’ walk, on May 14th, loth, and 16th, from Ilkley to Grassington and back, taking both sides of the river. Brirps.—Pied flycatcher : three pairs at Bolton Abbey, one pair at Grassington Bridge, one pair at Grass Wood—all in song. Goldcrest : one pair in the Lythe, near Grassington, and one pair im Grass Wood, in song. Bullfinch: one pair at Grass Wood. Swift: numerous at Ilkley on the 14th. Grasshopper warbler: one heard at Nessfield. Sandmartin: nests at Ilkley, Burnsall, and other places up the river. Lesser whitethroat : one heard at Appletreewick. Nightjar : one seen at Grass Wood. Blackcap and garden warbler: in Bolton Woods only. Corncrake and chiffchaff not heard. Saztis.—Vitrina pellucida, Zonites cellarvius, Z. alliavius (Ilkley), Z. nitidulus, Z. cristal- linus (Burnsall), Helix arbustorwm, (type and jlavescens), H. nemoralis E72 THe NATURALIST. (type, major, and minor), one, three, four, and five-banded—all at Gras- sington. H. hortensis, five-banded, Grassington; JH. lapicida, very common at Grassington on the walls; ditto, minor (?); H. rufescens common—one contortion with spire much raised; ditto alba, Gras- sington, on walls; 2. hispida common; H. sericea and H. aculeata, Ilkley ; H. rotundata common everywhere; H. rupestris on walls at Grassington ; Bulimus obscurus, Ukley ; Pupa (?) Grassington ; Balea perversa, Grassington Bridge, on walls ; Clausilia laminata, Ilkley ; O. nigricans common ; ditto dubia, Grassington ; Zua lubrica, var. lubri- coides, Ilkley ; Succinea putris, the Lythe at Grassington ; Limnea peregra, Grassington ; Ancylus fluviatilis, ditch at Burnsall ; Cyclostoma elegans, on a bank between Grassington and Burnsall, a few yards from the river (dead shells); Helix cantiana and H. aspersa, common shells on the sandstone—seem to be absent or rare. Mammats.—One shrew Sorex araneus, caught near Bolton ; one bat, not identified, caught at Hebden ; hedgehog at Grass Wood. Pranrs.—Lathrwa squamaria in flower at Bolton ; oxlip (Primula elatior) in flower at Barden.—GrorcE Roserts, Lofthouse, ay 18th, 1883. Bop ore of Societies. BarnsLtey Naruratists’ Soctrery.—May 8th, Mr. T. Lister, president, in the chair. In the Botanical and Entomological Sections not much of importance was added to former reports. The list of spring migrants nearly completed by the following dates :—Whinchat, reported near Wakefield, April 2nd; Ray’s wagtail,-11th ; redstart, 18th ; nightjar, 16th ; sand martin (in flocks), 22nd ; sedge warbler, 28th ; grass-hopper warbler, 30th; sandpiper, 28th (partial migrant); stone-chat, 18th (partial migrant); land-rail, May 1st (killed by telegraph wire) ; lesser whitethroat, first heard May 7th. Several scaup ducks, a few wild geese, coots, kingfishers, observed about the pools and streams.—THOMAS LISTER. ee Bzever.ey Fir~tp Naturatists’ anD ScrentiFIc Society.—The above Society have held a most successful conversazione and exhibition in the Norwood Rooms during the week ending 21st April, and we regret that space will not permit of a lengthened account of it. The exhibits were included under the following heads :—natural history, art and archeology, scientific apparatus, geology and microscopes. Several interesting lectures were delivered during the week, including—on the Boulder Clay, by Rev. KE. M. Cole ; on Coal Gas, by Mr. E. Bryan; on the Chalk, Pye} Rev. E. M. Cole, and? on the Wold-dwellers, by Dr. Stephenson. FortnicHtLy Mretine, 3rd May, the president, Mr. J. A. Ridgway, . F.R.A.S., in the chair. The following presentations to the Society were announced, and thanks voted to the donors :— Three pamph- lets, on ‘‘ the White Chalk of Yorkshire,” on “‘the Red Chalk,” and ‘‘the Origin and Formation of the Wold Dales,” by the Rev. R. REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. We ' Maule Cole, M.A.,—by the author. A case of sea birds, specially repre- senting those breeding in the cliffs at Flambro’, by Mr R. Stuart, and a fine specimen of coral from America, by Mr. R. Whitton. Mr. Swailes, secretary of the Vertebrate section, reported the arrival of the under- mentioned migrants :—Wheatear, April 1st, willow-wren, April 6th, chiff-chaff and yellow wagtail, April 7th, swallow, April 12th, tree pipit, April 18th, cuckoo, April 24th, lesser whitethroat, April 25th, whinchat, April 27th, sedgewarbler, April 29th, sandmartin, April 30th, landrail and whitethroat, May 2nd. The specimens exhibited included a robin’s - nest, found near Skidby, and built in an old American meat tin, shown by Mr. R. Ridgway, and a number of crabs brought by Mr. Butterell, amongst which were Portumnus holsatus, Portwmnus latepes, Hyas coarctatus, Oorystes cassivelaunus, Cancer pagurus, Carcinus moenas, and a species of Mbalia. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SoctETy.—Meeting March 19th, the president (Mr. S. J. Capper) in the chair.—The attendance included several lady visitors. The Rev. S. Fletcher Williams read a paper on ‘‘ Louis Agassiz,” in which he gave a biographical sketch of the life, work, and character of that great naturalist. He alluded particularly to his attitude of antagonism to Mr. Darwin, Agassiz throughout main- taining a belief in specific creation. During the conversazione which followed the lecture, there were exhibited, through the kindness of Mr. T. J. Moore, the curator of the Derby Museum, one large and three small photographs of Louis Agassiz. Mr. E. Dukinfield Jones exhibited four species of Attacus and a drawer of Hesperide, collected during his residence at St. Paul’s, Brazil; and Mr. J. R. L. Dixon displayed a fine specimen of the death’s-head moth (Acherontia Atropos), captured at Eastham. Mersrine, April 30th, the president in the chair.—The hon. sec. (Dr. J. W. Hillis) was appointed Recorder of Economic Entomology for the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. After the reading of a number of communications, Mr. E. D. Fish read a paper entitled ‘‘ Notes on the Study of Entomology,” in which he recommended the study of the mature insect, its habits, its uses, and not only endeavouring to obtain a knowledge of what injury it or its larva is capable of causing, but also of what benefit itis. He considered utilitarian entomology, in this sense, the most valuable of all branches of the science. He specially deprecated the passing over of minute insects as being of little consequence, believing that the smallest objects in animated nature often possess greater power for good or evil than larger ones. During the conversazione Mr. Wall exhibited Hydrz, ova of water snails undergoing development, &c., under the microscope.—J. W. Exits, Hon. Sec. YorKSHIRE Naturatists’ Unton.—Doncaster, May 14th.—The York- shire naturalists opened the season of 1883 on Whit Monday (Easter falling very early) at Doncaster, the object being to investigate the eget THE NATURALIST. “ productive entomological localities of Green Farm Wood and Sandal Beat, for which permission had been most kindly granted by Capt. Brown, Mr. Winter Cockill, and Mr. Councillor Brundell. Parties left Doncaster station at 9.15 and 10.15 a.m. for those places, under the charge of Messrs. George Tindall and M. H. Stiles. Other parties left at the same hours, under the guidance of Mr. J. M. Kirk and Dr. J. Mitchell Wilson, for Potteric Carrs ; and bodies of members explored otheg localities in an independent manner, one taking the Gravel Drain and other dykes towards the borders of Lincolnshire, and others the old level of Hatfield Chase. All these parties, as will be noticed, were designed for the exploration of the districts lying ‘east and north-east of the town. For the geologists, however, these districts offered no special points of interest, and a party was organized under the leadership of Mr. T. H. Easterfield, for Balbey, Warmsworth and Conisborough. Al parties met at tea at 4-30 p.m., at the Angel Hotel, and afterwards the business of the sectional and general meetings was transacted at the Guildhall. At the general meeting Mr. J. W. Davis, F.S.A., F.L.S., &c., one of the vice-presidents, was voted into the chair. The minutes of the Thirsk meeting, last year, were read by Mr. Wrigglesworth (who, in the absence of Mr. Clarke, assisted Mr. Roebuck in discharging the duties of the secretariate), and confirmed. The roll of the 38 societies in the Union being called over, it was found that the following 20 were represented :— Barnsley, Bradford (3), Dewsbury, Doncaster, Driffield, Hlland-cum- Greetland, Goole, Halifax, Huddersfield (2), Hull, Leeds (3), Ovenden, Sheffield, Wakefield, and York St. Thomas. Of individual members the attendance was about 60 or 70. Two new societies—the Bradford Micro- scopical Society, 61 members, and Rotherham Naturalists’ Society, 63 members—and three new members—Mr. R. W. Kendall of Selby, Mr. P. W. Dawson of Hull, and Mr. H. S. Ward of Bradford,—were elected. A vote of thanks was then proposed by Mr. C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S., of Huddersfield, and seconded by Mr. Thomas Lister of Barnsley, and unanimously adopted, to Capt. Brown, Mr. Winter Cockill, Mr. Coun. Brundell, Mr. Senior, Mr. Gibson, Mr. Dearden, and Messrs. Crawshaw and Son, for permission to visit their respective estates or works, and te the Doncaster Microscopical Society and its members for their co- operation and assistance. The reports of the sections were then taken. Mr. Thomas Lister of Barnsley, who had presided over the Vertebrate Section, with Mr. Thomas Bunker of Goole acting for the secretary (in the absence of both the sectional officers) stated that 17 summer migrants and 28 resident birds had been noted, and also four mammals, no reptiles, three amphibians, and four fishes. The migrant birds were—the white- throat, sedge warbler, swift (numerous), swallow, martin, landrail, - whinchat, willow warbler, wood warbler, blackcap warbler, tree pipit (numerous), chiffchaff, cuckoo (abundant), yellow or Ray’s wagtail, nightingale, and spotted flycatcher (seen by Mr. Bunker on the borders of Hatfield Chase).. The residents were the skylark, meadow pipit, Reports oF Socreriss. Users) chafiinch (numerous, and nesting), starling, wren, jay, marsh tit, grey tit, blue tit, hedge accentor, rook, lapwing, linnet, sparrow, yellow-hammer, bunting, black-headed bunting, redshank, curlew, partridge, pheasant, robin (nest and six eggs), greenfinch, song thrush, missel thrush, black- bird, greater spotted woodpecker (one given to Mr. Bunker which had been taken out of a jay-trap in one of the woods), and blackheaded gull. The other animals were the rabbit, squirrel, mole and hedgehog, frog, smooth newt and great-crested newt, eel, loach, pike, and stickleback. The Rey. W. ©. Hey, M.A., of York, president of the Conchological Section, reported that land mollusca had been very meagrely represented, and that the fresh-water mollusca had been collected partly in Potterie Carrs, and partly in the river Torne and the Gravel Drain. Thirty-four species had been noted—21 freshwater and 13 land-shells, viz. :— Pisidium pusillum, Bythinia tentaculata, B. Leachu, Valvata piscinalis, Planorbis albus (Gravel Drain only), P. vortex, P. spirorbis, P. carinatus, P. complanatus, P. corneus, P. contortus, Physa fontinalis, P. hypnorum, Limnea peregra (also its varieties ovata, acuminata, and oblonga, the two . latter near Blaxton Grange), L. auricularia (river Torne), L. stagnalis, L, palustris, Arion hortensis, Limax agrestis, Siuccinea putris (Potteric Carrs), S. elegans (Blaxton Grange), Vitrina pellucida, Zonites alliarius, Z. crystallinus (Cantley) Z. fuluus (Cantley), Helix hispida, H. nemoralis, Vertigo pusilla, V. edentula (the last two in Cantley Park) and Zua lubrica, For the Entomological Section both its officers reported. The president, Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., reported, upon the lepidoptera, that but few species had been cbserved, owing doubtless to the recent long-continued east winds. lLarve of Geometra papilionaria and Cheimatobia boreata were beaten from the birches in Green Farm Wood, whilst searching for Jarvee of Phycis betulella ; this latter species is usually common in the wood at this time, but probably had not yet begun feeding this late spring. Mr. Porritt’s remarks were supplemented by Mr. Geo. Tindall, of Doncaster, who had acted as leader during the day. Mr. EK. B. Wrigglesworth, of Wakefield, and the Rev. W. C. Hey, M.A., of York, reported the following coleoptera as having been taken, among many other species :—Sylpha rugosa, 8. thoracica, and S. atrata, Necrophorus rusphata and N. numata, Apion violaceum, A. miniatim, Cionus bdlat- tavice, Péerostichus vulgaris, Timarchia levigata, and five species of Gacemicilidie. all in the Sandal Beat and Green Farm Woods ; and the following from Potteric Carrs :—Dytiscus marginalis, C. fuscus, Ilybius ater, Agabus Sturmi and A. bipustulatus, Hydroporus lepidus, A. dorsalis, . reticulatus, H. pictus, H. angustatus, Haliplus ruficollis, Hydrobius— fuscipes, Aphodius prodromus, Anchomenus prasinus, Pterostichus madidus and P. vulgaris, Phedon twmidulus, &c., &c. Hymenoptera and hemiptera were also plentiful, but the latter mostly in immature stages. For the Botanical Section, Mr. P. F. Lee, of Dewsbury, secretary, reported upon the flowering plants, and Mr. Wm. West, of Bradford, upon the cryptogams. About 30 species of mosses were collected, among 176 Tue NATURALIST. which were Pogonatum nanum, Phascum subulatum, Orthotrichum diapha- num, and Barbula Hornschuchiana. Hepaticee were not abundant, only six species being collected, the best being some fine examples of Marchantia polymorpha from Hatfield Chase. Lichens were conspicu-- ously absent, even Parmelia physodes was scarce. Fungi were not much sought after, and only about 15 species were noticed, including Morchella esculenta, Peziza venosa, Afcidiwm vole, Al. menthe, and AY. ranun- culacearwm, also the hetere-plant, described in the Naturalist last month as Rhizomorpha subcorticalis. Many algz were collected, but few have been examined as yet; Spirogyra crassa was amongst them. For the Geological Section, Mr. J. W. Davis, its president, asked Mr. T. H. Hasterfield, of Doncaster—who had been cicerone during the day —to report: he thereupon stated that the party under his charge had started from Doncaster for Messrs. Gibson and Dearden’s ‘brick-works, at Balby, inspecting the red sandstone quarry on the opposite side of the road. The brickworks are in a thick bed of glacial tile and clay, said to be 60 feet in thickness, resting on red sandstone. The base is not exposed, but about 30 to 35 feet are worked. It has the usual tough . character, and contains a large number of ice-scratched stones, mostly from the coal measures ; one or two being found, however, which appear to have travelled a long distance. About four or five feet from the present base of the works, and about 20 or 25 feet from the surface of the ground there is an apparent division into an upper and lower glacial deposit ; the division of the two being marked by the smoothness of the surface of the lower bed, as though it had been ground off and polished by the succeeding glacier. Above part of the quarry or pit, a reddish tile has been worked, which contains large masses of gypsum, but comparatively few other stones. Indiscriminately dispersed amongst the clays are beds of sand, lenticular in form and small in size. Having examined the glacial beds at Balby, the party visited the railway cutting, for the line between Doncaster and Conisborough, and noticed the upper magnesian, or Brotherton limestone at the eastern end of the cutting, succeeded by the middle marls and the lower limestones, well shown at Levitt Hagg. Thence along the picturesque banks of the river Don to Conisborough, where the sections exposed atthe fire-brick works and beneath Conisborough Castle exhibited the junction of the coal measures and the permian limestone series. Mr. C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S , of Huddersfield, then exhibited a fine specimen of the so-called Rhizo- morpha subcorticalis (an abnormal state of the mycelium of a fungus— Polyporus) which he had detached from a dead birch in Green Farm Wood, and made some remarks upon it. He then called upon Dr. | Burman to move, and Dr. J. Mitchell to second, the adoption of a vote of thanks to the chairman. This was agreed to, and the proceedings came to an end.—It should be stated that Mr. Winter Cockill very hospitably entertained the party visiting his district to luncheon, at about 2 p.m.—W. D. R. - Sm une 2 reader. field Naturalists’ ‘Society. —HExcursion to Heaton Eades - Woods, followed by meeting a 8 p.m.—Paper on ‘‘ Local ~ Lepidoptera,” J. Ellis. . Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. Bishop: ‘Auckland Naturalists” Field Club. . Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Ose . Linnean Society of London, 8-p:m. . Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.—Excursion to Filey for Pan Ee borough. Head. aS 11. Leeds ee Association. —Paper by Thomas Tate, F. G. 8. < Pointy ake wv Ps Riktpad * ee 8. p.n nee US Bradford Nolan ‘Society. —“ The Weeds of one Country are Se aie 5 the Flowers. of another. Sh pik Ge Midesaeld Naturalists’ Society. —Excursion to Buckstones. 4, 18. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. eee, 3, 18, Huddersfield- Naturalists’ Society.— ‘“ Medical. eee of se : Plants. ee Rete DO, Ana following days.—North Staffordshire Netasuliet FE ia Club. Se Re - -—-Excursion to the Isle of Man: ey W. D. Spanton. 21. York St Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. » 21. Linnean Society of London, 8 pn: = : _,, 25. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — -,, 5. Leeds Geological Association. —Annual 1] Meeting, 8 p.m. SBS Bradford: Naturalists’ Society eo British Medicinal Rlants,? 4. = a ‘Le Oxley. ~ Syne pete Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. —Excursion to Lepton, followed by meeting at: 8pm. : — escort ATG ee sae arranged my collection of eggs, I find I have many duplicates _ ‘which are all good specimens, and side blown. Can spare Osprey. Peregrine, - Kite, Buzzards, Goshawk, - -Curlews, Hoopee, Woodpeckers, Red- -winged io Starlings, Capercaille, Quails, Ostrich, Emu, &c. I will exchange for species io 2) im. collection. —_WALTER RaINR, Ramsden ‘Ferrace, North-street, Leeds. ae THE QUARTERLY JOUR NAB OF CONCHULOGY. a ee eS e his Journal circulates - widely amongst Conchologists ae ica. the world, and contains every ees articles dealing with all departments of the Science. : Double numbers are at. present being issued, price - Ij- ‘each, eo UE 4/4 per annum, post free. _ ; see ~ PUBLISHED BY J. W. TAYLOR, ‘St. Pans Works, feeds. to whom: should be sent-all Se oe ao to ou Post “Office Orders also should be made payable. —~s SN NARA PDO - Lonvox : Z -HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, W. Se or Sc OTTISH NATURALIST, W ILLTAM BLACK Woop AND Sons, Just Published, i, Beap & 306 boar AG THE “NSE HUNTER’S 3 COMPANION, "By the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, MA, Boing snk tbtione for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and Pirecwine. Butterflies ee ie he ee A, ee Bee Bees, Flies, and other. — 280 = peo ee SSS : See ‘THIRD EDITIO] "REVISED AND EXTENDED BY A 2B. FARN, _ THE (CHAPTER ON COLEOPTERA, BY EvpwWarp NEWMAN. os ae 0- = Se ig eee _ CONTENTS. ae to obiaihe the Ego by searching 5 . Wee ne moths ; i & ae pairing insects. How to obtain LARV# by beating : the Bignell tray ; sweeping < ; ” “searching by- ‘night ; -how to, rear the larvze ; “sleeving ; hybernating larvae ¢ oS parasites + preserving larve. PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving ‘pup: forcing pup; THE Prrrect. Insecr.—Localities ; net; mothing Wes honeydew ; “sugaring ~Hght ; indoor light ; grouting; smoking ; killing ; relaxing ; setting : = QTRASE 5. | - - mites ; ; mould; “cabinets and store boxes; painting: arrangement and nomen; — “re - Short Hotes and Queries. A New British Moss.—Specimens of a Brywm, lately gathered in the river Usk, Breconshire, by the Rev. Augustin Ley, have been sent me for examination, and after a good deal of puzzling, prove to belong to B. gemmiparum of De Notaris—a species hitherto recorded only for the extreme south of Europe, and therefore an unexpected and very inter- esting addition to our list of mosses. It appears to rejoice in the sandy deposit lining the sides of mountain streams, and to form considerable tufts or patches somewhat like dwarf states of B. Schleicheri, or latifolium, but from which species it differs in the muticous leaves with narrow areolation. Indeed the shape of the leaves is more as in B. alpinum, and especially B. Muhlenbeckii, but they are more loosely imbricated, more spreading when dry, and the tufts of a pale green or greyish-green colour, not purplish or glossy. It is not unlikely that this species may be found, if looked for, by the sides of some of the streams of North or West Yorkshire. —H. Boswet1, Oxford, 14th June, 1883. Cinclidium stygium, Swartz.—Apropos of Mr. Cash’s note on this moss it is reported to me on good authority that it has been gathered above High Force, in Teesdale ; if correct, this will be another Yorkshire locality. I have not yet seen specimens from there. In the same note, a few other mosses are mentioned ; Hyp. ruguloswm, in two or three places in the neighbourhood of Malham, but notin plenty. This moss is very abun- dant indeed in the old bed of the river above the Cove, in many places ; s0 is Zygodon Nowellii, which Nowell found later on. It also occurs plentifully in Gordale, along with Cylindrotheciuwm concinnum. In passing I may mention that a few mimics (to a tyro), of the latter species occur also along with it; rock forms of Hyp. purum, H. Schreberi, and H. cuspidatum. Seligeria pusilla is plentiful on both the Clapham and Ingleton ascents of Inglebro’ ; it also occurs on rocks close to Malham village. Mniwm serratum is also abundant on the Ingleton ascent of Inglebro’, but is nearly always mixed with M. stellare.—W. WEst. Morchella semilibera at DoncastER.—Referring to the report in the Naturalist, cf the Y. N. U. meeting at Doncaster on Whit-Monday, I note that mention is made of Morchella esculenta in the list of Fungi. My specimens were the only ones exhibited in that section, and I have since ascertained that they were a decided rarity, viz :—Morchella semilibera, good characteristic specimens. This is confirmed by Mr. W. G. Smith, of London, and I believe that they have not previously been reported in the district which the Y. N. U. embraces.—A. CLark. SHELLS, ADDITIONAL TO BrveRLEY List.—Since publishing a list of the land and fresh-water shells of Beverley and neighbourhood in the Journal of Conchology for April, 1882, I have been able to make the - following additions :—Unio pictorwm, Lever canal and river Hull; Unio tumidus, river Hull ; Limax agrestis var. nigra, in gardens at Beverley : 186 THe NATURALIST. Testacella haliotidea, in garden at Beverley. My attention was first called ‘to this species by Mr. F. Boyes, of Beverley, and specimens have since been kindly procured for me by Mr. Geo. Swailes, from his garden, where he informs me it has been taken from time to time during the last four or five years. I am not aware that this species has been previously recorded for the East Riding. Zonites purus var. Margaritacea, Westwood, Bever- ley.—J. Darker ButtTEeRELL, Beverley. Tue NicutTsyar.—I am interested in Mr. Butterfield’s remarks as to the relative sizes of his young nightjars, as I have several times seen their nests, if ‘‘ nests ” they may be called, and I believe in every case one young one was bigger than the other. It would be curious if this is always so. I do not find it stated in any account of the nightjar, but it is well known to be the case with the barn owl, though that certainly is a very different bird. Dr. EK. A. Brehm and other ornithologists say that the nightjar only breeds once a year, but I have seen eggs and young ones so very late, that I have not the slightest doubt it frequently breeds twice. I enclose a sketch of a nightjar, which had young, feign- ing to be wounded, drawn from the bird as it sat on the bough ofa Scotch fir.—J. H. Gurney, Northrepps, Norwich.[We regret we are unable to reproduce Mr. Gurney’s interesting sketch.—Eps. Nat.] Nores on Nests anp Ecacs.—During the past spring the following nests and eggs have come under my notice in the neighbourhood of Loft- house :—Yellow hammer, nest with three white eggs. Meadow pipit 1.— Nest with six eggs. Four were mottled finely with light brown, with a slight zone of darker brown at the larger end; size, 10 lines by 7. The other two were blotched with two shades of light brown, the blotches aggregated, but not zoned at the larger end ; size, 9 lines by 7. In the ** Rural Notes,” for 1881, I described a nest of the corn-crake which con- tained two types of eggs. The facts seem to indicate that two females may occasionally lay in one nest. A few years since, a farmer here found a nest containing twelve hen’s eggs and ten partridge’s eggs, on which the partridge was sitting. Meadow pipit 2.—Nest with four eggs of a uniform dark brown colour, the brown darker, but uniform at the larger end ; size, 11 lines by 8: much hke the egg of the nightingale. Green- finch.—Nest with four eggs of different sizes. Beginning with the largest, the dimensions were : 10 by 63, 8 by 54, 64 by 5, and 6 by 5 lines. The smallest-egg was the size of that of the goldcrest. All the eggs were of the ordinary colour. Chaffinch.—Nest with two eggs ; dimensions, 7 by 53 lines. Nest 2 in. wide, and lin. deep, composed externally of fine grass stems, moss and spiders’ webs, and lined with black and white hair. Projecting obliquely about an inch above the top of the inside of the nest _ was a firmly fixed white feather; this decorative feather was the only one visible in the nest, but the rim was further garnished by several small bits of white paper, spread and glued neatly amongst the moss. The nest and eggs were remarkably small.—Gxo. Roxzerts, Lofthouse. RAINFALL FoR May. 187 Curious Freak or A Duckiine.—A curious thing happened yesterday. A duck built its nest near the stonework on the island, about 10ft. above the water. I saw eight young ducklings in the nest, called my keeper, who took them away with three eggs (young not out), leaving a rotten egg in the nest. One of my servants in the forenoon, working near the place of the nest, saw the duck take the rotten egg in her beak and carry it across the lake to the large willow tree, where it seemed to be burying or messing it about.—E. Haitstone, Walton Hall, 28th May, 1883. Monoerarn oF British Mortusca.—It is proposed to accumulate materials for a new and comprehensive Monograph of the Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of the British Fauna, and it is desired to enlist the assistance of all persons interested in the detailed and exhaustive study of the species and varieties of British Mollusca. Communications of all kinds, letters, specimens, books, &c., should for the present be forwarded to Mr. J. W. Taylor, Office of the Journal of Conchology, Leeds. | Hauntall for May. Height Toran Faun of . | No. To Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest g above | fall. {Days}; ————~——— |_ Fall. Meee all. eels 1883. | 1882, Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 0°90 | 18 | 12°54 | *12°11 7 0°22 (J. W. Robson) Harirax...(F.G.S.Rawson)} 365 | 1:09 | 17 | 17°25 | 21°77 12 0:26 Legps ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 0°91 | 13 | 10°02 | 48°35 25 0°17 HOoRSFORTH ... (James Fox)! 350 | 1°20 | 138 | 11°85 | $11°79 9 0°30 PATELEY BRIDGE...(E. War-| 486 | 1°37 | 10 | 14°98 | §12°07 7 0°45 burton, M.R.C.S.. L.S, A.) BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) .... 350 | 1:18 | 15 | 11°66 10°44 7 0:27 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 1°58 | 17 | 16.78 | 16°01 25 0°25 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...) 520 | 1°25 | 15 | 13°46 | 11°83 7 0°24 GooLz ... (J. Harrison)...|) 25 | 1°86 | 12 9°66 | 10°61 10 0°44 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.| 10] 1.70 | 13 7.23 8°71 8 0°41 Lawton) * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 & 1865-83. + Average of 14 years, 1870-83. § For 4 years, 1880-83. Aeports of Societies, Barnstey Narurarists’ Sociery.—Meeting, June 19th, the president, Mr. T. Lister, in the chair. Messrs. Batley and Hemingfield gave a list: of flowering plants taken in recent local excursions. ew insects were reported. Hadena glauca has been taken. Mr. Lister gave a list of a few 188 THe NATURALIST. birds not included in last report. On April 20th, the wryneck is reported by Mr. Hailstone, at Walton Hall. This migrant has been seldom noted in this district. May 9th, the swift; 6th, black-cap warbler; 14th, garden warbler, wood warbler, nightingale, spotted flycatcher. Mr. R. Parkin wrote, last week in May, that a nightingale was nearer to Barnsley than recorded of late years. On May 11th, Mr. Creighton wrote reporting the wax-wing in a garden at Hemsworth, and the black redstart in front of Hemsworth Hall; the black-headed gull, sparrow hawks, kestrels, and jays. The lesser tern was found dead in a field near Peni- stone. The ringed dotterel and curlew have occurred on the pools near the moors this spring. The sandpipers are breeding there, and in the Dearne valley.—T. ListER. BEVERLEY Fre~tp NaturRAtists’ AND SCIENTIFIC Soctery. — The ordinary meeting, 18th May, the president, Mr. J. A. Ridgway, in the chair.—After some discussion it was decided to hold field meetings every Wednesday evening, for the exploration of the immediate neighbourhood of the town, in addition to the ordinary meetings of the society, and a number of afternoon excursions are also to be organised. A letter was read from Thos. Bainton, Esq., of Arram Hall, reporting the arrival of - the pied flycatcher on May 7th, and a number of interesting botanical specimens were shown by Mr. J. J. Marshall, amongst which were Hottonia palustris, Gewm rivale, Luzula campestris, Valeriana dioica, Ranunculus auricomus, Buniwm flexwosum, and others. Mr. Butterell exhibited a series of Unio pictorwm, and U. tumidus from the river Hull, the edible snail Helix pomatia, and also specimens of the snail-slug Tes- tacella haliotidea found in Beverley, and probably the first time it has been recorded for Yorkshire. HUuUDDERSFIELD Naturatists’ Soctety.—Meeting June 18th, Mr. C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S., in the chair.—The chairman exhibited a new British moss, Bryuwm gemmiparum, discovered in Breconshire ‘by Rev. Augustin Ley, and hitherto found only in the extreme south of Europe. A large collection of local grasses was exhibited by Mr. A. Clarke, who had adopted a new system of naming. It consisted in having the London Catalogue No., the natural order, the Linnean class, and the name, neatly written upon a card and laid upon the table along with the specimen. This system was considered by all present to be a great improvement upon the old one of simply calling out the names. Mr. Mosley exhibited a series of Meliphora alveariella, a species very destruc- tive to the combs of the honey bee. He also showed samples of injured comb, with cocoons of the moth. Mr. Simeon Kaye read a paper on “The Medical Properties of Plants.”—S. L. M. MaANncHESTER Cryptocamic Socrety.—Mr. W. H. Pearson in the chair.—Mr. W. Stanley exhibited specimens of Cephalozia fluitans from Staleybrushes, being a new locality for this hepatic, and Discelium nudum from the neighbourhood of Mottram. Mr. Pearson exhibited and Reports OF SocigErTigEs. 189 distributed specimens of the rarely fruiting Saccogyna viticulosa, which he had recently collected at Festiniog, in fruit. He also exhibited specimens of Aspleniwm septentrionale and Glyphomitrium Daviesii, which he and Mr. Stabler had collected a few days previously at Llanberis. The hon. secretary exhibited a few recently gathered lichens from Sweden, and specimens of three beautiful ferns, belonging to the genus Chetlanthus, which had been sent from the mountains of the Pacific coast, California, viz. : Cheilanthus Californica, C. Fendleri, and C. Clevelandii.—THomas RocErs, Hon. Sec. OveNDEN Natvuratists’ Socitery.—The monthly meeting, May 26th, Mr. J. Spencer, president, in the chair.—The following botanical specimens were named by Mr. C. Sheard, viz. :—Hqiwisetwm sylvaticum, Myrrhis odorata, Vicia Lathyroides, Doronicum Pardalianches, Pedi- cularis palustris, Polygonwm Bistorta, &c. Mr. Thomas Cockroft, who has so often enriched our local geology by the discovery of rare and interesting specimens, has again been successful in finding a specimen of a new fossil plant which is of great interest, not only to local geologists, but also to all those engaged in the study of fossil botany, He exhibited a fine specimen of this small fossil plant, which he had obtained from the Stannary quarry, belonging to the Halifax Corporation. It has a slender tapering stem, which is furnished with four very slender branches arranged alternately. The chairman observed that in its form and mode of branching, it offered a striking contrast to the great majority of fossil plants. He is acquainted with only one fossil plant which could furnish such a “‘ cast,” namely, Astromyelon. Scores of specimens of this pretty fossil plant have been found in our Halifax coal-nodules, but this is only the second instance (and the finest specimen) recorded of the occurrence of Astromyelon in an ordinary fossil condition. The fact of it having been found in the mill-stone-grit rock is also interesting, as the only other rock, with the exception of our local “balls,” from which it has been recorded is the Ringby flag rock. Recent discoveries in our Halifax nodules have shown us the interesting fact that the Astromyelon was an aquatic plant, but like most of the other coal plants, it attained a much larger size than any of its modern representatives.—J. OGDEN, Sec YorksHirE Narurawists’ Union.—Fitey, June 11th.--The second meeting for 1883 was held at Filey, with the view of investigating the section of the Yorkshire coast-line which includes the bold prominences of Filey Brigg and Speeton Cliffs, and the intervening concave sweep of Filey Bay. There was a large muster of members from all parts of York- shire, and the excursion was a decided success. The weather was bright and sunny, in accordance with the usual experience of the Union, nothing occurring to the personal discomfort of the members. Only two parties were arranged, both starting from Speeton railway station. The geological party was in charge of the Rev. EH, Maule Cole, M.A., while the ornithologists had the benefit of the experienced leadership of Mr. 190 Tue NATURALIST. Jno. Cordeaux, and the genial companionship of the Vicar of Filey (Rev. A. N. Cooper). The latter party visited the famed cliffs of Speeton, Buckton, and Bempton, and were rewarded by the view of the breeding- haunts of the sea-fowl. These were sitting in thousands on the ledges of the cliffs, the guillemots and razorbills being the commonest. The operations of the cliff-climbers were also witnessed, and one of the ornithologists was bold enough to trust himself down the cliff, bringing up with him an egg of his own gathering. Returning from the cliffs, the party made their way to Filey along the shore, overtaking the geological party on their way home. ‘These two parties monopolized most of the excursionists, but there were nevertheless a few who remained about Filey to explore the cliffs in the immediate vicinity, and to investigate the animal and vegetable life which the conveniently-timed low tide revealed on Filey Brigg. Tea, which was somewhat late, having been served, and the sections having sifted their findings, the general meeting was opened (half-an-hour later than intended) at 5-30 p.m., at the Crescent Hotel. Mr. John Cordeaux, M.B.O.U., of Great Cotes, president of the Vertebrate Section, was voted to the chair. The minutes having beén taken as read, the roll was called, when it was found that fourteen societies were represented, viz :—-Beverley, Bradford Naturalists, Driffield, Halifax, Hull, Ilkley, Leeds (3), Malton, Scarborough, Shipley, and York (2). The number of members present was about fifty or sixty. The following new members were elected :—Mr. J. W. Dunning, M.A., F.L.S., president of the Entomological Society of London ; Rev. John John Gott, D.D., vicar of Leeds ; Mr. Basil T. Woodd, J.P., Conyngham Hall, Knaresbro’ ; Sir R. Payne Gallwey, Bart., Thirkleby Park ; Mr. John Hopkinson, F.L.8., Watford, Herts; Mr. Thomas Hick, B.A., B.Sc., Harrogate; Mr. William Aldam, J.P., D.L., Frickley Hall, near Doncsster ; Mr. W. C. Scott, of Leeds; Mr. Donald McLean, of Lofthouse-in-Cleveland; Mr. R.D. Darbishire, B.A., F.G.S., of Man- chester ; Rev. J. C. Atkinson, B.A., of Danby-in-Cleveland ; Mr. R. Morton Middleton, jun., F.L.S., of Castle Eden, co. Durham; Dr. Haworth, of Filey ; Mr. J. W. Pallister, of Leeds ; Mr. Leonard Gaunt, of Farsley ; and Mr. W. H. Stott, of Doncaster. It was explained that these were the first fruits of the issue of the new prospectus, and the members were invited to assist the executive in adding largely to the membership of the Union. Thanks were then voted, on the proposition of Mr. Thomas Hick and the Rev. W. C. Hey, to the gentlemen who had acted during the day as leaders of parties. The reports of sections were then called for, beginning with the Conchological Section. The Rev. W. C. Hey, M.A. of York, presideut of the section, reported. For the Entomological Section there was no report, the members having deserted their own science on account of the attractions of the sea-fowl on the cliffs. Mr. Thomas Hick, B.A., B.Se., president of the Botanical Section, reported that no special work on Phanerogamic Botany had been done, but about 32 species were collected or seen by members of Reports OF Socierizs. 191 the different parties. Among these were a few common coast forms, such as Glaux maritima, Plantago Coronopus, and _ Plantago maritima. Geranium sanguineum was brought in by the Speeton party, and was regarded as a somewhat notable plant for the locality. Mr. Turner gave his list of Algz as follows :—Halidrys siliquosa, var. 8 minor, Fucus vesiculosus, ditto var. 8 Balticus, F. ceramoides, F. serratus, Hymanthalea lorea, Desmarestia aculeata, Sporochnus pedunculatus, Laminaria digitata, Chorda filum, Zonaria parvula? Ckordaria flagelliformis, Mesogloia virescens, Leathesia tuberi- formis, Cladostephus spongiosus, Sphacelaria filicina, S. fusca? S. plu- _mosa? LEctocarpus littoralis, Polysiphonia urceolata, P. fibrata, P. fastigiata, P. byssoides, Dasya coccinea, Laurencia pinnatifida, L. obtusa ? Chylocladia articulata, Corallina officinalis, Melobesia lichenoides, Deles- seria alata, Plocamium coccinewm, Hypnea purpurascens, Chondrus crispus, Iridoea edulis, Ptiloba sericea, Ceramium rubrum, C. acantho- notum, ©. gracillimum, COallithamnion roseum, Cladophora rupestris, C. arcta, Conferva zrea, Hnteromorpha intestinalis, E. compressa, Ulva lactuca, U. linza. Appendix:* Laminaria saccharina, Chylocladia parvula, Jania rubens, Delesseria sanguinea, Nitophyllum laceratum, Rhodymenia palmata, Callithamnion Daviesii, Bryopsis plumosa, Ulva latissima. Mr. M. B. Slater, who searched for mosses and _ hepatics, stated that of the former he had found Hypnum cuspidatum (in fruit), H. purum, H. molluscum, H. filicinum, H. commutatum, Trichostomum mutabile, Bruch (in fruit), Tortula Hornschuchiana (in fruit, old) ; and of the latter he had obtained Jungermannia turbinata, Lophocolea bidentata, and Pellia epiphylla. Mr. Slater remarked that the district is not rich, and the season too dry, for these plants. Autumn or early spring would have yielded a better result in mosses, and as hepatics require shade, and like to grow in damp woods, it is not to be expected that the bare sea-cliffs would furnish a home for them. Of Fungi, reported upon by Mr. H. T. Soppitt, between 30 and 40 specimens were collected during the day, amongst which were Aicidium calthz, Puccinia calthee, P. galiorum, P. pulverulenta, Phragmidium obtusum, A‘cidium valerianacearum, AS. epilobii, Au. urticee, Comatricha Friesiana, Peziza Curreiana, and Uromyces Pose. Mr. J. W. Davis, F.S.A., Halifax, presi- dent of the Geological Section, on being called upon to report, turned the duty over to the secretary of the section, Rev. H. Maule Cole, M.A., of Wetwang, who thereupon stated that the party under his charge made for Speeton Gap, where they descended, and walking for some distance along the undercliff, eventually reached the shore. The tide being low, they then pushed on for some distance under the Buckton cliffs, examining the grey chalk with pink-coloured bands in situ. Overhead thousands of sea-birds were perched on the crevices and ledges of the perpendicular cliffs. On the shore, large rolled masses of white chalk * These were found at Filey by me, in July, 1877.—W. B. T. 192 THe NATURALIST. exhibited on their surface the peculiar suture-like appearance due to the presence of minute films of fullers’ earth deposited on the irregular surface of the chalk when forming. Attention was called by the conductor to the needle-shaped structure which accom- panied the sutures, and specimens were taken by Mr. G. R. Vine, for analysis. A magnificent potstone of flint, or paramondra, was found on the shore, measuring 4ft. in diameter, with a height exposed of 2ft. Gin. On returning to the true red chalk, or Hunstanton lime- stone, near Speeton Gap, the following fossils were obtained :—Some ‘fish teeth, spines of Cidaris, Belemnites minimus, Terebratula semi- globosa, T. biplicata, and Inoceramus Coquandianus. A palatal tooth of Ptychodus, from the white chalk, was also picked up. The Speeton Clays were next examined—they have been carefully worked and classified by Prof. Judd. They area marine formation, equivalent to the freshwater Wealden beds of the south, and are divided into upper, middle, and lower, each from 150 to 200 feet thick. At the base of the upper is a persistent line of cement stones. At the base of the middle, a line of nodules, containing shrimps. At the base of the lower is a coprolite bed. The characteristic fossils for the three divisions are :— Upper, Belemnites semicaniculatus ; middle, B. jaculum, Pecten cinctus, and Ancyloceras ; lower, Ammonites Speetonensis, A. Noricus, A. Astierianus, Belemnites lateralis, and Exogyra sinuata. The Coprolites represent beds of a Portlandian age. The upper clay is the equivalent of the Atherfield Clay of the Isle of Wight. The middle clay is represented in Lincolnshire by the Tealby beds, and an irony sandstone in Penis- thorpe Dale, on the outer edge of the Wolds, near Kirby Underdale, in Yorkshire. The Speeton Clay is overlaid by Boulder Clays—but under the lowest Boulder Clay, lying on the Speeton Laver Clay, is a preglacial shell-bed, of Estuarine formation, containing Cardium edule and Mytilus edulis; also Scrobicularia piperata and Tellina balthica. The bed has been described in the Geol. Mag. (April, 1881) by Mr. G. Lamplugh. The contorted beds of Kimmeridge Clay in the cliffs and on the shore were next examined. After tea some of the party visited the Brigg and examined the Middle (Filey Brigg) calcareous grit and the *‘ball-bed”’ of the lower Calc. grit. In addition to those mentioned shove the following fossils were found during the day :—In the Upper Speeton Clay—Crioceras Duvallii, Vermicularia Sowerbu, Arca, Nucula obtusa, Isocardia angulata, Rostellaria Parkinsoni, and fossil wood ; in the Middle Speeton Clay—Myeria ornata, Pleurotomaria, Amm. rotula, A. marginatus, A. nucleus, ; in the Lower Speeton Clay—Astarte laticosta, Thetis Sowerbii, Thracia Phillipsii, and Rhynchonella ; in the Kimmeridge Clay—Amm. biplex, &c. At the Sectional meeting Messrs. Davis, Cole, Mortimer, Lamplugh, Chadwick, Vine, &c., were present. For the Vertebrate Section the chairman reported. A vote of thanks to Mr. Cordeaux for presiding, proposed by Mr. W. Barwell Turner, F.C.S., of Leeds, closed the proceedings.—W. D, R. YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION, In consequence of the ok Agricultural Society’s Slew at York, the date of the Strensall Common Meeting will have to _be alter ed. Full particulars will be given in the circular shortly to be issued. Diary.—Meetings of Societies. 3. Kntomological Society of London, 7 p.m. 3. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. ,» 8 Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. ; 4. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. 7. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Ramble to Deanhead. _,, ll. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. ,, 18. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 5, 14. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. », 16. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Exhibits and Records in Toca Botany, 8 p.m. », 16. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p.m. » 20. And followmg days.—WNorth Staffordshire Naturalists’ Fiéld Club. 4 —Hxcarsion to the Isle of Man: Leader, Mr. W. D, Spanton. » 26. York St Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. ,, 30. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Ramble. to Honley Woods, followed by meeting at 8 p.m. _ 30. Lancashire and Cheshire Hntomological Society. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. : Vol. VIIL ends with the present number. Subscriptions, - Al- post free, for Vol. IX. are now due, and should be sent at - once in Postal Orders or Post Office Orders. New Subscribers, _ too, are requested to send their names, without delay, to the ditors, c/o o Mr. B. Ee a Place, pu odexeneld: OLTON’S, J. History of Pies. growing about Halifax, with the — “Appendix ; 4 vols. in one, 4to, 182 plates (not coloured), calf neat and clean. Price, £3 16s. Od. SCH GiFFER’S FUNGI, 4 vols. in two, coloured plates, calf meat | eee as Os. on ane ii. GRIFFITH, Paneer) , Ss THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY. This Journal circulates widely amongst Conchologists throughout the world, and contains every quarter articles dealing - with all departments of the Science... Double numbers are at present being issued, price 1/- each, | | or 4/4 per annum, post free. ‘PUBLISHED BY J. W. TAYLOR, “St. Ann’s Works. Leeds, ot whom should be sent all communications; and to - on Post Office Orders also should be made payable. ~IN ~S = LONDON : : HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, W. Just Published, Feap 8vo, boards, THE INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION, By the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A., Being instructions for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and Pesserciae Butterflies and Moths, Beetles, Bees, Flies, and other Insects. SSS SS THIRD EDITION. ,atr REVISED AND EXTENDED BY A. B. FARN, THE CHAPTER ON COLEOPTERA, BY Epwarp NEWMAN. Oo CONTENTS.—How to obtain the Egg by searching ; boxing female moths ; pairing insects. How to obtain LARVZ#by beating : the Bignell tray ; sweeping ; searching by night; how to rear the larve; sleeving; hybernating larve ; parasites ; preserving larve. PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pupe ; forcing pup; THE PrrRFECT INSECT.—Localities; net; mothing; honeydew; sugaring é light ; indoor light ; grouting; smoking; killing ; relaxing ; setting : grease 5 mites; mould; cabinets and store boxes; ; painting : arrangement and nomen; clature ; number of specimens and manner of placing; transmission by post; entomological diary; books. MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA; COLEOPTERA; HYMENOPTERA- BREEDING OF GALL-FLIES. PRICE ONE SHILLING. LONDON : SONNENSCHEIN & ALLEN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, The Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine. Price 6d. monthly, 24 pages 8vo, with occasional Illustrations. — Conducted by J. W. Doveras, R. MacLacuzan, F.R.S., E. CO. Ryz, F.Z.8., H. T. Srarnron, F.B.S., &e. This Magazine, commenced in 1864, contains standard Articles and Notes on all subjects connected with Entomology, and especially on the Insects of the British Isles. Subscription 6s. per volume, post free. The volumes commence with the June number in each year. The early volumes are out of print, but can be occasionally ‘obtained by purchasers of the entire series. In this case the price of vols. 1. to V. is 10s. per vol. The succeeding vols, (strongly bound in cloth) can be had separately or together at 7s. per vol. LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, Paternoster Row. N.B. —Cormmunications, &c., should be sent to the Editors at the above address Young Naturalist Series of Handbooks On BRITISH NATURAL HISTORY. Handbook I., now publishing in Monthly Parts at 28. each, on “ BRITISH BIRDS; THEIR NESTS AND EGGS,” Containing accurate hand-coloured figures of every species and every variety, drawn by 8. L. Mosley ; with text revised by a Fellow of the Zoological Society, A cheap edition is published at 1s., and the Birds or Eggs may be had separate. May be had of S. L. MOSLEY, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield; or J. E, ROBSON, Bellerby Terrace, West Hartlepool. E 4: ‘¢ NEC TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.” — — —E—E—E—EeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeee THE RATURALIST: Journal of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, AND GENERAL FIELD CLUB RECORD. NEW SERIES. ee Epirep By C. P. Hoxsgrrk, F.L.S., anp G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. / ao" - a po Yoel = hice . \ B. BROWN, PRINTER AND STATIONER, MARKET PLACE CORNER, INDEX TO VOL. IX. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. PAGE Algee of Strensall Common—W. Barwell Turner, F.C.S. ae a a Burnt Wood, Staffordshire, Reminiscences of—Joseph Chappell _... 187 Campylopus brevifolius, Sch., C. subulatus, ejasd.—H. Boswell ... = 28 Darwinism and Beauty—Henry Capper ae 2 563 181 Flamborough, the Sea Birds of—John Cordeaux, M. B. 0. T a ss 93 Insects, Where are the P—S. L. Mosley... nas ae Ee iis 85 In the Tropics—E. Dukinfield Jones, C.E. ee 5 125 Lastrea cristata near Thorne: its Discoverer and its pate ee ola Lees eee ee 164 Lepidoptera in the Bisley District i in 1883. P. Pe Butherfeld . 100 Louis Agassiz—Rey. 8. Fletcher Williams... sc a oa E29; 49 Malham, Principal Plants of—William West Per Reet 25 Micro-Aquatics at Strensall—W. Barwell Turner, F.C.S. ee 1s 24 Mosses, Notes on a few European—Gustav Limpricht ay i 83 Primary Causes of Variety in Plant Structure—George Massee... iy 109 Readers, To Our—C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S., and G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. 201 South Africa, Natural History Notes from--S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S. 95, 112, 135 (141, 161, 190 South Milford, List. of Shells of—George Roberts bat 87 Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire, 1881-83—W. Eagle Clarke, F. L. 8. si W. Denison Roebuck, F.L.S. ...- ate 147, 167 Washburndale: Notes on its Physical Features i Natal History— W. Eagle Clarke, F.L.S., and W. Denison Roebuck, F.L.S. ony 8 Wharfedale Entomological Notes—J. W. Carter sae see 81 Woolhope Club at Hereford: Fungus Foray—H. T. Sorte ee 3 61 Wiliam Wilson’s (‘The late) Tours in Ireland and Scotland—Jas. Cash 41, 68 William Wilson’s (The late) : Notes on his Early Bryological Work— Jomes Cash ans pe ue Be wi a oe a 202 NOTES, OBSERVATIONS, &c. Algz near Mirfield .. William West Se ae eee 20° Badger at Masham—Thomas Carter... ops Aas ed ca 116 Banks’ Oarfish—N. F. Dobrée ie ne Sc) ae aa ses 151 Birds near Halifax—F. G. S. Rawson ... att 02, 194 Birds’ Nests from North Yorkshire, Notes feliiomas ae a out 117 iv. PAGE Botanical Queries—P. F. Lee... ashe ee sas 36 Cambridge, Notes from—Albert H. Waters B. ie = SF 136, 213 Chesias obliquaria at Doncaster—George Tindall ¥ Coane acourate hand- eed Poe oe every seAbek an _ drawn by 8. L. Mosley ; with text revised by a Fellow. of the ‘Zola A cheap edition is published at Is. ‘separate. May be had sof: Se L MOSLEY, Hentiiiont Pak ROBSON, ee Tepe, West He | JOURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE es cae : | GENERAL FIELD CLUB RECORD. NEW SERIES.° 6:5 |) | -Eprrep sy Cuas. P. Hoskin, F.LS., AnD G. T. Porritt, ELS. _ No. XCVIII. SEPTEMBER, 1883. © VOL Ix. || ae CONTENTS. eg eas saad : sae aS oPape.> aes _ ORIGINAL ARTICLES, ‘&e. ie ; el ee The Principal Plants of ‘Malham.- — William West Rpm SAG SU Bae a ies _ Campylopus brevifolius, Sch., C. subulatus,. Kjusd.—dH. Powell 30% Sige OO eee - Louis eS Ree ‘8. Fletcher Williams (pet Sey oe = RAINFALL FOR a ee go ae ee Notes, 0. ee ; : Bee eee ~ Cuckoo's Egg i in Ring Ouzel’s Nest. —k. P. P. Butterfield AS es ee She BD a -Dunlin at Malham, &e.—£. P. P. Butler fils ee ok Pe I ih 4 ee Notes.—G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. —... See vas 2 ge OE S Sdow = do. " Grassington. —E. P. P. Butterfield cep = eee don. * do ‘Lepidoptera in Abbot's” Wood, Sussex. eee f. oo. oS do. do. Occurrence of Chesias “obliquaria at Doneaster.— a SE, G. Tindal be gs wer as Sree Rei eS ‘3 ~Borantoat Queries. —P. F. Lee BS a ISO ert Lae ok RES EP BO | EP Norices. OF Booxs.— & ‘ The British Moss-Flora, i Dr, Braithwaite, Part VIL” 36 of Revorrs oF Socrertes : _ eae | 3 eee ~ Barnsley Naturalists’ Society... $e Pica Ke Se STORE Rey S Bradford Naturalists’ Society i Shee pe ae “5 es oot = Lancashire and Cheshire Getemoloncal douse yt aes Ee ‘ oreshire Naturalists’ Union. or uae = Rear Bev) eae BR HUDDERSFIELD : __B. Brown, Marxet Prace Corner. one side of the sheet only. Se = TRANSACTIONS of the YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. S : Nelson and Taylor’s “‘ Annotated List of Vorkshire Land and Fresh-water — es x - _of Bairstow, Roebuck, and Wilson’s third list of ‘‘ Yorkshire Hymenoptera,” Bs = Lees, ¥.L.S. [with plate of Carex sacumbr'e]. ; in return for the subscription of 5s. or upwards per annum. Members are also (2 >= ee oes ey be sent to BOOKS. —New and Second Waid. on Natural History Subjects. To: ‘CORRESPONDENTS. 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AND VI. have lately been published, and contain the = List of Sa Varshire Lepidoptera * by Mr. Geo. T. Porritt, F.L.S., the: continuation of Mollusca (Dreissena, Neritina, Paludina, Bythinia, and Valvata),” the conclusion and the. Reports on * Yorkshire Botany” by Messrs. W. West. and FE. Arnold . The previous Parts may be had at the following prices : = S Partl ... 1877... 2/6 to Members, 3/3 to Public. Eee Te) ae ph 1878 se 2/- . es : 2/6 x : eS uses GD Hie 2) e BAG nee g 2 eee oes e79 Diss ee Oa See en a ae The Transactions are supplied _to Members of the ¥ orkshire Naturalists” Dnidu : entitled to all excursion programmes and a privileges. Spe = = : w. Denies Bone Sunny Bank, RG ee Leeds, z = -| Hon. =~ Wo. EAGLE CLARKE, Sets. = “5, Hast View, Hyde Park Road, heal 4. Ww. MARSDEN, a ee NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND ‘BOOKSELLER. a ‘Cabinets and sapanaeo of all kinds, of the best make on the lowest terms. be : British and European Macro- Popidoriee: Preserved Larvee British ; Lepidoptera. The largest and. best stock of Bird-Skins and Birds’ Eggs in England. Catal gues on application. z ef “Bijou List of British Butterflies,” Beautifully’ printed in eoloare : ae ‘Graduated List of pune Birds,” specially prepared for - reference and labelling, 6d. — “ LEPIDOPTERISTS’ CALENDAR,” Limp Cloth, 3/6. Interleaved, Bl zg 37 MIDLAND ‘ROAD, GLOUCESTER Original Articles. THE PRINCIPAL PLANTS OF MALHAM. By Wm. Wast. As there is to be a ramble of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ at Malham, on the first of September, I thougkt that a list of the rarer plants that can be collected there would be opportune. I can vouch for the occurrence of every plant I mention, haying collected them all my- self. I have collected few of the lichens there are there, and still fewer fungi, though the district will yield many interesting plants belonging to these groups, if they be properly looked for, especially lichens, a fair collection of which I have among my unexamined Specimens :— Ranunculus penicillatus R. auricomus, with large perfect petals Trollius europeeus Thalictrum montanum Actza spicata Draba incana D. muralis Cochlearia alpina Thlaspi occitanum Arabis hirsuta A. thaliana Helanthemum vulgare Viola hirta V. lutea V. amoena Alsine verna Sagina nodosa Hypericum montanum H. hirsutum H. perforatum Geranium pratense G. sylvaticum G. sanguineum G. lucidum Rhamuus catharticus Anthyllis vulneraria Hippocrepis comosa Rubus saxatilis R. ceesius Rosa pimpinellifolia R. mollissima Geum intermedium Potentilla alpestris Pyrus rupicola Dryas octopetala (nearly at Arncliffe) Circeea intermedia Hippuris vulearis Ribes Smithianum N.S., Vou. 1x. Supt, 1883, Sedum Telephium Saxifraga granulata .S. hypnoides S. tridactylites Parnassia palustris Cornus sanguinea Adoxa Moschatellina Galium sylvestre Valeriana dioica Scabiosa columbaria Carduus nutans C. crispus C. heterophyllus Carlina vulgaris Gnaphalium dicicum Leontodon hispidus Taraxacum erythrospermum Lactuca muralis Crepis paludosa Hieracium caesium . pallidum . Gibsoni . murorum . gothicum . vulgatum . vulgatum var. maculatum Campanula latifolia Vaccinium Oxycoccos Menyanthes trifoliata Polemonium coeruleum Veronica Anagallis Pedicularis palustris Thymus Serpyllum (white-flowered) Myosotis sylvatica M. collina M. czespitosa Pinguicula vulgaris Primula farinosa A 26 THe NATURALIST. Plantago media Polygonum Bistorta Salix nigricans S. repens Potomogeton lucens P. densus P. perfoliatus Orchis incarnata Gymnadenia albida G. conopsea Habenaria viridis - Epipactis ovalis Paris quadrifolia Convallaria majalis Narthecium ossifragum Juncus glaucus Blysmus compressus Scirpus pauciflorus Eriophorum latifolium Carex dioica C. pulicaris C. fulva C. lepidocarpa C. capillaris Among plants that have been introduced are the following five :— Meconopsis cambrica Hesperis matronalis Rumex scutatus Lamium maculatum Tilia intermedia Sphagnum acutifolium S. acut. var. deflexum Gymnostomum tortile G. curvirostrum Weissa viridula var. densifolia Seligeria pusilla Ditricum flexicaule D. flex. var. densum Trichostomum tophaceum T. mutabile T. crispulum T. crisp. var. elatum Barbula recurvifoha rigidula . revoluta . tortuosa . intermedia ruralis . subulata Encalypta vulgaris E. vulg. var. pilifera E. streptocarpa Racomitrium lanuginosum R. canescens Zygodon viridissimus Z. Nowellii Ulota Bruchii Orthotrichum saxatile Q. cnpulatum bd bd ed td oo td . teretiuscula . pilulifera ampullacea . vesicaria . paludosa . disticha remota binervis hirta Sesleria coerulea Avena pubescens A. alpina A. flavescens Keehleria cristata Poa nemoralis Festuca loliacea F. duriuscula Asplenium viride Cystopteris fragilis Aspidium lonchitidioides Polypodium Robertianum Ophioglossum vulgatum Botrychium Lunaria Selaginella selaginoides Qeeoqaaeee O. Lyellii Splachnum sphaericum Funaria calearea Bartramia Cideri Breutelia arcuata Zieria julacea Bryum bimum B. pallens B. pseudotriquetum B. roseum Cinclidium stygium Mnium cuspidatum M. affine var. elatum M. rostratum M. serratum | M. stellare | M. subglobosum Fontinalis antipyretica var. gracilis et gigantea Fissidens crassipes | Antitrichia curtipendula, _ Neckera crispa N. complanata Homalia trichomanoides Anomodon viticulosus, with fruit Pseudoleskea catenulata Cylindrothecium concinnum Orthothecium intricatum O. rufescens Brachythecium glareosum B. rivulare Eurhynchium myosuroides | E. striatum | #K. piliferum EK. Swartzii West: PrIncipAL PLANTS oF MALHAM. E. Teesdalii -Rhynchostegium tenellum R. murale Plagiothecium pulchellum Hypnum revolvens . Scorpioides filicinum (several varieties) commutatum (in various forms) falcatum virescens rugosum cupressiforme (several varieties) chrysophyllum stellatum stel. var. protensum giganteum Schreberi stramineum’ . Scorpioides splendens bf fy df ot Marchantia polymorpha Conocephalus conicus Asterella hemisphzrica Frullania Tamarisci F. dilatata Lejeunia echinata Radula complanata Porella leevigata P. platyphylla P. rivularis Cephalozia Sphagni Chiloscyphus polyanthus var. rivularis Lophocolea bidentata Scapania eequiloba Plagiochila asplenioides (in variety) Jungermannia riparia J. Schreberi Aneura multifida Metzgeria furcata (a large form) Collema flaccidum Leptogium lacerum Cladonia pyxidata C. uncialis C. rangiferina Usnea barbata _ Evernia furfuracea EK. prunastri Ramalina farinacea R. fraxinia R. farinosa _ Peltigera canina P. polydactyla Solorina saccata S. limbata Bradford, August, 1883. bo ~} Parmelia olivacea P. saxatilis (in variety) P. physodes do. P. perlata Physcia parietina (in variety) P. stellaris do. Placodium murorum Lecanora subfusca L. calearea L. parella L. rupestris Pertusaria fallax P. communis Lecidea cceruleo-nigricans L. capillaris Arthonia astroidea Graphis scripta Endocarpon miniatum EH. min. var. complicatum EK. rufescens E. fluviatile Verrucaria calciseda Pleurotus hypnophilus Tremella mesenterica AXicidium albescens A. Viole Ai. crassum Puccinia hieracii P. adoxee Protomyces chrysosplenti Urocystis viole Triphragmium ulmarize Stigmatea Robertiani Peziza stercorea Dothidea graminis Oocardium stratum (not recorded before) Arthrosiphon alatus do. Calothrix mirabilis Seytonema myochrous Spirogyra nitida Hormiscia zonata Zonotrichia calcarea Chroolepus aureum Pinnularia viridis Meridion circulare Amphora ovalis Synedra ulna Cocconema cymbiforme Nostoe rupestre Oscillaria irrigua Hpithemia turgida Gomphonema acuminatum CAMPYLOPUS BREVIFOLIUS, Scu. C. SUBULATUS,-Esvsp. By H. BosweELt. in the hope of finding something further about the Bryum gemmiparum lately alluded to, and perhaps of falling in with it in some other stream, Mr. Ley and I have lately visited Breconshire, and explored a good deal of it together, but without success. We found the Bryum only near the original spot where it was first met with by Mr. Ley, in May, nor did we obtain anything else of much interest, . though we explored a good many miles, till our last day, when we fell in with a moss by the side of the Wye, which is remarkable in more points than one. At first glance it rather reminded one of Campylopus fragilis, yet was different from any form I had seen of that moss, which varies a good deal. Arrived at home, I soon, with the aid of the microscope, found it to be identical with the C. brevifolius, of Schimper’s Bryol. Europ. Suppl.—which also appears to be identical with C. subulatus of the same author, and either name fits the plant well enough, though the latter will claim priority of date. Its much shorter pointed leaves and narrower cells at once dis- tinguish it from C. fragilis, and bring it nearer to C. Schumpert, but that has a cluster of diaphanous vesicular cells near the base of the leaf on each side, absent in brevifolius. But though agreeing very well in the leaf structure, there was one great difference apparent. C. brevifolius is described by Schimper, and by Dr. Braithwaite, in the sixth part, lately issued, of his ‘“ British Moss Flora,” as a dwarfish species, and with this account specimens from Forfarshire, Italy, and Germany entirely agree. Grown on dry granitic or basaltic rocks, they present a very starved appearance, and are barely half-an-inch in height; the Wye plants, on the contrary, have grown freely, and make much handsomer specimens when dried—their aspect being so different, that I could hardly persuade one or two of my friends to accept the determination. In fact, though the leaves present no tangible character, this aspect of the moss is so different from that of the forms hitherto known, that it may be well to mark it as a variety, characterised thus -— C. brevifolius, Schpr. C. subulatus, ejusd., Braithw. var. elougatus. WILLIAMS: Louis AGAgsIz. 29 Tufts broad, extensive, solid and dense. Stems slender, elongate, 1 to 2 inches, copiously radiculose below, repeatedly innovating, with fasciculate branches above; branches without radicles. Leaves as in the minor form. Hab. Muddy banks of the Wye, near Builth, in company with Tortula cylindrica, Hypna, &e. LOUIS AGASSIZ. By Rev. S. FirercHer WILLIAMS. (Continued. ) In the winter of 1865, having long been engaged with untiring zeal in the cultivation of his favourite pursuits, Agassiz was compelled by the state of his health to rest from work, and seek change of scene and climate. “ Europe,” he says, ‘‘ was proposed ; but, though there is much enjoyment for a naturalist in contact with the active scientific life of the Old World, there is little intellectual rest. Towards Brazil I was drawn by a life-long desire. After the death of Spix, when a student of twenty years of age, I had been employed by Mastius to describe the fishes they had brought with them from their celebrated Brazilian journey. From that time, the wish to study this fauna in the regions where it belongs had been an ever-recurring thought with me; a scheme deferred for want of opportunity, but never quite forgotten.” But Agassiz was quite unwilling to visit Brazil on a mere vacation tour. ‘To him, as to all true scientific workers, complete rest was distasteful. On the other hand, he was conscious that he could effect little working alone. ‘I could not forget,” he wrote, ‘that had I only the necessary means, I might make collections on this journey which would place the Museum in Cambridge (U.S.) on a level with the first institution of the kind. But for this a working force would be needed, and I saw no possibility of providing for such an undertaking.” Whilst he was still considering where to apply for aid in this emergency, Mr. Nathaniel Thayer, unasked, offered to pay all the expenses, personal and scientific, of six assistants. Agassiz accepted this munificent offer. Let it be remarked, in passing, that subsequently Mr. Thayer did much more than he had promised, continuing to meet all the expenses which were incurred until the last Specimen was stored in the Cambridge Museum. The assistants who sailed with Agassiz were, Mr. James Burkhardt, the artist ; Mr. John G. Anthony, conchologist ; Mr. Frederick C. Hartt and Mr. Orestes St. 30 THE NATURALIST. John, geologists ; Mr. John A. Allen, ornithologist; and Mr. George Sceva, preparator of specimens. The results of this celebrated expedition are described by Agassiz and his wife in the charming work entitled A Journey in Brazil. Agassiz justly remarked that they served to show “that their year, full as it was of enjoyment for all the party, was also rich in perma- nent results for science.”* After this voyage Agassiz devoted a large share of his time to the examination of the immense Brazilian collections stored in the Museum at Cambridge. Before long, how- ever, his health began to show signs of failing him again, and the work of examination proceeded more slowly than he had hoped and © anticipated. His scientific activity, however, was not over. He took a part in the great controversies of the day, gave a series of lectures in New York on the Geology of the American Continent, and in the summer of 1871 joined an exploring expedition to the South Atlantic and Pacific shores of the Continent. A careful exploration was made of the celebrated Sargasso sea, and a nest-building fish was discovered in that vast bed of oceanic vegetation ; and other important contribu- tions were made to natural science. A course of lectures on ‘‘ The Method of Creation” afforded him the opportunity of stating his decided objections to Mr. Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection, and of propounding his own view that species do not insensibly pass into each other, but that each has its own appointed period, and is not connected, except in the order of time, with its predecessor. His career closed unexpectedly in 1874, among a people whose love he won by his warm-hearted, earnest, and active nature. Abundant were the proofs of their full appreciation of him, in the liberality of Mr. Abbott Lawrence and of Mr. Thayer ; and to these were added, in 1873—a year before his decease—the gift by Mr. Anderson, a rich tobacco merchant of New York, of the island of Penikese, one of the 4 Agassiz was constantly sending to the Cambridge Museum such vast and apparently endless numbers of specimens from Brazil that one of the trustees, and Agassiz’s most intimate personal friend, Mr. George Ticknor, wrote, in January, 1866, beseeching him to desist, as ‘‘it would not be possible to erect all the buildings and provide all the scientific service, attendance, and materials necessary to protect and maintain in good condition such masses of specimens, and make them intelligible and useful.” Besides, the collections were already much larger than Agassiz could submit to such investigations as he intended to make, even should he live toa fabulous age! Further, says Mr. Ticknor, ‘‘ Shose who know best assure me that the time you are now giving to the accumulation of specimens— which may, after all, perish for the want of the means needful to protect them— might, in their judgment, be better employed for your own fame, and for the advancement of such scientific investigations as you can make better than any man alive, and without which these same vast collections might as well remain in their blind kegs, in the dark cellar where they are hidden away, and so your vast personal labours and disinterested sacrifices, in bringing them together, be mainly lost.” —TZicknor’s Life, Vol. II., pp. 386-87. WituiaMs : Louis AGASSIZ. 251 Elizabeth islands north of New York, with funds to establish there a Marine Naturalists’ School. The last year of Agassiz’s life was spent chiefly on this island, training up a group of young naturalists. When he died he left both hemispheres, wherever science is honoured, in mourning ; and he left behind him a name with no soil upon it to stain its honour, and the reputation of one who in every relation of life had nobly and purely done his part—who, as husband, parent, citizen, philosopher, was blameless among men. To give any really intelligible account of Agassiz’s enormous labours through his lifetime would require the compass of a good-sized treatise. I must content myself with the remark that he worked with a definite aim, and that his studies were undertaken with reference to some general question, and made a test of the value and soundness of some general principle. ‘The papers and works upon echinoderms aimed at a classification of these animals, and a better appreciation of their structural differences from the other types. The monographs upon shells, living and fossil, were prepared with a view of testing the range of distribution of species in past ages, and the limits of their special characters. The researches on fossil fishes are intended to show the relations of living and fossil species, and their embryonic development in one of the most extensive classes of the animal kingdom, the existence of which upon earth may be traced back to the earliest periods in which animal life was called into being. The investigations upon the glaciers were called forth by a desire to connect the history of the physical changes our globe has undergone with the phenomena exhibited by the developments of the organic kingdom.” Everywhere in his works we discover a tendency to the most extensive generalisations ; while in every instance the knowledge of the facts, a candid study of the most minute relations of his subjects, was his constant aim in all his investigations. It is true that some of his generalisations are now of little interest. For instance, in his time naturalists and theologians were in a heated discussion on the unity of the human race. The doctrine of the immutability of species was pushed by some to such an extreme that they declared it incredible that the different races of men could have descended from a single pair. Agassiz was an advocate of this view, maintaining that the human race had had, in its several distinct types, separate stocks of originality, both as to time and place ; and to his own generation his own name was a terror to orthodox interpreters of the Bible. Even in 1872 Dr. Charles Hodge made the assertion that the unity of the human race is denied by ‘‘a large and increasing class of scientific i 32 THE NATURALIST. men.” It would gratify a good deal of curiosity if the learned doctor had informed his readers from what ranks this “ large class of scientific men” who disbelieve in the unity of the human race is receiving so many recruits; for it seems to appear on the face of almost all recent works scientifically treating the subject of vegetable or animal life, that the question of the day is not only whether the human races are of common origin, but whether the whole animal kingdom may not have descended in unbroken lines from one progenitor. On this point Agassiz held very decided opinions. His searching and comprehensive inquisitions into nature led him to the belief of distinct types of the animal kingdom, and to the belief of specific creations of those distinct types ; and the theories of Darwin have had no opponent so able and thoroughly scientific as he. I will quote from him a passage which sums up his views. In 1863 he wrote as follows :—‘‘ One important truth already assumes great significance in the history of the growth of animals; namely, that whatever the changes may be through which an animal passes, and however different the aspect of these phases at successive periods may appear, they are always limited by the character of the type to which the animal belongs, and never pass that boundary. - Thus, the Radiate begins life with characters peculiar to Radiates, and ends it without assuming any feature of a higher type. The Mollusk starts with a character essentially its own, in no way related to the Radiates, and never shows the least tendency to deviate from it, either in the direction of the Articulate or Vertebrate types. This is equally true of the Articulates spose one [and] emphatically true of the Vertebrates............ These ° results are of the highest importance at this moment, when men of authority in science are attempting to renew the theory of a general transmutation of all animals of the higher types out of the lower ones. If such views are ever to deserve serious consideration, and be acknow- ledged as involving a scientific principle, it will only be when their supporters shall have shown that the fundamental plans of structure characteristic of the primary groups of the animal kingdom are trans- mutable, or pass into one another, and that their different modes of development may lead from one to the other. Thus far embryology has not recorded one fact on which to base such doctrines.” § The argument is here somewhat mis-stated. Darwin’s principal point is to prove that each of these types has developed into its various 5 Systematic Theology, Vol. II., pp. 77. 6 Methods of Study in Natural History, by G. L. Agassiz, Boston, 1871, pp, 302, 304, WituiAMs : Louis AGASSIZz. 33 orders, genera, and species. Back to the point at which the charac- teristics of the class appear, the analogical argument from embryology is very strong. Previous to that stage of development Darwin would go only so far as the momentum of his analogical argument at’ the beginning of the classes would carry him. If, however, a naturalist has been brought by plain analogies to believe in only four distinct lines of genealogical descent, it is difficult to stop there, although there may be no further accessible facts on which to base a positive argument, just as in the realms of astronomy we can hardly help applying our general conclusions to regions of space beyond the reach of the telescope. Unless there is counter evidence we may sometimes extend our generalizations a long way beyond the bare facts, and throw the burden of proof upon those who deny such extension. This is akin to the argument known in mechanics as the method of proof by gradual approach. 7 But, whatever we may think of some of Agassiz’s generalisations, we must all admit that his productions testify to an amazing fund of knowledge, to an equally amazing fertility of genius, and to an almost incredible industry. What I note, in addition to the vast knowledge and intellectual greatness of the man, is his admirable and noble character. He had a remarkable sweetness of disposition. There was always around him a sunny atmosphere, and it is said by his most intimate friends that none could be with him without feeling the magnetism of his great, warm heart. His pupils—and they are alike numerous and cultivated—bear consenting testimony to his cheerful and affectionate spirit, his cordial interest in their prosperity and success, and his large, strong sympathies with all that appeals to generous human sensibilities. He inspired them with all the ardour of his own bright and pure enthu- siasm, and nothing that was mean or selfish could thrive in the earnestness of the pursuit of truth in which he engaged them. It is easy, therefore, to see how they revered and loved him. There could be no better evidence of his genial, affectionate, sympathetic disposition than the power that he had over ardent and gifted natures, and the 7 Agassiz’s candour in stating facts was such as sometimes to convert his students to the doctrvwne he was confuting. So recently as March 4th, 1883, the Kev. George Batchelor, in a sermon in Unity Church, Chicago, said :—‘‘ I studied under Asa Gray and Jeffries Wyman at the time when in their respective departments— botany and comparative anatomy—they were compelled to admit the doctrine of evolution ; and I listened to or read the lectures in which Agassiz stated the facts upon which he based his system with so much fairness and candour that he con- _ verted to the doctrine of evolution, which he opposed, his whole class, including his son, who succeeded him, and who now carries on his work.”—Chicago Times, March 5th, 1888. 34 THe NATURALIST. sweet impressions he left on the lives of so many of the truest and most interesting people in both America and Europe. There was in him, too, a simplicity, a child-like naturalness, as admirable as it was instinctive. With the half-educated—those ambitious merely of the name of learning—there is often noticed a conceit of knowledge, an ostentation of attainments, an assumption of superiority, a kind of dogmatism and arrogance, which are as repulsive as they are absurd. There was no shadow of this in Agassiz. With all his mental grandeur and vast acquirements, he was still the humble pupil of nature, the unpretending citizen, the quiet, urbane, courteous gentlemen. In his simple, natural way he went about his work intent upon accomplishing the ends of science, and oblivious apparently of what the world was thinking of him. In his lectures, his private instructions and social intercourse, his travels, and his fatiguing and exacting labours, he carried a serene and artless spirit, whose sincerity was winning and impressive. He was utterly free from the affectations of the pedant, and the robust genuineness of the man had a wholesome and stimulating flavour that made his society delightful. (To be concluded. ) ARaintall for July. Height| Toran Faun of ee NO. to Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-) of heaviest OL? fa above:| Tall Mayes cnc 200 ca ae 1 Balle Bonviess 5 all. fecal: 1883, | 1882, Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalt6n) Sa BDO ZO EG 47 19-48 | nea 21 0°95 (J. W. Robson) HALIFAX...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 3°11 | 19 | 24°35 31°48 21 0°83 LEEDS ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 j| 3°25 | 22 | 16°69 | +13°12 20 0:90 HorsFORTH ... (James Fox); 350 | 3°89 | 20 | 19°62 | $1844 21 0°98 BARNSLEY ... (T. Lister) ...J 350 | 3°80 | 20; 18°78 | 17°69 20 1°06 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 4°52 | 22 | 26.58 25°23 21 1-22 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...| 520 | 3°40 | 15 | 20°66 18°53 2 1:06 GooLE .... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25} 2°84] 18 | 14°35 | 18°48 20 0°75 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.| 10 3.12|17 | 11°36 | 14°94 2 0°85 Lawton) * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 & 1865-83. £ Average of 14 years, 1870-83. Short Hotes and Queries. Cuckoo’s Eee in Rine Ovuzen’s Nest.—On the 19th May I found a ring ouzel’s nest on Harden Moor, which was then approaching completion. A few days after, two of my boys visited the nest, and found it to contain three eggs, one of which they brought in addition to a strange egg, which I at once recognised as that of a cuckoo. This is the first instance that has come to my knowledge of the cuckoo consigning its charge to the care of this species ; and this curious fact in its economy is the more surprising since there were, within a short distance of the nest in question, two tit- lark’s nests, both of which contained fresh laid eggs.—H. P. P. Burier- FIELD, Wilsden, June 4th. Dunn at MatHam, &c.—During a ramble to Malham on Whit- Tuesday, my brother and I were much interested in observing the dunlin { Tringa variabilis) about a marshy place near Malham Tarn. My attention was attracted to it from hearing some strange notes which I did not remember having heard before, and going surreptitiously in the direction indicated by the sound, I got within half-a-dozen yards of what I took to be the male bird, which was perched upon a wall. We searched some time for the nest, but without success, as we felt sure the female was sitting somewhere not far away. Its tameness somewhat surprised us, a missile being necessary to be thrown in order to make it fly, although only a few yards of water separated us. The number of birds breeding about the Tarn and moor was remarkable, and their cries bewildering— but still, I thought, according well with surroundings so wild, and in many respects unique.—H. P. P. BurrerFiep, June 4th. ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES.—On June 2nd, Mr. Geo. Tindall and I had another search in the Green Farm Wood, Doncaster, for the larvze of Phycis betulella, and each of us succeeded in finding specimens, mostly nearly full-grown, on the birch leaves. In the same wood, too, we collected larvee of Tethea subtusa from poplars, a species which does not seem to have been hitherto recorded from Doncaster. During May three beautiful Acronycta alni appeared in my breeding cages, one of them from the larva I found in Edlington Wood, Doncaster, on August 5th last.—Gezo. T. Porritt. —GrassineTon.—On August 5th, I took M. expolita (one specimen), flying leisurely in the hot sunshine about guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) in Grass high wood, Grassington, and saw one, if not two more. It was in much better condition than the one I took at the same place last year, and perhaps if the date of my visit had been fixed a little earlier, or I had stayed in the wood longer, I migkt have taken a few more specimens. I also took one C. wnidentaria near Threshfield. My brother, who paid us a visit a few days previously, turned up L. olivata freely about the highway in Grass wood, and I took one at Threshfield, 36 THe NATURALIST. and beat a few from spruce firs in Grass high wood. Mr. Carter and myself took Tortrix icterana commonly at the same place last June.— E. P. P. Burrerristp, Wilsden, August 20th. — LEPIDOPTERA IN ABBoTT’s WooD, Sussex.—On May 23rd, in company with Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher, of Worthing, I had a few hours’ collecting in Abbott’s Wood, Hailsham. We hoped to get a good series of Agrotera nemoralis, but it seemed to be only just getting out, as only four specimens were beaten out of the hornbeams. The season indeed seemed to be as late as here in the north, and many species I took there near the same date some years ago were not seen at all. Those taken or observed included Gonepteryx rhamni, common ; Argynnis Huphrosyne, abundant ; Syrichthus Alveolus, Thanaos Tages; Nola cristulalis, at rest, head duwn- wards as usual; Venilia maculata and Tephrosia consonaria, both common ; Lphyra pendularia, Asthena candidata, abundant ; Huwpithecia plumbeolata, very fine; H. abbreviata; Coremia propugnata ; Platypteryx lacertula and P. falcula ; Hermimia barbalis, common ; Ennychia octo- maculalis; Roxana arcuana, &c., &c.—Gro. T. Porritt. —OccURRENCE OF Chesias obliquaria at DoncoastEeR.—I was engaged setting some captures on the 14th of June, rather late, with the window before me partly open, when I became aware of the presence of moths attracted by the gaslight, by their scorched bodies falling on the table in front of me. Looking up, I saw several moths at the window and on the wall, on capturing which I was surprised to find a fine fresh C. obliquaria. This is, I believe, the first record of its occurrence in Yorkshire.— G. TINDALL, July 24th, 1883. BOTANICAL QUERIES.—Referring to the Naturalist of the past month of August, under ‘‘Short Notes and Queries,” page 20, would not the old name of Epipactis ensifolia be better expressed by Cephalan- thera ensifolia? Those, like myself, who take the ‘‘ Student’s Flora” as the standard work on British plants think so. [Both names were sent to us, and we, unfortunately, crossed out the later one, and did not notice it until too late.—Eps. Nat. |—In the same part, under ‘‘ Reports of Societies,” Pewcedanwm officinale, a very rare plant of salt marshes, and known previously to occur at only two or three south-coast stations, is recorded for Thorne Waste. If a Peucedanum at all, is it not more likely to be Peucedanum palustre 1—At the Bank Holiday Meeting, Aug. 6th, of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, in the Washburn Valley, three good plants were observed, viz.—Viola tricolor, sub-sp. lutea, var. amena; Carex paniculata; and Aspleniwm Ceterach. Some of us won- dered why these do not appear among ‘‘ The Rarer Plants of the Washburn Valley District,” given in ‘‘ West Yorkshire.”—P. F. Lug, Sec. Bot. Sect., Y.N.U. NOTICES OF BOOKS, &c.—“ The British Moss-Flora, by Dr. Braithwaite, Part VII.”—We have now received another part of this - grand work, containing part iil. of the Dicranacee, and must at once take REporRtTS OF SOCIETIES. ayy the opportunity of again congratulating its talented and industrious author on the care and labour he has already taken in producing this lasting monument of his industry and zeal in moss-lore. The plates, six in number, are even supericr to those previously issued, and leave nothing to be desired either in detail or execution. Amongst other alterations in nomenclature on Wilson’s Bry. Brit., we notice that Dicranum virens, D. polycarpum, Oynodontium Bruntoni, and Rhabdo- weissia fugax are referred to Onchophorus, which also includes O. Wahlen- bergit and var. compactus, O. strumifer, O. gracilescens (Cynodontium, Sch. Syn.), and O. crispatus (Weissia denticulata, Sch. Syn.) ; whilst Trichostomum glaucescens becomes Selania cesia (Vill. ) Lindberg. Reportis of Societies. Barnstey Naturatists’ Soctery.—Meeting 14th Aug., the president, Mr. T. Lister, in the chair.—The new list of British birds drawn up by the Ornithologists’ Union was laid on the table—the standard of nomen- clature so much needed to be uniformly used. Letters from Mr. R. Creighton confirmed his report of May 6 that the black redstart, waxwing, and greenshank all occurred near Hemsworth. There are but one or two instances of the black redstart in Yorkshire, and only one of its occurring in May, which was in Cornwall ; it is chiefly a winter visitor in the south- west of England. Three instances of the waxwing have occurred in the Barnsley district within two years. The greenshank is equally rare. He also records the black-headed gull, and sandpipers at Hemsworth dam ; the latter breed there, also in the Dearne valley, and at Ingbirchworth and Dunford reservoirs. In excursions to Langsett and Mickleden moors to the Derbyshire border, increased numbers of ring-ouzels, twites, or mountain linnets (young and old), were seen, also kestrel, plovers golden and green, in abundance. Curlews are reported breeding on these moors. Swifts, young and old, numerous near Monk Bretton Abbey—very rare in Barnsley of late years. Mr. E. Hailstone reported on July 20th, a tern over Walton Lake. MHawfinches and gold-crested wrens have bred at Round Green ; goldfinches at Middlewood Hall, Darfield.—T. L. Braprorp Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting July 24th, Mr. J. W. Carter, the president, in the chair.—Mr. Illingworth described a ramble about Witherslack, and amongst the insects he exhibited were H. awro- varia, H. russula, L. Alexis, &c. He also exhibited a live young cuckoo and the tit-lark’s nestin which it was taken, on Baildon Moor. Mr. Soppitt exhibited a number of parasitic fungi, among which was one growing on Lactuca muralis, viz, Puccinea rubigo-vera from Hawksworth, the bird’s nest fungus, and a smut on Bromus mollis. Among the insects exhibited by the president were, one new to the district (P. dentatus), from Shipley Glen, and 7’. tapetzella, a small moth, the larva of which feeds on 38 Tae NATURALIST. cloth. Mr. Andrews reported a fungus, Boletus luridus, found at Gras- sington, which has not been recorded before in this district. Mr. West gave a list of sedges found about Hawksworth. Mr. Waddington sent a specimen of Rhagiwm inquisator, from Horton, a species new to the district. Meetine, August 7th.—Mr. Soppitt gave a report of a ramble with the Y.N.U. to Washburn valley, where were found Nephrodium Oreopteris, Equisetum hyemale, and E. limosum (EH. hyemale not recorded before), also, Uvredo bifrons and Synchitrium taraxaci also new, and Carex paniculata, found there for the first time. Mr. Firth reported having observed the cole titmouse at Shipley Glen. Mr. West gave an account of a walk over Thornton moor, with a description of the various species of scale mosses found there. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE EytomoxocicaL Socrety.—Meeting, July 30th, the Rev. S. F. Williams occupying the chair in the absence of the president.—Mr. A. O. Walker (Chester) read a paper entitled “‘ A consideration of some of the causes affecting the distribution of the Lepidoptera of Great Britain,” in which he showed, by a comparison of the lepidopterous fauna of several districts, that the number of species of butterflies and moths whose larve feed upon trees became much more numerous than those whose larve feed upon herbaceous plants, as we proceed easterly or south-easterly. Meteorological observations show that the easterly and south-easterly portions of our island are warmer, therefore drier, than the north or north-west, and from this fact, and the known injurious effects of wet food upon caterpillars, he deduced the principal cause affecting the distribution of at least tree-feeding lepidop- tera as being the presence of more or less moisture in the atmosphere. The paper led to an interesting discussion. YorkKsHIRE Naturazists’ Union.—WasHBORNDALE, Aug. 6th.—The Bank Holiday Monday this year was planned for the exploration of the secluded and picturesque valley of the Washburn, the meetings being held at Otley. There was a heavy shower of rain in the forenoon, but the weather cleared up at noon, and was afterwards brilliantly fine and sunny. Three parties had been arranged for. Of these, Mr. Clarke led a party from Poole Station past the pretty village of Leathley, through Lindley Wood and round the reservoir to Otley. Other mem- bers drove from Otley to Blubberhouses, and under the guidance of Messrs. Grassham and Roebuck, who were kindly and ably assisted by ' Mr. Thomas Harrison, Lord Walsingham’s agent, explored the valley upwards to West End. Returning to Blubberhouses the party returned to Otley by conveyance. Other members explored Washburn individually, and others again did not explore it at all, but visited Otley Chevin and other parts of the main dale of Wharfe. The tea and meetings were all at the White Horse Hotel, Otley. At the general meeting, Mr. J. W. Davis, F.S.A., of Halifax, president of the Geological Section, presided. Reports or SocikErvigEs. 39 The minutes were taken as read. On the roll-call it was found that the 60 or 70 members present during the day represented 14 societies, viz :— Barnsley, Wakefield, Hlland-cum-Greetland, Bradford Naturalists, Leeds (3), Goole, Selby, Huddersfield Lit. and Scient., Dewsbury, Halifax, Ikley, and Shipley. The following new members, having been duly proposed and seconded, were elected :—Mr. J. F. T. Spiking of Birstall, Mr. J. S. Hurst of Copt Hewick Hall, near Ripon, Rev. Henry Smith of Redcar, Mr. G. H. L. Rickards of Poole, near Otley, Mr. R, Paver-Crow, J.P., of Ornhams Hall, near Boroughbridge, Dr. S. H- Kerr, M.A., of Otley, and Mr. James Backhouse, jun., of York. Thanks were then unanimously voted, on the proposition of Messrs. John Grassham, Leeds, and Vincent Taylor, Ilkley, to Lord Walsingham, Mr. ' Ayscough Fawkes, J.P., of Farnley, and the Leeds Corporation, for permission to visit their estates and the margins of the reservoirs, and to Mr. Harrison, Lord Walsingham’s agent, for guiding one of the parties. There was a little discussion as to the Union being represented at the Southport meeting of the British Association, and it was agreed that in case of the inability of the president to attend, his place should be taken by Mr. C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S., of Huddersfield, a member of the Y.N.U. executive. The sectional reports were then given. For the Botanical Section Mr. P. F. Lee, Dewsbury, secretary of the section, stated that the picturesque little valley had during the day yielded 252 different species of the flowering plants, ferns, charas, &c., contained in the London Catalogue of British Plants. Of these, 13 were ferns—without doubt a goodly list, considering the limited area worked—among them being Asplenium Ceterach, Nephrodium spinulosum, N. Oreopteris (abundant on the margin of Dob Wood), and Polypodium Phegopteris. In the list of phanerogams collected were the undermentioned, as repre- senting the best finds :—Ranunculus Lenormandi, Viola tricolor, sub-sp. lutea, var. amoena (on the summit of the left bank of Washburn Dale), Malva Moschata, Gnaphalium sylvaticum, Lactuca muralis, Campanula latifolia, Linaria minor, Veronica montana, Galeopsis Tetrahit, sub-sp. speciosa (G. versicolor, Curt.), Humulus lupulus, Typha latifolia, the broad-leaved Helleborine, Epipactis latifolia. On the margin of a mill- race in the lower part of the valley were fine tussocks of the great panicled sedge, Carex paniculata, with nearly 4ft. stems; the graceful Aira caryophyllea, and Chara flexilis. Mr. H. T. Soppitt reported having seen and collected 33 species of fungi, amongst which were Helotium zruginosum, Calocera viscosa, Coleosporium campanule, Puccinea poarum, Uredo vacciniorum, Boletus luteus, B. flavus, Lactarius rufus, Marasmius rotula. For the Geological Section its president, Mr. Davis, reported that it had been intended to drive from Harrogate to Blubber- houses, and thence walk down the valley to Otley, but the weather during the early part of the day being unfavourable, a short excursion was made to the millstone grit quarry at Little Wonder, Harrogate, where the president gave a brief outline of the geology of the district, 40 THE NatTURALIST. mentioning the anticlinal of Yoredale rocks, forced to the surface south~ west of the town, the numerous faults in connection with which gave rise to the several springs for which Harrogate is so famous, and the general arrangement of the kinder scout grits, whose outcrop may be seen, for example, at Birk Crag. The party then proceeded by rail to Otley ; the weather had cleared up, and the valley of the Wharfe was seen to great advantage—the outcrop of the sandstone at Great Almer Cliff, and the undulating but hilly country to the north of the river, and the precipitous cliffs constituting Otley Chevin on the south, presenting a very pleasing picture. The ascent of Otley Chevin was made, the exertion being well repaid by the magnificent view obtained from the summit. The whole of the hills opposite are composed of kinder grit, which dipped southwards under the Chevin ; the third grit series being exposed on the slope of the hill, surmounted by the upper thick-bedded grit of that-series, being the same bed of rock of which the Cow and Calf are composed. The south slope of the Chevin dips under the rough rock and coal measures beyond Yeadon. For vertebrate zoology Mr. W. Hagle Clarke, F.L.S., as secretary of the section, reported that most of the resident and summer visitants amongst the birds of the district had been observed, but no additional species had been added to the list furnished in last month’s Naturalist. A kingfisher had been observed at Lindley—a fact which is worthy of mention, as the bird is extremely rare in the Washburn. In the other classes of vertebrates, no species had been added to the lists given in the August number of the Naturalist. In the absence of the officers of the Conchological Section, Mr. W. Denison Roebuck stated that two additions—Limax levis and Pisidium pusillum, both from Blubberhouses—had been made to the Washburn shell-list, but that the species (and individuals) observed during the day were very few in number, including only Limax agrestris and L. arborum, Arion ater, A. hortensis, Helix rufescens, Limnza peregra, Ancylus fluviatilis, a Zonites, and Cochlicopa lubrica, all from Blubberhouses except the H. rufescens, which was from the lower part of the valley. For the Entomological Section, its president, Mr. Geo. T. Porritt, F.L.S., of Huddersfield, who had been obliged to leave before the general meeting, left a report to the effect that the weather had considerably spoilt collecting, but that in any case the locality would probably have proved very unproductive. One party had worked Washburndale, but only very common species had been noticed, and those who went over Otley Chevin had found the ground equally unproductive. Some species, usually common on such ground, were quite absent. The only noteworthy species was Penthina sauciana, which he had found rather common on the bilberry hills at Otley Chevin. He also noticed the following, hitherto unrecorded for the district :—Metrocampa margaritata, Larentia. pectinitaria, Cidaria immanata, Sciaphila virgaureana, and Ablabia. pratana, common.—A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the meeting. —W. D. R., W. EH. C. ad ; ae ~ 4, Bradford P Nabuealiate ae = Mies palogical mene i; -30. Se 5 EF tomloeieal Society of London, 7 p.ra. 5. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. ate Ge aca pee 3 _8. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society. Sere _ ,, 8. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Ramble to pe Reve soe 10. Huddersfield. Naturalists’ — Society.— eo and Records in eee a a) ios - Local Cryptogamic Botany.” - si ren ie Ser 95 York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. : : Siar is ee eee = 14. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. a Po Se eee + -_-,, 17. Manchester Cryptcgamic Society, 7- -30 p.m: as oe 18. Bradford. Naturalists’ Society.—“ Slugs.’ >__W. Denison Roebuck, Seo. of. Leeds. ona - 20. North ‘Staffordshire: Naturalists’ Field Club. —Excursion to Bread- agers -sall and Morley. Leader : Mr. Serivener. aoe So Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society‘ On Fungi.’’=—A. Clarke. a _ 22. Hudderstield Naturalists’ Society.—Ramble to Storthes Hall. 2 -__-,, 24. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. Ss oo = 2. “York St. Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. ; THE SCOTTISH N ATURALIST, << 3 Quarterly Magazine of Batural Scrence. __ Edited by Professor TRAIL, Aberdeen. < ‘Annual Subscriptions, payable i in advance, 4s. 6d., post free, = ‘Articles and communications for the Magazine should be sent tothe Editor before the Ist of December, March, June, or “September, if intended for publication i in the January, apes J a OF October. numbers respectively. 2 _ Orders for es oo. &e., should. ‘be “sent to ToL. IV. Jeomnaenced Jan., 1883. - == ~~ Price 4/- PER ANNUM, | : - Lonpon: D. Bogue, St. Martin’s Place; WG. aes | ee Brothers, The Steam Colour Printing Works: “VOLS. | 1, I, & UI MAY STILL BE HAD. SO Sua Published, Fou aro, founds pe “THE. Bes HUNTERS COMPANION, oe ~ By the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A. ace ‘instructions for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and De Butterfies eee ~ and Moths, Beetles, ee Flies, and other Insects, — te ; ~~ THIRD EDITION. ae REVISED AND EXTENDED BY 2A, B: -FARN. THE CHAPTER ON vounor BY EDWARD N EWMAN. CONTEN TS. = How to obtain the He by searching - boxing fergie moths ; - pairing insects. Howto obtain LARV& by beating : the Bignell tray ; Sweeping ; -- searching by night; how to rear the larve; sleeving; hybernating larve ; parasites ; preserving larve. 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MOSLEY, Beaumont Park, ‘Huddershold = ie ROBSON, , Bellerby Terrace, West a a he Authors ¢ alone are responsible for the contents of their Papers. ‘¢ Nec TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.” [PRICE FOURPENCE, POST FREE] u | st Al JOURNAT, OR THE YORKS HIRE NATURALISTS UNION, AND - GENERAL BYE CLUB BRCORD. NEW SERIES. _Epirep sy Cuas. P. Hosxirk, F.L.S., anp G. T. Porritt, F.L.S.. No. XCIX. - OCTOBER, 1883. VOL. IX. CONTENTS. ; Bere ares Page ORIGINAL ARTICLES, &c. : — f Wm. Wilson’s Tours in Ireland and Scotland.—Jas. Cash ... —... sal SAD na duouis Agassiz. —Coneluded. —fhev. 8. Fletcher Williams Se oye ee 49 _ Norms, ‘&c. : : | Birds near Bea: —F. G. 8. Rawson... sear Cant Distribution. of Tectur a testudinalis in Yorkshite, 2a enr a Cr owther: ae fin 53 Larentia je ufieinctata in Yorkshire.—T. B. Woodd yea 6o5 me ag ela eee Gs TR ad : 53 : Scout Ke] conspicualis 3 and Dicror ep herbosana at Grassing’on—E. P. pe ¢ es ae Boe : ee as 5 ee 53 Snes : oe P. P. 54 Nephrodium evistatum ear Cherestion: es M. Olitsty - a 54 A List of Floweri ing Plants and Ferns in Lineolnshire—Rev. W. Powter, M.A. 54 SRREVIEW it °° The Natural il History of Bisaics and St. Hecnards, art the Vicinity” ore 55 OBITUARY : _ Rev. Henry Harpur Chews. pes et. See ap ‘aioe Nae Pi 56 _ REpoRTS or SocreriEs :— . : |. Bradford Naturalists’ Society ae te ee, sey ae Bk Roe, oT . _ Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society es Ga Aa oy i, Wee ae 57 | ‘Hull Naturalists’ Society - <. ie Seen Geely ee 57 Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Souiety.. ‘x ope a 43 58 | Malton Field Naturalists’ Excursion v5 aN ee a se ce 59 "|. - Manchester Cryptogamic Society... | Fg Pa rh hee se OO | | pe York and District Field Naturalists’ Saiety Ae sa ses a a 50 : zen! Soe eeu Ne Oe eee ta : ~ HUDDERSFIELD : B. Brown, Market Pracr Corner. TO CORRESPONDENTS. ; THE NATURALIST is published on the first of every month, subscription 4/ a year, post free, payable in advance. 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If I trespass, as I may have to do, upon ground not strictly cryptogamic, I shall ask you to forgive me for the sake of the individual who is the subject of the sketch. This attempt to follow Mr. Wilson in his early wanderings, in Scotland and Ireland, must be regarded rather as a reminiscence than an historical record. The materials at my command are unfortunately meagre. The memoranda left by Mr. Wilson of his Scotch and Irish trips—1827-1830—are not sufficiently copious to enable anyone to construct a complete and connected account of all that he did ; nevertheless, the Journal he made at the time, and the correspondence which I have been permitted to inspect, form together a record sufficiently entertaining, in my judgment, to be worth preservation. Mr. Wilson’s first trip to Scotland was in the year 1827, and it was made at the instigation of Dr. (afterwards Sir William) Hooker—then Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow—who saw in his well-directed enthusiasm the foundation of a great botanical reputa- tion. But for the encouragement he received from Dr. Hooker, Mr. Wilson certainly would never have continued his studies with the ardour and success that he did. Getting to Glasgow was not so easy in those days as it is now, when we can leave Manchester at midnight, breakfast in Glasgow, and be botanising at Killin before noon. Before railways shortened the distance between us and the Highlands there were Lancashire botanists courageous enough to do the journey on foot. Mr. Wilson, however, was under no such necessity. On Saturday, the 16th June, 1827, he took a passage on board the steam-packet ‘‘ William Huskisson’’ (which sailed from Liverpool about four in the after- noon), and landed at Greenock at half-past nine on the following (Sunday) evening. On the Monday he continued his journey, by boat, and reached Glasgow the same afternoon. After spending a day with Professor Hooker, he joined an excursion party, which the Professor had arranged, to Breadalbane, travelling by way of Dum- NS. 2V0L. 1x. Ccr. 1883. Toe NATURALIST. Ham bow SCOTLAND AND IRELAND : 1829-30. An invitation to Mr. Wilson from Prof. Hooker resulted in his paying a second visit to Glasgow and the Highlands in the summer of 1823, prior to his making an extended trip through the south of ireland. There was no want of cordiality in the invitation. Mr. Wilson’s health had been for a long time delicate, and Professor Hooker desired that he should undertake the journey, hoping that he would profit by it physically. ‘I still hope,’ he wrote (Jan. 20th, 1829) “that in the summer your health and your inclination will allow you to come northwards.. I wish you to know more of Mr. Arnott, and something of Dr. Wallich, and I desire to have you with us again in the Highlands.” Mr. Wilsou was preparing critical notes for the first volume of Dr. Hooker’s forthcoming British’ Flora. ‘Take ample time,” Dr. Hooker -wrote (Feb. 2, 1829) ‘in selecting notes and specimens of plants for me; and I know well, from some little experience, how valuable they will be to me and the public. * * Keep your mind and your time occupied in the way you do now, and be assured that the result will be advantageous both to your health and to science.’ Acknowledging a parcel of plants, accompanied with notes, Professor Hooker wrote: ‘“‘ The plants and the notes upon them are exactly what I could wish them to be, and such as I could receive from no one else. But I fear you have devoted your attention too zealously to this subject. In regard beth to the work on mosses, and the British Flora, it will be yet twelve months before they are pub- lished, and it is both to my interest and to that of the public to go to press as late as possible. There is, therefore, abundance of time for any observations that occur to you, and I had much rather that you would relax from your ardent devotion to the descriptive department of botany, and spend your time in the country, or where you will be more freed from mental occupation. By this means you will, I trust, sufficiently recover your health to enable you to undertake a vogage from Liverpool to Glasgow, and then go into the Highlands with me and some brother botanists. There, too, we may gather plants, but, then, you must do as I do—you must consider this excursion as undertaken for the purpose of pleasure, and not of hard study. We will then, too, talk about plants, without letting them occupy too much of our attention. * * * Now, my dear friend, let me assure you that you will render me the greatest service by withdrawing for a time from all mental occupation, and thus fitting yourself for a visit to the North, which you know, two years ago, was beneficial to your health. J am expecting Mr. Henslow, of Cambridge, will join our CasnH: Wiutson’s Tours IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 45 party ; so will Mr. Arnott and some others, whom you will like to see, but who, like myself, reckon upon the excursion as a relief from our studies at home, and as a relaxation that will the better fit us for them afterwards. I calculate on setting off on the 25rd of June. Come as much sooner as may be convenient to you, and you will find a bed and a hearty welcome prepared for you. * * All here desire to be most kindly remembered to you.” Mr. Wilson left home on the 19th of June, and did not return to Warrington until the 31st of March following—the intervening period being spent in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales in the health-inspiring pursuit to which he had devoted himself. From his journal of the voyage north we learn that on the 19th of June he sailed from Liver- pool to Glasgow (paying cabin fare, 25s.), and reached his destination on the evening of the following day. On the 23rd of June he set out with Dr. Hooker and party for Killin, travelling va Dumbarton and Loch Lomond. Next day they botanised upon Craig Cailleach, and on the 25th upon Ben Lawers. Mr. Wilson did not leave Killin until July 4th ; on that day he travelled wa Stirling to Glasgow, and spent a week in the society of Prof. Hooker and other naturalists, one of whom was Dr. Walker-Arnott, who during Mr. Wilson’s stay returned from a botanical tour in Skye, bringing with him specimens of Lriocaulon. On the 15th of July Mr. Wilson quitted Glasgow for Dublin, reaching the Irish capital on the following evening. ‘I went,” he says, ‘to a filthy tavern, which I soon quitted.” Six days later he sailed for Cork. Very soon after his arrival there we find him at work, and his first search—happily successful—was for Hookeria late-virens. The entry in his journal under date Thursday, 23rd July, is as follows :—‘*‘ Went to Dunscombe’s Wood for Hookeria lete-virens, which I at length found in a shady wet part of the rivulet, immediately above the watering place, overgrown with brambles.” Here I pause for a moment to say something about this beautiful moss; and I am glad to have the opportunity which this entry affords me—even if there were no other evidence on the point—of correcting an error into which the editor of Professor Harvey’s Memoir has, no doubt, unwittingly fallen. The editor says [Mem. p. 20,]| that in the summer of 1831, Harvey, visiting Killarney, with his friend Mr. Fennell, found Hookeria lete-virens, ‘a moss heretofore unnoticed as an Irish plant,” that by means of this discovery he introduced himself to Sir William, then Dr. Hooker, curator of the Botanic Gardens at Glasgow ; and that thus began an acquaintance which quickly ripened into a warm and lasting friendship. 46 THe Naturatist. The species was first observed by Dr. James Drummond in this very place to which Mr. Wilson had received directions, namely Dunscombe’s Wood, inthe year 1816. The first description of the moss, accompanied by a figure, appeared in Hooker and Taylor’s Muscologia Britannica. Writing of it in 1830, Prof. Hooker says: ‘ only one station is known for this moss, namely in the south of Ireland, in a wood in the vicinity of Cork, where it grew near a spring, whose temperature is consider- ably higher than that of the surrounding atmosphere.” The figure in English botany was from specimens gathered by Mr. Wilson at the time of which we write, i.e. 1829. Harvey was, however, the first to detect the moss at Killarney—rather, we may imagine, to Wilson’s chagrin, for, had he not, but two years before, gone over the very spot where it grew ? Harvey, who was a young and enthusiastic botanist, made Hookeria leete-virens a medium of introduction to Prof. Hooker, as appears by the following letter, which I quote from his memoir. He was a Quaker, and that will account for the quaintness of the phraseology :— ‘‘ Respected Friend: Having discovered two new habitats for the beautiful Hookeria lete-virens which I am anxious to have inserted in the forthcoming volume of the British Flora, | take the liberty of en- closing specimens, trusting to thy goodness to excuse this want of a personal introduction. As the plant occurs in plenty in one of the situations attached, I think it highly probable it may be found in many other places, and very extraordinary it should be overlooked by J. T. Mackay, as it is found within three or four yards of his habitat for Trichomanes. I have had no opportunity of comparing Cork specimens, but my plants do not appear of a deeper or brighter green than #. lucens. The fruit, unfortunately, was old, many of the capsules had fallen, and many of the opercula; but it appeared from the number of broken foot-stalks to have been in plenty. Should thou think this letter worth replying to, thou wilt address me as under, and permit me (again apologising for taking the liberty to address thee) to subscribe myself very respectfully thine—W. Henry Harvey, Summerville, Limerick, 7 mo. 13, 1831.” _ Thus it is clear Harvey did not himself claim priority in the dis- covery of Hookeria lete-virens. It is not a little singular that some . years later he found the moss growing in the greatest luxuriance in the vicinity of Cape Town, South Africa. It is apparently a sub-tropical species, and Schimper goes so far as to say that it is alien to the European flora. On the 28th of July Mr. Wilson prepared for a journey to Killarney. 2 Casu: Wutson’s Tours 1n ScoTLAND AND IRELAND. AT Riding to Macroom, he walked thence 13 miles to Millstreet, carrying a heavy burden. Next day he had a still more fatiguing walk to ~ Killarney—21 miles. He was able on the 3Uth to begin botanising, and he records in his journal of that date, observing, on the Kenmare road, Arbutus unedo. He gathered Rhyncospora fusca, Pinguicula lusitanica, end Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense. Reaching Turk Cascade, he found barren specimens of the rare Zrichomanes radicans ; and on the 3lst he gathered this fern in a fertile condition. His time appears to have been occupied for some days in gathering and drying flowering plants, the monotony of the occupation being relieved by a visit from Dr. Dickson, ‘‘a zealous botanical student,” who came with a letter of introduction to him from Prof. Hooker. About this time, Mr. Wilson wrote an account of his doings to Prof. Hooker, who replied as follows:—‘‘ On my return last evening from a visit to my friend Mr. Lyell, at Kinnordy * * I had the great pleasure to find your letter from Killarney. To use a Scotch expression, I was wearying to hear from you; but I am concerned at your not having been more successful. I fear that the whole of Great Britain is too uniform in its vegetable productions for any one portion to yield you, advanced as you are in the botany of this country, any very abundant harvest. You are perhaps too late for phenogamous plants, and the rains have certainly been against you; but I am still of opinion that the south of Ireland will afford a more abundant harvest than any other part of the British Islands for cryptogamia. - Indeed you seem to have already gathered many of these—such perhaps as are already known. But that cannot be a bad country which has given you a new Hypnum and a new Hymenophyllum. I quite long to see these two novelties. If you like to draw up a few notes respecting them, I will send them in your name to Hnglish Botany, where they will be a thousand times more interesting than the bad species of willows and roses there represented. Hookeria locte-virens (not yet figured in Hnglish Botany,) Trichomanes brevisetum (T. radicans) Eriocaulon, the Pinguicule, not a few Jungermannie rariores, &c., &e., must not stand for nothing.” On the 6th of August Mr. Wilson transferred his quarters to the house of a Mr. Casey, at Kenmare. Next day he walked to Drum- ouchty lake, south of the town, and had some excellent botanising. He found, amongst other things, Pinguicula grandifiora, and was en- gaged until three in the afternoon gathering Hriocaulon. Returning homeward he observed Siwm verticillatum and a variety of Mentha hirsuta. 48 THE NATURALIST. August 8th was wholly occupied by Mr. Wilson with drying and examining the plants he had gathered. A few days later he gathered more of the rare Pinguicula, and he also records the finding of speci- mens with fruit of Tortula tortuosa. One or two quaint entries which appear in his journal about this time are amusing. For instance, under date of Sept. 6th, he wrote: ‘Up late, feverish. Very fine, sunny day. Caught and executed a few fleas.” The first mention I find of Daltonia splachnoides is on the 9th of September, Mr. Wilson having come upon that rare moss during a visit to Cromagloun. Onthe 10th, he writes: ‘ Walked to Turk mountain and ascended a woody glen. Found Daltonia splachnoides with ripe capsules.” He climbed that day to the summit of Turk, and returned to his lodgings at night much fatigued. Amongst his gatherings during the journey was Pimpinella magna, which was found growing in Muckross woods. Another visit was made to those woods on the 12th of September. Mr. Wilson then found Jungermannia Mackay in fruit, Zygodon conoideus, Z. viridissimus, Hypnum tenellum, &c. Four days later he gathered more of Daltonia splachnoides, and found Jungermannia calyp- trifolia. At Cromagloun, on the 19th, he came upon a large patch of Dalionta—most of it ripe; also a “large quantity” of Trichomanes radicans. Mr. Wilson seems to have lost no time in communicating to Prof. Hooker his finding of Daltonia splachnoides and other good things. He received a letter from the Professor, dated October 18th, 1829, in which the writer said: ‘‘1 had great pleasure in receiving your letter yesterday, and I can no longer delay replying to it and congratulating you, as I do most cordially, on your success in discovering a new and so good a habitat for Daltonia splachnoides. If there was one moss more than any other that I wished should be found by you it was this very moss, for I think I may call it inter muscos rarissimus. 1 wrote directly to inform Arnott of it, for, long as he has studied mosses, he has never been able to obtain the smallest morsel of this, and actually offered to an Edinburgh botanical student, who possessed a little specimen given him by Dr. Taylor, a guinea for it. The young man, though really no botanist, would not part with it. I told Mackay in my letter to him that if anyone could rediscover Daltonia splachnoides in Ireland it would be you. * * * You are assuredly adopting the only plan for becoming well acquainted with the cryptogamic plants ‘of any particular district ; and I wish the same were more practised by those who seek pheenogamous plants—they examine countries too hastily.” a a I I TT TT a CasH: WILson’s TouRS IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 49 In a former letter Prof. Hooker had asked Mr. Wilson to pay attention to the rubi and willows of the south of Ireland, and this Mr. Wilson seems to have done, for the Professor now writes : “ Mr. Borrer will be happy to see you ; he has most kindly undertaken to describe the roses, rubi, and willows for my British Flora. Among your roses he finds a new one, which has gratified him much.” During the remainder of Mr. Wilson’s stay in Ireland (from the ‘ beginning of October to the end of January) I do not find any record in his Journal of new discoveries. It is, however, certain that within this period he found in the district where he was then botanizing, the moss which, first named by: Wilson Glyphocarpa cernua in Hooker’s Journal of Botany, was afterwards re-named by Bruch and Schimper after the discoverer, Bartramidula Wilsoni. He made a gathering of Daltonia splachnoides at Turk mountain on the 4th October—the fruit being then fully ripe—and also a gathering of two much commoner mosses, Hypnum brevirostre and H. loreum. On the 15th of that month he records the finding of Daltonia splachnoides in abundance, and he took the opportunity of laying in “a good supply.” At that time he observed Arbutus unedo in ficwer. On the 7th November, Flypnum blandum ( H. illecebrum) was gathered near Dunkerron, and in the neighbourhood of Kenmare. (To be continued. ) LOUIS #“AGASS1Z.. By Rev. S. FiercHer WILiiAMs. (Concluded. ) A LITTLE incident of Agassiz’s life is told, which I merely mention because it gives a key to his character. Once, in the small cabinet of a college, which he was examining with a good deal of interest, and where he was just as modest as if all the scientific treasures of the earth were before his eyes, a singularly-formed turtle-shell from the Mississipi was shown him, with the request that he would name the species to which it belonged. Taking it into his hand, he said, with all the candour of an unspoiled child, “I don’t know this.” The confession was surprising, as the study of turtles was known to be a favourite branch of investigation with him, and here he was profoundly learned. Ina few minutes, however, he quietly remarked—‘‘Oh! I see—it is a malformation,” which it really was, though it required vast knowledge of this sort of creatures to detect the fact. We can all imagine how _ the common-place professor, desirous of keeping up a name for know- ledge, would have managed to conceal his ignorance. 50 THE NATURALIST. One mark of Agassiz’s greatness was in his freedom from all vain ostentation, all pretence of learning, to secure attention to himself. The cause of truth was infinitely dear to him; and he saw such boundless wealth in the storehouses of the universe that his mind always kept the attitude of a humble learner and a patient inquirer of nature’s manifold and majestic meanings. It was the candour, modesty, simplicity, and perennial freshness of spirit in connection with his massive intellect, which enabled him to pursue with such . eagerness and success the studies that have rendered his name immortal. The frame of mind in whieh he lived was suited to the happiest prosecution of his chosen labours, to the search for and the recognition of the wondrous truths of nature. It was enough for him to find what the record of creation said, and in the presence of the august revelation he was lowly and docile as a child. — And this leads me to mention one more feature of his character, which, blended with the others, expressed his nobleness,—and that is, his reverent spirit. He realised deeply the grandeur and the uses of life. All that related to man’s interests and place upon the earth was sacred to him. In his investigations of this mysterious frame of things he felt that he was searching out the thoughts of God. There was constantly before him what (to him) was evidence, drawn from purely scientific sources, of the Almighty’s creative wisdom ; and I could quote to you paragragh upon paragraph from all his works in which he adduces testimony wherein he sees the manifestation of a mind as powerful as it is prolific, the acts of an intelligence as sublime as it is provident, the marks of goodness as infinite as wise, the palpable demonstration of the existence of an author of all things, ruler of the universe. Indeed it is but truth to say that the whole of his works might be called, with justice, treatises upon the highest forms of evidence given by zoology to the doctrine that God, the Creator, is a mind, a thinking and self-conscious Intelligenee. This doctrine is, in Agassiz’s view, the only foundation upon which an intelligent study of zoology can be grounded. With him the aim of science is something more than the grouping of facts under a general formula. This may be obtained by empiricism, in some cases more successfully than by science. The aim of science is to detect the thoughts of the Creative Mind. To tke schocl of Positive Philosophy the knowledge of the processes or laws of nature is the only subject worthy of investigation, and the school thinks it very unscientific to assume that thinking is not a function of the brain, and that there is an essential difference, an impassable gulf, between inorganic matter WILuiAMsS: Louis Acagsstz. 51 and living thinking beings. “ But,’ says Agassiz, “ Ishall not be prevented by any such pretensions of a false philosophy from expressing my conviction that, as long as it cannot be shown that matter or physical forces do actually reason, I shall consider any manifestation of thought as evidence of the existence of a thinking being as the author of such thought, and shall look upon an intelligent and intelligible connection between the facts of nature as distinct proof of the existence of a thinking God, as certainly as man exhibits the power of thinking when he recognises their natural relations.” ® Again and again, too, he maintains that classification is a philosophical study of the highest importance, since it is an attempt to understand the Infinite Wisdom.® His pervading principle is, that a natural system must have an actual existence in nature, but that it consists not simply in actual differences of physical manifestation, but in the intangible differences of plan or conception in the Creative Mind.1° He main- tained for Natural History that it shows the whole creation is the expression of thought, and not the product of physical agents; and that, regarded in that light, it gives scventijic evidence of God’s working in nature.!! This is what he read in the disclosures of the sciences ; and testimony such as his must have enormous weight. His daily thought was all vital with the consciousness of the Infinite Supreme. So he lived face to face with the glorious and solemn facts of a present Deity. Reading so constantly the records of the divine wisdom, and penetrated so deeply with a sense of life’s object and possibilities, he bore about with him a spirit of reverential awe,—a recognition of God that was both an inspiration and a joy. In such a habit of life his heart could never grow old. The poetical tribute which Longfellow addressed to him on his fiftieth birthday so vividly pourtrays his beautiful career, that it will form a fitting conclusion to this paper :— “* It wae fifty years ago, In the pleasant month of May, In the beautiful Pays de Vaud A child in its cradle lay. 8 See the First Chapter in the Essay on Classification in Natural History of the United States. ® See Second Chapter in Essay on Classification, Ibid. 10 Agassiz also referred the phenomena both of the origin and the distribution of species of plants and animals directly to the Divine Will; but his theory here, as Professor Gray observes, ‘‘ may be said to be theistic to excess.” 11 See Tour to Lake Superior, pp. 144, 146. 4 Ih Tor NATURALIST, And Nature, the old nurse, took The child upon her knee, Saying, ‘‘ Here is a story-book My Father has written for thee. on Come, wander with me,’ she said, ‘ Into regions yet untrod, And read what is still unread In the manuscripts of God.’ _And he wandered away and away With Nature, the dear old nurse, Who sang to him night and day The songs of the universe. And whenever the way seemed long, Or his heart began to fail, She would sing a more wonderful song, Or tell a more marvellous tale. So she keeps him still a child, And will not let him go, Though at times his heart beats wild For the beautiful Pays de Vaud. Though at times he hears in his dreams The Ranz des Vaches of old, And the rush of the mountain streams From glaciers clear and cold ; And the mother at home says, ‘ Hark ! For his voice I listen and yearn ; _ It is growing late, and dark, And my boy does not return !’”’ 85, Everton-road, Liverpool. Short Hotes and Queries. Brraps NEAR Harirax.—lIn this district, during the past summer, most of the moorland and woodland birds have been very plentiful. The twite, ring-ouzel, wheatear, skylark, and yellow-hammer have been numerous on the uplands and high moors; plovers have algo nested. The redstart, spotted flycatcher, white throat, lesser redpoll, sand martin, whinchat, meadow pipit, grey and yellow wagtails, have all appeared fairly numerous in the most suitable localities. The song and missel thrush have been more commen this summer than for several seasons. Starlings in fiocks have also been abundant. The moorhen, common sandpiper, water ouzel, and landrail have all nested in the district. Willow wrens have been plentiful in the wocds. The nightjar, partridge, kingfisher, and swift have been observed in the locality. In addition to those men- tioned, all the common species which annually nest in the neighbourhood have bred very freely this summer, and young birds of most kinds are ‘numerous.—F. G. 8. Rawson, Sept. 10th. Saort Norges AND QUERIES. 53 Distrisution oF Tectura testudinalis In YORKSHIRE.—Ini the pages of The Naturalist of Jan., 1879, I published the occurrence of the above molluse at Whitby, and laid claim to the honour of having discovered and published its most southerly habitat. No sooner was this done than some Leeds conchologists drew my attention to a record on this very shell in tke Supplement of Dr. Jeffrey’s ‘‘ British Conchology,” which I had overlooked. Since then I have had some correspondence with Dr. Jeffreys, and incidentally this shell was mentioned. To Yorkshire conchologists I am sure this paragraph of the doctor’s letter will be interesting : ‘‘ Mr. Leckenby got his Yorkshire specimens of Tectura testudinalis from Staithes, together with Dogger Bank shells ; I believe they were dead.” Now as quaint old Staithes—where circumnavigator Cook served his apprenticeship to a grocer—is a little fishing village ten miles N.W. of Whitby, my claim is sustained. As no conchologist will reckon flotsam and jetsam, even if from the Dogger Bank, as equal to the shells which are gathered alive on their feeding grounds, I laid no claim to a dead shell, which I found of this animal in Robin Hood’s Bay, six miles further south than Whitby.—Hy. Crowruer, Beeston Hill, Leeds. Larentia ruficinctata &c., IN YORKSHIRE.-—Having seen, in the pro- gramme of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union’s excursion on Sept. Ist, that Malham is supposed to be the only locality in Yorkshire for Larentia rujicinctata, 11 may be of interest to your readers to know that I have captured about Oughtershaw, Langstrothdale, in Craven, at an elevation of 1200 feet above the sea-level, at the sources of the Wharfe, several specimens of this insect, one at the beginning of August this year. I - have also taken Chortobius Davus in this district, and Erebia Blandina at Buckden.—Trevor Bast, Woopp, Oughtershaw Hall, Langstrothdale Chase, Skipton. [Mr. Woodd has very kindly sent me specimens of the above for inspection. The Hrebia Blandina and Larentia ruficinctata are well- marked specimens of the ordinary types; but the C. Davus are very curious. They are smaller than any Davus I have noticed before, and the markings are just about between the Thorne Waste specimens, which are all of the variety Rothliebii, and the Scotch form which is the ordinary type of the species. They are, indeed, just what one would expect a hybrid between C. Davys and C. Pampjhilus would be ; and as the large South European variety Lyllus, Hsp., of C. Pamphilus expands from 1 to 15 inches, and has marginal eyes on the underside of the hind wings, it is just possible these specimens may be referable to it. A long series of Oughtershaw specimens must decide that.—G. T. P.] Scoparia conspicualis aND Dicrorampha herbosana at GRassineton.—I took a Scoparia last June in Grass High Wood, Grassington, which I did not recognize, and have had it in the corner of one of my store boxes until last week, when I sent it to Mr. C. G. Barrett, along with a few local Tortrices. He has, however, returned it me, named SN. conspicualis, ay Tue Naruratist. which is a good addition to the lepidopterous fauna of Upper Wharfedale, and happily confirms Mr. Porritt’s surmise (see Nat. N.S.. viii., p. 27) that he had seen it at the Union’s excursion to Grassington in 1882. Another species amongst others taken there by my brother may be worth recording, viz., D. herbosana.—E. P. P. Burrerrizyp, Wilsden, Bingley, Sept., 1883. [The interest of the capture of S. conspicualis at Grassington is further. enhanced by the fact that the specimen was taken in June, as it points strongly to there being two broods during the year of this comparatively recent addition to the British list. Previously the species had only been recorded as occurring in August.—G. T. P.] Nephrodium cristatum.—-A| Correction.—Dr. F. Arnold Lees has kindly called my attention to an erroneous statement in my List of York Ferns (Naturalist, July, 1883, pp. 178 and 181), with regard to the first finding of this fernat Askham Bog. Mr. West and I certainly discovered it in September, 1875, without having the least idea that it had been previously found there: but as Dr. Lees has referred me to more than one previous record of it, I hasten to correct the error. He says: ‘‘ In Watson’s ‘ Topographical Botany’ (1873-4) it stands recorded for the south-west division of Yorkshire, with a query for the mid-west division also. Askham Bog comes within the latter area. Mr. John Hardy, now of Manchester (formerly of Sheffield), first added it to the Yorkshire flora, having got it on the border of Thorne Waste. In 1872 I confirmed that ‘‘ find’ by gathering it there myself in small quantity in a boggy, bushy place. In 1873 I gave the 8.W. division of Yorks. to Mr. Watson for it. A year, or perhaps two, later (certainly before 1875), when I lived at Leeds, Mr. Henry Ibbotson told me it grew on the bog at Askham. He had, I understood, found it himself. It occurs ina MS list of his which I hold, furnished to me when I was preparing my work on ‘ West Yorkshire ’ (including the Ainsty). I went to the bog and gathered a frond or two myself; as you say, it is very scarce, and peculiar in habit of pinna-insertion, &c. To Mr. Ibbotson, who is a good botanist, and discovered it independently of you, belongs the credit of leading me to gather it and publish it in 1875 for Askham Bog, in ‘ West Yorkshire’ (p. 324-5).” Of course I have no further wish to claim to have first discovered this fern in Yorkshire, and would have corrected the error earlier had not temporary absence from England prevented me. Probably I should not have overlooked tkese previous records had I not been for some years separated from Yorkshire and its botanists.—Ropsr, Miture Curisty, Canada, Aug. 25th, 1883. A Last or Fiownrinc PLants AND Ferns growing in Lincolnshire (north and south divisions), recorded from those Vice-counties in the Bot. Record Club Reports, for 1875 to 1882, which are omitted from those Vice-counties in the 2nd edition of ‘‘ Topographical Botany,” by Rev. W. Fowler, M.A. :— _— SHort Notes anp QUERIES. 5d Lincotn Nort, 54. 1. Clematis Vitalba, + (54), 1878 Rep., p. 8 155. Silene anglica, 1881-2 Rep., p. 185 247. Rhamnus frangula, 1877 Re., p.p. 211 and 234 291. Ornithopus perpusillus, 1876 Rep., 160 384, Callitriche platycarpa, 1876 Rep., p. 162 592. Arctium intermedium, 1881-2 Rep., p. 192 818. Teucrium scorodonia, 1875 Rep., p. 107 1040. Epipactis palustris, 1881-82 Rep., p. 196 1213. Carex elongata, 1881-82 Rep., p. 198 1218. Carex eu-arenaria (as occurring inland as well as on the coast), 1879 Rep., p. 61 1232. Carex acuta, 1880 Rep., p. 138 1303. Aira caryophyllea, 1875 Rep., p. 112 1310. Avena pubescens, 1880 Rep., p. 139 1322. Glyceria plicata, 1880 Rep., p. 139 1384, Polystichum angulare, 1880 Rep., p. 139 1410. Botrychium lunaria, 1875 Rep., p. 113 Lincoitn Sovura, 53. 135. Viola Reichenbachiana, 1879 Rep., p. 52 257. Anthyllis vulneraria, 1879 Rep., p. 54 345. Rosa tomentosa, 1881-82 Rep., p. 188 528. Asperula cynanchica, 1879 Rep., p. 57 652. Cineraria campestris, 1877 Rep., p. 285 905. Plantago Coronopus, 1877 Rep., p. 220 950. Rumex palustris, 1881-2 Rep., p. 227 1056. Habenaria viridis, 1880 Rep., p. 137 1234. Carex eu-flava, 1880 Rep. p. 188 1420. Hquisetum maximum, 1880 Rep., p. 139 The following species recorded in the reports are also omitted, but because considered nowhere indigenous in Britain, and as such, not traced out comitally at all in the ‘* Topograpical Botany.” 273. Tripolium hybridum (par. 53), 1877 Rep.. p. 211 650. Senecio saracenicus (par. 53), 1880 Rep., p. 1386 653. Doronicum Pardalianches: (par. 54), 1877 Rep., p. 218 Nepeta Cataria.—This plant is queried ‘‘an escape,” in Top. Bot. edition 1, and the query is not erased in edition 2, although in the Bot. Rec. Club Reports for 1877, p. 241, and elsewhere, it is proved to occur abundantly, and under no circumstances entitling it to be suspected. REVIEW.—‘‘ The Natural History of Hastings and St. Leonards an the Vicinity,” First Supplement, 1883, 1s.—We have been very pleased to receive from the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield, a copy of the first supplement to the fauna and flora of the Hastings district, published in 1878, by the Hastings and St. Leonards Philolsophical Society. No better proof of the great usefulness and energy of the Sussex naturalists is required than 56 THe NATURALIST. this supplement, as in the five years that have elapsed since 1878, no less than 1500 species in the various orders have been added as new to the district investigated. More than half of the whole list is devoted to the various orders, comprising the insecta ; then follow the birds ; additions to the various orders of plants, including hepaticee, lichens, fungi, fresh- water alge, &c. An addition to the former little work, is an entirely new list of the coleoptera, and the insects altogether number the grand total of 3513, made up as follows :— Coleoptera ... iyi mer ae ca ohene eaNel Lepidoptera... a Sap ie she vee EOI Hymenoptera :— Merebrantiay «es. ie er 87 Ichneumonidee bas ia 212 Fossores, &c. ... Be Bs the Pie Cynipidee i abd Ae 13 Anthophila, &e. ase sie 123 Hemiptera :— Heteroptera ... es ARS 238 =] Homoptera ... ae see 102 § oar Diptera BH vale ay ae aoe i eZoo Neuroptera ... isa jae me ae site 48 Trichoptera ... BBS noe oe bis ane 23 Other insects ae see se sis wes 21 3513 ——— Special care has been taken to submit doubtful species for determination to the leading specialists in the various groups, thus thoroughly avoiding the too common fault of incorrect nomenclature by incompetent compilers, and which invariably renders such lists, to a great extent, useless for scientific purposes. We congratulate the Society most heartily on its work. OBITUARY.—-Hznry Harpur Crewr.—We deeply regret to have to announce the death of the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe, M.A., which event took place on September 7th, at the Rectory at Drayton Beauchamp, Tring, at the comparatively early age of 54. Mr. Crewe’s reputation as a lepidopterist will be as lasting as it was extensive, for his knowledge of the British species of the large genus Hupithecia was unrivalled in Britain or elsewhere. For many years this genus was his favourite and especial study, and the minutest details in. the careful descriptions of the larvee of almost every species have been read with delight by all who take interest in the group. I believe too, that almost the last (perhaps the last) specimens of Noctua subrosea taken in Britain were captured by Mr. Crewe. Ina letter I have from him, dated from Drayton Beauchamp Rectory, January 27th, 1872, he writes: ‘‘ Do you know of anyone who Or REPoRTS OF SocrETIES. a has taken N. subrosea of late years? In 1852, just after I left college, I took a number of wasted specimens at sugar about seventeen miles from here, by the side of a very old forest pond which has since been drained and cultivated. It may exist there still. JI have never visited the locality since.” For the last nine years or so, Mr. Crewe had not done much active collecting, but was still always ready and pleased to assist others in the science he loved so well ; and many, including myself, have in him lost an old and valued friend.—G.T.P. Reports of Socreties. BrapForD Naturarists’ Socrmety.—Meeting Sept. 18th, Mr. J. W. Carter, president, in the chair.—Mr., Bennett gave an account of a ramble in Lincolnshire, and exhibited a specimen of the fungus Polyporus squamosus. Mr. Soppitt described a visit to Ingleton, and showed Puccinea Anderson and P. clinopodi, found in Helks Wood. He also reported having seen Gentiana amarella in flower. Mr. W. D. Roebuck, of Leeds, gave a very interesting lecture on ‘‘ Slugs,” illustrated by a collection of living specimens sent to him for the occasion by Mr. Ash- ford, of Christchurch. Mr. B. Spencer exhibited specimens of Inula dysenterica, Melilotus officinalis, and Achillea ptarmica (flora plena). Mr. Andrews, Veronica anagallis, Aconitum Napellus and Malwa sylvestris. — JoHN Hastwoop, Hon. Sec. HuppERSFIELD NATURALISTS’ SocteTy.—Meeting September 10th, Mr. Clarke, v.p., in the chair.—Mr. Clarke exhibited a number of plants, including Polygonum aviculare, var. microspermum, new to the district. The chairman called attention to the show of wild flowers which took place at the Exhibition on the 27th August. 313 species had been laid upon the tables, all with cards giving their scientific and common names, and other particulars. The number might have reached 400 if a sufficient number of competent persons had been there to arrange them. Several ladies contributed handsome bouquets of wild flowers. Mr. S. L. Mosley exhibited a living scorpion (probably vejovis sp.) taken from logwood in the town. Vol I. of ‘‘ The Geological Survey of England and Wales” was added to the library.—S. L. M. Hort Natvuratists’ Soctery.—Last Bank Holiday a few members of the society went for a trip to Spurn Point. Nothing need be said of the ride to Withernsea, nor of the drive to Easington, nor of the walk from the latter place to Kilnsea, where the work of the day commenced, except to observe that right opposite this village there is what may be called a sea.of'mud, some 15,000 acres in extent. Why is this not reclaimed ? Fancy 15 farms of 1000 acres each, or, if divided still more, it would form a small colony. A good view of the moon-shaped ridge forming the Point, with the lighthouses in the distance, may be obtained from this 58 THz NATuRALIST. place. Going a little way to the left, we are soon on the narrow peninsula. One of the first plants observed was the common ragwort (Senecio Jacobea), almost every plant of which was covered with the beautiful caterpillars of the cinnabar moth (Huchelia Jacobe). The flora is not an extensive one, but very pronounced in type, being almost exclusively marine, and the few inland plants that occur are so eaten by the rabbits as to be past identifying. Here, almost side by side, may be seen Salicornea herbacea, Sueda maritima, and Salsola kali. ‘There are few places where the mechanical influence of plants can be better observed than here, for were it not for the subterranean stems and roots of some half-dozen varieties of plants holding the sand together, there is little doubt but Spurn Point would have been washed away long ago, for the ridge at the top is in some places not more than 18 inches wide. The most valuable of these plants for this purpose are Elymus arenarius, Triticum junceum, Psamma arenaria, Carex arenaria, Hippophae rham- noides, Convolvulus Soldanella, and Eryngiwm maritumum, which are here found abundantly. The following are selected from about 30 species of birds seen, a few of which were shot by an enthusiastic member of the party :—Little tern (Sterna minuta), a summer visitant which breeds at Spurn, arriving in May and leaving in September ; herring gull (Larus argentatus); ringed plover (gialis hiaticula) ; common wheatear (Saxicola cnanthe), a summer visitant, and local; common curlew (Numenius arquata), resident and local, and so shy and suspicious as to have given rise to a saying in the Hebrides that ‘‘ To kill seven curlews is enough for a lifetime” ; rock pipit (Anthus obscwrus) with nest and young. This latter bird is said to be plentiful, but always solitary, finding its food chiefly at and within high-water mark, where it runs with remarkable ease along the sand ; its nest is made of bents or other plants growing near the sea. The choicest specimen seen or prscured was the Manx shearwater (Puffinus anglorum), which had flown against the light- house the previous night and been captured by the keeper. Twenty-three species of lepidoptera were observed, representing the following groups, viz :—Diurni, Nocturni, Geometre, and Noctue, the rarest species taken being the lyme grass moth (Tapinostola elymi). After a pleasant, though rather heavy walk, the extreme point was at last reached. Here we found a great quantity of Cakile maritima ; here also we refreshed the inner man, then rounded the point, visiting the lighthouse people. Two of us then made a very hasty inspection of the pre-historic kitchen midden on the coast just opposite the village, but found nothing except oyster shells. Evidently somebody keeps a very sharp look-out at this interesting locality. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL Soctnty.—Meeting, Aug. 27th, the president (Mr. S. J. Capper) in the chair.—Mr. J. L. R. Dixon read a paper entitled ‘‘ A comparison between the structure and function of the eyes in the various groups of insects,” in which he described, with REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 59 the aid of well executed diagrams, the various modifications which are found in the eyes of insects, and gave his reasons for believing that the function of the facets in the compound eyes is that of accommodation, their focal lengths varying. He believed the use of the simple eyes (ocelli) was merely for the purpose of the perception of light. The meeting terminated with the usual conversazione. Matton Fretp Naruratists’ Excursion.—On Thursday, September 13th, the Malton Field Naturalists’ Society had a delightful excursion to Eegton Bridge and Goathland Moors. Both ladies and gentlemen were in the party, and left by early trains for Grosmont. From thence they wandered up the Esk Valley to Egton Bridge, or through the lovely Arncliffe Woods (with the kind permission of Mr. White), and to the village of Glaisdale, where a halt wasmade. The site of the Brigantian village was next explored, also the moor below the Roman road, and forward to Brick Hole for the picturesque cascades, Thomasin Foss and Mill Foss ; after which the party reassembled at the Goathland Hotel for tea. The botanists had a successful day amongst the ferns and mosses, and some fine examples of the oak and beech fern, and other rarer species were secured. The district traversed is a most lovely one, and the naturalists much enjoyed this their last excursion of the season. Mancuester Cryprogamic Socrery.—Monthly meeting, August, Captain Cunliffe in the chair.--The hon. secretary read a number of letters from corresponding members of the society. Mr. G. A. Holt sent a number of mosses as a contribution to the society’s herbarium, amongst them being some rare local mosses, including specimens of Mniwm stellare and Gymnostomum calcarewm in fruit, from Derbyshire. The secretary exhibited specimens of Campylopus brevifolius, a very rare British moss, hitherto only recorded in Scotland. The moss had been sent by Mr. Boswell, he having discovered it last month on the banks of the Wye, near Builth. Dr. J. B. Wood, of Broughton, sent washed-out specimens of the same gathering to show that in the length of stems it differed from the description given in Bryol. Eur. The secretary presented specimens of Campylopus paradoxus from Abergynolwyn ; Dicranwm arcticum from Ben Mac Dhui; and several interesting New Zealand hepatics. Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited specimens of Marsupella alpina, collected on the Glyders, North Wales, by Mr. E. M. Holmes; and specimens of a lichen, Dermatocarpon Garovaglii, by Mr. George Davis on the coast near Brighton. Mr. Pearson’s exhibits were distributed amongst the members present. Captain Cunliffe exhibited and distributed a number of good cryptogams which he had recently gathered at Barmouth, amongst them were Philonotis rigida, Isopterygium demissum, and Hypnwm purwn, in excellent fruiting condition ; amongst the ferns were Asplenwm lanceo- latwn and Hymenophyllum tunbridgense. Mr. Wm. Foster exhibited four most elegant and fairy-like forms of Athyrium filix-feemina in a living condition. They had been grown in a little back yard in the neighbour- 60 THe NATURALIST. hood of Salford. These elegant varieties were first raised by Mr. Thos. Glover, of Manchester, some fifteen years ago. _ Montaty Msetine, Sept. 17th, Mr. W. H. Pearson, vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. T. Rogers exhibited specimens of Sphacelaria plumigera, a recent addition to our list of British sea-weeds The specimens were gathered in July, on muddy rocks at low water, Llanfairfechan, by Mr. J. Cosmo Melville, F.L.S., who very kindly sent specimens for distri- bution. Mr. Pearson laid upon the table for examination fasciculus I. of Holmes’ Alge Britannice, which included specimens of the Sphacelaria. He also exhibited three new hepatics: Cesia latifolia (Lindb.), Lepidozia Wulfsbergit (lindb.), and Riccia pedemontana (Steph.). Dr. John Roberts sent a fresh-water alga from Anglesea, and this, upon examina- tion by Mr. West, proved to be Chetophora endivefolia. About the same. time Mr. Melville had also collected the same species in Lynn Uoron, Anglesea, specimens of which were monnted in a dried form for exhibition. Mr. West, of Bradford, sent several interesting species and varieties of British mosses, including the rare Pissidens rufulus in fruit, specimens of which were distributed at the meeting. Mr. Harry Searle, of Ashton, sent vegetating spores of Chara, which he had been recently cultivating. The hon. secretary distributed fresh-gathered specimens of Plagiotheciwm sylvaticum in fruit ; and Mr. Cash, who had just returned from some classic cryptogamic localities in Scotland, sent a packet of Tortula papillosa from Ayrshire for distribution. Mr. G. A. Holt sent specimens of Mylia Taylori with perfect capsules.; these he had found at Linton, Yorkshire.—TuHos. RoeErs, Hon. Sec. YorK anpD District Fizexp Narurauists’ Socrety.—Meeting Sep- tember 12th.—Mr. Wilkinson exhibited the following plants :—Scirpus tabernemontan, Scuteilaria minor, both of which were collected near Strensall, and are considered to be new to the district ; also specimens of Drosera rotundifolia, D. anglica, D. intermedia. He also exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Henry Ibbotson, specimens of Dianthus Armeria and Bromus racemosus, var. Bellottii. The former he reports’ to be nearly extinct in the neighbourhood, and the latter has recently been discovered on Clifton Ings. The chairman exhibited a box of fine insects, sent to him by Mr. 8. J. Capper, of Huyton Park, Liverpool, containing amongst others the following species :—Selidosema plumaria, Hupithecia pul- chellata, EH. debiliata, Scotosia dubitata, Cymatophora ridens, Catocala sponsa, Plisia interregationis, Notodonta trepida, Limacodes asellus, and Bombyx trifolti. The hon. secretary, Mr. Prest, exhibited a specimen of that rare tortrix, Mixodia rubiginosana, taken by himself at Sandburn, and new to Yorkshire ; also a large and beautiful series of Cidaria immanata, amongst them some remarkable varieties, a long series of Noctua neglecta, also taken at Sandburn, many variettes of Hypsipetes elutata, and specimens of Nonagria brevilinea, Meliana flammea, and Leucana albipuncta.—W. Prest, Hon. See. Diary.—Meeiings of Societies. Oct. 2. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—‘ Observations on Local Geology,” ee H..S. Ward, 7-30 p.m. |. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. . Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. 2 2 ~\ 45, °8. Wakefield Naturalists’. and Philosophical Society. “3 6 . Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. . Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. 5, 8. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—“Gleanings from the Evolu- Saas tionists,’’ G. P. Stather, 8 p.m. -,, 10. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. », 12. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 5, 15. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. » 15. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—‘Natural History Notes,” H. J. Riley, 7-30 p.m. ,» 20. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Saiki trays Evening, 8 p.m. », 25. York St. Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. 5, 29. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. é » 90. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—‘t Animal Parasites,’ A. J: = Kershaw, 7-30 p.m. ‘THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST, a Quarterly Magazine of Rataral Science. Edited by Professor TRAIL, Aberdeen. Annual Subscriptions, payable in advance, 4s. 6d., post free. ‘Articles and communications for the Magazine should be sent Sy the: Editor. before the Ist of December March, June, or September, if intended for publication in the January, April, July, or October numbers respectively. Orders for copies, subscriptions, &c., should be sent to S. Cowan & Co., Perth, from whom also Terms for Advertising may be had. INDISPENSABLE TO STUDENTS. AND. COLLECTORS. THE JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY < ontains Descriptions and Figures of New Species and Varietics, Geographical Lists, and original Articles, dealing with all de- partments of the science by the leading Conchol ogists of the eee IV. commenced Jan., 1883. PRICE 4/- PER Grout Lonpon: D. Bogue, St. Martin’s Place, W.C. LEEDs : Taylor Brothers, The Steam Colour Printing Works. VOLS. I, Il, & IIT MAY STILL BE HAD. Just Published, ce 800, boar ds, THE INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION, -By the Rev. 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No GS ok NOVEMBER, 1883. __ VOL. IX. CONTENTS. ~ ORTGMNAL ArticiEs, &c. : tae ‘The Woolhope. Club at E Eleretoka: —Fungus ‘pom “HT. Soppiti.: oy 61 Wm. Wilson’ s'Tours in Scotland and Ireland. —Concluded.—Jas.. Cash ah ee CON Pee NGS HOR BEPTEMBI. 22.0 0 o.i1.) fa conf BOCES e ha 6B “Nores; .&c. é Slug new i Vorkchins —W. Denison Rocbuck ... ... Sih lo Ne aie) OB: : Fox Shark, &c., at Bridlington Quay.— WV. F. Dobree ER ans a 68 he Testacella heliotidea, var. scutulum in Yorkshire. WW, Denison Rocbuck srt OM) ts Natural History Notes from Wharfedale. —George ROD EROS ©, ae cig ae ye 70 |} " Huddersfield Exhibition 7 sir oo ie 71 Lepidoptera new to Yorkshire. a 1. ‘Porr ‘itt, °F. he 8. she Bs ne (arene Notices or Books, &e. = Sr eae ay Aaa ent e eee eat a: es OF SOCIETIES :— = > aes : aaa sal | ° Bradford Naturalists Society: s 3 Ys span) eae Vue eer Al | Filey Meeting, V.N.U. i Concholosical Section . A ae ae see) 72 || - , Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society ... We Cree SEG RUE Nicay Oe 73 Pree cele Yorkshire Naturalists’ POE. —Malham aot a ae ae eee c) 5 : Beets : ah Me Soke nnn en Aen A OPS eee Mae < ; Bl A, 2 HUDDERSFIELD: aoe | eet oy. ey —B. Brown, “Marker Pracn Corner. \ FO. CORRESPONDENTS. ore NATURALIST is published on the first of every shortly subscription A/ a year, post free, payable in advance. The volume commences in August of each year. Intendine new subscribers should send in their names immediately. — SAMA communications, except. Advertisements, Exchanges, or Short Queries, : should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of the | ; “current month, to i insure insertion im our next. issue, and should be written on one side of the sheetonly.. — _ AUTHORS WISHING ror REPRINTS oF ‘THEIR PAPERS can. ahaa them on- ae - following terms, but the order must -aceompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four pages, 25 copies As; 50 copies OS., 100 copies 6s. Gp. _ Not exceeding eight pages, 25 copies 5s., 50 copies Gs. ’6., 100 copies Qs., and so on in proper ee tion. - Printed covers and separate title pages: extra. ALL COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO.- THE EDITORS io OF MR. B. EON, eee HUDDERSFIELD. eee TRA NSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NA TURA LISTS’ UNION. . PARTS -V- AND VT. have eiely been published, and eovieaa the “ List of Yorkshire Lepidoptera” by Mr. Geo. T. Porritt, F.L.S., the continuation of _ Nelson and- Taylor’s ‘‘ Annotated List of Vorkshire Tan and Fresh-water - Mollusea (Dreissena, Neritina. Paludina, Bythinia. and Valvata),” the conclusion oe of Bairstow, Roebuck, and Wilson’s third list of ‘‘ Yorkshire Hymenoptera,” - and the Reports on.“ Yorkshire Botany” by Messrs. W. West and B, Arnold _ Lees, F.L.S. [with plate of Carex saxumbra |. The previous Parts ety, be had at the filowine prices : 2 SG ey 39 Part dS 1877, pee 218 to Members, 3/3 to Public. DH eT BARTS ie 9). ae 2/6 a Bs apn Ree aa m3 1/6 var 2/- 5 4 mee LTO. A EIS = 5 Bf ie 99 The Transactions are supplied to Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union in return for the subscription ef 5s.-or upwards per annum. Members are also entitled to all excursion USS and other Pees: Dppbeations for swembership may be sent to eps > W., DENISON Romnex Sunny Bank, cop : : Leeds, eee | Hon. Wn. Bacre CLARKE, 25, Hest view, i dlydese Park Road, LE Leeds: eK Sees. EXOHANGES. De PLICATES, EG oan minimus, Helleborus viridis, H. foetidus, ae eae Panaver somniferum, Meconopsis cambrica, Honkeneya peploides, Geranium sanguineum, G. sylvaticum, G. pratense. G. pyrenaicum, G. rotun= - difolium, G. lucidum, Astragalus hypoglottis. Vicia bithynica, Saxifraga aizoides, S. granulata, Parnassia palustris, Trinia- vulgaris, Seseli libanotis — Inula pulicaria. Erica ciliaris, Gentiana pneumonanthe, -Atropa belladonna, * Ajuga chamoepitys, Teucrium Botrys. Primula farincsa, Euphorbia paralias, Aceras anthropophora, Orchis pyramidalis, ©. ustulata. Gymnadenia conopsea,- ~ Habenaria viridis, H. bifolia, Herminium monorchis. Ophrys apifera. O. muscifera. Spiranthes autumnalis, Neottia nidus-avis, Epipactis Jatifolia, E. palustris, Cephalanthera grandiflora, Paris quadrifolia, ys a Desrpenata.—Local Dieotyledons and Monocotvledons (Petaloidece pres. a ferred). —HERBERT GOSS. Berrylands, Surbiton. Hill, Surrey.. E Good specimens of merlin. kestrel. sparrow-hawk, mountain. harric?, ereat - erey shrike, dipper, ring-ouzel. blue-throated warbler, black-headed buntmg, oe brambling, hawfinch. -siskin, mealy redpoll, pine grosbeak, crosbill, - rose= ” coloured pastor, and manv others, for other birds, nests, or eggs, especially. nests of red-back shrike. pied flycatcher, black redstart. stonechat. wood wren, chiffehaff, any tits, except long-tailed, any wagtails, any pipits,- except. ‘meadow, any larks, any buntines: except common black-headed, and i yellowes e® 7: MOSEEY, Beaumont ~ee Huddersfield. : Original Articles. THE WOOLHOPE CLUB AT HEREFORD.—FUNGUS FORAY. By H. T. Soppirt. DurRine the first week in October the Woolhope Club held their sixteenth annual fungus foray. | For several years past I had read graphic accounts of the Woolhope meetings with considerable interest, and this year, having received an invitation, coupled with a most interesting programme, was determined to be present. Monday, Oct. Ist, arrival at Hereford, was the first item announced on the circular, and on that date I accordingly made my way thither. On arriving at Hereford I noticed a gentleman on the platform, and judging from his general contour, thought must be a fungologist ; upon making his acquaintance found I was right, for the gentleman in question was no less a personage than Dr. Bull, who at once informed me where I should find Canon Du Port and Mr. Broome, who had already arrived. At that moment a train steamed into the station, bringing Dr. Cooke and Dr. Wharton from London, and immediately afterwards Dr. Carlyle from Carlisle. Tuesday, Oct. 2nd.—The first excursion took place by rail, to Ludlow, for Moor Park and Woodeves Coppice. There was a good muster, the weather being very fine, and each one being provided with a basket. On arriving at Ludlow, waggonettes were in waiting, and the party eventually reached -Woodeves Coppice, where fungi occurred in profusion. — To some, all was fish that came to the net was a rule, judging from the pretty coloured specimens of Ag. laccatus and other common highly- coloured species in their baskets, whilst others only gathered rare and _ eritical species, and placed each species in separate paper bags. Cortinarw were extremely abundant. Hearing a shout in the distance, and fearing something had gone wrong, I hastened to the spot, and found half-a-dozen of the party surrounding several specimens of the rare Strobilomyces strobilaceus. Our baskets gradually got filled, and the party slowly retraced their steps to Moor Park. Qn the way back, I recognised a voice in the wood, and found Mr. N.S., Vou. 1x. Noy. 1883, 62 ; THe NATURALIST. Plowright, who had arrived later and followed the party, with Mr. Phillips and Rev. J. E. Vize. At two o’clock, the whole of the party had reached the mansion in Moor Park, where a most sumptuous luncheon was provided by Mr. Forster ; after which the gardens and conservatories were inspected. Near the park entrance several monstre specimens were gathered of Polyporus guganteus and P. dryadeus, also large examples of Boletus Satanus. Later on in the day, the party was hospitably entertained at Abbey Villa, Ludlow, by Messrs. Fortey, and subsequently returned to Hereford, where the bulk of the fungi was deposited in the museum. In the evening the party met at the house of Dr. Bull, where the Rev. Canon Du Port read an instructive paper on the “ Colours of Fungi,” and was followed by a paper on “ Recent’ Researches upon the Uredines,” by Mr. C. B. Plowright. The latter dwelt chiefly on the connection of Puccinia arundinacea (not magnusiana) with Hoadium rumicis. Wednesday, Oct. 3rd.—Most of the party were up early studying the fungi, and towards nine o'clock the clouds assumed such a threatening attitude, that only four of us ventured on the Dinmore excursion. We were somewhat at a disadvantage, as our baskets had to be filled during a continuous downpour of rain which lasted several hours ; however, we were well repaid by the many good things we took back, and by the charming scenery about Dinmore. All the hedges were covered with Clematis wtalba, and many other rare flowering plants occurred in the woods. Arriving back at Hereford we found most of the party still busy with the fungi. Shortly afterwards the whole of the party got scattered at various dinner parties in the district, after which a meeting took place in the Wooihope Club Room, where an elaborate paper was read by Dr. Wharton (on behalf of Dr. Stewart) on the ‘“‘ Chemical Constituents of Fungi,” followed by Mr. C. B. Plowright, on “ Jensen’s Discoveries concerning the Potato Disease.” Thursday, Oct. 4th, was the Club day. Three large waggonettes left Hereford for Hayward Forest and Bryngwyn, several miles out, and where fungi were again abundant. A fine specimen of the tawny owl was taken from a trap and bagged by one of the party. On returning to Hereford upwards of seventy sat down to the public dinner at the Green Dragon, at which the Chanterelle was served (badly cooked). Dr. Bull made a brilliant speech, and Dr. Cooke followed with a Soppitt: Funaus Foray At HEREFORD. 63 humourous paper on ‘‘A Missing Chapter from the Tramp Abroad.” Later on, the party adjourned to the house of Mr. T. Cam, where several papers were read and a fine collection of drawings inspected, sent for exhibition by Mr. Massee, of Scarborough. At this stage of the proceedings I took my departure from Hereford, and arrived home at three in the morning. Friday, Oct. 5th., Dr. Carlyle informs, me was spent at Ledbury, where several good things were collected, including Ag. Bucknall. The evening was devoted to the reading of papers, &c. Saturday, Oct. 6th.—The visitors took their departure. WM. WILSON’S TOURS IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 1827-1830. By Jas, Casa. (Read before the Manchester Cryptogamic Society, April 16th, 1883.) (Concluded.) SCOTLAND AND IRELAND: 1829-30. On the 17th of February, 1830, Mr. Wilson sailed from Dublin for Holyhead, where he spent some time botanising. On the 18th, during a walk to Trefriw rabbit warren, he gathered, amongst other things, Desmatodon nervosus. ‘This moss he again found three days later in another locality. He also gathered Gymnostomum conicum (Pottia Starkeana, var. 8), Phascum muticum, P. rectum, and Grimmia maritima. After this he went to Yr-allt-Fawr, and succeeded in finding Hypaum illecebrum and Grimmia trichophylla. Of Hypnum illecebrumhe saw plenty afterwards at a place called Bryn ddti. He continued to botanise in Anglesea and about Bangor until near the end of March, visiting Llyn Oegwen and Twill dda; also Cadnant, where he gathered Pterogonium gracile, Grimmia trichophylia, &c. In the previous year he had been fortunate in discovering, near this place, the rose which was named after hin— Rosa Wilsont. On the 29th of March Mr. Wilson left Bangor on foot and walked to Abergele, putting up there at the “George IV.” inn. I wish we botanists could record of every hostelry we enter what Wilson says of this: “ Bed, comfortable, 6d.; breakfast 8d.” On the 30th he walked to Foryd (I suppose Rhyl was not then known even by name) and going on board the tidal packet, which sailed at two a.m. on the 31st, he landed at Liverpool after a four hours’ sail. Proceeding homeward on one of the Bridgwater packet boats, and leaving his 64 THE NATURALIST. baggage to be forwarded by canal from Runcorn, he walked to Pad- dington, which place he reached about dusk, after an absence from home of about nine months. This narrative would be incomplete if I did not read to you some of the correspondence which arose out, of Mr. Wilson’s sojourn in Treland. On the 23rd December, 1830, Prof. Hooker wrote to Mr. Wilson as follows :—‘‘ My dear Sir: You will, I am sure, think that I pester you with letters, but the occasion upon which I now write to you is this: I was yesterday examining your lichens, and among them [ found one which interested me exceedingly. You have marked it 84 in your MSS.; and again, it is one of two lichens in your number 212 (the barren state.) The genus is Séicta. There is no British Sticta that at all approaches to it, either in habit or in character. But there is one,a foreign one, a native, too, of the Isle of France {Mauritius,] which I can hardly distinguish from it, at least some of its states—and that is Sticta macrophylla, which I have figured in the first number of my Botanical Miscellany. Do compare your plant with it, if you have the number of the Miscellany, making allowance for the figure being made from the finest specimen I had, and of that variety ‘ Apotheciis marginalibus, whereas I have specimens of Sticta macrophylla as small as your plant, and with the apothecia scattered. In the paper marked 212, the barren plant is the Sticta, the fertile one Parmelia tiliacea. You will see in the former the little pits or hollows (cyphelle) embedded in the downy lower surface of the frond, which are characteristic of the genus Sticta. Of your. other lichens No. 171 is Sticta sylvatica. * * Pray have you much of the above new Sticta, or is there any person in the country who can gather more of it? Can you spare a specimen for Sowerby to draw,* and one for Mr. Borrer? Either Mr. Borrer or I will describe it for English Botany, unless you will do so.—Yours, &., W. J. Hooxrr.” Absence from home prevented Mr. Wilson answering this letter until the 7th of February. The absorbing question between them was—who, in Ireland, could be depended upon to gather the famous lichen? Wilson thought of J. T. Mackay, the author of Flora Hibernica, but Mackay was living in Dublin, and might not immedi- ately be visiting the south. Hooker suggested Harvey, who lived at Limerick. This was apparently the first time that Wilson had heard of the young Quaker botanist. “There is,’ Hooker wrote, “a very zealous Irish botanist (and a Quaker), who is about to publish a work on new cryptogamic plants, but particularly alge. He draws very * For English Botany. Casu: Wuzson’s Tours IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 65 nicely, and will engrave the plates himself. As soon as the spring approaches, he will visit the south of Ireland, and I have particularly urged him to seek for the Sticta macrophylla, which he will do if we will send him the exact particulars of the station. No one can do this so well as yourself, and I have now to ask the favour of you to communicate with him; and I am sure, if you wish it, he will gather the Sticta for you, and any other plant you may express a wish to have, and that he may chance to fall in with. His address is ‘ W. H. Harvey, Esq., Summerville, Limerick.’ In the spring he will make Killarney his head quarters for some time.” * * Mr. Wilson lost no time in communicating with Harvey, and sent him full particulars of the habitat of the S¢icta. In writing, he also sent Harvey specimens of tiypuum demissum and H. micans, with a request that he would look out for these novelties also; and on the 9th of Feb., Harvey replied, telling Wilson of his contemplated journey, and also mentioning the fact of Hovkeria lete-virens being abundant at Turk Waterfall, and in fruit. Dr. Hooker happened to be preparing for the press his second volume (the Cryptogamia) of the British Flora, and on the 22nd March, 1832, he wrote to Wilson: ‘“ I am working now at the lichens, and have printed about one-third of that family. Your Sticta is, unques- tionably, the most interesting British individual of the tribe. I shall be greatly disappointed if, after the full statement of the locality you have given to Mr. Harvey, he should fail to find it. With his corres- pondence I did not doubt you would be pleased ; and he is as much gratified in being put into correspondence with you.” In April of that year Harvey went to Killarney. Though he was, as we may believe, interested in the search for Sticta macrophylla, yet he found opportunity for other work. He was at that time just twenty years old, and, as is the case with most young enthusiasts in Natural History, his pursuits were somewhat varied. They embraced bird- stuffing and shell collecting. Mosses and Jungermannia, flowering plants and sea-weeds, were alike welcome to him. In this particular _ journey he records the finding of Zuréo politus, a rare shell, at Bantry, and also a new species of Lymnea (involuta), very distinct from any other, most like Lymnea glutinosa, but differing abundantly. (Memoir, p: 25.) But it is very surprising to find that the editor of the Memoir makes no mention of the commission given to Harvey with regard to Sticta macrophylla. At the end of April Hooker received a letter from Harvey announcing his success ; thereupon Hooker wrote to Wilson : “T have just heard from Harvey, anJ his letter is accompanied by specimens of the Sticta. It was very soon in fruit.” 66 THe NATURALIST. Harvey’s letter to Wilson, upon his return to Limerick, is worth reproducing, as it relates not only to the precious lichen, but also to some of the musci for which Wilson had asked him to be on the look out :—“ Limerick, 5 mo. 3rd, 1832.—Dear Friend: My journey to Killarney was unfortunately limited, by unavoidable circumstances, to the first week in April, and if I had not seized that opportunity of going, I saw no prospect of being able to visit it for the season. I may get there again for a week in August, but it is quite uncertain. ‘“‘ This early travelling prevented me from getting many things, and I am sorry to say that I have got hardly any of thy requisites. To take them seriatim : } “ Hypnum demissum: Thou must have miscalculated the time of throwing up capsules. I could find none but old withered fruit, with here and there a very young seta peeping up. Of course I have none to send thee. ‘“* Hypnum micans: I found a few small patches, but no fruit. “ Sticta macrophylla : I gathered a good share of this, the principal part of which I have sent to our good friend Dr. Hooker, but I have reserved two or three specimens for thee. Dr. Hooker bespoke it long AZO, and as he said he was ‘sorely in want,’ [ deemed it right, in the first place, to relieve his necessities. If thine are very pressing I will keep them in view next trip. I gathered but little fruit, but I found it on several patches at Cromagloun, also in the one thou mentions at Turk cascade. At the first station I found one or two little scraps with marginal fruit. “ Hookeria lete-virens: I can give thee barren specimens, but I did not find a single capsule, and the station is much injured. I found a new station for this plant, and guess where? On the wet dripping rocks opposite the station chair at Turk, growing among thy Marchautia irrigua ! ‘Thou seems to have a strange fatality with regard to this moss. ‘“* Marchantia irrigua : I gathered young fruit, which I can give thee, but took no drawing or description, seeing the fructification was only in embryo. The capsules had not burst their calyptra. The male fruit I am uncertain of ; what I called such, grew on the same frond as the female. ** Zygodun conoideum and Gymnostomum (Zygodon) viridissimum I have for thee. The latter was not in abundant fruit, but I have gota tolerable supply. It grows in this neighbourhood also, on elms, but seldom throws up a fruit stalk. “ Jungermannia Hutchinsie grows in every mountain stream, but I could find no trace of fruit. CasH: WILson’s ToURS IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 67 << Jungermannia curvifolia: I cals give thee a few bits, with ripe capsules. “ Tortula tortuosa: The wall is re-sodded, and the plant destroyed. Oh, Goths and Vandals! I found it, however, in other places, but with young setz, which are, of course, of no value. Bryum |Mnium] cuspidatum with numerous setz I could not find. On the border of the Lake, however, I found Bryum | Mnium] rostratum in that predicament. “These are, I believe, most of thy Killarney plants which were to be seen. Pinguicula grandiflora was only just spreading its leaves. I shall bear thy Glengariff habitats in mind, should I visit that place this summer. I found thy experience of the greatest use at Killarney. Since I wrote thee, I have compared thy Chara aspera with Aghardian specimens, and am convinced they are totally different. It is either Chara galioides of that author, or a new species; but the specimens of C. galioides | examined were very imperfect, and I could form no certain opinion. If thou can afford me a specimen of thy Chara, I shall be much obliged. “‘ Pray write me to say how I can send thee a parcel, and how it is to be directed. ‘‘T remain very truly and respectfully thine, “W. H. Harvey. ‘*¢ P.S.—Could thou possibly contrive to join Dr. Hooker’s party to the Highlands in June?” With reference to the enquiry in the postscript, I may say that Wilson did not visit the Highlands that year. Harvey, however, formed one of Dr. Hooker’s party, and a very happy time he seems, from his Memoir, to have had. Before closing, allow me to refer briefly to two of the mosses which Harvey had been asked specifically to look for—AHypnum demissum and H. micans. One of these (H. demissum) was discovered by Mr. Wilson during his Irish trip in 1829-30. Hypnum micans—or, as it is now called, Leskea micans—was so named by Mr. Wilson, and a description of the species first appeared in Hooker’s British Flora. The localities given in Bryologia Britannica are: ‘On shady rocks in the south of Treland, not yet found in fruit. Near Glengariff, Miss Hutchins. Cromagloun mountain and at Fila Doun, near Killarney, W. Wilson.” The other species was figured by Mr. Wilson, and was first described by him in the English Botany Supplement. The localities given in Bryologia Britannica are as follow: ‘“ On shady rocks in mountainous districts, Cromagloun mountain, near the upper lake of Killarney, and 68 Tar NATURALIST. near Glengariff, Ireland, 1829.” The Beddgelert locality in North Wales, mentioned in Bryoleyia, was a subsequent discovery by Mr. Wilson. Laintall for September. |Height ToraL Faun of 2P ONO: To Dare. Date of ete gauge | Rain-| of heaviest | above fall Daye =— oc ae ea sneavios ieee. | 1883. | 1882. omen Ft. Tn. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 5°68 | 19 27°18 | *23°68 28 1°64 (J. W. Robson) HaAuirax...(F.G.S. Rawson); 365 | 7°70 | 19 ; 34°62 35:94 29 eae LEEDS ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 4°15 | 23 | 22°61 | 18°07 28 0°84 HorsrortH ... (James Fox) 350 | 4°80 | 18! 26.52 | $25-17 28 0°86 BARNSLEY «:. (T. Lister)... 350 | 5°21 | 19 , 25°06 | 22°23 28 1°44 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 6°98 | 17 | 35.87 31°48 28 1°30 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...| 520 | 4:99 | 18 | 26°89 23°40 28 1°32 GOOLE ... (J. HARRISON) ...| 25 | 4°87 | 19! 20°47 22°51 28 1°01 Hutu (Derringham) (Wm.; 10 | 3.94 | 20 | 16°48 | 20°06 10 115 Lawton) | Scarborough Rainfall for September 3°79: 0°93 above average.—A. ROWNTREE. * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 & 1865-83. + Average of 14 years, 187 0-83. Short Notes and Queries. SLUG NEW TO YORKSHIRE.—I have a most important discovery by my indefatigable friend Mr. W. West to announce to the readers of the Naturalist. Wt is Limaz cinereo-niger, one of the most recent additions to the British list of mollusca. Mr. West found it on the 15th October, feeding on a fungus ‘‘ Cortinarius” in Shipley Glen, Mr. Soppitt being with him on the occasion. The species is a large one, and very hand- somely marked. Its nearest ally is the familiar Limax maximus, so well known for its being conspicuously spotted and striped with black. Our new species, on the contrary, differs from it in being uniformly coloured, generally black or extremely dark cinereous, but it always has the keel and a central line on the back in continuation of it pale, generally dirty- white, There are other marked differences between the two species, in the character of the rugosities on the back, and in respect of the colouring of the sole of the foot. In L. maximus the rugosities are only moderately developed, and the foot-sole is uniformly pale in colour ; but in L. cinereo-niger the rugosities are very large and strongly developed, and the foot-sole is divided longitudinally into three parts, of which the two outer ones are daik-coloured, and only the inner one is pale. | . : > 4 ————— ee Oe SHort Notes AND QUERIES. 69 Another proof of their abundant distinctness is afforded by the researches of Ferdinando Sordelli, who demonstrated by careful dissection that there are important differences in the internal structure of the reproductive organs in the two species. L. cinereo-niger seems to be very rare in Britain, for the specimen of which I write is the first I ever saw, and of the records there are only about three which can be apportioned to it or its varieties in Britain ; but on the Continent it is well known and not uncommon. I will take advantage of this opportunity to say that 1 shall be extremely pleased to receive consignments of living slugs (which should be sent in air-tight tin boxes) from any part of the British Isles, especially the more remote districts. I am working at their distribution and variation, and wish to have all the species, common, as well as rare, from every county. So far I have had assistance from various corres- pondents, and ‘nearly every parcel I have received has been productive of novelties for the British fauna, so utterly unworked have the slugs been up to this time. Mr. J. H. Salter sent me from Waterford a large number of forms, including Testacella Mangei, var. viridans, and the magnificent var. bicolor of Ariwn ater, both new to Britain. Mr. R. Renton, of Fans, near Earlston, N.B., has also sent numerous fresh things from that district, and Mr. H. J. Elliott, of Stroud, has been even more successful ; while my old friend Mr. C. Ashford, of Christchurch, Hants, has sent me specimens of all which occur with him, including a puzzling series of a species (or variety ?) which will afford much material for study. Iam almost inclined to believe that I am on the track of a new species (new to Britain, that is). I shall be glad to receive the common species of aS iInany more districts as possible, and it is my intention to publish notes from time to time upon such consignments as I may be favored with.—W. Denison Rozsucx, Sunny Bank, Leeds, Oct. 18th, 1883. Fox SHark, &c., at Briptinctron Quay.— Mr. Thomas Boynton, of Ulrome, writes me that on the 19th inst. a specimen of the thrasher, or fox shark, 11ft. long, was landed by some fishermen at Hornsea. Towards the end of August, two porbeagles were also taken by fishing-boats in Bridiington Quay. One of the latter is preserved by a Beverley bird- stufier, and measures about 5ft. in the dried state. Sharks and their allied species appear, from fishermen’s reports, to have been unusually numerous this autumn on our coast, probably attracted by the large shoals of herrings, of which extraordinary catches have been made. Though unconnected with Natural History, it may interest some of your readers to learn that Mr. Boynton has found and dug out near his village one of the primitive lake dwellings hitherto chiefly found in Switzerland, and fixed the site of at least four more. It is said to be the first instance of such a discovery in England. It has been recently examined by Dr. Munro, a gentleman deeply versed in the subject, and probably a report will appear in one of the scientific journals.—N. F. Dosrer, » Beverley, 22nd Sept., 1883. 70 THe NATURALIST. Testacella haliotidea, vAR. scutulum IN YORKSHIRE.—Referring to Mr. Butterell’s record in the Naturalist for July (vol. viil., p. 186), I have seen one of the specimens, and on examination it proves to belong to the variety scutulum. So have other British specimens when carefully examined, and as a matter of fact there is doubt as to whether the typical form of the species occurs in the British Isles at all. At all events there is no direct evidence of its existence, and if any naturalist meets with it, he would confer a benefit on science by publishing the record. While writing, it may be placed on record that Beverley is not the only York- shire locality for Testacella. Mr. John Emmet, of Boston Spa, has on several occasions informed me and others of its occurring there in nursery gardens. In this case, not having seen specimens, I am unable to state to what form they appertained. These seem to be the most northerly localities for the species, so far as actual records show.—Wm. DENISON Rosrsuck, Leeds, Oct. 5th, 1883. Narurat History Notes rrom WHARFEDALE.—The following species may be added to the list of Upper. Wharfedale shells given in June number of the Naturalist :—Zonites fulvus, Helix pygmea, Helix sericea, Helix concinna (young), Vertigo pygmea, Carychiwm minimum, all from Grassington, and Deepdale near Grassington.—Grorcr Rosrrts, Loft- house, August, 1883. HuppDERSFIELD Exuisition.—NatruraL History DrPartMEent.—It may not perhaps be generally known to our readers that nearly the whole of the Natural History collection of the late ‘‘ Squire ” Waterton has been kindly lent, and is now on view, at this Exhibition. The collection includes the cayman on which Waterton made his famous ride, beautiful specimens of humming-birds, a small chimpanzee, the celebrated ‘ non- descript,” armadillos, many strange and curious species of crabs and lobsters, a splendid arrow tube about LOft. long, and specimens of the arrows tipped with the wourali poison, &c., &c. This collection is all in one room, which also contains many other specimens of interest to the naturalist. In another room the geologist and mineralogist will find much to interest them. There is a splendid collection of almost all known kinds of precious stones ; a collection of agates lent by Prof. Jno. Ruskin ; a fair series of coal-measure and other fossils ; recent echino- derms, crustacea, mollusca, corals, sponges, glass models of marine invertebrata ; about thirty species of mosses; cases of moths and butterflies ; anthropological and ethnological photographs ; a fine series of plates and diagrams illustrating vegetable morphology and histology, lent by the Linnean Society of London ; Miss Ormerod’s six diagrams of British insects injurious to farm produce; and, finally nearly 300 cases of British birds. Again, in Room No. 6, Screntiric INstRUMENTS, there is a splendid display of various instruments for scientific research, far too numerous to particularise, but amongst them may be mentioned the following :—A number of first-class microscopes and implements ; a REpoRTS OF SOCIETIES. 71 splendid selection of tuning-forks and vibrative bars, lent by the late President of the Royal Society, Dr. Wm. Spottiswoode ; lantern and microscope lamps ; models of horizontal steam engines ; steam hammer ; Channel Tunnel boring machine, &c., &c. The scientific and Natural History student will find much to interest him for a whole day, irrespective of the other exhibits, and would be well repaid for a visit. LEPIDOPTERA NEW TO YORKSHIRE.—Among some micro-lepidoptera I took in the neighbourhood of Huddersfield during the present year, and which I recently submitted to Mr. ©. G. Barrett for determination, I find are three species hitherto unrecorded for the county. Sciaphila perterana I tcok near Crosland Moor in July. Tinea merdella swarmed in July, in the old lot of wool in New-street, alluded to at vol. vii. Nat., p. 94; and the pretty Gelechia gemmella I found flying in plenty in September, in the old rough field adjoining Lepton Great Wood. Two other species are new to the South-west Riding, viz: Gelechia desertella and G. similella, both of which I took on Crosland Moor in July.—Gro. T. Porrirr. NOTICES OF BOOKS, &c.—‘‘ The Annual Report and Transactions of Wakefield Naturalists’ Society, 1883.”—Contains lists of papers read, account of local rambles, &c. The library seems to be at present only a small one, but may probably soon be increased. The most useful part of the ‘* Transactions ”’ is the list, so far as published of the fauna and flora, which shows that the society is doing good local work. These lists include the shells—a very full one—migrant birds, with dates of arrival ; hymenoptera, coleoptera (geodephaga only), and vertebrates. Other departments of zoology, and also the botany and geology, are promised in future issues. —‘* The Practical Naturalist,” No. 9, vol. i., contains simple and initiatory papers on skinning and preserving reptiles ; a short life-history of Vanessa Jo ; notes on the recognition of the common minerals ; notes of meetings ; lists of macro-lepidoptera on the wing during June from seven districts, &c. We presume, though it is not so said, that this work is intended for beginners, and if it will only induce some of our young people to commence and continue the study of some branch of Natural History, it will do good service. Aenorts of Societies, BrapFrorp Narurazists’ Socrety.—Meeting Aug. 21st, the president in the chair.—Mr. Soppitt reported a visit to Grange, and exhibited specimens of Hpipactis latifolia, a species of tamarisk, and a fungus commencing its growth on the juniper and completing it on the hawthorn. He also showed a live young nightjar, found at Black Hills, Bingley Wood, and reported that he had observed Hepialus sylvinus there. Mr. Andrews exhibited a specimen of Anagallis tenella found in Shipley Glen, and a number of plants from Devonshire, among which were Hwphorbia a2 THe NATURALIST. amygdaloides, Erythrea pulchella, &c. Mr. Illingworth gave an account of an excursion to Kendal, and showed a hornets’ nest taken there, and a specimen of the glow-worm ; he also exhibited a piece of a meteorite which fell in a field near Kendal. The president reported a ramble over Harden Moor with Mr. Butterfield, and exhibited Scoparia pyralalis and S. ambigualis from Shipley Glen (the former new to the district), Tortrix icterana, from Grassington, and the following from Harden Moor :— S. coarctalis, T. viburnana, P. sauciana, H. angustana, P. caledoniana, and P. monticolana, the three last being new to the district. Mr. West read an interesting paper on ‘‘ Lichens,” and exhibited a large number of specimens collected in various parts of the country. Meerine Sept. 4th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Bennett read a paper on a visit to the Fisheries Exhibition, London, describing some of the various objects of interest to be seen there. Mr. Soppitt gave an account of a ramble over Barton Moor, where, among other things, he found Xenodochus carbonarius and Puccinea lychnidiarum. In the excursion with the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union on the 1st September he met with Actewa spicata and Puccinea sessilis, the latter a very minute fungus ; also Serratula tinctoria, which is an addition to the list of flowering plants of the district. Mr. Kershaw exhibited a collection of insects from the Isle of Man, among which were three species not found in this district. Mr. Ward gave an account of a ramble through Wens- leydale, with remarks on the geological formation of the district. Healso gave areport of avisit to the Huddersfield Exhibition, and of the Natural History objects shown there. The remainder of the evening was spent in the examination of microscopical objects exhibited by Messrs. A. J. Kershaw, J. EK. Fawcett, J. Faull, and B. Spencer, among which were a number of slides containing objects illustrating the paper on lichens read by Mr. West at the last meeting. Fitzy Mezrine, Y.N.U.—ConcuotoeicaL Srection.— The Rev. W.C. Hey, president of the section, reported that owing to the unfavourable weather but few species had been observed, and these were mostly of common occurrence. The best find was Pupa ringens, of which one specimen was taken. Limax (Amalia) marginatus, found in the Ravine, was also an addition to the Wiley list. Altogether the following species . were seen—17 land, 3 freshwater, and 22 marine :—Arion ater, A. hor- tensis, Limax agrestis, L. marginatus, Succinea putris, Vitrina pellucida, Zonites crystallinus, Z. cellarius, R. nitidulus, Z. fulvus, Helix nemoralis, H. hortensis, H. hispida, H. virgata, H. ericetorum, Cochlicopa Iubrica, Pupa ringens, Planorbis spinorbis, Limnea peregra, L. truncatula. Marine: Saxicava rugosa, Lupraria elliptica, Solen siliqua, Venus striata, Mactra stultorum, Don@x anatinus, Anomia ephippium, Tellina tenuis, T. balthica, Cyprina islandica, Trochus cinereus, T. helicinus, Purpura lapillus, Helcion pellucidum, Patella vulgata, Chiton cinereus, Littorina litorea, L. obtusata, L. nidis, Buccinum undatum, Lacuna vincta, Rissoa striata. a wert ASE LS ee re Reports oF SOcIETIES. 73 HouppErsFIELD NatuRAtists’ Socitety.—Meeting Sept. 22nd, Mr. A. Clarke, v.P. in the chair.—Mr. Allen Godward exhibited Solomon’s seal from a new locality near Thunder Bridge ; also Gentiana Amarella from the same district. Mr. F. Ellis exhibited five specimens of Oporabia filigrammaria, taken this season near Meltham, Huddersfield; Mr. Mosley, a very beautiful nest of the long-tailed tit, sent to him by Mr. Kerry, of Harwich, for figuring in his work on “ British Birds.” Mr. Clarke gave a very interesting lecture on ‘‘ Fungi,” illustrated by a good collection of freshly-gathered specimens. Meetine October 8th, Mr. A. Clarke in the chair.—The chairman exhibited about 30 species of fungi, including Lactarius serrifluius, new to the district. Mr. Morley exhibited a nest of the Dartford warbler, made entirely of flower stems and flowers of Aira flexuosa, and sent to him for figuring in his ,“‘ British Birds,” by Mr. Fredk. Bond, F.Z.S. Nine of the Ordnance Survey maps, which had been purchased to represent the Society’s district, were laid on the table. YorksHirE Naturarists’ Unton.—Maruam, Sept. 1st.—The closing meeting for 1883 was devoted to the exploration of Malhamdale, including Malham Tarn and Plateau, the picturesque scenery of Gordale Scar and Malham Cove, and resulted in much useful work being done. Only one party was arranged—a geological one—but other members grouped them- selves into small parties for the time being, and others again pursued independent researches. A few botanists and conchologists who took the field early in the forenoon, made their way to the plateau on which Malham Tarn is situate. Here they were entertained to a sumptuously- provided luncheon at Malham Tarn House by the High Sheriff of York- shire (Mr. Walter Morrison), to whose kindness and hospitality during the day the Union was much indebted. After luncheon the conchological party were provided with boats by Mr. Morrison, and devoted the after- noon to the exploration of the molluscan fauna of the Tarn, with a satisfactory result. The botanists were led by Mr. Morrison and his gardener to various localities on the Moor, and they also were able to render a good account of themselves. The geological party which had been arranged by Mr. J. W. Davis, the president of the section, met at Settle about noon, and walked eastwards. They first visited Langcliffe Scars and the Victoria Cave, and then made for Malham Moor, pro- ceeding by way of Stockdale Farm. ‘The line of the great Craven fault runs in this direction. To the north are the limestone scars of Lang- cliffe, whilst the raised grounds to the southward constitute the millstone grit of Kirby Fell, the highest point of which, Ryeloaf Hill, is 1794 feet above sea-level. The division between the two formations is very distinctly marked by the character of the vegetation, the limestone being covered with the even green herbage characteristic of the Craven district ; whilst the millstone grit of the other side is clothed with sedges and heather. The party then proceeded across the moors to the place where the water from the Tarn sinks—to re-appear again at the foot of 74 ‘Tur NATURALIST. the Cove. The waters collected in Malham Tarn from the hilly district beyond form the source of the river Aire, and half-a-mile from the lower end of the Tarn the stream which issues from it sinks into one of the pot-holes so characteristic of the mountain limestone. In this instance the orifice is filled to the top with loose round stones. The opening is exactly on the line of one branch of the Craven fault. Proceeding from the ‘‘ Water Sinks,” the party passed between the great cliffs worn by the stream, which had made its way in that direction before finding its present channel. The geologists came out at the top of the Cove, and having passed over the limestone pavement, they made a slight detour to the right, and descended to the valley, making the best of their way along the course of the stream to Malham village. Here all parties met, and tea was served, and the usual meetings held at the Buck Hotel. The general meeting was presided over by Mr. Walter Morrison, High Sheriff of Yorkshire. The minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read. Fourteen societies were found to be represented, viz :— Beverley, Bradford (Naturalists’), do. (Scientific Ass.) Dewsbury, Elland- cum-Greetland, Halifax, Keighley, Liversedge, Leeds (all three), Wake- field, Shipley, and York and district. The individual attendance was about 50 or 60. Eleven new members were elected, viz :—Mr. Geo. W. Oldfield, M.A., Harrogate; Mr. John W. Morkhill, Killingbeck Lodge, Mr. R. M. Jaques, Hasby Abbey, near Richmond; Rev. Canon J. J. ; Pulleine, Kirby Wiske, near Thirsk; Mr. Wm. Bethell, J.P., D.L., | Rise Park, near Hull; Mr. R. D. Horne, Leyburn; Mr. A. D. H. Leadman, Boroughbridge; Mr. John Hutton, Solberge, near North- | allerton; Mr. T. EK. Buckley, F.Z.S8., Millerton, Invernessshire ; Mr. : | Henry Wilson, Cottingham, near Hull; and Mr. Robert Mortimer, of | Fimber, Hast Riding. A new Society was unanimously admitted into the Union on the motion of Mr. P. F. Lee, seconded by Mr. J. W. Davis, viz., the Doncaster Juvenile Naturalists’ and Scientific Society, numbering 24 members. A hearty vote of thanks was then presented to Mr. Morrison for his kindness and hospitality to the members, and for the permission granted to the Union to ramble over his estates. This was proposed by Mr. J. W. Davis, seconded by Mr. Washington Teasdale, F.R.M.S., of Leeds, and, after being unanimously adopted by the meeting, was responded to by Mr. Morrison. The Sections were then called upon to report, the first being the Geological, for which its president, Mr. J. W. Davis, F.S.A., F.L.8., F.G.S., of Halifax, gave the account which we summarise at the beginning of this article. In the absence of the officers of the Vertebrate Section, Mr. Leonard Gaunt, of Farsley, reported that of birds had been observed 19 resident species—the rook, kestrel, merlin, mallard, lapwing, snipe, kingfisher, chaffinch, linnet, sparrow, redbreast, hedge sparrow, meadow pipit, ringdove, dabchick or little grebe, coal tit, blue tit, pied wagtail, and wren—and four migrants —the wheatear, redstart, swallow, and house martin, In mammalia only a field-mouse had been reported ; of amphibians the frog only, and of Reports OF SOCIETIES, T5 fishes trout and stickleback, both in Malham Tarn. On behalf of the secretary of the Conchological Section (Mr. J. Darker Butterell) and himself, who had been working the Tarn during the afternoon, Mr. W. Denison Roebuck reported that they were very well satisfied with the result of their investigation, although time had not permitted of the examination of more than about a third part of the Tarn. The fauna proved to be somewhat richer than might have been expected from the height of the Tarn above sea-level (nearly 1300 feet), and several of the species found exhibited interesting tendencies to variation. One of the most interesting was *Limneza stagnalis. var. fragilis, sub-var. variegata, the second time of its occurrence in the British Isles. It was abundant on Potamogeton lucens. Others were *Spherium corneum, var. nucleus (common), Pisidium pusillum (common), *Valvata piscinalis (a few, approaching var. acuminata in form), *Bythinia tentaculata (dead shells), *Planorbis nautileus (one specimen), Pl. contortus (very abundant, though small in size), *Limnea peregra var. ovata (dead shells). Under logs of wood close to the margin of the Tarn were specimens of Limnza truncatula var. minor, and a dwarf form of Succinea putris, together with two species of slugs, *Limax levis and Limax agrestis. On the river Aire, where it issues from the Cove, were found specimens of L. peregra var. ovata, and Ancylus fluviatilis var. albida; several of these were additions to the recorded fauna of the district: To land-shells not much attention was paid during the day, as this branch of the fauna is comparatively well known, whereas of the freshwater forms of the Tarn absolutely nothing whatever had been recorded, The list of land-shells included Arion ater, Zonites crystallinus, Z. alliarius, *Helix aspersa, H. nemoralis, H. arbustorum and var. pallida, H. hispida and var, sub- rufa, H. sericea, H. rufescens, H. rotundata, H. rupestris, Clausilia rugosa and var. dubia, Pupa umbilicata, and Cochlicopa lubrica. The species and varieties marked with the asterisk (*) are new to the district. The total number of forms observed was 31. In Entomology Mr. G. C. Dennis (in the temporary absence of the secretary of the section, Mr. EK. B. Wrigglesworth), reported as follows :—Very limited was the time which we were able to devote to the entomology of the district. Our route lay from Settle by way of Victoria Cave to Malham Tarn and Cove, and we did not leave the Old Town until _ one p.m. We did, however, by dint of hard work and much scheming, manage to secure about 24 species of coleoptera—none of them unknown, though many not common. Had an entomological party been formed, and confined their attention to Malham and the district about a mile round, we should have had more to record. The following are the coleoptera taken during the day’s excursion :—Cychrus rostratus, Linn., near Victoria Cave ; Nebria complanata, Linn., above Victoria Cave ; Lebia cyanocephala, Linn., Malham Cove ; Patrobus excavatus, Payk., Settle; P. assimilis, Chd., Malham ; Hydroporus picipes, Fabr., Malham Tarn ; Colymbetes pulverosus, St., Malham Tarn; Acilius sulcatus, 76 Tae NatTcRALIST. Linn., Malham Tarn; Gyrinus bicolor, Payk., Malham Tarn ; Silpha thoracica, Linn., near Malham ; Agelastica halensis, Linn, near Malham ; Graptodera oleracea, Linn., near Malham ; Crepidodera aurata, Foudr., near Malham ; Phyllotreta undulata, Kutsch., near Malham ; Aphthona coerulea, Payk., near Settle ; Thyamis brunnea, Redt., near Setile ; T. melanocephala, Gyll., near Victoria Cave ; Coccinella obliterata, Linn., Malham ; C. bipunctata, Linn, near Malham Cove ; Scymnus discoideus, Tll., Malham ; Ocypus oleus, Mull., above Victoria Cave ; Xantholinus tricolor, Fabr., Settle-road ; Othius melanocephalus, Gr., near Malham ; Lithocharis obsoleta, Nord, near Settle. For the Botanical Section the secretary, Mr. re. F. Lee, reported upon the day’s work. The botanists had mustered in force, and enjoyed to the full the various routes taken in this classic hunting-ground. The total number of phanerogams, ferns, &c., of the London Catalogue of British Plants, collected or observed at Gordale Scar, Cove, in smiling Airedale from Bell Busk, and on the route from Settle to Malham, was 291, thus making the last ramble the best of the season in point both of numbers and rarity of specimens. After partaking of the High Sheriff’s hospitality at the Tarn House, we worked the Tarn Bog, and under the guidance of Mr. Morrison himself, with his head gardener, we saw some flourishing specimens of the great English sundew, Drosera anglica, planted last year by the High Sheriff, with the hope they may establish themselves. The bog also yielded us an additional district plant, the interesting Serratula. tinctoria, var. monti- cola, having almost sessile and larger flower-heacs than the type. In the grounds at the Tarn House are successfully cultivated many rare alpines and ferns, both foreign and district plants. The rarest of the many good things noticed during the day were the following, mostly fruiting :— Actza spicata, Draba muralis, D. incana, the variety of the alpine penny- cress, Thlaspi occitanum, Viola Jutea, Geum intermedium, Sedum Telephium, var. purpurascens, Galium sylvestre, Carduus heterophyllus, Polemonium ccruleum ; a dwarf mountain form of Myosotis sylvatica, Primula farinosa, Salix repens, var. argentea, Potamogeton lucens, P. densus, Orchis latifolia, sub-sp. incarnata, Carex capillaris, C. fulva, C. vesicaria, Sesleria coerulea, and Asplenium viride. Mr. H. T. Soppitt of Bradford, who had been paying attention to the fungi, reported that the district was peculiarly rich in epiphyllous species. Amongst those gathered was Aicidium prenanthis, accompanied by Puccinea prenanthis, P. sessilis, P. poarum, and several Phragmidia. Of the larger species very few were seen ; these included Ag. squarrosus, Ag. mollis, Ag. infundibuliformis, and Helvella lacunosa. Altogether, about 50 species were gathered.-—A vote of thanks to Mr. Morrison for occupying the chair, brought the meeting to a close, after which the members drove to the station to catch a Midland express which it had been arranged should be specially stopped for their convenience at Bell Busk station. A small party of members received still further attention from Mr. Morrison, and stayed over Sunday to enjoy his hospitality at the Tarn House.—-W.D.R. Diary —Meeiings of Societies Nov. 1. Himenh Society of Ladue 3. 8 p. m. » 3. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. ;». 9. Huddersfield: Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. afte. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. - » 6. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. Tes » 6. Leeds Naturalists’ Club and Scientific Association. » @ Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. », 4. Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. », _ 9. Dewsbury Naturalists’. Society. », 138. Leeds Naturalists’ Club and Scientific Association. » 18. Bradford Naturalists’ Society.—Report of Entomological and. Vertebrate Sections: Messrs. J. W. Carter and J. Firth, Bee LEU DM: Sy nca 4, York Mae District Naturalists’ Field Club. », 15. Limnean Society of London, 8 p.m. », 47. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. 1.—Reports of Sections. » 19. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. » 20. Leeds Naturalists’ Club and Scientific Association. » 26. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. ,, 27. Leeds Naturalists’ Club and Scientific Association. —“ Animal Life ea in its lower forms,” J. M. Kirk, of Doncaster. », 2. Doneaster Naturalists’ and Scientific Society.— Papers by. Messrs. (ees. T. W. Plant and T. A. Murray: ,, 27. Bradford Naturalists’ Society—Reports of Botanical es Concho- ~ logical Sections, Messrs. Wm. West and HH. T. Soppitt.— Sark 30 Opa ees pees 2h Uren Naturalists see Club. KS y SO 5 THE ‘SCOTTISH a | A Quarterly Bagazine of Hatural Scrence. Edited by Professor TRAIL, Aberdeen. Annual Subseriptions, payable in a lgaics, 4s, 6d., post free. - Articles and communications for the Magazine should be sent tothe Editor before the 1st of December, March, June, or September, if intended for publication in the January, Apri, July, or October numbers. respective ely. Orders for copies, “subscriptions, 2, shoald ‘be ont to S. Cowan -& Co. ; Rev th, from le also. Terms f for Advertising may beans be had. INDISHINSLE TO STUDENTS: “AND COLLECTORS, THE. JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY ae < Contains Descriptions and Figures of New Species and Varieties, — | = Geographical. Lists, and original Articles, dealing with all de- partments of the science by the leading Conchologists of the | day = VOL. IV. commenced Jan., 1883. Pe SE RICE. 4/> PER ANNUM - Lonpon : D. Bogue,.St. Martin’s Place, W.C. LEEDS : Taylor Brothers, The Steam Colour Printing Works. NOS. Awad, & JII MAY STILL BE HAD. Just Published, Roan Svo, cae THE eae HUNTER’S COMPANION, By the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A., Being instructions for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and ee ae Butterflies ae and — Beetles, Eee Flies, and other Insects. - THIRD EDITION. REVISED AND EXTENDED. BY Ae B. BARN. THE CHAPTER ON COR ETERS BY HDWARD NEWMAN. CONTENTS. Vee to obtain the Exe by searching ; boxing female moths ; pairing insects. How to obtain LARVA by beating : the Bignell tray ; Sweeping’; - searching by night; how to rear the larve ; “sleevine hybernating larve ; parasites ; preserving larvee. - PUPA-DIGGING ; preserving pup; forcing pupe; THE PERFECT INSECT.—Localities; net; mothing; honeydew; sugaring* light ; indoor light; grouting; smoking; killing; relaxing; setting : grease ; mites ; mould; cabinets and store boxes; painting: arrangement and nomen; clature ; number of specimens and manner of placing; transmission by post ; entomological diary; books. MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA ; es HO HYMENOPTERA: BREEDING OF GALL-FLIES. PRICE ONE SHILLING. LONDON : SONNENSCHEIN: & ALLEN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, The Entomologist’s Moathiy aeatiue Price 6d. monthly, 24 pages 8vo, with occasional Illustrations. Conducted by J. W. Doveras, R. MacLacutan, F.R.S., E. C. RYE, E.Z.8., H. T. Srarnton, ELR;S.,. &e. . This Magazine, iSnidenbed.t in 1864, contains sfondard Articles and Notes on 3 all subjects connected with Entomology, and especially on the Insects of the —7 British Isles. = Subscription 6s. per eolerne! post free. The volumes commence with the June a9 number in each year. - The early volumes are out of print, but can be occasionally obtained by purchasers es of the entire series.. In this case the price of vols. 1. to V. is 10s. per vol. °The succeeding vols. (strongly bound in cloth) can be had separately or together at 7s. per vol. me ad ee Sue _ LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, Paternoster Row. N.B.—Coramunications, &c., should be sent to the SED: at the above address pS -Young Naturalist Series of Handbooks : On BRITISH NATURAL HISTORY. WI Handbook. T.. now publishing in Monthly Parts at 25. Soeke on “BRITISH BIRDS: THEIR NESTS AND EGGS - Containing accurate hand- coloured figures of every species and every variety _ drawn by S. L. Mosley ; with text revised by a Fellow of the Zoological Society. — A cheap edition is ppeyenes at 1s., and the Birds or Higgs: may be nai | separate. May be had of 8.-L. MOSLEY, “Beaumont Park, Huddersfield ee or Rae ROBSON, Bellerby Terrace, West Hartlepool. A Soa hae SS Ee an ni Or ar cee a Ei ES e-em eehee ewe 6 Mee Vw SA UN VS VSS Sse = Le - “(Nec TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.”’ ‘No. Ct. DECEMBER, 1883. [PRICE FOURPENCE, POST FREE.] « AND GENERAL FIELD OLUZ BECOR INE WSS ERheE S:: i ura alist M0 OURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS S UNION, + ~ Epirep sty Cnas. P. Hopsirex, F.LS., anv G. T. Porritt, F.L.S. OrtervaL ArricuEs, &c.: . CONTENTS The Algze of Strensall- Common. Ea A Bur well Turner, FIC S., FORMS, _&e. (with Plate) ‘Wharfedale Entomological Notes. Se W. Cop jae Notes on a few European Mosses.—Gustav Limpricht - Where are the Insects ?—S. L. Mosley Y 4 List of Shells of Neighbourhood of South th Milford. Sehr "Je Roberts ae RAINFALL FOR OcTOBER NotTEs, &c. : Fodithis cristatus at Elland. —C. C. Hanson _ Goldfinches near Bingley —Z. P. P. Butterfield. Late Mackerel and Herrings on Yorkshire Coast. -_N. PF. Dobree Entomological Notes from Bingley.—£. P. P. Butter ce . Entomological Notes.—G. 7. Porritt Washburndale Shells.— Wm: Denison Roebuck Note on Festacella.—John E. Emmett Ty ombidium phalangi at Gordale Scar. —George W. Oldfield, ML. ye _ REPORTS OF SOCIETIES :— Bradford Nabuvalives Society. : Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society -Manchester Cryptogamic Society York and District Field Naturalists’ Sobiety _ HUDDERSFIELD : B. Brown, Marxkrt- Packt Corner. VOL. IX. 4 TO. 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[with plate of Carex saxcumbra), : ee ae : ee Sie hres previous Parts may be had at the following prices : se - Part 1 VEST = 2/6 to Members, 3/3" to Public. 2 43 A878 aes 2/- eae VAL eae 5 eB a nO 2 Ps Pee = i ee The Transactions. are supplied to Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ ‘Union in return for the subscription of 5s. or upwards per annum, “Members are also entitled to all excursion programmes and other privileges. Applications for membership may be sent to ; S es W. oe RowBUCK, Gaon Bank, ae Eo g Leeds, Biers ae -| Hon. WM. EAGLE. ‘CLARKE, Z MSCLS:: 5, Hast View, Hyde Park Road, Leeds! y (08 (Ce LL Se a Y ss a B) ears 9 (35! 208 CRMB Sy, Bee Te ter Fee Fo 14 9 P55 seems Pe fp beam OT TRO & e, STRENSALL BESMIDEZ. ae : in S \ Be | Suk A < x, hes W.B.1, acl ct Lith. Ock 1983. NATURALIST. PI. vii. B. BROWN, Publisher, Huddersfield. Original Articles. THE ALG OF STRENSALL COMMON. By W. Barwet Turner, F.C.S8., F.R.M.S., &c. PLATE VII, Wuen I paid a visit to Strensall with the Y.N.U. on July 14th last, it happened that I was the only collector of aquatic alge. The amount of material collected was, unfortunately, then but small, as I only had three small bottles and two little tubes, and I soon found that they were very inadequate to my wants. It is a matter for regret that more gatherings were not then secured, as our visit took place after a short period of dry weather ; and the pools were in better order (our brethren of the net and bottle will understand this), than they had been for some time. On arrival at Leeds, I arranged for a thorough examination of my plants, and soon succeeded in making out a tolerable list; but, during my work, I found that I came across numbers of things either unknown to me or very puzzling, so I was fain to seek assistance. My first thought was of Dr. M. C. Cooke, to whom I wrote, but was sorry to find him suffering from ill health and over work; so in my dilemma, I was very grateful to finda helping hand in my friend Mr. A. W. Wills, of Birmingham, who is a well-known authority on the subject, and who kindly gave me the benefit of his assistance with the Desmidiez. After working some time, it became apparent that our material was not adequate to a thorough investigation, so, at Mr. Wills’ request, 1 went again to Strensall on July 29th, “when I was able to secure a larger collection, but found the place in very poor condition for work, as heavy rains had intervened. One accident occurred with (to me) deplorable results, with respect to my first gathering—I had worked over part thereof, and wished to have a clean bottle handy for transferring, se emptied one for the purpose, when to my amazement and disgust I found I had thrown away the contents of a bottle | had not thoroughly examined, and with it my chance of positively being assured of the existence of two rare species, specimens of which I had already found in the said bottle, and had sketched them by way of note. For the latter I am thankful, as, although my second journey was productive of sundry novelties, I did not again find the forms alluded to, viz:—St¢aurastrom Pringsheimit and S. anatinum ; also the form which I believe to be 8. megacanthum. I have accordingly entered these in my list, with a query attached to them. N.S., Vou. 1x. Dec., 1888. 78 THe NATURALIST. As mentioned in my short note lately (Aug. N., p. 24), diatoms were very few as to species found, and those but common ones, though I think S. spicula is a new record. The Algze are such as one would expect to find in such a habitat, though several common species and genera were not seen, but they probably exist. As might be anticipated, fresh-water rhizopods were plentiful, with some of the smaller entomostraca, &c.; among these I may mention en passant, Arcella vulgaris, Difflugia proteiformis, Actinophrys sol, Trachelocerca viridis, Kerona mytilus, Canthocamptus minutus, and Amebe. The pretty Infusorian Dinobryon sertularia was abundant. It may be as well to mention that the drawings of Desmidiez are asually made (by common consensus of opinion) to a uniform scale of 400 diameters, and this is a good rule in papers which relate to the controversial side of botany; but on the present occasion I have thought well to violate it in order to show more of the strange forms which desmids present. On another point—that of measurement—I quote Mr. Wills (Midland Nat. 1881, p.41). “The unit -01 m.m., is recognised by continental botanists under the symbol p, and the dimensions of the Desmidiez are recorded in the following manner :-— ; ‘e.g. Long. =21 p; Lat.= 20-21 »; Lat. isthmi=5 p.’ It is only in , this country that the barbarous notation of inches and their decimal parts still lingers.” These remarks now apply to all micro-metric work. IT trust the reference to this will be excused, for though a small matter of detail, it is yet important, and saves much comparison and calculation. In the accompanying list there are many forms in the genus Cosmarium, and several in that of Closterium, as yet undetermined: T think, moreover, that the Staurastra will repay further search. For the filamentous alge and diatoms I have not given all the ‘‘ authorities,’ deeming such as are given to be sufficient for the Union lists, and some I have not at this moment. ; Four specimens have a query against them. Of three I feel tolerably sure, having drawn them under the microscope ; of the fourth (8. Prings- heimii) way drawing is not quite satisfactory, though very near the form, | Finally, | must roundly state my opinion that in the various descrip- ) tions of new speeies by many authors, too many varieties have been | exalted into species. To anyone. curious on this point I refer Dr. M. C. | Cooke’s remarks on the forms of Tetrachastrum in “Grevillea” for | March, 1881. i The specimens marked with en asterisk are, I think, new to 7 England ; though either Mr. Areher, of Dublin, has found them in TuRNER: THE ALG# or StRENSALL Common. 79 Ireland, or Mr. Wills at Capel-Curig, in Wales. To the latter gentleman my best thanks are due for his kindly assistance and cordial co-operation. ALGA. Batrachospermum vagum, var. tenuis- simum, Ag. Chzetophora tuberculosa, Hooker C. elegans, Hs. Draparnaldia plumosa, Ag. Coleochacte scutata, Breb. Conferva floccosa, Ag. Ulothrix mucosa Mougeotia genuflexa, Ag. Zygnema Vaucherii, var. stagnale, Kirsch. Z. anomalum. R. 2 Z. stellinum, Vaucher. Z Ralfsiu, Hs. Zygogonium ericetorum, var. aqua- ticum, De B. Spirogyra nitida, Dillwyn. S. tenuissima, Hs. Mesocarpus scalaris, Hs. M. parvulus, Hs. M. nummuloides, Hs. Cidogonium vesicatum, Lyng. CH. delicatulum, Kz. Microspora fugacissima, Thurst. Bulbocheete setigera, Ag. B. rectangularis, Wittr. Echinella articulata. Anabaina circinalis, Bory. Volvox globator, Linnzeus. Gonium pectorale, Miiller. Pediastrum Boryanum, Turb. Be Ms B. tetras. a Aeon var. granula- tum, Kz. P. Ehrenbergii, Br. P. pertusum, Kz. Pandorina morum, Bory. Scenedesmus quadricauda, Turp. S. obliquus, Turp. S. acutus, Meyen. Sorastrum spinulosum, Ng. Rhaphidium falcatum, Rab. Polyedrium tetrahedricum, Ne. P. enorme, R. Oscillatoria nigra, Vaucher. Leptothrix ochracea, Kz. Apiocystis Brauniana, Ne. Chlorococcum gigas, Grun. Eremospheera viridis, De B. Botryococcus Braunii, Kz. Gleocystis rupestris, Lyng. G. ampla, Kz. Chlamydococcus pluvialis, Br. Palmella hyalina, Breb. P. mucosa, Kz. DIATOMACEZ. Achnanthidium lanceolatum Synedra lanceolata Gomphonema geminatum Tabellaria flocculosa Pinnularia radiosa Cocconema lanceolatum C. parvum Stauroneis spicula Diatoma elongatum D. vulgare DESMIDIEA. Gonatozygon Ralfsii, De B. Hyalotheca dissiliens, Breb. H. mucosa, Ehr. Didymoprium Borreri, R. D. Grevillei, Kz. Desmidium aptogonum, Breb. D. Swartzii, Ag. Sphzrozosma vertebratum, R. S. excavatum, R. Micrasterias papillifera, Breb. M. crenata, Breb. M. denticulata, Breb. M. rotata, R. M. Crux-Melitensis, Ehr. Spondylosium pulchellum, * Archer’s form a, Bail. Euastrum elegans, Breb. EK. pectinatum, Breb. EK. binale, R. E. binale, var. elobatum, Ld. E. verrucosum, Ehr. 80 Tae NaATuRALIsT. . arachne, R. leve, R. avicula, Breb. S. inflexum, Breb. S. anatinum ? C. and W. margaritaceum, Men. . furcigerum, Breb. S. pseudo-furcigerum ? Reinsch . polymorphum, Breb. . eristatum, Breb. EK. ansatum, Ehr. E. didelta, R. E. oblongum, R. Arthrodesmus conyergens, Ehr. A. incus, Hs. Docidium baculum, Breb. D. clavatum, Kz. D. clavatum, var. B. with projecting suture D. nodulosum, Breb. * Cosmarium truncatellum, Perty | | ; C. undulatnm, var. minutum, Wittr. hirsutum, Breb. C. botrytis, Men. . aculeatum, Men. C. margaritiferum, Men. S. megacanthum ? Ld, C. orbiculatum, R. . tetracerum, R. C. globosum, vel. bioculatum, Breb. . gracile, R. C. cucumis, Cor. S. Sebaldi, Reinsch C. Meneghinii, Breb. S. Pringsheimii ? Reinsch C. quadratum, Breb. . pilosum, A. C. cucurbita, Breb. . aversum (or brevispina, Breb.) Ld. C. pyramidatum, Breb. _spinosum, Breb. — C. undulatum, var., Cor. | _ paradoxum, Meyen C. crenatum, R. Penium Brebissonii, Men. C. ornatum, var., R. P. digitus, Breb. * C. proemorsum, Breb. ‘Closterium setaceum, Ehr. C. amcenum, Breb. C. lineatum, Ehr. Xanthidium armatum, Breb. CG. lunula, Ehr. X. cristatum, Breb. C. Dianze, Ehr. X. fasciculatum, Ehr. C. acutum, Breb. X. fasciculatum; var. B. polygonum, | C. costatum, Cor. Ehr. _C. juncidum, R. X. octocorne, Ekr. C. angustatum, Kz. - Staurastrum teliferum, R. C. Leibleinii, Kz. S. orbiculare, R. C. attenuatum, Ehr. S. punctulatum, Breb. Tetmemorus Brebissonii, R. S. alternans, Breb. T. granulatus, R. S. dejectum, Breb. Spirotzenia condensata, Breb. Postcrrpt.-—Since compiling my lists in September I have to make the following additions, &c. : Xanthidium aculeatum (Ehr.) ; X. Brebissonit (R.) var. 8; Staurastrum cuspidatum ; 8. polymorphum (both Breb.); _ S. vestitum (R.) The existence of 8. Pringsheimii I have proved by | finding other specimens. I find that the specimen on plate, fig. 19, is — Staurastrum dejectum, var. y connatum (Lundell, Desm. Suec.), a variety new, I believe, to England. One curious form occurs, a Micrasterias, | apparently combining the characters of M. crenata and M. truncata — Concerning these, Ralfs says, p. 76, ‘‘ I have seen some specimens which make it doubtful whether they be really distinct.” The gathering is yet ~ far from being ‘‘ exhausted,” for I have a number of forms which still — defy my efforts to clear up their identity. To the Diatoms are added Nitzschia lanceolata, N. minutissima, Navicula amphirhynchus, and- Stauroneis phenicenteron. = CarRTER: WHARFEDALE ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES. 81 REFERENCES TO PLATE VII. 1. Staurastrum avicula, a rather taller form than Ralfs’.—2. This may possibly be either a Staurastrum or Xanthidium. The blunt spines are peculiar.—Staurastrum sp.?—4. Staurastrum anatinum; if not anatinum it is a very near form. Two positions shewn.—5. HKuastrum binale; generally distributed on heaths.—6. Staurastrum aristiferum. 7. Xanthidium octocorne.—8. Staurastrum Sebaldi: previously dis- covered as a British plant by Mr. Wills in 1880, at Capel Curig. 9. Staurastrum aculeatum: generally distributed, but not common.— 10. Staurastrum megacanthum ? so like, that I deem it the true species. See remarks on No. 8.—11. Staurastrum pilosum : not common.—12. _ Xanthidium fasciculatum.—13. Staurastrum furcigerum: this and the one preceding it are very common.—1l4. Staurastrum inflexum: see No. 8.—15. Staurastrum margaritaceum : a widely-distributed species. — 16. Xanthidium sp.? pronounced to be so by Dr. M. C. Cooke ; species doubtful, possibly a deviation from X. octocorne. 17. Xanthidium sp.? Copy of one drawn by me from a Welsh specimen of Mr. Wills, to compare with No 16.—18. Cosmarium amcenum: Ralfs gives habitats Ambleside and Dolgelly, not common.—19. Staurastrum sp. ?—20. Stau- rastrum arachne: Ralfs says ‘‘ Dolgelly, very rare; Aberdeen.”—21. Staurastrum pseudo-furcigerum? This form approaches the species mentioned, but yet may be only a variety of S. furcigerum, No. 18 ; see remarks on No. 8.—22. Micrasterias papillifera: generally distributed, but not common.—23. Micrasterias Crux-Melitensis: a rare species.— Nos. 1 to 21 are x 260, Nos. 22, 23 xX 275 diams. WHARFEDALE ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES. By J. W. Carrer. | Tre following observations were made by my friends Messrs. J. | Firth, of Bradford, E. P. P. Butterfield, of Wilsden, and myself, | during a walk from Silsden to Grassington, on the banks of the Wharfe, from Addingham, on the 23rd of June last. In the evening in Grass Wood, we tried the attractive mixture known as “ sugar,” but not a single specimen visited it. It was our intention to remain in the neighbourhood of Grassington the whole of the following day, but owing to an unfortunate circumstance—one of our party being taken seriously ill—we were compelled to leave very early in the morning. As the insect fauna of Wharfedale is very imperfectly known, we think it advisable to give a complete list of our captures. CO bo POU ne eOMmneAaAoOoeQesetkBePsSeaBbBeeteeerronrtodarrt orn a . candidata. — do. . cambricaria. Bolton Woods and Barden. . pusaria. Bolton Woods. | . piniaria. Gill Beck and Grass Woods. . ulmata. Bolton and Grass Woods. . defoliaria and aurantiaria. Larvze very abundant in Bolton Woods. . dilutata. Larvz, Bolton Woods. . decolorata. Grass Wood. . lariciata, very common, Gull Beck and Grass Woods. . vulgata. Near Addingham. | . tristata. Very abundant, Gill Beck Wood. . vivata. Guill Beck Wood. [. subtristata. do. . montanata. Everywhere. . fluctuata. Bolton Woods. . propugnata. do. . ferrugata. Gill Beck and Grass Woods. . corylata. Bolton Woods. . suffumata. Grass Wood. .camelina. Bolton Woods. . ambigualis. Barden and Grassington. . pyralalis. Grassington. . pratellus. Common, Silsden Moor. . icterana. Grass Wood. .lacunana. Guill Beck Wood. . lanceolana. Common, Silsden Moor. .myrtillana. Common, Gill Beck Wood. THe NATURALIST. .mundana. lLarve commonly at Burnsall. . complanula. One larva, at Bolton Woods. .humuli. Grassington. . callunz. Larvzee in Gill Beck Wood. . bidentata. Grass Wood. . pilosaria. Larve, Bolton Woods. lactearia. Grass Wood. pectinitaria. Gill Beck Wood. czesiata. do. alchemillata. Grass Wood. albulata. Common from Bolton Woods to Grassington. batis. Grass Wood. ministrana. Common. cynosbana. Common from Bolton Woods to Grassington. LimpPricut : NoTES ON A FEW EUROPEAN MOSssEs. 83 C. ulicetana. Silsden Moor. K. maculosana. Near Bolton Bridge. C. stramineana. do. L. prelatella. Grass Wood. M. calthella. Bolton Woods. A. viridella. do. G. syringella. Grass Wood. In Coleoptera we noticed Melolontha vulgaris in Grass Wood ; Aphodius rufipes, Grassington; Leistus fulvibarbis and Patrodus excavatus, near Bolton Bridge. Valley-sireet, Bradford. NOTES ON A FEW NEW EUROPEAN MOSSES. By Gustav Livericut, (Translated ). Orthotrichum subalpinum (n.sp.).—This I collected in the sub- alpine region of the Riesengebirges, about 1,250 metres high, growing on Sorbus Aucuparia, in July, 1871. Specimens agreeing in every, particular have been collected by Venturi in the Tyrol, and dis- tributed by him as Orthotr. stramineum folis crispatis, Vent. The characteristics of O. sub-alpinum may be thus summarised in the more prostrate growth of the small tufts, in the slender, crisped (when dry) leaves, with broadly rotundate points, in the very contracted eryptoporen stomata, in the color and shape of the inner peristome and cilia, and lastly, in the remarkable size and nature of the spores. Orthotrichum Rogert Schimp. Syn., Ed. Il., p. 332, is the only species which requires any notice in the consideration of O. subalpinum. As, hewever, Dr. Carl Muller, of Halle, the possessor of Bridel’s original specimens, has repeatedly assured me that my plant in no degree is identical with O. Rogeri Brid., I have preferred, in order not to further confuse matters, to publish it under a new name. The description of O. Regeri differs very much in the various bryo logical works, and in herbariums and exsiccate are to be found many |- specimens under this name which are mostly to be referred to Q. pallens Bruch., which may easily be distinguished by the pseudo- phaneroporen stomata. These forms of stomata deceived even the acute de Notaris, who in the Epil. d. Briol., Ital, p, 311, judged them 84 THe NATURALIST. erroneously to be as in O. pallens Bruch., and O. microcarpum de Not., l. ¢., p. 107, “ Stomata normalia.” Bryum (Cladodium,) micans, (n. sp.,) discovered by the Rev. Chr. Kaurin, in damp peaty places, at the foot of the Oimberget mountain near Opdal Dovrefield, Norway, in August, 1881, and again in October, 1882, communicated to me as Bryum arcticum forma minor. This species comes near to the typical Bryum arcticum, Bryol, Eur. tab., 335 excl. fig. 1, 1 b. and 6, but is, however, distinguished from it as follows:—The color of the tufts (of the leaves and mid-rib), is never reddish, the leaves are on their upper half, always entire, the nerve is only shortly excurrent, the capsule is regular (only curved in the neck), and polished, the teeth of the outer peristome are more deeply colored, broader and longer, and their cross-bands are more numerous, and formed as in Bryum pendulum, the cells are smaller and in the neck-part very irregular, the papillae broader, and not so prominent, the spores are larger and almost might be called of an ochre-yellow color. It grows upon the naked turf. Bryum (Cladodium) arcuatum (n. sp.,) Synomyn: B. arcticum forma maxima. Kaurin in litt. Collected on damp shady rocks, near Opdal, Norway, July, 1882, by Rev. Chr. Kaurin. This species. resembles in habit, Bryum uliginosum, forma elongata Schimp., which Jenson has also in the Dovrefield collected and contributed to Raben- horst’s Bryotheca Europ. sub., no. 274. Bryum (Cladodium) Opdalense, (n. sp.) Collected by Rev. Chr. Kaurin, in damp sandy places upon the banks of the Driva, near Opdal, Norway, and communicated to me as Bryum purpurescens, var. Bryum (Cladodium) autumnale, (n. sp.) Collected by Rev. Chr. Kaurin, near Opdal, in damp sandy places, October, 1882, and re- peatedly sent to me as Lryum purpurescens, Br. Kuro. Bryum pur- purescens, Bryol, Eur. tab., 336, and Bryum purpurescens, ur. 462 in Breutel Musci. frond. exsicc. from Labrador, agree well with each other in every particular. From these, Bryum autumnale differs essentially ; it resembles very much in shape of leaf Bryum opdalense, and might perhaps possess the nearest relationship to Bryum Lindgreni, of which I have only seen two imperfect stems. | Bryum (Eubryum) sysphinctum (n. sp.), discovered by Rev. Chr. Kaurin, on the 7th August, 1882, with ripe capsules, in sandy places near Opdal, Norway, growing with Brywm opdalense. This plant comes far nearer to Bryum cirratum H. and H. than to Bryum bimum with which Kaurin joins it. The specimens which I Be possess from Schimper, Juratzka, Milde, and from the North German Mostty: WHERE ARE THE INSECTs ? 85 plains agree with each other pretty well, therefore I look upon this Norwegian plant not as a variety of Bryum cirratum, but raise it provisionally as a distinct species. Bryum Archangelicum, Br. and Sch. I have recently been enabled to compare, through the kindness of the Rev. Chr. Kaurin, a small original specimen of Angstrcem’s, from the Royal Museum, Stock- holm, and [am now convinced that my Bryum tauriscorum (un. sp.) (Bryum inclinatum plano-operculatum Breidler in Sched.) belongs to it. The special characters for Bryum archangelicam are the flat operculum, the insignificant basilar membrane of the inner peristome, and the yellowish red-like dull spores, which last measure 0°027 mm., and are granulate. WHERE ARE THE INSECTS? By S. L. Mostey. Tus has been the cry of almost every Entomologist for the last two or three years, and the cry has been well founded, and has met with many answers. One person thinks that it is the wet spring, which has killed off all the lepidopterous larve; another thinks it is the mild winter; a third attributes it to the high winds, which have blown the larve from the trees; another thinks that it is due to the prevalence of ichneumon flies, but Dr. Capron tells us that ichneumon flies have been scarce too. Another thinks that there are too many collectors, a suggestion which alas, is only too true, but in rather a different sense from that in which the writer puts it. I dare say that there are few readers of this journal, who have not heard of such a thing as an insectivorous bird; but did they ever consider what an insectivorous bird means? If it be true that a pair of blue tits, as has been calculated, destroy 600 caterpillars a day, during the breeding season; if it be true that a flock of 300 rooks destroy 162,900 crane flies per day, as I myself have borne witness, what must be the amount of destruction of insects carried on by the whole bird population of this country? Let us try and make an approximate guess! Previous to the passing of the Wild Birds’ Protection Act, | I have seen a fiock of starlings in one of the midland counties, which |} contained from 50,000 to 100,000; take the lowest number and say _ 50,000 for the whole county, and the same for each of the 40 counties of England—2,000,000. Now each of the following birds are 86 Tue NATURALIST. insectivorous during the breeding season, and according to my experience, are as common as the starling :-— i. Hedge sparrow. 8. Yellow hammer. 2. Robin. 9. House sparrow. 3. Willow wren. : 10. Linnet. 4. Pied wagtail. 11. Swallow. 5. Tree pipit. 12. Martin.- 6. Meadow pipit. 13. Sand martin. 7. Skylark. 14. Swift. Reckoning these at the same rate as starlings, gives us 30,000,000. Now say that there are only half as many of each of the following birds :— 1. Whinchat. 10. Greenfinch. 2. Wheatear. 11. Twite. 3. Sedge warbler. 12. Wood pecker. 4, Black cap. 13. Wren. 5. White throat. 14, Cuckoo. 6. Blue tit. 15. Nightjar. 7. Ray’s wagtail. 16. Partridge. 8. Common bunting. 17. Quail. 9. Chaffinch. The latter 17 species would give us 17,000,000 individuals, which added to the previous numbers gives us 47,000,000. There are also many insectivorous birds which are fairly common, such as the wood wren, chiff-chaff, lesser white-throat, stonechat, blackcap, garden warbler, &c., &c., which I have not enumerated, but say in round numbers that there are 50,000,000 insectivorous birds in this country during May, June, and July. This will be 25,000,000 pairs ; ~ reckon each pair to destroy as many caterpillars as the blue tits, 600 a-day, during say one month, 30 x 600=18,000. Now, multiply 25 millions by 18,000 and we get the amazing number of 450,000,000,000, the number of caterpillars destroyed by small birds during one month in the year. Has any reader of the Naturalist any idea what these numbers represent? Let us try and form some idea. Say a pint measure would hold 590 caterpillars, that would give us 900,000,000 pints, and about the same number of lbs. If we now reduce these lbs. to tons, we find that we arrive at the enormous sum total of 401,785 tons. Let us simplify it still more, and say that they would fill over 200 railway trains, each train having 20 waggons, holding 10 tons!! These figures are perfectly astounding, and I can scarcely credit my own calculations. Remember that these calculations are but for one month out of twelve ; but if we allow the same numbers for the whole — a of the year, it is enough to turn the stomach of any thinkmg Rogerts: List oF SHELLS OF SoutH MILFORD. 87 Entomologist. Also bear in mind that these calculations are based upon a flock of birds seen before the passing of Bird Acts, and it is only fair to assume that they have considerably increased since then —perhaps doubled—and as I have gone as far as I am able in figures, I leave each one to reckon the rest for himself. These bird laws have interfered with the balance of nature, and made a blunder they cannot repair; but I may return to this subject again. Beaumont Park, Huddersfield. Fak Se O-ho Sab MES COLLECTED OR OBSERVED ON JULY 2np AND 97H, IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SOUTH MILFORD. By GrorcE ROBERTS. Spherium lacustre. Common in the ponds about Milford Junction ; some on caddis cases. Many dead and open shells were lying ona dry bank, having been taken out of the water by mice or shrews. Pisidium nitidum. Common on caddis cases. Bythinia tentaculata. Valvata piscinalis. Milford. Physa fontinalis. Limnea peregra and L. truncatula. Succinea putris. Vitrina pellucida. Zonites nitidulus, Z. nitidus, and Z. purus. Heliz nemoralis. I collected altogether about 30 specimens, five, four, and one-banded, the prevailing colours being various shades of red, _which is the colour of the soil in the district, but a few were yellow. They occur generally, but few together, mostly on the nettles in the hedges, and some on the top of the hedges. One specimen of Nemoralis has the lip white. Near Milford I noticed a snail-stone on which about half-a-dozen nemoralis had been broken by a thrush. There were no fragments of Cantiana shells, though the latter was abundant in the hedge close by. Amongst the few I picked up there are several of the major form with depressed spire, one fine trochiform specimen with one band, and one or twa entirely destitute of epidermis. 88 THe NATURALIST. HI. arbustorum. Near Fairburn, on nettles which had been mowed, in company with Cantiana rufescens, and variety hybrida of Nemoralis.. Hi. cantiana. Abundant in all the hedges, both moist and dry, in all stages of growth. Apparently the commonest of the Helices. H. rufescens. Frequent. H. pulchella. On a wall near Milford. HI. hispida. Common; many greyish in colour and very hispid, apparently intermediate between hispida and sericea. A few are rufous, and destitute of hairs. HI. hispida, var. nana. fl. caperata. HI. ericetorum. On a high bank at Newton lime quarry. All the adult shells I saw were dead; the young were suspended beneath blades of grass. fi. rotundata. Pupa marginata. Clausilia rugosa. Lua lubrica. Z. lubrica. var. lubricoides. I saw no Helix hortensis, and H. aspersa seems to be confined to gardens and old walls near houses. ‘The soil here is red, lying on red sand or clay. Lofthouse, Wakefield. Raintall for October, a Height| Toran Faun of . | No To Dats. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest Os above | fall. Day Si i ea Sa an Fall. ay < all. level! | 1883. | 1882 Ft. Tn. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 4°67 | 18 | 31°85 | *27°25 24 0°67 (J. W. Robson) 5 _ Hairax...(F.G.S. Rawson)) 365 | 6°11 | 17 | 40°73 40°44 25 02 Leeps ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 2°59 | 25 | 25:21 | + 20°77 3 0°59 HorsrortH ... (James Fox); 350 | 2°96 | 13 | 29°48 |429°08 | 17 0°40 Barnsuey ... (T. Lister) ..., 350 | 3°35 | 21 | 28°41 | 27°10 ity 0°69 INGBIRCHWORTH (do.) ...... 853 | 4:73 | 17 | 40-60 | 36:42 17 0-82 WENTWORTH CASTLE (do.)...| 520 | 3°97 | 17 | 30°86 27°81 Ire O71 Goore ... (J. Harrison)..| 25 | 3:83 | 21 | 24:30 | 26-77 3 0°64 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.| - 10 | 4.35 | 20] 18°85 | 23-20 1 111 Lawton) Scarborough Rainfall for October, 3°47: 0°93 above average.—A. ROWNTREE. * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-62 1865-83. t Average of 14 y: .rs, 1870-83, Short Notes and Queries. Regulus cristatus at ELLAND.—This morning, during the bright sun- shine, whilst walking in Elland town-fields, I observed a flock of about a dozen, more or less, of the goldcrest (Regulus cristatus), hovering under the decaying leaves of the sycamore, picking off a kind of green fly, or plant louse which were adhering to the under side. They were very active, similar in their motion to titmice, and uttering a low note which may be spelt ‘ zit, zit.” Mr. Cunningham writes to the Halifax Courier that he also saw a flock (no doubt the same) in the People’s Park.« I heard the redwing on the 7th inst.—C. C. Hanson, West Vale, Oct. 21st, 1883. GOLDFINCHES NEAR BineLtEy.—As I was coming over. Hope-hill (960 feet), with a friend on Nov. 11, a party of goldfinches flew close past us. I had just remarked that some of the thistle-heads were ‘‘ drilled,” but the droppings I thought indicated that it was the work of birds which were superior in size to the goldfinch. It is, I believe, just thirteen years this November since I saw any about this locality.—H. P. P. BurrerFigexp. Late Mackeret AND HERRING ON YORKSHIRE Coast.—I think it is worth recording how extremely late mackerel and herring have been taken, this autumn, off the Yorkshire coast. The former were exposed for sale, in quantity, in the Hull shops, freshly caught in Bridlington bay, down to the 20th October. Herrings are still offering in the shops to-day, taken at the same place. The mildness of the weather no doubt explains it.—N. F. Doprezs, Beverley, 14th Nov., 1883. EntomotocicaL Notes From Binatey.—Last week I received a few insects (of the names of which I had some doubt) from Mr. Barrett, which I had sent him for determination ; and although one or two are not in such good condition, he says they may be safely named as follows : Scoparia atomalis, S. conspicualis, S. perterana, P. sordidana, P. semi- fuscana—all of which are additions to the local lepidoptera of this district ; S. atomalis, of which I sent him two specimens I took on Blackhills in July. There were scores of Scoparie flying about at the same time as I took these two, but whether they were all of this species Gf it be a species) I cannot say. I called them ambigualis when I took them, and I confess I am puzzled with them now. Conspicualis I thought -wasa small cembralis, with which I had had it placed. It was taken, I believe, by my brother last year in the neighbourhood. I have another, ‘however, which I have taken in the district this year—S. perterana. I picked it out from amongst some subjectana in the neighbourhood of Blackhills. Mr. Firth showed me an insect yesterday, which I take to be this species ; he took it in Shipley Glen this year. PP. sordidana and semifuscana I beat from alder trees about a marshy piece of ground in the park adjoining Bingley Wood on the 22nd September last, On the 3rd instant I was on Harden Moor, and E. gelatella was very abundant—nay, 90 THe NATURALIST. actually swarmed. They arose at every step, and there must have bee thousands.—H. P. P. BurrerFietp, Wilsden, Nov. 12th, 1883. EntomotocicaL Nores.—Recently I bred a fine series of Pterophorus zophedactylus (Loewii), from larve sent from near Dorchester, found feeding on flowers of Hrythrea centawrea ; and some beautiful Gymnan- cycla canella from larvee sent to me last year by the Rev. E. N. Bloom- field, M.A., found on Salsola Kali at Camber, near Rye. I have also added to my collection several Hupithecia pygmeata and Pterophorus teucriit, taken near King’s Lynn by Mr. E. A. Atmore during the past year. Amongst some insects sent me to name from Scotland by Mr. Jas. Hinchliffe, of Alva, was a fine example of the variety angelicata of Eupithecia albipunctata, a form which seems previously to have been noticed only in Yorkshire and Staffordshire. A still more interesting find is that of Acronycta myrice in Ireland. Mr. F. De V. Kane sent me for determination a specimen bred from a pupa he found on the face of a rock on a wild exposed headland, at Galley Head, a most unusual situation, and where Mr. De V. Kane says the larva could not have fed on Myrica gale, but probably on close-shaven thrift. He also turned up Hecatera serena and Neuria saponarie in Ireland, and Dianthecia cesia in three different localities there. It is worthy of record, too, that the still rare Hydrilla palustris was taken at Wicken Fen again this year.—G. T. Porrirt. WASHBURNDALE SHELLS.—I wish to add to the list of shells taken on the occasion of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union excursion on the 6th August, which is printed on p. 40 of this volume—the name of Limnea auricularia, of which I took a single specimen at the upper, or Blubber- houses end of Fewston reservoir, where no doubt it may be regarded as being common.—Wm. Denison Rossuck, Sunny Bank, Leeds, Nov. 9th, 1883. ‘ Notre on Testacella.—My name having been mentioned by Mr. Roebuck as to the occurrence of Testacelia at this place, I may state that, so far as I remember, my shells resembled haliotidea, but I think it hkely they were scutulwm after all. I am sorry I have no means of clearing up the point, as I have no specimens. I was much surprised when I first found the shell here some seven or eight years since, in Padman’s nursery. I have only seen two or three specimens within that time, but think there are many more, and they only require looking for. They ~ probably come with flowering plants, or ferns, from the south or from France, being imported in the soil of plant-pots, either in the egg or in the mature form. All the specimens I saw could be traced to the nursery, and I cannot think they are natives here. Possibly our friend Mr. Butterell’s shell at Beverley may have a similar history. I never heard that anybody had noticed it for Yorkshire until I communicated with Messrs. Taylor and Roebuck, several years ago. There is no reason why this should be its most northerly appearance. I presume itmight be | Reports of Societies. 91 found in Aberdeen under similar conditions to those named. Perhaps some of our friends may examine a few nurseries, particularly the soil and pots and crocks, when plants are being re-potted.—JoHn EMMETT, Boston Spa, Nov. 21st, 1883. Trombidium phalangit at GoRDALE Scar.—Upon the occasion of the visit of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union to Malham, on Sept. Ist last, I found a specimen of the harvest spider (Phalangium), covered with the parasite Trombidium phalangit, about half way up the ravine where the stream comes down at Gordale Scar. This may perhaps be worth noticing.—GrorcEe W. OLDFIELD, Harrogate, Nov. 1st, 1883. Reports of Societies. ‘Braprorp Naruratists’ Socrety.—Meeting Oct. 2nd, the president in the chair.—Mr. Illingworth exhibited a specimen of the vapourer moth. (O. antiqua), which he captured in front of the British Museum ; also a cluster of eggs of the same species, taken at Camberwell Green. Mr. Terry sent a box of insects taken at Witherslack, among which were Hesperia sylvanus, L. Alexis, C. Davus, Carsia imbutata, H. auroraria, Mixodia Schulziana, &c. Mr. Wood described a visit to Edinburgh, and gave a geological description of Arthur’s Seat. He then read an interesting paper on the geological formation of the Bradford district, and illustrated it with a number of fossils collected in the vicinity of Bradford. Mr. West exhibited a specimen of Cuscuta epithymwm from Chislehurst, found on gorse and heather, and also a large number of drawings of various species of alge. Meetine Oct. 16th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Kershaw exhibited a specimen of the long-eared bat (Plecotus awritus from Essex; Mr. Carter a small box of insects containing C. geniculellus, M. furuncula, and A. gilvaria, from the South of England. Mr. Soppitt reported having seen Vanessa cardwi at Saltaire, and that Mr. Butterfield had captured one at Wilsden. He also gave an interesting account of a fungus foray he had attended at Hereford, which extended over four days, and exhibited specimens of Helvella lacunosa from Heaton Woods, Craterella cornucopoides, Strobilomyces strobilaceus, and Cantherellus cmereus, from Ludlow. Mr. Riley exhibited a box of insects from Glasgow, among which were D. fagella, F. atomaria, and C. graminis ; he also read an interesting paper on ‘‘ Entomology,” illustrating it with a number of specimens of butterflies and moths. Mr. West showed specimens of alpine plants, Astrantia major, Smilacina bifolia, Aristilochic clematitis, and Lloydia serotina, the last-named from Snowdon ; also a number of seaweeds from Cornwall, Wales, &c.—JoHn Eastwoop, Sec. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SoctETy.—Meeting, Oct. 29th, the president, Mr. S. J. Capper, in the chair.—A paper was read by Mr. Henry Capper on ‘‘ Darwinism and Beauty.” After reviewing Dr. Darwin’s theory of the development of beauty through the agency of 92 Tae NATURALIST. - sexual selection, be pointed out that although this theory threw much light upon the subject, it also left much unexplained ; for instance, why the colours and niarkings produced should be of a most refined type, or why beauty should exist throughout nature. They had, therefore, to look for something beyond ; and since man’s intellect was capable of appreciating, and to some extent, imitating this beauty, and since it was highly improbable that it had been created solely for his gratification, they were irresistibly led to the conclusion that it was the product of an intellect alike in kind, but immeasurably grander than man’s own. The paper led to an animated and interesting discussion. Mr, F. M. Pierce exhibited a specimen of Labidura gigantea, taken in his office, Tithebarn- street, Liverpool; and Mr. von Sobbe and Mr. Wilding some recently captured and bred lepidoptera. MANcHESTER Cryprogamic Socrety.—Monthly meeting, September. Dr. Carrington presided, and reported some of the proeeedings of the Biological Section of the British Association during its late meeting at Southport. The president also distributed a few specimens of the characteristic mosses of Southport, which he had collected during his visit. Mr. Wm. West, of Bradford, sent a number of mounted slides of British marine and fresh-water algee for exhibition, and also a number of beautifully executed tracings of figures of cryptogamic plants, which were much admired for the skill and patience required for their delineation. Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited a new British moss, Tortula paludosa, which had been sent by Mr. Davis, of Brighton. The specimen had been collected by Mr. W. Mullen in the Clydach valley, Abergavenny, in August last. Mr. Pearson also exhibited the rare British hepatic, Dumortiera irriqgua, collected in Hast Sussex by the Rev. E. N. Bloom- field ; Mr. George Burgess, of Prestwich, exhibited a number of mosses from the neighbourhood of Malham.—T. Rocsrs, Hon. Sec. York AND District Firetp Naruratists’ Sociery.—Meeting October 10th, Mr. G. C. Dennis in the chair.—The chairman exhibited the following insects, taken by himself at Bishop’s Wood, near Selby :— Nonagria fulva, Teras caudana, a long series of Pedisca ophthalmicana P. sordidana, and Pterophorus trigonodactylus ; the hon. sec. (Mr. Prest) | a fine series of Sesia chrysidiformis, Tephrosia extensaria, Macaria notata, Eupithecia satyrata, Cidaria silaceata, Psyche reticella, Anesychia funerella and decemguttella, and the rare tortrix EHphippiphora nigricostana. Mr. Wilkinson brought for exhibition a fine collection of well-mounted specimens of rare plants, most of them collected by himself during the present season :—Geramum sangiineum, G. lucidum, collected at Mal- ham ; G. rotundifoliwm from Somerset ; G. sylvaticum (Teesdale), G. striatum (Scarborough), G. pratense, G. pusillum, G. molle, G. dissectum, @. Robertianum, G. columbinum, G. pyrenaicum, collected near York. Mr. Prest, on behalf of his son, Mr. C. S. Prest, exhibited the jawbone of the Indian shark, and the saw cf a large sawfish, brought by him from the East Indian coast.—W. Prest, Hon. Sec. Diary.—Meetings of Societies. 1. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Annual Meeting, 8 p.m. 2.,Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. 4. Leeds Naturalists’ Club and Scientific Association. ; ~ 4. Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. -;,. 4. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. 5; Doncaster Juvenile Naturalists’ Society.—Conversazione. 5. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. 5. Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. » 6. Imnean Society of London, 8 p.m. » 1l. Bradford Naturalists’ Society—Annual Meeting, 7-30 p.m. ' 12. York and District Naturalis’s’ Field Club. » 14. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 5 17. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. 18. Doncaster Juvenile Naturalists’ Society. 20. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. 24. Lancashire and Cheshire Nntomological Society. -,, 27. York St. Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. » 29. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30. p.m. THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST, A Quarterly Magazine of Jatural Science. _ Edited by Professor TRAIL, Aberdeen. sonia Subscriptions, payable in advance, 4s. 6d., post free. _ Articles and communications for the Magazine should be sent to the Editor before the 1st of December, March, June, or September, if intended for publication in the January, April, Suly, er October numbers respectively. Orders for copies, subscriptions, &., should be sent to pay Cowan & Co. , Rerth, from whom also Terms for Advertising may { be had. - Jo INDISPENSABLE TO STUDENTS AND. COLLECTORS. THE JOURNAL OF. CONCHOLOGY : Contains Descriptions and Figures of New Species and Varieties, _ Geographical Lists, and original Articles, dealing with all de- Ee partments of the science by. the leading Conchologists of the day. VOL, IV. commenced: Jan., 1883. Bee eS ~ PRICE 4/- PER ANNUM, se _Lonpon : D: Bogue, St. Martin’s Place, W.C. “Lees: Prayer Brothers, The Steam Colour Printing Works. - VOLS. I, I, & IIT MAY STILL BE HAD. = Just Published, Bip vo, Tord “THE INSECT HUNTER'S. COMPANION, By the REV. ‘JOSEPH GREENE, MA., i Being instructions. for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, and Prssbrvnie Butterflies ‘ and Moths, Beetles, Bees, F lies, and. other Insects. -0 THIRD EDITION. REVISED AND EXTENDED BY -A. B. 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Parts at 2S. cach, on “BRITISH BIRDS: THEIR NESTS AND 26689 Containing accurate hand-coloured figures of every species and every ‘variety. drawn by S. L. ‘Mosley ; ; with text revised by a Fellow of the Zoological Society. A cheap edition is ee at 1s., and the Birds or Eggs ney, be. i % separ ate. May be had of Ske OSB Y aReanmont Parke Huddersfield; oe ROBSON, Bu Terrace, Wiest Hartlepool. is N-B.—fthe Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their Papers. > ES Nec TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.”” ites Me [PRICE FOURPENCE B, POST FPREE.] | = AND arte SE OB RECORD. = Sew Serre Ss. ee _ Epitep BY Owas. Pp. Hopxirg, F.L.S., anv G. T. Porritt, E.LS. = No. cul. = JANUARY, 1884. VOL, IX. a . 5 s e Maps - CONTENTS. - Onicrwat ARTICLES, &e.: . _. ~The Sea Birds at F feborouph. —John Cor deaus, M.B.OOU... = Natural History Notes from South Africa. —Continued. Se wD: Bairstow, i ess of ies in the Bingley District j in n1883.— -B. P. B, Butte, field 100 Nore, Kee: = 2 Fe ; ae Where are the] Insects Prof. Alfr ed Newton: F. R. S., dic. Soaks BF EOP Oe >> Phomas Cartér > - 2... ; Ks sk. Sa d038 a Eapilestetons Captures near York.—W. Hewett.. Sie 5: aa 4: OS ~— ~~ Entomological Notes.—G. 7. Porritt, F.LS. —.. re = bb See Ot _. Coleophora curructpennella at Doncaster.—Geo: Tindall 104 eee Natural History Notes for the sage aud South Vouksnre District. — ao PLANS! : : : ss bO4=- oa White Poppy.—John Emmet. Ree os RD ae ae alee ee Sor oe ee LO ~~ ~ Notices of Books, &e. ... Wee eS = RESIS OS ay Ras ee 332-405: | _ Correction.—L£. P. P: Butterfield 4 fos Lash Se eee Sao ee ats SS _- RaINFALL FOR NoVEMBER:. SD age 2 aie eee eae er OS Be REPORTS. o¥ SOCIETIES :— a ; ; Barnsley Naturalists’ Seach Sea Sh ea ee pe eo AOD ord Naturalists’ Seciety ie ee gia ae an ae ca ANG _ Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society - oe a ri ae SA0Z ____ Lancashire and Cheshire Eiptomiolonicat Society Sie ae ae mae nt (ee ae ~ Manchester Cryptogamic Society .. —.. Ls oe a. ae Ree hOG __ Ovenden Naturalists’ Society => Peon As i at se=7t1 07 e Original Articles. THE SEA BIRDS AT FLAMBOROUGH. By Joun Corpeaux, M.B.O.U., PRESIDENT OF THE VETEBRATE SECTION Y.N.U., 1883. By far the most plentiful of the various tenants on the cliffs we have visited to-day is the common guillemot ; the allied variety known as the ringed guillemot, Uria lacrymans, is not common. Out of eight guillemots clustered together on a ledge near the upper part of the cliff at Speeton, six were the common species, and two were ringed euillemots—but this was quite an exceptional circumstance. Guille- mots return with remarkable regularity to their nesting quarters, visiting the neighbourhood soon after Christmas, and may be seen off Flamborough in large numbers in the early spring, They congregate at this cliff in April, and commence laymg in May; only one egg is laid on the bare cliff, and the cliff-climbers allege that if this is taken, and repeated, the same bird will go on till she has laid nine or ten eggs. This, however, is directly contrary to the observations of Mr. _ George MacLachlan, formerly the lighthouse keeper at Barra Head, _ and one of our most careful observers on the West Coast of Scotland. He states that if the first egg is taken, a second is laid, and then a third; if this is taken the bird lays no more that season. If left _ undisturbed the guillemot will return year by year exactly to the same spot. If the eggs are taken, the guillemots shift their ground, it may _ be only to the next ledge, and become much shyer. Mr. MacLachlan sprinkled the birds on a certain ledge with red paint, and the birds on a continuation of the same ledge with blue paint. He then went down and took the eggs, and found that the blue and red spotted birds had changed places with each other. Normally only one egg is laid in the season. The guillemots know their own eggs, and if one is interchanged during the absence of the female, she will shift it back with her feet. Incubation is performed in an upright position ; the young is hatched in 21 to 24 days, and after remaining for about _ three weeks on the cliff, where it 1s fed both by the male and female, it is carried down to the sea on the back of the parent The Flam- _ borough boatman states that this is done at high water, when there is a considerable depth at the base of the cliff, and more frequently in the quiet of the evening. Usually the young bird falls off before reaching the sea, or is thrown off by the parent bird. At Barra Head Mr. MacLachlan states, the young bird is grasped by the wing, near the shoulder, and not carried, as a rule, on the back of the parent. N.S., VoL. 1x. JAN., 1884. 94 THe NATURALIST. The male bird does not assist in incubation, nor does he feed the hen when sitting. If the young bird is hatched, and the female killed, he will, however, continue to bring up the nestlings. There are now three sets of cliff-climbers who obtain their livelihood during the season by plundering the sea-fowl on these cliffs. Many of the eggs find their way to the egg collectors and curiosity shops, some are eaten and used in cookery; and it is said fous are sent to Leeds, where they are used (the albumen) in the process of manu- facturing patent leather. This wholesale destruction is much to be regretted. No eggs should be taken after the first of June. The weight of a full sized guillemot is about 240z., the egg between three and four. Scattered about, either singly or in small communities on the cliffs, are numerous razorbills. ‘heir habits are much the same as the guille- mot; they lay one egg, either-on the ledge or cleft in the cliff. The young bird is also carried down to the sea by the parent birds. Both the male and the female bird assist in ineubation. Mr. Edward McCarron, the light-keeper on the Traraght Rock, off the Blasket Island, Tralee, states in his report for 1882-83, Irish Stations—“ The parent birds relieve each other while hatching. I actually saw a razorbill come up to another which was on the egg, peck it, when off it went, and the new comer took its place. The razorbill is a more active bird on the wing than the guillemot.” Of puffins there are large numbers on these cliffs. They lay one egg, which is, as a rule, placed in some hollow or erevice in the rock. Sometimes several puffins may be found in one hole; both the cock and hen sit alternately. When the young is hatched, it is fed by the parents until such time as it is able to fly down to the water. The old birds carry sprats, syle, and sand-eels in their beak up to the roek ; they hold them dangling on each side of the bill, suspended like a grey fringe or beard, A puffin will thus carry easily from 20 to 30 small fish or eels. They are grasped between the nose and eyes, and held much in the same manner as when a knife is struck into an apple, Even when the puffin is shot they do not fall out, but remain firmly attached to the sides of the beak. I have frequently seen puffins fishing for prey at great distances from their nesting quarter. At Barra Head it is said to go fifty miles for its food; the necessity therefore, of carrying a considerable supply at once becomes apparent. The kittiwake nests in some numbers on the Bempton cliffs. The nest is a slight cavity of mud and sea-weed beaten and trampled together, lined with finer materials, as dry grass, and often placed on such a narrow ledge as to leave scarce room for the bird to turn | CorpEaAux: THE Sea Birps at FLAMBOROUGH. 95 round. Three eggs are laid. The young birds, when they first appear at sea—conspicuous by the black spots on the side of the head —are called “ mackerel birds,” because they usually appear at sea with their parents at the time these fish are approaching the coast in August. Other sea-birds seen during the excursion were a cormorant and a few herring gulls. The herring gull nests in considerable numbers on the cliffs north of Filey Brigg—a locality where two pairs of cormor- ants are nesting this year, also several rockdoves. A large flock of lapwing were seen in the fields above Speeton, showing that these birds had already congregated. W heatears, meadow pipits, and pied wagtail. Had time permitted, I should like to have told you something about the migration of birds on to the Yorkshire coast in the autumn of 1882, especially of that great dight of goldcrests, one wing of which touched the Faroes and the other crossed the Channel Islands—a migration which, commencing in August and continued through September, rose to its height in October, and gradually decreasing to November—altogether over 92 days. Again, of that large flight of jays which, early in October, took three days to pass Heligoland, travelling from E to W in a strong south-easterly gale. And, scarcely less wonderful, of the immense flights of the common hedge-sparrow, which, passing Heligoland early in October, occurred _ at the same period in such large numbers in Holderness and North East Lincolnshire. May I be permitted to trust, however, that an opportunity may be given us of meeting together at some central place, as Leeds, during the winter, when we may have leisure to enter more fully into the details of the various excursions made by the Union during the year, and the general results to be derived therefrom. [The above Notes are the substance of the remarks made by Mr. Cordeaux while presiding over the Filey meeting (June 11th, 1883) of the Y.N.U.] NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. ( Conitmued. ) By S. D. Barrsrow, F.L.S. A Poor benighted lunatic, ‘“‘once upon a time,” was run in by a benighted policeman, charged with the possession of “a ’ighly dangerous hincubation, yer honner.” P.C.’s potations of three-star 56 THe Naruratist. cognac dimmed his recollection of English erammar. I suppose incubus was the word intended. Now, I also plead guilty to this soft impeachment—not the brandy, but the incubus. It must be cast off. I have tried to limn a cheerful picture, to cull from Nature’s bouquet a few bright flowers, to speak fair for all I’ve seen and _ heard. Have I not advanced the Diptera to a front position, and solemnly published their order—grand? Ihave! In token thereof I hereby attach my mark, X. Henceforth must I be just. I spoke of Nature: I speak on Gnat-ure. SBombylius and Andrax, ye may number amongst ye the fairest of all created fairies; atomic Culex and blue- blooded Daddy Longlegs,* ye may lay claim to veneration: but I love ye not—and wherefore? Because of yours! Are ye not allied to man’s chiefest foes—the mosquitoes? against whom Burns might have thundered— ‘“ Ye hypocrites ! are these your pranks, To murder men, and gie God thanks 2” and screamed aloud in very sleepless restlessness— ‘** For shame ! gie o’er—proceed no further— God won't accept your thanks for murther.” The quality of mercy is not strained, excepting towards mosquitoes and house-flies.f I’ count intolerable heat by day and night, aching bones and tired limbs, as naught ; but the stings and buzzes of imps of darkness and damp ticklings of moonlight imps, as intolerable, impardonable, fiendish. I am satisfied with the theory of “ use in all created beings,” but draw the line at mosquitoes and house-flies, excusably mollifying outraged feelings in the notion that their breed has deteriorated whilst ours progressed; they were created check- mates to antediluvian apes, and by judicious (?) natural selection transferred their affections to culminating humankind. Dr. Spencer Cobbold, the renowned helminthologist, in his Filarian theory, champions John Chinaman. Emigration has just presented us a few samples of our pigtailed brethren. Mosquitoes will have their bloud. Exchange is no robbery! Personal pain is a grand charity-syphon, and occasionally, when I have been compelled to jump from my couch irritated beyond expression, abstraction guiding my footsteps towards the window, I have gazed upon the miserable forms of tick-troubled,. weather-beaten, well-whipped oxen, remembering also the Tsetse-ills, etcetera, which their race is heir to,—and back to bed I turn, contented with my lot, yet full of sadness. Verily Diptera is a good name, only * Not T. oleracea. ¢ Colonists from the old country. Barestow. Natura History Notes rrom SoutH Arrica. 97 equalled by Dip-terror. Vale mosquitoes! Vale house-flies! Ye cannot prove malicious. It is too late, my friends: the winter draweth nigh ! My researches among the Orthoptera in schoolboy’s happy home were decidedly acute, if somewhat exclusive. They were nearly confined to the house cricket and cockroach. I never progressed much with No.1; superstition, dread of ill luck, barred the way, and I studied economy at long ranges. But No. 2 was most ardently pursued. I¢ is not unlikely that the flattened intestines of slippered Blattas are this day adhering to certain wall-papers in a certain home- stead. An itinerant vermin-killer, quite expert in the noble art of catching cockroaches and killing them against the palms of his hands, was wont to pay periodical calls at our house for purposes of pest extermination. Unfortunately he fell in love with the kitchen-maid— _a damsel of forty-five years—who rejected him, after mature delibera- tion. He wooed, popped, and lost, notwithstanding a fair bank balance to his credit, and increasing trade returns. Moral: cock- roaches were evidently fairly prolific to remunerate a hawking executioner. However Mr. Smouser dropped visiting us, and my researches continued. Now in this country (O blissful fact !) although I am minus 2 re Diptera, I am plus 1 re Orthoptera. I am not bothered by cockroaches, and a solitary house cricket—bless his pertinacious windpipe !—does duty for a pet canary. Apparently the crickets in South Africa domineer over cockroaches as domestic pets. This is easily explained (1) because we have a scarcity of ancient tenements ; (2) cement and plaster are in great demand for building material, and crickets are partial to semi-damp abodes. But I conceive it is with insects as *tis with Kafirs—civilization means demoralization. My sweet songster becomes a bore. He takes advantage of board and lodging. I concede the kitchen to him—he adopts the sitting-room. briefly, he waxes fat and impudent. Kindness kills good manners. A Kafir of Kaffraria is a noble animal; a cricket of the Veldt is a fine old fellow. Walking in the land of Orthoptera, or Screechdom, will amply repay an observant tourist. The air reverberates in stridulatory music, and beneath each stone there lies concealed a patron cockroach or protean relative. It may be caprice which suggests to my mind the thought that insects replace our birds as songsters; and granting their melodies are a trifle monotonous, they are welcome neighbours, and 1 bear them no ill-will. Of Cursoria the d/antide are most interesting, whilst the largest species are most commonly met with. Nothing can 98 Tae NaTURALIsT. exceed the extreme delicacy and variableness of tint exhibited by some of the lovely green gods, who practically are not so green as they look. They revel amongst our garden creepers, particularly convolvulaceous plants. When I study the character of a godat home, I am forcibly reminded of the street-corner pharisees, ‘ watching and preying ’’—outwardly-all that is sublime, the quintessence of sincerity ; inwardly—third-class sinners. - And the goddess is not a whit purer-minded than her lord, but exemplifies a mournfully suspicious combination of Venus and Charybdis. See the beautiful creature modestly hiding in the recesses of her leafy home! See the implacable gluttoness gripping the feeble captive, and ravenously devouring it in greedy haste ! The Mantide excel in the noble art of buffoonery, substituting facial for verbal expressions. It may be that they can actually wink, for of all existant creatures I never met a funnier-looking ungodly god than the so-called Hottentot.* This remarkable external gift is but an index to one more potent and internal—advanced instinct—I had almost said wisdom. What attitudinarians they are! swaying to and fro on their legs as if each position assumed gave them discomfort ; as if every limb was a separate and distinct member acting independently of the rest. How craftily they wag their heads! how clerically spread out their arms! how tenaciously enclose their fists! I place one on the table and pretend to rap it with my finger. The god, uncertain if the blow shall fall, shrinks back upon its legs in a most arrogant manner, signifying “I won't move unless I wish.” I have heard of taming gods, and am persuaded from personal experience that the notion is not unreasonable. Vital durability favors experi- ments. Many species of PAeme occur in the Colony. Mbole-crickets fly “over the garden wall” and make a rush with their trowel-legs at our lamps, and terrify the inmates of our rooms. A pretty green LEpheppiger (?) frequents and mimics willow-leaves. It has a peculiarly- shaped convex thorax, and produces a shrill sound with its wings. These, in closing together, clasp suddenly like a spring: hence the sound. The apparatus may be examined and proved after the insect is killed. Friend Roebuck, if he sees my paper, will expect a word or two about locust swarms. Friend Roebuck will be disappointed. I can only recount with accuracy those things which I have seen. There are colonists, old stagers, who remember such occurrences, but their differences of opinion and relation are material. History some- times is another term for dogmatism, masking too, perversion and * Hottentot or Malay God—an accepted vulgar name throughout the Colony. Barrstow : Natura History Notes rrom Soutn Arrica. 99 hap-hazard surmise, so that to quote particularly from hearsay devolves a medley encumbrance. Apart from swarms, I quickly observed a peculiarity of locust domestic life. I lift the veil of privacy and perceive that some species pair in their pupal stage. There is another problem I should very much like in solution. When I first left England * for this country 1 used to enjoy an early prome- nade on deck. A few days past Madeira on the 10th of September, 1880. in lat. 21° 20", long. 17° 56", a phenomenon appeared. Sud- denly there swarmed aft animmense number of insects—Lepidoptera —one specimen only, a locust, excepted. I netted or boxed many species, chloroformed them with the Doctor’s assistance, and trans- ferred to a safe abode, as I vainly imagined. On nearing Cape Town, to my utter annoyance a colony of vile little carnivorous pests had taken possession, and cleared nearly every treasure, leaving only legs and debris of their victims to tell the tale. Atthe S. A. museum I identified a splendid Sphinx, taken at rest on the poop, as Cherocampa idricus. Very curiously the Rev. Mr Shaw, of Madagascar (a fellow passenger) recognised one or two insects which occurred on that island. A few butterflies and gaily-coloured birds were fluttering about the rigging in a state of exhaustion, but all the moths I picked up, when I first saw them were dormant. Now, was there any selection of kinsmen, or essential partisans, any pre-arrangement of spontaneous migration? Why, then select a solitary locust? What outside agency impelled the flight of creatures from different localities? Or if such a multidude of colonising insects were wandering aimlessly, or by compnlsory ejectment, or a precon- certed signal, for their native shore, and met casually or purposely, or ‘neither, within the limited area of a ship’s deck ; what proportions of vastness ore meagreness did the swarm assume at starting? Our passengers remarked the visiting moths cleared next day as fitfully as they appeared. Ah! ah! a collector was aboard. I have long and firmly believed that local weather diaries compared together will aid us _ in determining causes of insect swarms quite as efficiently as local “presence’’ records. Winds sweep existences from land to water: why not from land, across water, to land? The Blosop (Pveumora) * ss. Balmoral Castle, Capt. J. Winchester. -t On pit.—A tremendous swarm of caterpillars invaded Port Elizabeth some years ago, causing much annoyance to the inhabitants. A land wind swept them into the ocean. I have often picked up insects on the sea-beach complete strangers to me, although I am willing to confess these may may have been blown frem the bush, end formerly escaped notice There are frequent reports from up-country of processionary larval invasions. Some cf them only dis- appeared when travelling into rivers (!) 100 Toe NATURALIST. has been well blown up by popular writers, so I need not dilate upon it. A remarkable and apterous locust, Hetrodes pupa,t which presents, on account of numerous spines, a most formidable front to the enemy, is sure to attract a stranger’s attention. (To be continued. ) CAPTURES OF LEPIDOPTERA IN THE BINGLEY DISTRICT IN 1883. ———== By E. P. P. Burrerrienp. SS. conspicualis. In looking over the various species of Scoparie taken in this district this season, I find I have one S. conspicualis, but | do not remember the exact locality where I got it. A. gerningana. Common on Blackhills.—I found this species quite plentiful near the Shooting house on Harden Moor. P. mixtana. Scarce on Harden Moor. P. comparana. Common, Beckfoot; and also Nab Wood, near Saltaire. P. Schalleriana. Not common. P. Caledoniana.. Common, Harden Moor; abundant, Rombold’s Moor; and I also saw it at the foot of Ingleborough, in August. P. hastiana. I am not quite sure that there was not an error in recording this species for this locality. I took a few above Morton on the Moor, last September, and sent one of them to Mr. Barrett to name; he named it hastiana, but 1t was much worn, and I now think it might have been Caledoniana. D. Leeflingiana. One taken on Shipley Glen, by Mr. John Firth.— I have not seen this species in the immediate neighbourhood. D. Forskaleana. One taken by my brother at Apperley Bridge, and another by myseif at Shipley Glen, are all that I know of in this district. A. Conwayana. Only near Harden Beck. P. Lecheana. Scarce, Bingley Wood. P. picana. Not uncommon on Blackhills. P. prelongana. Only once in a wood near Shipley Glen. P. sauciana. Common, Blackhills; abundant in Harden Clough.— My brother also saw it on Pendle Hill last August. S. dealbana. Common, Cottingley Wood. C. politana. Common, Harden Moor and Barden. + Authority—Trimen. BUTTERFIELD : LEPIDOPTERA OF THE BINGLEY District, 101 C. favillaceana. Common, Bingley Wood. P. myrtillana. Abundant about vacéinium, Blackhills and Barden. G. campoliliana. Very common about sallows at Beck foot, Bingley. G. geminona. Swarms about bilberry at Blackhills and Harden Clough. P. opthalmicana. Taken in a wood near Shipley Glen by Mr. Firth. P. occultana. Common on fir on Blackhills. FE. bimaculana. Abundant, Blackhills. Ei. circiana. Only one taken in this district. LE. Pflugiana. Common at Shipley Glen ; not so common at Wilsden. EL. Brunnichiana. Common near this village and Cottingley Moor. P. monticolana. Common on Harden Moor. ‘This was the com- monest insect I saw at the foot of the western slope of Ingleborough. I also took one by an old wall-side near this village. S. coniferana. I took one on fir on Blackhills about August. D. herbosana. One taken by my brother at Grassington; he also brought me another from an old wall side close to the village. I afterwards took it commonly at the same place. C. cana. Scarce; only one taken. FH. nana. Scarce, in Hirst Wood, near Saltaire. 2. atricapitana. Scarce, Blackhills. £. maculosana. One near Bolton Bridge. Ei. angustana. Common, Harden Moor and Blackhills. C. stramineana. Common at Beckfoot and Bolton Bridge. A. osseana, At Wilsden ; abundant, Grassington. L. gelatella. Abundant, Blackhills. S. emortuella. Very common, West Beckfield, near Cottingley. T. fulvimitrella. I took another of this beautiful insect on an alder tree near Bingley Wood last June. L. prelacella.. One at Wilsden, and at Grassington. M. unimaculelia. One taken by Mr. Firth, Shipley Glen. _ P. porrectella. Common, Wilsden. Hi. sequella. Ihave bred one or two from pupz taken from ash in Bingley Wood. H. nemorella. Not uncommon about Wilsden. AZ. harpella. Common. P. quercella. Not scarce, Bingley Wood. A. nitidella. Common, Goit Stock. A. Andereggiella. Wilsden. A. Gedartella. Cottingley Wood. Short Hotes and Oueries. ** WHERE ARE THE Inszcts ?’—Mr. Mosley has put a question which deserves the attention of every naturalist—using that word in its widest acceptation ; but I take leave to doubt whether its true answer is in accordance with his inference—namely, that the scarcity of insects during the past year 1s due to recent legislation in regard to birds. I abstain from criticizing Mr. Mosley’s estimate of the bird-population of England, beyond giving my opinion that it is exaggerated ; but one thing to me is obvious. No Act of Parliament can make a cup that is full hold any more, and no Act of Parliament can have made birds with which this country was already fully stocked more numerous than before. Now this was the case with nearly all the species Mr. Mosley names, and accordingly on those species recent legislation has had no effect whatever. They are species that without exception have never been subjected to direct and continued persecution that could have thinned their numbers, because it is only persecution of that kind at the breeding season that kas such an effect. Again, it is notorious that in the numbers of our com- monest birds, such as those named by Mr. Mosley and several more, there has been within the last few years a very great diminution. It is perfectly clear to me that the excessive severity of several winters in succcssion, and, still more, the inclemency of two springs, destroyed the individuals of some species of birds to such an extent as had not been known for many years—certainly not within my memory. Whether these exceptional seasons have produced the scarcity of insects I do not pretend to say. Finally, I would submit that Mr. Mosley’s assertion that ‘‘ the bird-laws have interfered with the balance of Nature” is wholly incorrect. The only possible effect they could have would be to restore that balance, which, in the case of wild fowl and sea birds, had been so rudely upset by continued and direct persecution during the breeding season—a persecution that was rapidly leading to the extermination of not a few species, a result that, I presume, Mr. Mosley himself would deplore.— ALFRED N EWION, Magdalene College, Cambridge, 3rd Dec., 1883. ‘© WHERE ARE THE Insects?” In the last number of the Natwralist Mr. Mosley offers a sensational explanation on the above subject, in which, I — think, he oversteps all reasonable bounds. Let us examine the basis from which Mr. M. obtains such wonderful results. It is nothing less than an assertion that the whole of the insect-eating birds of England destroy 300 caterpillars each per day. This, | maintain, is much too large a number, even if they fed on caterpillars alone, which is not the case, and: I doubt if larvee form more than 25 per cent. of their food. That a pair of blue-tits are calculated to destroy 600 caterpillars per day during the breeding season may be true, but then these tits are pre- eminently caterpillar hunters, and a pair might destroy 600 small, but not moderately-sized caterpillars. But Mr. M. bases his calculations on a pint measure containing 500 caterpillars, and which he estimated to — weigh about one pound, and consequently 600 caterpillars would weigh ~ almost one and a quarter pounds. There is no doubt birds are gifted — Sport Notes anp Quirizs. _ 103 with good digestion, but the idea of a wren or any of the small birds in Mr. M.’s list (and 80 per cent. of his list are small birds) eating rather more than half a pound per diem is incredible. Yet Mr. M. credits every insect-eating bird in England with an equal daily performance, including in his lists such species as the swallow, the martin, the sand martin, and the snipe ! How are these birds, which spend almost the whole of the day circling in the air, each to obtain 300 caterpillars daily? The absurdity of accusing these species of such a daily consumption of caterpillars reflects much upon Mr. Mosley’s want of sufficient ornithological know- ledge to handle such a subject. The same remark also applies to his wish to have your readers believe that such species as the twite, the quail, the nightjar, the Ray’s wagtail, and the woodpecker are equally as common British birds as the chaffiinch and the greenfinch. I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. M. will not find many, if indeed any, sympathisers with him, should he wish to have the numbers of the species of birds he condemns in any way diminished: and I also, as a dweller in the country, assert they are not by any means too numerous. In conclusion, I would remark that Mr. Mosley has shown an over-anxiety to make out his case against the birds, as bats, shrews, &c., must destroy more insects than many of the birds which he has specified can do; but he himself admits he can scarcely credit the results of his own ingenuity. —TxHomas CarTER, Burton House, Masham. LEPIDOPTEROUS CAPTURES NEAR YoRK.—C. Porcellus, one specimen. Strensall Common, 1883; Z. Atsculi, one specimen, Tadcaster, 1882 ; L. Mesomella, abundant, Sandburn, 1883; C. Plantaginis, larvee at bottom _ of coot’s nest amongst reeds in splash on Strensall Common, 1882; KH, - Apiciaria, common at Askham Bogs, and fairly so on Gutter side, Clifton Ings, York, 1883; E. Fasciaria, Sandburn, seven or eight specimens, 1882, two specimens, 1883; P. Syringaria, one specimen at Sandburn, 1883; P. Cytisaria, one, ‘Sandburn, 1883; G. Papilionaria, seven specimens, Sandburn, 1883; P. Bajularia. seven or eight specimens, Sandburn, 1883; A. Blomeraria, two specimens at Helmsley, 1882 ; E. Punctaria, a few, Sandburn, 1883; A. Strigilaria, Strensall and Sand- burn, fairly common, 1883; H. Minutata, several at Sandburn, 1883 ; ‘T. Firmata, one, Strensall, 1882; C. Unidentaria, two or three, Sandburn, 1883 ; D. Furcula, larve from Strensall Common, 1883; H. . Popularis, Sandburn and York, 1882; G. Trilinea, common at sugar, ' Sandburn, 1883 ; A. Valligera, fairly common at sugar, Sandburn, 1883 ; ' 0, Suspecta, seven or eight specimens, Sandburn, 1883 ; A. Aprilina, / mine or ten specimens, Sandburn, 1882 ; H. Protea, fairly common, 1882 and 1883.--W. Hewett, 26, Clarence-street, York. Entomotocicat Nores.—I have just added to my collection a series | of Sussex specimens of Scoparia wigratalis. The species is very | closely allied to S. pyralalis, and is probably often passed over as that insect. I have also received specimens of Oryptoblabes bistriga and 104 THe NaturRAtList?. Phycis adelphella, bred from larvee found near Colchester ; and Crambus ericellus, taken at Invergarry.—G. T. Porrirv. Coleophora currucipennella at DoncastER.—In a box of insects caught at Green Farm Wood, near Doneaster, kindly named for me by Mr. W. Warren, of Cambridge, is a specimen of Coleophora currucipennella.— Gero. Trnpatt, Doncaster. NaturauL History Nores ror THE BARNSLEY AND SouTH YORKSHIRE District.—We have had a few rare bird-occurrences in Barnsley and South Yorkshire District.—Oct. 15th, I examined at Wakefield, a hand- some short-eared owl, obtained at Ardsley ; also the arctic tern, killed Oct. Ist, and the Sclavonian grebe, obtained between Wakefield and Barnsley in May; also a nightjar, obtained Oct. 10th, a late occurrrence. Mr. Hailstone wrote me an account of a peregrine falcon at Walton, Oct. 9th, which stooped on a pigeon and bore it away. The keeper had informed me of one capturing a pigeon a few months ago—these, together with the osprey, recorded some time back at Walton, add to the list of our raptorial birds of recent occurrences ; in addition to which are a pair of ospreys, obtained at Strines reservoir, Sept. 22th and 26th, and a marsh-harrier obtained near Barnsley at the close of October. The summer migrants, especially of the swallow family, have seldom stayed so long with us. The swift, always the first to depart, was noted as late as Sep. 28th. The sand-martin was seen at Ingbirchworth reservoir, 853 feet above the sea, on Oct. 15 ; same date, some were seen chasing insects in the streets of Barnsley ; of the house-martin, a pair occurred at Hunningley, near Barnsley, Oct. 25th. The swallow in the town, Oct. 26th. These are ’ the latest dates we remember, except a late brood of house-martins, Nov. 11th, a few years ago, at Pindar Oaks, near Barnsley. The chiff chaff was heard as late as Oct. 11th. Land-rails, killed by partridge shooters, up to the middle of Oct. Flocks of gulls have passed over the town, in Sept. and Oct.--I had opportunities of seeing many during the British Association’s Meeting, at Southport, chiefly the common herring, the black-headed and kittiwake gulls, and immense flocks of ring- dotterels close to the promenade.—T. Lister, Nov. 19th, 1883. Wurst Poppy.—An albino, or pure white poppy was found here a few days ago, in an out-of-way place ; stem smooth. There was no violet patch on the petals. Their whiteness resembled that of the white form of Malva moschata—texture very thin, glossy and silky.—JoHN Emmet, | Boston Spa, Nov. 21st, 1883. NOTICES OF BOOKS, &c.—‘“‘ Transactions of the Barnsley Natu- ralists’ Society,” Vol. 1i., Pt. 1i1-—This part is fairly up to the average, and contains, among other papers, the continuation of Mr. Lister’s ‘* List of the Birds of the Barnsley District,” which ought to prove very useful to the ornithologists of the district. The title, however, is certainly a misnomer, as it includes the birds of Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield, | Sheffield, Doncaster, and other places, which have scarcely yet con- | \ ; A, ‘ ad RepoRts oF SOcIgETIEsS. 105 sidered themselves as belonging to the ‘‘ Barnsley District”! We are glad to notice the Society has made so successful an effort in its neigh- bourhood in enforcing the carrying out of the ‘‘ Wild Birds Protection Act, 1880,”, an example which might be well followed by other societies. ** The Naturalist’s World.”—We have received the first number of this new addition to the natural science monthlies, and wish it every success. It is well printed and nicely illustrated, and if there is sufficient room for it among other journals of similar character, it will do good. A Correction.—At page 89, vol. ix.,a line in my notes is omitted which renders the sense somewhat vague. It the ninth line from the bottom I am made to say, ‘‘ I have one, however, which has been taken in this district—S. perterana.” Such should be ‘‘S. conspicualis.” 8. perterana I took from my series of S. subjectana in my cabinet, and was taken, I believe, in the neighbourhood of Blackhills.—H. P. P. Burrer- FIELD, Wilsden, near Bingley, December 21st, 1883. Haimtall for Aobvember. t Height Totat Faun of = Nos To Dats. | Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of | heaviest of above . fall. Days ' “Fall. feayiest revels | 1883. | 1882, xe ieee ins HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 3°54 | 22 | 35°39 | *30°26 19 0°61 . (J. W. Robson) | LEEDs ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 2°53 | 20 | 27°74 | 22°95+ 30 ‘400 HORSFORTH ... (James Fox)! 350 | 3°40 | 20} 32°88 | 3216+ 30 00°430 Havirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)| 365 | 5°53 | 21 | 46°26 | 48°55 20 0°88 BARNSLEY ... (Dr Sadler)...; 350 | 2°57 | 20 | 30°98 | 30°56 5 0°55 INGBIRCHWORTH(Mr.Taylor), 853 | 3°79 | 24 | 44:39 | 45:07 5 0°59 WENTWORTH CaSTLE (Mr.| 520 | 2°98 | 19 | 33°84 | 31°82 eS 0°63 Fisher) GOOLE <..... (J. Harrison)...| 25 2°56 | 20} 26°86 | 29°45 30 0°70 HULL (Derringham) (Wm.| 10, 2.56 | 22 | 25°76 | §20°99 30 0°65 Lawton) | ScarBorO’ (A. Rowntree)... 1 -3°05 | 23 * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 29 years, 1853-63, & 1865-83. { Average of 14 years, 1870-83. Aeportls of Societies. Barnstey Naturauists’ Socrery.—Mr. F. Bailey in the chair.— | Arrangements were made for the publication of the Transactions for the quarter ended Sept. 30th, and steps taken to forward the proposed | exhibition for the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union meeting in March. In 106 Toe NATURALIST. ornithology, during last week of August and part of September, many waterfowl were seen by day, and others heard at night, hovering over the lights of the town; of these, eight gulls of middle size hovered over Jordan Hill and flew west on Aug. 28th. Another flock of larger gulls flew over the town west on Sept. 4th ; eight woodcocks about the 30th of August flew over Cockerham, Barnsley, low enough to be observed, in a north-west direction—an early arrival. Ourlews were heard whistling on the night of Sept. 1st ; on Sept. 17th saw a heron flying south near Cawthorne, a kestrel at High Flatts, and another at Dodworth. There were few birds in song in August and September except the robin’s autumn song; the yellowhammer, and the starling. The willow-warbler re-commenced its low sweet note, and continued until Sept. 28th. The chiffchaff’s two notes were heard Oct. 11th ; it was one of the last of the warblers to depart, and one of the first to arrive in spring. Kingfishers reported on all sides ; a few on pools about the town, five or six bred in Cawthorne Brook. Magpies, as many as 24 in one day, smaller flocks at other times. Goldfinches, bullfinches, and goldcrests have bred safely.—T. LisrEr. Braprorp Naturarists’ Soctrry.—Meeting Oct. 30th, the president in the chair.—Mr. Soppitt reported that Mr. West had found a slug (Limaz cinerea nigro) at Shipley Glen, which is new to Yorkshire. He exhibited specimens of Rumex dentatus and Puccinea egra, which he had received from Mr. B. Grove, Birmingham. Mr. Firth exhibited a box of insects, among which were H. defoliaria and D. contaminana from Shipley Glen, and H. lichenea from Plymouth. Mr. Carter showed a living specimen of Vanessa Antiopa which he had received in the pupa state from Toronto ; C. picata from Kent; and the following beetles from the South of England. viz :—Leistus spinibarbis, Crachinus crepitans, Pterostichus cupreus, and Silpha quadrapwnctata ; he also exhibited shells found at Frizinghall, Bradford, viz :—Limnea palustris and Zonites nitidulus. Mr. Bennett exhibited a very large cluster of the fungus Pholota squarrosus from Althorpe. A specimen of Sterewm purpureum from Idle was exhibited. An interesting paper on ‘‘ Animal Parasites” was read by Mr. A. J. Kershaw, in illustration of which a number of slides were shown under the microscope by Messrs. Kershaw, Bennett, and Fawcett. Meretine, Nov. 13th, 1883, the president in the chair.—Mr. Soppitt described arambie to Malham and Gargrave, and showed specimens of truffles from Bell Busk, also fungi preserved in spirits by Dr. Carlyle, of Carlisle. He also exhibited a number of specimens of Myriapoda (centipedes), including Julius subulosus, J. terrestris, Lithobius forficatus, - Geophilus longicornis, and Polydesmus complanatus. Mr. Carter exhibited C. propugnata and 8. chrysidiformis from Kent, and Meliphora alveariella from Huddersfield. He then reported on the work of the entomological section of the society for the past year, and stated that 74 species of Reports or Soctetiezs. 107 lepidoptera have been added to the list, making a total of 448 species noted in this district; to the coleoptera about 30 species have been added. Mr. Firth reported for the vertebrate section, and said 22 species have been added to the mammalia, birds 16, reptiles 5, fishes 3— making a total of 46 species. Mr. West exhibited marine shells, and specimens of polished Devonshire corals. Dewssury Naturatists’ Socrzry.—Annual meeting, 13th December. The following were elected officers for 1884 :—president, Dr. Watts ; secretary and treasurer, J. Summersgill. The report stated that the society was still in a sound and flourishing condition. The botanical section showed most activity, 25 plants during the past season having been added to the local flora, which now numbers 393. Satisfaction was also expressed at the election of one of the members of this sociaty—-Mr. P. F. Lee—-to the post of phanerogamic secretary, Botanical Section, of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.—J. SuMMERSGILL, Sec. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL Soctrety.—Meeting, Nov. 26th, the president (Mr. 8. J. Capper) occupying the chair.—The secretary (Dr. J. W. Ellis) read a paper in continuation of his previous articles on ‘‘ The beetles of the Liverpool district,” this being Part iv., | containing the Brachelytra, or short-winged beetles, of which he enumer- _ ated about 220 species as occurring, or having occurred, in the district, with their localities, from the observations of Messrs. Archer, Kinder, Wilding, and himself. Among these were several species which have hitherto been taken only very sparingly in Britain, and others which are : very local in their habitats. During the conversazione Mr. Wilding exhibited recently captured coleoptera, and Mr. Dixon a coleopterous lignivorous larva feeding in willow wood, from Crosby.—J. W. Exus, Hon. Sec. _Mancnester Cryprocgamic Socrmty.—Mr. W. H. Pearson, vice- | president, in the chair, who exhibited three hepatics recently collected in | Wales, and new to the Principality, viz:— Scapania uliginosa at Clogwyn- |} dur-Arddu, and Marsupella sphacelata and Cephalozia fluitans, at Glydr | Vawr. Mr. Wm. Forster exhibited three fine varieties of Polystichum | aculeatum, viz., cruciatum, pulcherrimum, and corymbiferum ; these were _ from the fernery_of Colonel Jones, Bristol. The hon. secretary laid upon | the table a collection of mosses which had been presented to the society | _by Prof. N. Conrad Kindberg, of Sweden. The mosses were from the | Dovrefield, Norway. An interesting paper was read the same evening by Mr. J. Cash on “‘ William Wilson’s Early Work as a Bryologist in | Ilaneashire and Cheshire.” —Tuos. Rocurs, Hon. Sec. OVENDEN Naruratists’ Soctery.—Monthly meeting.—The president. (Mr. James Spencer) gave the annual address, the subject being ‘‘ Fossil Fungi.” The paper was illustrated by enlarged drawings of fossil parasites, and also by microscopical sections of the real specimens, which were shown under the society’s microscope ; among these were included 108 Tue NATURALIST. some fine examples of Peronosporites antiquarius, Cystopus carbonarius, and various other fungoid spores, all of which had been found by the lecturer in the Halifax coal strata. He also showed some splendid sections of fossil pines from the tertiary strata, containing mycelia and spores of a fossil fungus in great abundance and in a beautiful state of preservation. These were compared with specimens of mycelia and fungi in sections of recent pines (Scotch fir), and the fossil tertiary fungus was found to be almost, if not altogether, identical with the recent pine fungus, which also closely resembles both in form and habit the vastly older carboniferous fungus. Some people affect to despise the study of such minute organisms as these, but the important discoveries made during the last few years have shown that the microscope is no longer a toy, but a necessary adjunct in modern scientific research. The most deadly foes with which man has to contend are not the largest beasts of the animal kingdom, nor even war and famine, but minute creatures too small to be seen by the naked eye, and which exist in such vast numbers and increase with such rapidity as to defy the power of man to contend with them. Many of the diseases affecting man, his cattle, corn, and vegetables of all kinds, are due to these minute pests. To know your enemy is half way to victory, hence the great value of the microscope ; and it is no great stretch of imagination to suppose that even the study of fossil fungi may ultimately have important bearings upon the question of the health and happiness of mankind. York anD District Fretp Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting Nov. 14, 1883, at the house of Mr. Prest, Holgate-road, Mr. G. Webster in the chair.—After the minutes of last meeting had been read, the hon. sec. (Mr. Prest) exhibited specimens of Macrogaster arundinis, Demas coryli, Dasydia obfuscata, Fidonia conspicuata, Lobophora polycommata, Bankia argentula, Gi. grandis; Mr. G. C. Dennis, a fine series of Nonagria elymi. The following plants were exhibited :—The chairman, two beautiful specimens of Lysimachia thyrsiflora. Mr. H. J. Wilkinson, Aquilegia vulgaris (Heslington), Spirea filipendula (Sandburn), Vicia lathy- roides (Acomb), Galiwm erectum (Hovingham), Astragalus hypoglottis, A. glycyphyllos, Asperula cynanchica, Chlora perfoliata, Calamintha acinos, Erigeron acris, Hypericum montanum, Thalictrwm majus, Atropa Belladowna, from Aberford and neighbourhood. MeetinG, Dec. 12th, 1883, Mr. G. C. Dennis in the chair.—Mr. Prest (hon. sec.) exhibited the following rare insects :— Hupithecia irriguata, E. togata, Bryophila timpar from Mr. Warren, Cambridge, two speci- mens of Acronycta alni bred by Mr. J. G. Ross of Bathampton, and Agrotis Ashworthu, bred by Mr. C. 8. Gregson, of Liverpool. Mr. G. Webster exhibited the following :—Lathrea squamaria, Orobanche arenaria, O. cerulea, O. rubra, O. caryophyllacea, O.elatis, O. picridis, O. hedere, O. minor; also a fine specimen of Naias marinwm from Norfolk.—Wmn. Prest, Hon. Sec. Diary.—Meetings of Societies. 1, Liversedge Naturalists’ Society: 1. Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. » . 2. Wakefield-Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. -_ 7. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. 49. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. _, 10. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society. 5. 165 Entomological Society of London.—Anniv ersary 1 Meeting , 7 p.m. » 17. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. — » .17. North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. —Mecting at Hanley. POR: 19, Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. - 4, 21. Manchester Cryptogamic Society. “22. Doncaster Juvenile Naturalists’ Society. —‘‘Shells and their for- mation,” E. L. Stott. », 24, York St. Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. — » 26. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. . 5, - 28. Lancashire and Cheshire Have Society. THE SU OTTISH NATURALIST, A Oumterly Magazine of Watural Science. Raited by Professor TRAIL, Aberdeen. Annual Subscriptions, payable in advance, 4s. 6d. , post free Articles and communications for the Magazine should be sent - tothe Editor before the 1st of December, March, June, or ‘September, if intended for publication in the Ji ayer ys April, July, or October numbers respectively. — e Orders for copies, subscriptions, &c., should be sent to S$. Cowan & Co., Perth, from whom also Terms for Advertising may : ; be had. INDISPENS ABLE TO STUDENTS AND COLLECTORS. 7 THE JOURNAL UF CONCHOLOGY a Contains Descriptions and Figures of New Species and Varieties, a - Geographical Lists, and original Articles, dealing with all de- partments of the science by the leading Conchologists of the a - Bey. —Vot. 1V. commenced Jan., 1883. — SS i PRICE 4/- PER ANNUM. Lonnon : D. Bogue, St. Martin’s Place, W.C. Pas Leens®: ‘Taylor Brothers, The Steam Colour Printing Works. 2 SO Lp. I, II, & III MAY STILL BE HAD. ee Published, Pep 8x0, bari, aS oe Sees 4 THE INSECT HUNTER’S - COMPANION, 4 By the REv. J OSEPH GREENE, M. A, : Being” GR ecea cone. for Collecting, Rearing, Setting, ond Pieceving Batieriie” ‘a and Moths, Beetles, Bees, Flies,-and a Insects. zs Z ? o—— es 3 a See lice THIRD EDITION. a Seon: “REVISED ~ AND ~ EXTENDED —BY, “A> B. “PARN. 5 THE CHAPTER ON COLEOPTERA, BY EDWARD NEWMAN. Be Me CON TENTS. How to. obtain the Rex by Sehrching ; boxing female moths ; ~ pairing insects. Howto obtain Lary by beating : ‘the Bignell tray ; sweeping ; searching by night ;— how. to réar the larve ; “ sleeving ¢; hybernating lavas “ae _ parasites; preserving larve. -PUPA>DIGGING ; preserving pup ; forcing pupees ee ‘THE PERFEcT InsECT.—Localitiess~ net ; mothing he honeydew : j -sugaring * light ; indoor light ; grouting ; smoking : killing ; relaxing ; setting : > grease 3. - mites ; mould; ‘cabinets and store boxes ; painting : arrangement and nomen; —_ i clature ; number of specimens and manner of placing; ‘transmission by post; > -entomological diary ; books. ‘Microz1 LEPIDOPTERA; CoLBOPTERA; HLYMENOPTERA- | = : BREEDING OF GALL-FLIES.. = = 5 PRICE ONE SHILLING, = ae! eg ae LONDON : SONNENSCHEIN & ALWEN? PATERNOSTER £ SQUARE, ast “= Giz ee = - - : The Entomologist’ S Monthly ™ Magazine. ee: Price 6d. monthly. 24 pages. 8vo, with occasional Ulustrations. a Conducted by J. W. Doveras, BR, MacLacuran, F.B.S., E. C. Rye, ALES, H. T. Srarnron, EUR.S=, &e: ee “This Maen poninicneed in 1864, contains: standard Articles and: Notes. on ~~ all subjects connected with Entomology, and especially on the Insects of the British Tsles. ~~ > Subscription. 6s.- per volume, post free. The volumes commence: with the June number in each year. ~The early volumes are out of print, Lit, can be occasionally” opiingn by purchasers ~ : ~ of the entire series. In this case the price of vols. 1, to V. is 10s. per vol. The - succeeding vols. (strongly bound + in oth: can pe had Separ: ately or together ab Ts. Eee vol : a z eae Sate -LON DON: J OHN VAN VOORST, A, Paternoster Row. figs N. Be —Coramnieations, &e., should be sent to the Haitors « at the above address 4 S Young Naturalist Series of Handbooks p On ‘BRITISH “NATURAL ‘HISTORY. RNDLNILIN IG LSINIDINI NI = Heilbook [. now publish LIN Lil Monthly Parts ie oe. each: ON “BRITISH BIRDS; THEIR NESTS AND BGGS." Gomi anes securate “hand: oclotired” fees of. every. species ane every variety. - drawn by S. L. Mosley ; with text revised by a Fellow of the Zoological Society. A cheap edition is peeeees at Is., at the fae or ee may be hag eee 2 : hee ~ is May be had of S- lL. MOSLEY, ies cuiont ‘Park, Huddersfield ; BoE Aellerby ee Ww est. Hartlepool. . 5 fy 5 & a — N.B.—The Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their Papers. “ NEG TEMERE—NEC TIMIDE.”’ [PRICE FOURPENCE, POST FREE.] The ¥ satura _ JOURNAL OF THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION, AND “GENERAL FIBLD CLUB RECORD. NEW SERIES. Epirep sy Onas. P. Hopgrex, F.L.S., anv G. T. Porrirt, F.1.S. No. CHI. FEBRUARY, 1884. _ VOL. IX. “CONTENTS, ey. Page ORIGINAL ARTICLES, XC. : ~ Primary Causes of Variety i in Plant Structure.—George Massee & 109 Natural - BOTT, Notes from South Africa. —Continued. —S. D. Bair stow, Re 2 PIES, 112 Notes, KC. : os : -» Conchological Notes from the Neighbourhood of Hatfield Chase zs nak ta Ee » .* Badger at Masham.—Thomas. Carter iis : ws gen ALG - Redshanks Nesting at Masham.—TZhomas Car ter = meh sod S01 _. Notes on Birds’ Nests from North Yorkshire.—Thomas Carter. 117 : peel History Notes forthe Barnsley and South. Yorkshire District. — Pc Baster: i. Bi ye E18 asocantpa: tlicifolia, —@. T, Porr ‘itt, FES es ae ous ee Malte, _. ** Where are the Insects ?”—S. L. Mosley a ie uy ss fe AO __ Transactions of the Barnsley Naturalists’ Society 120 ' The ‘‘ Report of the ‘ Local Scientific Societies’ Committee’ ‘of the British Ee Association = eh 20 A Correction.— Thomas Carter eo gat Om Sy bee aS vin XAZQ erccny, —JONATHAN THORNTON sds iS) cee eRe og yer eee eed nk RanraLy FOR DECEMBER... Si eset ae as ered OR te ke So IDE /-Revorts OF SOCIETIES :— | = Barnsley Naturalists’ Society oe ox Pee keer ts cient bh __. Bradford Naturalists’ Society av oa be sen atgenats an Se ny Naturalists’ Society i: wie a8 ae S38 oe ge er -Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society Se Seas La ee Sic EZS pels Naturalists’ Society ... He Gren us sa — 123 pe ncester Cryptogamic Society a SE a ee Re : ew Led | 3 is : a Sn he al 8 oe Sar HUDDERSFIELD : Tea re a _. -B. Brown, Marxer Prace Corner. TO CORRESPONDENTS. T HE NATURALIST is published on the fir st of every month, subscription Ay. a year, post free, payable in advance. The volume commences in August of each year. "Intending new subscribers should send in their names immediately. All communications, except Adver tisements, Exchanges, or Short Queries, should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of the current month, to insure insertion in our next issue, and should be written ¢ on one side of the sheet only. AUTHORS WISHING FOR REPRINTS or THEIR PAPERS can have them on the following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :—Not exceeding four _ pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 5s., 100 copies Gs. Gp. Not exceeding eight | _ pages, 25 copies 5s., 50 copies Gs. Gb., 100 copies Qs. -, and so on in propor-— tion. Printed covers and separate title pages extra. ALL COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDI TORS : CARE OF MR. B. BROWN, PUBLISH one H UDDEESFI ELD. TRA NSACTIONS ofthe YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. PARTS V. AND VI. have lately been published, and contain the ‘‘ List of Yorkshire Lepidoptera ~ by Mr. Geo. T. Porritt, F.L.S., the continuation of- Nelson and Taylor’s ‘‘ Annotated List of Yorkshire Land and Fresh-water Mollusca (Dreissena, Neritina, Paludina, Bythinia. and Valvata),” the conclusion of Bairstow, Roebuck, and Wilson’s third list of ‘ Yorkshire Hymenoptera,” and the Reports on ‘ Yorkshire Botany ” by Messrs. W. West and F. Armmold Lees, F.L.S. [with plate of Carex saxumbra}. _ The previous Parts may be had at the following prices :— Part dey ar AST e 2/6 to Members, 3/3 to Pablic. 2 1878 Pee sites Samm a 2/6 3 ae a aS: 1/6 = yo pe a ie S56 a 1879 as 2/3 5 Bl en, The Transactions are supplied to Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union in return for the subscription of 5s. or upwards per annum. Members are also entitled to all excursion programmes and other privileges, - Applications for _ membership may be sent to feed ~W. Denison ROEBUCK, Sunny Bank, Leeds, Hon. Wm. EAcie CLARKE, ease 5, East View, ide Park Road, aris 8yvo. cloth: price ef. post free. e LIST OF YORKSHIRE LEPIDOPTERA, BY- oW. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & Co., Paternoster Square. ; j MANOHESTER : JOHN HEYWOOD. OF ALL BOOKSELLERS. YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ UNION. ‘THE NEXT. WILL BE HELD. AT BARNSLEY, oe ON TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH Ath. eee The General Committee will meet in the Afternoon to elect the Officers, and arrange the Programme of Excursions for 1884, ond D receive the Annual Report of the Executive. LLNS I SS OOS RON AREAS OO Tae ANNUAL. PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. Will be delivered ‘at the Evening Meeting by JOHN GILBERT BAKER, ESQ, ERS Of the Royal Herbarium, Kew, who will take as his subject, “The Fathers of Yorkshire Botany.” | XLVI Full particulars of the hours fixed for the various Meetings, as wellas of ~ e | the arrangements which the Barnsley Society is making for the reception of - ~~ the Union, will be given in the usual circular, which will shortly be issued. - WM. DENISON ROEBUCK, Soot — | ~ Sunny Bank, Leeds, Hon. Sees., a WM. EAGLE CLARKE, ¥NUES 2 5, Hast View, Leeds. ; “WM. HE. BRADY, 1, Queen Street, Barnsley, © ‘9 Hon. Sec., Barnsley Naturalists’ ’ Society. ari ——— OTS rw _ — OOoOOeeeeeeesees— —_ eE_ EOE N.B._ANNUAL MEETING OF 1885. 2 Sauces desirous é of heiang a the Annual Meeting of January, 1885, held in their town, are requested to forward invitations to the Secretaries ‘Preference is given to towns possessing - suitable railway facilities, which are: prepared to organize a ‘Conversa rlone or — Exhibition on the occasion. ‘(PRICE FOURPENCE, ‘POST FREE. | Hatu y ist: A QURNAL Me THE YORKSHIRE N ATURALDS sts: UNTO Ny i ; tan " . ox f Ed o 3} AND « E .. eaNwnan Pisup eLUE eReoRD. a NEW SERIES es | Epirep sy Cuas. P. Hosxrrx, F.L.8., anp G. T. Porritt, F.LS. ee NO. CLV. | MARCH, 1884. — VOL. 1X. | CONTENTS : af aee “Owerva Anricurs, fod Fi | In the Tropics.—Z. Dubinjiela: Jones, C.F.) 125 | et ~ Natural’ ot Notes from South Africa. Boerner SES Ds oo: ee ee ES oe ) 3 BONS _Norzs, ‘&e. a | - | >. ..Notes Fran: si Cumniles —A. H. Waters, BLA. ie sie lit. Sse 3c OO Lastrwa cristata.—J. Backhouse... : so ae BOY SRR oe os LO _“ Where are the Insects ?”—S. L. Mosley y 137 Eperia diadema and Salticus scevicus in Yorkshire. Go. W. Oldfield, M, A. 137 Supplement to the Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire — ... 138 _ Review. —‘ ‘Transactions of the Huddersfield Natur SUS Society % Raat tek OOS) OBITUARY. —WILLIAM BUCKLER. ae T.P. we He oe a Noy Sede aos ] © Rareats igre Acari ee AEE OS ey Re a BO ors or Socreries :— Di Ge ce | aan genk | ~Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 0.0 es PME NEA earcditaat cK | Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society ... A ee ke Sa is va as 140" Ss | a | Manchester Cryptogamic Society a ue a bs aa te nee WE, | ies - HUDDERSEIELD : | ee is 2 OE Brown, Markur Puace Conner. o es “FQ. CORRESPONDENTS. THE NATURALIST i is published on'the first of every bath auboemotion: 4/- a year, post free, payable in advance. The volume commences in August of each — year. Intending new subscribers should send in their names immediately. vA communications, except Adver tisements, “Exchanges, or Short Queries, should, if possible, be in the hands of the Editors not later than the 18th of the current month, to insure insertion in our next issue, and should be written on one side of the sheet only... “AUTHORS WISHING FoR REPRINTS or THEIR PAPERS can have them c on the : following terms, but the order must accompany the MS. :-—Not exceeding four pages, 25 copies 4s., 50 copies 5s., 100 copies Gs. Gd. Not exceeding eight pages, 25 copies Ss., GO copies Gs. ’6b., 100 copies Os., and so on in propor- tion. Printed covers and separate title pages extra. ALL COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO THE pier yi ce RE OF MR. B. BRO Wie PUBLISHER, H. UDDERSHL. ELD. The Patomelogise s Monthly Magoniss de Price 6d. EG 24 pages 8vo, with occasional Illustrations. Condueted by J. W. Doveras, R. MacLacutay, F.R.S., E, 0. Rye, F.Z.S:,-H. TStainton, F.R.S=,: &e. This Magazine, Scone in 1864, contains standard Articles and Notes on all subjects connected. with Entomology, and especially on the Insects of the British Isles. 3 Subscription 6s. per volume, post free. The volumes commence with the June number in-each year. te The early volumes are out of pr rint, but can be acoastonally: obtained by purchasers of the entire series. In this case the price of vels. b. to V. is 10s. per-vol. The succeeding vols. (str ongly bound i in cloth) can be had separately or together at 7s. per vol, ~ 2 LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, a8 Pitcmcciar. Row. é N.B. 5 ea eaions:, &e., should be sent to the Editors at the above address \ Rok BAINBRIDGE, 1, Raster Villas: Cheltenhant won be glad to hear from anyone who wishes to acquire a collection of dried ferns (140 species, 45 of them British) from various parts of the world, in a good — strong folio; also a collection of British. lichens, in two boxes, including the rare Lecidea Wenner gs which he discovered on Ben Nevis, in nu 1841. Price - for the ferns, 4D) Ds Uae for the clipes: £1 10s. Od. : Now ready, 8vo. lou price 6) post free. LIST OP YORKSHIRE LEPIDOPTERA, The list contains copious. wee of the foealities: es of the —-. 1,340 species ‘of macro- and micro- -lepidoptera known to inhabit the — ~ county; particulars of local variation in species ;_ with all other < necessary information connected with the subject. To be had only from the Hon. Secretaries of the Yorkshire a Naturalists’ Union, 5 WM. DENISON ROEBUCK, Sunny Bank, Leeds ; WM. EAGLE CLARKE, : D, Bast View, Hyde Park, Leeds. Original Articles. SN THE TROPICS. By E. Doxinrieip Jonas, C.E. [Read before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, May 28th, 1883. | ir I were asked what is the nearest approach to perfect bliss that it is given to man to enjoy, I should reply, “‘ The sensations of a naturalist on his first entrance into a tropical forest.” And especially might this be said of a naturalist whose delight is the study of the insect world. In all branches of biology the riches laid before him are something beyond the conception of the most vivid imagination, and the exquisite beauty and grandeur of the scene have an effect upon his senses that can only be described by the word ‘ enchantment.” But with the entomologist the general feeling of delight soon gives way to a perfect absorption in his own particular study, and a com- plete forgetfulness of all else. His main difficulty will be to get beyond the outskirts of the forest at all, for every leaf and flower, every stick and stone, attracts his attention and calls for inspection. Indeed it is the outskirts that form the most productive and most interesting portion of the woods, especially in regard to lepidoptera, for the deeper we penetrate into the recesses of the gloomy interior the less do we find of the brilliant life that that order gives to the scene. And in the midst of the giant vegetation the butterflies. confine them- selves mostly to the tops of the trees, where their brilliant hues and graceful motions are delightful to look upon, but decidedly tantalizing to the man whose desire is to collect. | Before we plunge, then, into the stillness of the great primeval forest, let us follow that winding sandy road.which leads through an old clearing, with here and there a patch of maize or field of the graceful mandioca, with now and again a little valley whose clear rivulet ripples happily between the moss-grown stones or glides across the sandy level of the road. Occasionally the road cuts through a spur of the forest that juts out into the open like a little promontory in the sea. And thus we shall have a variety of scene, and a constant recurrence of such spots as the butterflies delight in, and where we may watch and capture to our heart’s content. The road that I propose to take you along is one of hundreds of such that may be found almost anywhere in the forest districts of the province of San Paulo, Brazil. At any season of the year we shall N.S., Vou. 1x. Mar., 1884. 126 Tar Navruratist. find plenty to interest us in this summer land, for even in the winter, wien in the early morning the ground may be covered with a slight hoar frost, the rays of the glorious tropic sun soon warm the air and bring out countless hosts of insects of all orders. But it is in the height of summer—from January to March—that the eye is gladdened with the glories and the ear charmed with the ceaseless music of Nature’s orchestra. It is then that the Morphos are in their prime, and the cicada fills the air with his joyous and piercing note. But before we start on our day’s excursion, I will invite you to partake of breakfast in my rancho, an elegant mansion with mud walls and grass-thatched roof, and having the luxury of a boarded floor and a cooking stove—things not usually indulged in except by the civilized stranger in this primitive land. And perhaps it will be as well if each one of you considers the invitation to be to himself alone, for I am afraid that to accommodate you all at once I should have to add considerably to the size of my house. I can only offer you a plate of boiled beans and mandioca sawdust, with an egg or a stewed fowl; unless it happens to be the day on which the baker passes, In which case I can add to the repast some sour French bread, which may be made more palatable by the addition of some yellow fat out of a tin, that is called by courtesy “ butter.” But one thing IT can offer you that is not to be found in England, and that is a good cup of coffee. No one knows the meaning of the term until he has been to Brazil. And now, having prepared ourselves for a hard day’s work, and having our nets, bottles, boxes, &c., all in order, let us start off on our rambles. The first. thing that attracts our attention is a composite plant, with clusters of white flowers which form arich feeding ground for numbers of butterflies and diurnal moths ; especially we shall notice several species of Jleliconide, whose graceful shape and soft fight are so delightful and so entirely nuvel to the English eye. One species has rich broad patches of crimson on the upper wings, and a creamy band on the lower; in another the crimson is replaced by diagonal stripes of creamy white, and the lower wings are of the deep blue-black that forms the ground colour of both species. We shall also probably find several species of Jthomia,a lovely genus of the same group, whose transparent wings and dancing flight entitle them to be called the fairies of the woods. ‘These delicate insects will often be found flitting from glade to glade in the depths of the forest, where they appear in perfect keeping with the surrounding stillness and shade, and one almost fancies them too ethereal to venture out into the light = " * lad Jones: In THE TROPICS. 124 of the open spaces. They are, in fact, essentially forest creatures, and are rarely met with in the plains away from their home in the woods. Numbers of clear-winged moths and allied species will be found accom- panying the butterflies in their morning meal, and vieing with them in the brilliancy of their colouring. One group of these which seem to represent our burnets, contains the most dazzlingly beautiful little ereatures—perfect gems, in fact—that glow with ever-varying tint as they move and change the angle of the reflected light that flashes from their wings. Some of them almost appear as if they had been dipped in the pigments of some evanescent rainbow, and varnished over with the dew before the colours had time to depart, so brilliant are their tints. ‘Tearing ourselves away from the rich harvest of this feeding ground, we proceed along the sandy road, being met at every step by swarms of gaily-coloured butterflies ; on the open spots where the banks are dried and parched by the already powerful rays of the sun, we shall make many good captures. Pyrameis, reminding us of our own painted lady ; Jnonia with its lovely peacock eyes, and many species of blues, hairstreaks and skippers. Of the latter group, there appears to be no end to the species, and indeed, I have rarely had a good day’s hunt without being rewarded by one or two new species ;_ and these are, many of them, very different from the tiny dull skippers we are accustomed to at home. Here we find a giant, two inches and three quarters in expanse, of a beautiful greenish black, with a white fringe round the edges of the wings. There we see a robust specimen, with three light brown velvet patches on the wings. Weeding on that purple flower are several yellow and black ones, with crimson head and tail. By the side of the stream we are about to cross, we shall start off dozens of different kinds, all drinking on the wet sand, and some of them gay with metallic sheen, and brilliant colouring, blue, yellow, and red, and all adding by their merry and sprightly flight to the beauty of the scene. Within the woods the smaller and more sombre- coloured skippers delight to fly, generally having a favourite spot to which they return again and again, after a little game at hide and seek with their friends. But even among these, many are adorned with colours not to be found in our English groups. To give some idea of the abundance of the skippers, I may state that I have collected over 120 species, within a radius of eight miles from San Paulo, nearly twice the number of all the British butterflies together. Some of them seem fully up to the humour of a practical joke, and delight to wait on the surface of some great sun-lit leaf, and suddenly dart out at a 128 THe NATURALIST. passing Morpho or Papilio, and then fly back to their favourite port, the majestic Morpho taking no more notice of them than a solemn mastiff does of a yelping cur. Sometimes I have had a merry skipper settle on the back of my hand, where he found food suitable to his palate, in the drops of perspiration brought out by the broiling sun. I am sorry to say that many butterflies are not at all refined in their tastes, and much prefer a meal off the dung of other animals to the nectar of the choicest flowers; and I have often seen some lovely and delicate creature taking his breakfast on the filthy greasy coat of one of the Italian navvies employed upon my work. The Paphias are much addicted to these disgusting habits. The little streams that I have mentioned form most wonderful collecting grounds where they cross these sandy roads ; indeed I know of no more productive spots than one of these where the road is in forest. At mid-day, when the sun pours down perpendicularly on the wet sand, the butterflies congregate in myriads, settling on the ground and applying their trunks assiduously to the water. There are certain patches that seem to have an especial attraction, and on these they are SO closely packed that they may be said to be like the Irishman’s ‘‘snipes”’ that were “ usually jostlin” one another.” I once made a swoop at a cluster of a little white Tevias, just to see how many I could get into the net at once, and I counted fifty-two! A large sulphur- eoloured species (Catopsilia philea) may be taken in quantities on these damp places. Their appearance as they rest in companies of twelve to: twenty, with their large wings standing up and often leaning over to one side. has a striking resemblance to a fleet of tiny yachts in full sail. And Papilios and Nymphalids without number will also be taken at the stream. A man may spend a very profitable day by sitting under the shade of a neighbouring tree, and sallying out every few minutes with his net. } And now, as the heat has become rather trying, we may as well follow the suggestion ourselves, and have a little rest. But even here we shall have plenty to interest us and fill us with delight. First, we shall notice a great blue-bodied long-legged wasp lugging a huge spider up the bank on which we are sitting, running backwards with her heavy burden held tightly in her jaws. Finding the spider rather awkward to pull through the grass. with his legs sprawling in all directions, she sets to work and nips them off one after another, and takes only the fat juicy body to: be the food of the rising generation of grubs. Then we shall be bothered by the tickling of a lot of little tiny bees that are following the example of the skipper and having a Jones: In THE TROPICS. 129 good meal off the backs of our hands. These bees are about half the size of the common house-fly, and have no stings, belonging to the Melipona group. Some of them make their nests in the ground, others in the hollow trunks of trees. The entrance to the nest is formed of a resinous substance, and usually projects in a trumpet shape some little way from the surface of the tree or the ground. I remember once knocking off one of these trumpets that projected three or four inches from a bank at about the level of my head, not knowing what it was; and before I had time to run, I had a swarm of bees in my hair, buzzing and burrowing in all directions, and rolling them- selves up in my hair. As I did not know at the time that they had no stings, I did not quite like the appearance of things, to say nothing of the sensation of these little bees rooting about my head. But J soon managed to get them all out, and was none the worse for the affair. These tiny bees make excellent honey, and their nests are much sought after by the Brazilian peasants. The sort that nests in the ground makes especially fine honey, quite clear and colourless, and of delicious favour. Certain kinds of the tree bees are never molested, as the Brazilians say the heney is not fit to eat. This is probably from the bees collecting from some poisonous flowers. As we still enjoy the cool shade of our friendly tree, we hear away in the distance the strange cry of the graponga or anvil bird, as it clangs away on the top of some lofty pinnacle of the forest. At this distance the sound is pleasaut enough, though close at hand it is harsh in the extreme. The Brazilians are very fond of keeping this bird caged, and the way in which it jerks out its ear-shattering cry is excruciating. The only thing I can liken it to, if your imaginations are powerful eneugh to realise the combination, is a rusty hinge with a bad cough. A long sustained note of great volume and power, that the bird sometimes indulges in is not so objectionable; but, altogether, I think keeping arapongas within two miles of one’s neighbour’s house, is an offence against society, and ought to be put down by tie law. But now, as the heat increases, the music of the birds begins to cease, and we hear only the sound of insect life. The cicadas are in their element under the fierce heat of the sun, and seem to be trying which can make the loudest noise. They hegin with a complaining sort of whirr, on a decending scale, which is repeated at intervals, the interval becoming shorter and shorter each time, till at last the sound is almost continuous, giving one the idea of reyolving machinery that is set in motion and gradually gains in speed ; then the insect suddenly breaks out into the most piercingly shrill note, that reminds one of 130 THe NATURALIST. the whistle of a locomotive. Indeed, so remarkable is the resemblance that once or twice since I have returned to England, I have suddenly been recalled to the tropic groves by the sound of an extra shrill rail- way whistle at a distance. I have heard it stated that the cicadas sometimes go on trying to out-do each other to such an extent, that at last they burst with the exertion. This fable has evidently arisen from the fact that the empty skins of the pupz, with a split down the thorax, through which the perfect insect has made its exit, are very commonly found attached to the trunks of the trees. Before leaving the subject of musicians, | may mention that I have observed that several kinds of caterpillars (species of Perophora) have the power of making a low musical note, so low indeed that it can only be heard when close to the ear. In one species (P. sanguinolenta) it is an intermittent note, the intervals varying from one to several seconds. Though the note is so faint, the vibrations can be distinctly felt when the larval case is held in the fingers. In another species the sound is similar to the above, but is continuous, lasting for several seconds at a time. Another again is intermittent as in the first species. Once when I had some of these caterpillars in my room, for several nights I heard this curious note as scon as I laid my head on my pillow. For the first two nights I tried in vain to find out where the sound came from; but on the third night I discovered a cocoon spun in a fold of the pillow-slip, and on examination it proved to be one of the Perophora caterpillars that had wandered away from his food and taken up his abode in the above situation ! And now that we have rested a little, let us pursue our ramble over the next spur, and down into the lovely little valley with its waving fields of maize, between whose stately stalks the ground is sheltered and kept damp by the great Jeaves of the pumpkin, that already shows promise of a rich harvest of its gigantic golden fruit. As we descend we shall add to our captures at almost every step. Butterflies, beetles, gaily-coloured Hemiptera, grasshoppers, Hymenoptera and Diptera— some of the latter of large size—meet the eye at every moment, and as we approach the stream that spreads out into a miniature swamp at the bottom, thousands of dragon-flies fire the air and remind us of home, for there is more resemblance between these and our own species than is the case in the other orders. And now we will strike off to the right along that shady lane that leads into the depths of the forest. This is the favourite haunt of twe species of Morpho, M. Herculesand M. Lpistrophis, both of them giants, and the latter of exquisite beauty. These will be seen in great Oe Jones: LN THE TROPICS. 131 numbers lazily flapping along the lane, and occasionally having a dance with one another. Three or four of them circling round and round, and glistening in the rays of the golden sunshine that falls in patches through the shade, form a picture of great loveliness, and one which will remain for years in our memories and help to enliven many a dull and dreary hour in this dark and cheerless climate of ours. Later on in the season, near the tangled mass of ‘‘ taquara,” or native bamboo, if we come again on a bright summer day we shall be dazzled by that still more lovely species A/. Aya, the whole upper surface of whose wings is of such a brilliant metallic blue that each motion flashes out blue light, and the insect seems almost too beautiful to belong to this every-day world of ours. And he knows his beauty, and is very careful of it; for so afraid is he of its getting damaged that he only flies during bright sunshine, and if a cloud passes over the sun he seems to fear the rain that might come, and immediately settles under some leafy shade till the sunshine comes again, and he can start once more on his airy gambols. I use the masculine pronoun purposely, for it is only the male that is so gorgeously adorned. The female is a very sombre creature in comparison with her mate. The trees at each side of the shady lane are many of them laden with epiphytal plants. Orchids. arums, ferns of graceful form, delicate cactuses, and many different kinds of Bromeliacee grow in profusion, and make each branch a garden in itself. These air plants have a special charm to an eye that has been reared in a temperate climate, where it is accustomed to see only plants that grow in the ground ; and a great part of the beauty of a tropical forest is derived from thein. The Bromelias are especially interesting to the entomologist, as each one forms a little reservoir of water in which larve of insects are found that exist in no other situation. The water stored up between the leaves of these plants soon becomes half putrid with decaying leaves and forest dust that accumulate in it, and it is anything but pleasant to turn over one of these cisterns on to oneself when climbing the trees to search for the botanical and entomological treasures they are laden with. Some of the plants grow to a large size, and contain several pints of water—enough to make a man feel very uncomfortable if it is suddenly discharged down the back of his neck ! But if we begin to botanise as well as to entomologise, we shall never get back to the rancho ; and a darkening of the western sky and a distant growl warn us that it is quite time to think of getting under cover, so we will walk on a little faster and try to reach the rancho by adifferent road from the one we came by, that leads nearly all the ey THe NATURALIST. way through the woods, before the afternoon storm reaches us. These storms are of almost daily occurrence during the hot season, and usually come on between three and five o’clock, though I have expe- rienced some heavy ones in the early morning, and when these take place we may reckon on rain for the rest of the day. But the regular afternoon storm is generally of short duration, and leaves the evening fine, cool, and refreshing after the overpowering heat of the day. The sun rises in a cloudless sky; about ten o’clock light fleecy clouds appear and float gently by, gradually accumulating in great masses as they grow. At one or two o'clock they form large towers of cumulus around the horizon, and as the day wears on an occasional flash is seen to dart through them, illuminating their crags and crevices with a glorious dazzling white. Meanwhile the wall of darkness from beneath grows blacker, and rises higher and higher until the outskirts of the cloudy pall, fringed and torn with the tension of the electric charge, obscure the sun and cast a grateful shade upon the parched soil. Then the roll of thunder- is heard, a mighty wind bows down the swaying trees, a few great raindrops patter on the outstretched leaves of the wild banana and the huge Cecropias, and in a moment the fury of the storm is upon us. Umbrellas and waterproofs are of little avail in such storms as these, the former only acting as a sort of sieve that cuts the huge drops into spray, and the latter collecting the little streams into a few great rivers that flow pleasantly into your boots. When I have been caught in one of these tornadoes I have made up my mind that I was going to get wet, and I have seldom been mistaken. In the midst of the turmoil the lightning is almost incessant, and the thunder one con- tinuous rear. But this only lasts for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, then one or two flashes and simultaneous deafening explosions announce the end, the rain lessens, and the storm has passed away, leaving the air cool and fresh, and all Nature rejoicing. Then the evening concert begins, the crickets leading off the orchestra of toads and frogs with their endless variety of wind instruments and drums, Bye-and-bye, as the sun sinks below the horizon, and the short tropic twilight deepens into night, the concert room is lit by countless hosts of fire-flies flashing out their tiny lamps in rhythmic pulsations, with here and there a great green electric light carried on the shoulders of a huge Hater beetle sailing majestically through the forest glades, and we enter on the glories of a tropic night. But all this time, while I have been talking about thunder-storms, we will suppose that we have been walking briskly on, and can now Jones: In tae Tropics. 133 see the friendly smoke curling up from the chimney of my rancho, showing that my man Benedicto has not forgotten that we shall be ready for another plate of beans after our Jong walk; and as the first great raindrops splash upon the thirsty leaves we step indoors, and congratulate ourselves that we are “‘ just home in time.” And now, as I have only described the delightful side of the picture, perhaps it is only fair that I shonid mention some of the disagreeables of a day in the tropics. The first thing that will occur to you is snakes. Well, there are plenty of them, no doubt, and some of them are very deadly ; but for one venomoys one you will see twenty harm- less ones, and all of them get out of your way as fast as they can, and seem much more afraid of you than you are of them. Of course there always is the danger of treading upon a snake coiled up on the ground, and in this case he is sure to strike at your leg, and I always on this account wear good strong boots and leather leggings when on my excursions in the woods. But I can only say that, in nearly nine years’ residence in Brazil, such an accident never happened to me, and I have never been really alarmed by a snake, excepting once when I was climbing over a wall on the further side of which the ground was nearly level with the top : and as my chin reached this level I saw the head of a great spake about six feet long, waving backwards and forwards within a foot or two of my face. I need hardly say I changed , my mind about getting over that wall. What I do object to much more than snakes is the army of mosquitos which in certain districts do their best to make life a burden. But even with these I have been very fortunate, and have not been much molested by them in my forest life. In the towns they are bad enough, and sleeping without a mosquito curtain is out of the question excepting during the cool winter months. But, after all, this pest is not confined to the tropics, and we need not go quite so far as Brazil to meet with it. An insect that has given me a great amount of trouble is the Carrapato—a minute tick that buries its jaws in your flesh and causes most distressing irritation. These little beasts are about the size of a pin’s head, and hang in clusters of a thousand or so on the leaves and twigs of the bushes in the campos that are inhabited by cattle, and as the unwary victim touches the mass they drop upon him and spread all over him. If detected at once, you can brush them off by violent switching with a bunch of twigs; but if you go on your way without noticing the enemy, they will soon find their way to your skin and will annoy you for days afterwards, unless you have your clothes well 134 : Toe NatTuRAList. smoked on a wood fire, which will soon clear out the little beasts. Fortunately this species is not found in the forest, and we need not always be on the look-out for them excepting in the campos; and they only appear for a few months—from April to July, or thereabouts. There are two other species of Carrapatos that I have met with, one of them being about a quarter of an inch in diameter; but these are not so troublesome as the small ones, as they are solitary in their habits, and are much easier to get hold of when they get hold of you. Then we have the “jigger,” that lively little flea that delights to burrow under the nails of the toes; and there are several kinds of biting flies that keep the business going while the mosquito is at rest in the daytime. but ali these are only just to remind us that even life in that land of sunshine is not perfect bliss; and though at the time they are decidedly disagreeable, the memory of them soon fades, and leaves only pure delight in recalling the incidents of a day’s ramble “in the tropics.”’ 28th May, 1883. NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. ( Conteniued. ) By 2D: Barstow, H.L.S. UrrenHaGE has another attraction for insects in the shape of burly oak trees, planted by the primitive Dutch settlers, and sur- rounding the town a fine bush supplies sufficient allurement for more timorous and less civilised fauna. The pretty Cyclopides metis abounds in the gardens. So does Diadema Bolina and Papilio Demoleus.. Danais chrysippus is common, and Acrea horta likewise. In Port Elizabeth these butterflies are comparative visitants, and I might mention dozens of similar instances to stamp Uitenhage one of the first collecting fields in the Eastern Province of South Africa. Query: Where are our collectors? You give the riddle up, and so do Il. The term Cape ennui is a misnomer for Cape laziness perhaps. We recognise a defeat. We deploreits legitimacy. We hope fora remedy, but we are not wide awake to emergency, to rouse ourselves from lethargy. Let us fill our pockets with gold dust, and then we may attend to the soul elevation department. This is not our home. Why waste money and time in adorning it or embellishing our brains. ‘Two extremes meet. We are either rashly speculative or merely callous. I submit the argument with the best intentions. Dispute it who can. And yet L Barrstow. NatugaL History Notes rrom Soutu Arrica. 135 grant that it 7s difficult to get away from filthy lucre; but if a nation progresses, the ingredients of success are scribbled with a touch of scientific warp, of artistic weft, and steeped in the dye of attraction, when considering the Cape. Offer an interesting programme, and play to a crowded house. Announce a sermon on Dry bones, and sing “*O solitude, where are thy charms ?” We are behind the times, and Channing’s inferences, “ science has now left-her retreats, her shades, her selected company of votaries, and with familiar tone begun the work of instructing the race” ranks in the pages of history. I feel constrained to pen these words; not all I would, but all I dare. We are deficient in self-reliance and activity in promoting and dispersing knowledge; but brighter days, I trust, are coming. Three years since I visited the Port Elizabeth Museum. It reeked in filth! Change and decay in all around I saw. Delapidated specimens groaned dustily of cruel inattention. Those which escaped ruin might even then have constituted the nucleus of a good collection. Now mark! This museum is within the Town Hall, and the jurisdiction, I think, of a club termed Athenzeum—whatever that may signify ;—more properly, ‘‘ Amateur Theatrical.” The key of the door was kept under a dirty cocoa-nut mat. I paid another visit just lately to the P.H. Museum, and if I say it was a disgrace to any town, I speak mildly, most sober truth, and disregarding persiflage or peevish utterances. Nothing succeeds like success. The “A.T.” club flourishes, and our museum makes a capital dressing-room for would-be Hamlets, but it’s rather hard on slighted donors of natural history specimens. Legal technicalities are said to bar the way of renovation. More’s the pity on’t. My next expeditions yielded many species of Bombycide, principally Saluruide, in their larva! state, and some of them attain to enormous dimensions, but appear, for the most part, as social or company grubs, _ playing sad havoc amongst the leaves of their food-plants. I have not found many of them to be silk producers, at which I am astonished ; but there is an ugly fellow (Borocera postica) feeds on mimosa that weaves a cocoon and distributes its urticating hairs amongst the web. Liparis aurifilua is out of the running, when scratched against this tyrant. Blessed man, who never fingered his Esauic skin or habita- tion! The days of Inquisition are over, otherwise the ingenuity born of fiendish inhumanity must certainly have clutched a novel torture— rubbing the naked backs of miserable captives with larval hairs from 136 Toe NATURALIST. the Cape.* Silk from these cocoons is of good quality, and possibly of commercial value when the grubs are persuaded to oblige us by omit= ting filamentary admixtions. I have not been fortunate enough to rear them from chrysalids. All our Bombyces, on account of obstacles needless to enumerate, are troublesome to manage, and where success- ful, the breeder is not assured of satisfactory conclusions, as lovely grubs do not always realise lovely imagines. A few species of the genus Saturnia grow to an immense size before the final change ensues. The two larve I have sketched. from preserved specimens are ex- tremely common, gregarious, and destructive. Another large and beautiful caterpillar is Antherwa cytherea, very common. | Anthereea menippe (Fig 1, pl. 8), if partial to field or garden crops, would rank conspicuously amongst our deadly enemies, and Buncwa Caffraria (fig. 2), if not so plentiful, is equally destructive. The latter possesses spines like “ fretful porcupine,’ the former tridentate forks (fig. 1a). I have been obliged to stuff my giants with cotton wool in order to preserve them. I struggled perspiringly to inflate one for an artist’s model, so you need not smile captiously at the term cotton wool. With unprofessional impatience I puffed and snorted, blew, and panted, and then tried Clarke's spray producer, “ after Porritt,” all to no purpose ; nothing had inflated but my cheeks. I staggered to a seat exhausted and sad, appropriately yelling ‘‘ Cater- pillar be blowed!” The little whisper of faith suggested historical Alfred, of hervic stick-to-it fame, of brave Robert the Bruce, and, lastly, the example of some modern “ Child-teacher” writ in most encouraging words, “ Try, try, try again,’ &. “Keep it up!” said the sprite, ‘Thanks! not if I know it,” responded yours very respectfully: and stuffed my specimens remained. The larger Noctwrni are naturally pretty well known, and fairly represented in 8.A. Museum. Our Sphinges are numerous and varied, and my old friend A. Afropos poses in Port Elizabeth as a vine pest and a hive. (To be continued. ) dlotes and Queries. Notes From CamBripGe.—As far as the nocturnal lepidoptera are concerned, 1883 has been a very unprofitable season here, and most of our local insects have been either exceedingly scarce or conspicuous by their absence. I worked hard at pupa digging last autumn and during —~— 9 Fig. 3. (Pl. 8) represents one of the hairs of a grand Geometer larva, |~ captured in the Perie Bush. ‘The specimen figured is slightly magnified at its apex, which is of a lovely Prussian blue ; larva, bright yellow with black and irregular bands, or colliding spots interspersed on surface with short hairs. + Authority —Trimen. NotEs AND QUERIES. 137 the present winter, but, I think, never with such little success. I have really taken nothing worth mentioning. Papilio Machaon seems to be disappearing, I remember the time (and that not so very many years ago) when I used to take it in the very suburbs of Cambridge itself, but I have not seen it lately. It may still be found in the fens, although far less plentiful than of yore. Argynnis Aglaia, A. Huphrosyne, and Thecla betule are of general occurrence in this county, but I did not meet with either of them last year. Melitea Artemis and Hesperia comma I have not seen at all of late years. A piebald specimen of the water vole - (Arvicola amphibius) was taken in the vicinity of a village near here last September ; and a perfectly white mole (Talpa ‘Ewropea) was caught about the same time and near the same place.—ALserr H. Waters, Cambridge. [I saw Papilio Machaon in abundance on Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, at the end of May, 1882.—G.T.P. ] Lastrea cristata.—Lastrea cristata was, I believe, first found in York- shire on Thorne Moor, by my now aged friend, Williarn Casson, of Thorne. I have a fine frond of his gathering from that station in my herbarium, with the date of 1856 attached. He met with it, I believe, in consider- able abundance. If Mr. John Hardy, of Manchester, found this species on Thorne Waste before that date, my supposition with regard to Mr. Casson being the first finder of the fern in Yorkshire, is, of course, a mistake.—J. BackHousE, West Bank, York, Feb. 7th. “WHERE ARE THE Insects ?”?—I do not know if Mrs. Hutchinson, of Leominster, has seen the Naturalist for December, but in a letter received from that lady to-day, she adds a P.S. as follows :—‘‘ We are so over- stocked with small birds—they rise in flocks of thousands—that all insect life that they eatis cleared away. We rarely now see a butterfly or moth here ; the last two years have been blanks.” On the contrary, Mr. Bond writes—‘“‘ I do not know where all the birds have got to. We rarely see anything except sparrows and tom tits.” I can only suppose that in the latter case all the insect life at Staines has been eaten up, and the birds have had to find fresh quarters. This idea seems strengthened by the fact that the tits and sparrows have remained ; the former are able to hack their lurking prey from their holes, and the latter can subsist a. great deal upon household refuse. I should think the effect of this in - time would be to drive the insectivorous birds entirely from the country. —S§. L. Mostry, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield, Feb. 9th. We notice that a contributor to the February number of the Entom- ologist, writing from Upper Norwood, takes Mr. Mosley’s view in attributing the scarcity of insects to the increase of birds.— Eps. Nat. Epeira diadema and Salticus scenicus IN YORKSHIRE. —Noticing records of these species for Yorkshire at p. 84 of vol. vii., induces me to mention that on the 3rd Sept., 1883, I took a specimen of Hpeira diadema (female) on a rock on the side of Ingleborough, about half-way up the mountain, 138 THe NATURALIST. just beyond Ribblehead Station ; it almost exactly matched the rock in colour. In the year 1881 I took several specimens of Salticus scenicus, the zebra hunting-spider, in a greenhouse in York. These additional localities may perhaps interest some one interested in the geographical range of this group of animals:—Gro. W. Oxprie~p, Harrogate, 13th Feb., 1884. SUPPLEMENT TO THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE.—Messrs. W. Eagle Clarke and W. Denison Roebuck, Leeds, are preparing a supple- ment to their ‘‘ Handbook of the Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire,” and would be glad to receive notes of additions or corrections to that work, or notices of the occurrence of any species of quadrupeds, virds, reptiles, or fishes in Yorkshire, which their friends may be pleased to communicate. As they wish to publish the supplement in the April magazines, it 1s hoped that information may be sent in immediately. REVIEW. —“ Transactions of the Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. — Part I.”—We are very pleased to find that the Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society has decided to publish annually a part of ‘‘ Transactions.” Part I., just issued, is before us, and we congratulate the Society on the result of the beginning of its venture. The Part contains the Annual Report of the Society for 1883, including the work done by the Geological, Botanical, Vertebrate, and Entomological Sections, from which we find that much useful work has been accomplished. The report of the last- mentioned section, however, does not give an adequate idea of what was done in Entomology during the year ; for few, we imagine, will concur with the remark that ‘‘the feature of the year has been the abundance of the Autumn moths at lamps,” when the fact remains that seven species of lepidoptera were discovered quite new to the district (three of them indeed new to the county); yet, although it is a good many years since such an occurrence took place in the Huddersfield district, no allusion whatever is made in the report either to the circumstance or to any of the species. The names of all new additions to the fauna and flora ought surely to be most prominent items in the reports on the work done in the district. Then again, the report says, ‘‘ several species which have only occurred singly before, were this year extremely abundant.” We are much interested to know what species are here alluded to, as we certainly neither heard of nor noticed anything of the kind ourselves. The feature of the Part, however, is ‘‘ A Catalogue of the Lepidoptera found in the Huddersfield District.” There are lists of both the Macros and the Micros, and as they seem to be complete and accurate so far as the district is known, they will doubtless prove of great value to the younger lepidopterists of the Society and neighbourhood. The summary gives 339 Macros and 327 Micros, or a total of 666 species as having been taken in the district. The Macros have been well worked up, but the number of Micros will no doubt be considerably increased as years go by. The price of the Part to non-members of the Society is 1s. 6d.. and may be had from the Secretary, Mr. S. L. Mosley, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield. Nores anp QvueErtEs. 139 OBITUARY.—Wittiam Boucxier.—-Lepidopterists throughout the country will have heard with intense grief of the sudden death of Mr. William Buckler, of Lumley House, Emsworth. The warmth and enthusiasm of his correspondence endeared him to every one with whom he had such an acquaintance, and the formation of a friendship made with him in this way was, we suppose, claimed with pride by almost every lepidopterist in Britain who had spent a few years in earnest study of the life histories of this group of the British insects. For twenty-five years Mr. Buckler devoted his energies to the delineation of the larvee of our British lepidoptera, and not only with his beautiful figures, but in his lucid and careful descriptions (which are so well known to every reader of the ‘‘ Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine”), he had no rival. Our own correspondence with him commenced early in 1868, and we have just been looking over the mass of information about larve contained in the letters received from him after that date. Truly he ‘died in harness,” for the first paper; extending to nearly seven pages, in the current number of the “‘Ento. Mo. Mag.” (February, 1884), on ‘‘ The Natural History of Aglossa pinquinalis,” is written by him under date ‘‘ January 2nd, 1884.” A week later, on January 9th, he had passed away, from an attack of bronchitis, at the age of 69, It is reported his figures of larvee will probably be published by the Ray Society, and that Society we are sure could not be engaged on better work.—G. T. P. Aauntall for Sanwary. Height ToTan Faun 0 J Nios To Daz. Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest 0! above | fall. Days Fall. oe 5 all. eee 1884, | 1883. Ft. In. HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 | 5°75 |-21 2°93 | *33°74 22 1:26 (J. W. Robson) Lreps ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183) 4:04 18] 4:04 | 186+ 28 0:70 HorsrortuH ... (James Fox)| 350 | 3°77 |19| 377 | 2-46t 22 0-92 Hairax...(F.G.S. Rawson)| 365 | 8°72 24 8°72 8°40 22 1°80 BaRNSLEY ... (Dr. Sadler)...| 350 | 3°68 18 3°68 3°37 23 0°82 INGBIRCHWORTH(Mr.Taylor)} 853 | 7°32 21 | 7:32 | 6°55 22 1°50 Wentworth Castrr (Mr.| 520| 429 17] 429 | 4°69 23 0:85 Fisher) ~Gootz ...... (J. Harrison)...| 25 | 3°60 | 18 3°60 212 | 23 0°78 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.} 10 | 2.82 | 14 2°82 Lb $= 723 0°69 Lawton) ScaRrporo’ (A. Rowntree)... 130 | 2°99 17] 116||| ... 23 0:56 TuHrrskK...(W. Gregson) ...... 100! 4:42 171 4:42 ae 3 0:89 * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-82. + Average of 30 years, 1853-62, & 1865-84. t Average of 15 years, 1870-84. § Average of 34 years, 1850-83, || Average of 18 years. Reports of Societies. HEcKMONDWIKE NATURALISTS SocteTy.—Meeting, January 26th, 1884. —The president (Mr. J. A. Erskine Stuart) gave an interesting report on the natural history of the month, exhibiting a variety of floral specimens, wild and from the garden, forwarded by Dr. C. Stuart, of Chrinside, Berwick. Reports of local ornithology and botany were also given by the members ; amongst other records was that of a thrush’s nest, con- taining four eggs, having been found on Dec. 24th, 1883, at Overthorpe, near Thornhill. The president afterwards read a paper on ‘‘ Diseases of Plants.” HvupDERSFIELD NATURALISTS’ SocteTy.—Meeting, Feb. 16th, Mr. J. Shaw in the chair.—Mr. T. W. Woodhead named a number of plants in flower. Mr. Mosley stated that he had just returnéd from Rainworth Lodge, in Nottinghamshire, where he had been staying, sketching var- ieties of birds from the very rich collection of the owner, Viren: Whitaker, F.L.S., for the purpose of publishing figures of them in his work on ‘‘ British Birds.” He exhibited his sketch book, containing over 70 figures, most of them exceedingly rich ; he also exhibited an egg of the tufted duck, presented to him by Mr. Whitaker, and taken on the ponds at Rainworth Lodge, the only place in Britain where this bird is known regularly to breed. ! MancHester Cryprocamic Socrety.—Dr. B. Carrington, F.R.S.E., in the chair.—The hon. sec. exhibited Continental specimens (in fruit) of Tortula paludosa, a Species of moss which has recently been added to the British flora, barren specimens of the same having been found in Wales. The Continental specimens have been gathered by Dr. J. B. Wood and Professor W. P. Schimper, in Switzerland, 1872. Mr. W. H. Pearson read a short paper on a collection of Hepatics from Norway and Sweden, which had been sent to him by Prof. N. C. Kindberg, of Sweden ; altogether, about 60 species. were enumerated, amongst the rarest being Gymnomitrium coralloides, Scapania subalpina, Jung. Kunzei, and J. saxicola. Specimens were then distributed by Mr. Pearson ; he also exhibited specimens of Scapania wrigua (new to Derbyshire), collected at Kinder on November last, by Messrs. Whitehead and Holt. Mr. Pearson brought before the the notice of the society Professor Masso- lengo’s recent work on the Uridinee Verenensis. Mr. Cash exhibited a moss new to Europe, Fontinalis Ravani, which had been discovered in 1882, and sent to him by M. de Buysson, a French corresponding member of the society. The moss appears to have a more delicate habit than any British species of the genus. Mr. Stanley exhibited under the microscopic, the spores and spore cases of Selaginella ; he also exhib- ited a micro-photograph of Thomas Brittain, a former vies preside of, the society. Mr. George Burgess exhibited a number of freshly gathered mosses from Ingleton and Derbyshire.—T. Rogers, Hon. Sec. a re - Diary. —Meetings of Societies. . M: uw. 3. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Societ Society. =P eevare on Crnsute” Sb. nS . Mosley, 8 p.m. Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.- A Salk Meeting. See Adyt. . Liversedge Naturalists’ Society. 5 . Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. 4, 4 ee 4 ~ 4,. 4. Entomological Society of London, 7 p.m. ee 5 6 1 . Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. . Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. =. 5. LL. Bradford Naturalists Society.—‘ Mounting id Staininiy Betanical - aie ; Specimens,’ Mr. G. D. Scorah. a 5, 12: York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. eee a oe Naturalists’? Society. — “ British Fishes.” Js Bower, ; Says De Huddeestield Naturalists’ Pociety eet nudtion of Mr. Mosiey’s oo ; Lectures on ‘‘ Insects,” 8 p.m. » 17. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p m. _ 5,18. Huddersfield Board Schools’ No towalisty Society.—Conversazione. >, 18, Doncaster Juvenile Naturalists’ Society. » 20. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. aA North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club.—Annual Meeting at =< Stoke, » 20. York St. Thomas’ Naturalists’ Field Club. » 22. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. _,, 24. Lancashire and Cheshire E Entomological Society. xs 25, oe Naturalists’ So Gess —‘* Diatoms,”’ Mr. W. West, 7-30 Bae ae Huddersica Naturalists’ Society. — > Meng gale Waves,” Jz : ee pe Tindall, 8p. THE SCOTTISH N ATURALIST, e Bh @uarterly Magazine of Hatural Science. 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D, Bairstow, Tetege iis Sah: alge - 141 - Notes on the Vantchrate Paurs of ¥ orkebiive: 1881- 1983. =W: Beagle Clarke: See ELS., and W. Denison Rachuck ee cae L472 i _ Notes, ere ; _Goosanders at Newton Kyme.—Rev. we Chaloner Bre a oe as “oe Lok Banks’ Oarfish:—WV. F. Dobree Ap Shee a he ae ae hk o - Tectura testudinalis, Miller. in gS Geo. Bie . Parke, F.L.S. a AOS, Raves, ¥OR PRBRUARY 2. eS om ay ae genes a ee ae .- Reports or Socimrms -— rage Ap _ Barnsley Naturalists’ Sociaty sare SER Gh oy ae aS Riper ye - Bradford Naturalists’ Society Sticvi Sadat tacts, DOS as me Set ne 3 LBS --Laneashire and Cheshire Entomological Society es oy, CE Puee ys gs eae Manchester Oryptogamic Society... oe = Se Pers S. je 104 York Field Naturalists’ and Scientific Sogiety ASR ey PEST eat aD y Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. —Annual Meeting... Soren Gene eae eee LOO, HUDDERSFIELD : .B. Brown,. Marker Pracn Corner. 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NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. ( Contenued. ) By S. D. Barrstow, F.L.S. *.* Nots.—Owing to the absence of both Editors from Huddersfield, Plate VIII. was accidentally omitted from the last number, but is given this month; and the last sentence in Mr. Bairstow’s paper (p. 136) ought to have appeared as the beginning of the present part. Our Sphinges are numerous and varied, and my old friend A. Atropos poses in Port Elizabeth as a vine pest and a hive-robber, whilst by many up-country agriculturalists it is held in terror and superstitious awe. The Chelonide contain some lovely species, several of which I doubt not hybernate as larvee, as at home. One of our most striking moths, Pais decora, I have taken during the season, flies over grassy plains, and is readily boxed. It resembles Abraxas grossulariata, both in flight and metamorphoses. The larva, pupa, and imago exhibit coincident forms ot colour. Several of the Zygenide swarm where they locate, and are always welcome friends. At Rondebosch—a delightful retreat near Cape Town—I saw thousands of them pursuing their revels beneath the glare of a fiery sun. Procris nebulosa is not uncommon, but a moth (sp. ?) I was pleased to greet as a Procris never fell to my net in the old country. I have not yet discovered a solitary Hepialus,* but should suppose the genus is represented. To speak of Geometers, Noctuas, and Micros— I would if I could, but I can’t, If I could when I would, then I dar’nt. To integrate such a history necessitates the combined efforts and researches of a complete nation of lepidopterists. | Monographic mention elevates one to insult the rest. Mr. Spiller mentions a few Natalian moths} that are recorded also from Great Britain, and I notice a species of Plusia, closely allied to gamma. The hemipterous fauna of South Africa, says Dr. Buchanan White, F.L.8., is “‘ pretty well worked,{ although a great deal remains to be N.S., Vou. 1x. APR., 1884. * Since penning this, Hepialus antarcticus is registered from Cape Town in the S.A. Museum Blue Book. + 8. Convoluult, 8. Celerio, OC. Nervi, A. Atropos, D. Pulchelia, S. Sacraria, Heliothis Armigera. (nt., vol. xiii., p. 83.) t The only book on this order known to me is Stahl’s Hemiptera Africana, which covers the entire continent. ) ete THe NATURALIST. L done, especially amongst the smaller species.” Such a summary applies to the majority of natural orders. Large insects as curios, readily find their way to other countries, and animals which tickle the drum of human amazement are unearthed from their native habitats. We are neither deficient in stinging bugs nor stinking bugs, lovely bugs, ugly bugs, and noisy bugs. I submitted a small collection of them to Dr. White, gathered haphazard in different parts. One of our most interesting bugs, by reason of its leafy shape, which bars the way of detection, is Phyllomorpha paradoxa, Sparm. I took one on my coat sleeve a short time ago, and have seen several belonging to other naturalists. The specimen I sent to Dr. White came to grief en route, but I have since ensured its name in accordance. Dr, White names also the following species -—Leduvius erythrocnemis, Germ., a powerful biter ; Lygoens elegans, Wolf., a pretty thing, common on Ornithogalum, &c. ; Pseudoflata postica, Spin., a delicate green Homop., extremely local; Scantius Forstert, F.; Mictis curvipes, F.; and a water bug, Appasus luridus, Germ., “‘ occurs also in Egypt,” White. We have a fair number of Cicade, of yell-erlasting fame. Dr. White notes Platypleura hirtipennis, var. b., and P. stridula probably, though not altogether agreeing with it. . The 4rachnide differ materially from the foregoing, inasmuch as they have scarcely been studied at all. This is the more strange when we reflect how much of interest is absorbed in the one word spider, and how ignorant we remain of the habits of scorpions and of ticks, three families classified together but infinitely apart. What connecting link exists between the two former is vaguely defined, and their homologies are questionable. Those who have paid any attention to the economy of the scorpion would be astonished when told that science places the beast on the same platform with the spider. To see a life-to-life encounter between a Tarantula (?) and its supposed brother is but to increase the wonder. One fights like the condensed phantoms of all Furies. The other more calmly awaits, sneak that it is, until weakness intervenes, when it spurs to the rife contest, and a spider’s requiem is pronounced. But it seems to me that classification of the future will depend. not upon the habits of animals, relationship of economies, or forms, but upon affinities of internal structure, and comparative resem- blance of vital organs. Dr. D. Astley Cresswell, during a recent visit to the Colony, collected and took with him some living scorpions. for anatomical purposes, but I have not yet learned whether he succeeded in his endeavour. We shall score one for Science when the relative positions of scorpions and crustaceans are indelibly fixed and generically defined. Barrstow: Natura History Notes rrom Souram Arrica. 143 Mons. Eug. Simon, to whom I forwarded a small number of S. A. Arachnida, remarks in the preface to his list—‘ All your spiders are of great interest. A genus Colophon, recently described by Rev. O. P. Cambridge, is new to me, and another is new to science, and allied to Themisoides of South America...... The scorpions are also good.”......... That much sound work remains to be done in this most attractive order, the following list, from an eminent naturalist who makes it his. study and delight, will certainly demonstrate. I give it verbatim after M. Simon. SPIDERS. Colophon Natalensis, O. P. Cambr. (one specimen); Nov. gen., allied to Themisoides (two specimens); Lyiola pulea ; Neniga ; Phlegra, sp. ignota ; lrassis, sp.ig.; Palpimanus, sp. ig.; Misumena, sp. 1g.; Tho- misus, sp. ig. (pulla); Selenops, sp, ig.; Hresus Africanus, C. Koch. female ; Lithyphanius, sp. ig. (f. sp.) SCORPIONS. Loimura, sp.ig.; Battsus, sp. ig., probably villosus, Peters. Lityus lineatus, ©. Koch. I have heard many travellers speak of dangers in South Africa. Tigers, reptiles, &c., &c. I do not believe one word of it. Big game is timid, wild animals fiee at man’s approach. Ticks are far stronger foes. You cannot shoot, spear, crush them. You are powerless. Walking or sitting, they inhabit your trousers. Sleeping they inhabit your flesh. Collector, they infest your beetles and bees, they appro- priate your shells. Botanist, touch not that flower! Glorious Protea periifolia, tempt him not so tantalizingly. Your fluffy beauty is dis- torted with a myriad ticks. Your envelope contains a pandemcnium of insect horrors. If I pluck you from your native velot, your parasites will suck my native blood and smear my native legs, and I can only pomade them out after the damage is done—for remonstrance is in vain. This insect phlebotomizing is possibly designed to maintain the balance of human strength. Dame Nature is more intimately ac- quainted with zsculapian tactics than we are, and she has some motive for designing blood-sucking quacks, to practise in tropical or sub- tropical countries. Her human subjects are at liberty, notwithstanding, to kick against the pricks when they are sharply pointed. I have assigned to the Arachnida a very subordinate place in my list. Lovers of the order may justifiably give it a more elevated footing. The 144 THE NATURALIST. remarkable or attractive neuropterous insects of Southern Africa were popularised long ago, and very few amateur collectors reach home un- represented with a formidable ant-lion or dragon-fly. Libeliule of all sizes and colours abound, not only near the banks of streams and rivers, but on upland flats in time of drought, when a glimpse of half- a-pint of water, fresh or stagnant, would seem a miracle. We have _ also innumerable species of Phryganide, whose architectural skill is never at a nonplus, and I possess a few gnat-like creatures yet undeter- mined. But to conclude my brief sketch of impressionable insect- ography without an allusion to our wonderful termites, even at the risk of desecrating Mr. Smeathman’s sanctum, I am powerless. The world is fond of change. Fashion propels animation—animation, fashion. Any sort of a social lion will answer the purpose if, that lion becomes popular. When Londoners are really hard-pressed for a novelty, let them bribe authorities at the Zoo to import a shipment of termite ant-hills. Provided all goes well I guarantee a splendid hit af an evacuation can be managed at the approach of sightseers. I have seen one flight of termites, and I count that moment one of the happiest in my life. They came not in myriads but in unceasing streams. “* They fell to earth I know not where.” Mr. J. Martin, of Swansea, a recent visitor to this country, stayed for some time near the Katberg, and had ample opportunity of watching their habits. I received several specimens by post, they had dropped their wings in transit, excepting one which retained the left posterior until its death. He told me that when he plunged his stick into some of their abodes, he found them ready for swarming. A few months ago I visited the farm of a friend near Maitland Mines. Arriving early in the morning, I discovered many termites on the ground and in the river, and numbers of birds snapping them up with avidity. Whilst we were breakfasting a gentleman remarked that within a couple of hours of their appearance he could not find a solitary specimen. This was not entirely my own experience, but almost. Mr. Martin made some most valuable notes on the habits of termites, and I should be glad to read them in due course in the pages of the Naturalist. We do not derive serious inconvenience from white ants in this immediate district ; but they are a complete pest in some parts of the country. L’hermite de Winterhoek writes me as follows :—‘‘ The only extraordinary symptom of activity which I have observed lately, was Barrstow: NaturAL History Norss rrom Sours Arrica. 145 in the case of termites or white ants, which are, during the warm season, such a pest in this country. It is very seldom during the winter that they appear above the surface, but on the 13th of this month (August) the ground was darkened by swarms of those insects, hastily carrying to their nests the dry leaves and stems of the plants* of which I send you by this post a specimen. On the 8th we had a fall of snow, and it kept extremely cold until the 13th, which was a warm day, whilst from the 14th the thermometer lowered again. There are houses in this neighbourhood which their owners have been compelled to abandon altogether, the ants having taken possession of them, from the floor to the ceiling. I have tried lime and various other means to expel them, but have so far succeeded only partly to keep them aloof from places imbibed with Calvert’s disinfectant. Teak wood is said to be the only kind which they do not pierce. Informa- tion on the subject would prove very beneficial to the farmers of South Africa.” Respecting Vertebrata my first impressions are scarcely worth recording. Mammals (Rodents or a few small and commou,Carnivora excepted), kept without my reach, and the reptiles I avoided until I learnt a little more about the ‘‘ pisenous” species. I don’t mean to say that I have not seen a jackal monkey, baboon, porcupine, or any ordi- nary brute. I desire their skins better than their friendship ; but I certainly was pleased in spotting a fine Monitor Lizard, common in our valley stream. I was glad to secure a handsome hawksbill turtle, cast up by the sea waves.{ Its interior was a perfect mess of shell pottage. Our common tortoise is, I believe, Testudo Greca, but the great berg tortoise, the starry, and the trap tortoise, occur also in some districts. We have a great variety of non-poisonous snakes, and some really lovely species. I have met and run away from a puff-adder—a most deadly reptile. I have been called in by my next door neighbour to measure the proportions of a sweet little night-addcr. When first seen, it was passing over a lady’s naked foot. That lady remarked to her ~ good man—*“‘ My love! (I think that was the expression, perhaps it was dear ! I really don’t recollect), there is a snake on my foot!” That lady was a Joand’Arc. The good man grasped a lead weight and smashed that night-adder’s laterals just as they were disappearing * One of the Chenopodee, a true Salicornia.—h. Hallack. + Probably gone astray. A visitor from eastern seas. We have also a green turtle. Some of these in the up-country districts are taken of tremendous size, over six feet long. 146 Tae NATURALIST. through a hole in the wall’ Mind! this isa rank exception to the rule of safety. I repeat—reptiles will “‘ git,” as the Yankees say, if they only git half a chance. When [ first dipped my pen into the ink, I had intended to demolish a thousand details in few words, but, proceeding, letter has succeeded letter, and I am writing still. The order of things is reversed, and it may be that my first impressions, when totted down, - bear the epitaph ** Here lies little matter in much room.” So be it! If you think I am going to sit down to a quiet dish of hash without gravy, or task without pleasure, it is an egregious error. But no! you have conceded me space for intervening moral and philo- sephical discursions, and lam happy. There is one sentimental sigh yet to eject, or rather a diversion to entertain. How gladly your Yorkshire weavers rise with the lark, bolt a scanty breakfast, rush breathlessly to catch a lazy excursion train, suffer the stuffy atmosphere of a third-class smoking compartment, risk the penalties of railway accidents, impatiently submit to never-ending stoppages, delays, and — ticket inspections, waste eight hours travelling for a two hours’ revel in the delights of one snatching peep at the roliing sea, or a ramble on the orange peel bespattered beach. And here I may view the lordly ocean any moment. Such an ocean too! Gaze across from the N.W. angle of Algoa Bay to the opposite shore. Trace the hazy line of pearly white sand which separates true land from true water. Raise your eyes and define the junction of mountain and sky. Leslie, paint nature truly, and your effort is adjudged a fraud. Turner, turn’er attention to that threatening sky, those angry breakers, and imitate action on canvas. Museful poet, does your poetic license avail sufficiently? Ransack the mine of thought and imagine when you cannot find. No appropriation, however sublime, will serve you here. Nature’s beauty has oft been studied, but never spoken. Grand old ocean, you lack an impossible champion. I love you when your bosom heaves in mighty anger, or gently sways in smooth complacence. I love you in a thundering roaring temper, and I love you when the rage subsides. Nay, if beneath your glassy surface is concealed a treacherous heart, I love you still. Dash your sprayful arms against the whitened strand, or ripple softly on the shore, I care not. I love you in any mood and upon all occasions. They call you vile and fickle. I think you are genuine and constant, and most assuredly aristocratic if length of lineage is veritable proof. I too would cast away the shuttle and CLARKE AND ROEBUCK: VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 147 suffer much to gaze at your lofty presence for one moment's pleasure. And as I love my liege, so do I revere his subjects, and of these I shall now speak. (To be continued. ) NOTES ON THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE, 3 1881-1883. By Wm. Hacir Ciarke, F.L.S., anp Wu. Denison RogBucx. Ir is our intention to prepare from time to time—annually if possible —a report upon the vertebrate fauna of Yorkshire, in which we propose to embody not only notices of the rarer and more interesting occurrences in the county during the period covered by the scope of the report, but also such records of older date as may have escaped our attention during the compilation of our ‘“‘ Handbook of the Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire,” together with such emendations and corrections of the statements contained therein as may seem to be called for. The scope of the present report includes the period of time which has elapsed since the publication of our Handbook in the autumn of 1881 down to the end of 1883. The records in our hands for the present year are reserved for a future paper. This report includes notices of the kind above indicated concerning 87 species, of which the following ten appear to be additions to the Yorkshire list -— Rhinolophus hipposideros, Hmberiza rustica, Torpedo hebetans, Raja maculata, Auxis rochei, Trachypterus arcticus, Regalecus grillu, Engraulis encrasicholus, and Orthagoriscus truncatus. But in addition to these there are various occurrences we have to record which are of special interest, such as those of Vespertilio Nattereri, V. mystacinus, and Delphinus tursio among the Mammalia, of Turdus varius, Cyanecula sp ? Cypselus melba, Botaurus lentiginosus, Ardea garzetta, and the breeding in the county of Querquedula circia and Spatula clypeata among the Birds, and the occurrence of Brama Rati, Mugil septentrionalis, Regalecus Banksii, Ctenolabrus rupestris, Nerophis equoreus, and Athe- rina presbyter among the Fishes. The Numerical Summary of species now stands as in the following table, the British forms being also given for comparison :— (148 Tor NATURALIST. YORKSHIRE. BRITAIN. Mammalia : Terrestrial aie 32: 45 Marine ice 13 26 Birds ihe ae ie 307 380 Reptiles : Terrestrial ae 4 Uf Marine _... tee 74 2 Amphibia ie os ae. 6 ain? Fishes fe Freshwater Ae, 39 53 Marine fo 123 196 519 716 A few preliminary remarks on the chief features of the following report will not be without. interest. The Mammatta of Yorkshire were for the most part so well known at the time of publication of the Handbook, that but little is required by way of addition or correction, except so far as regards the two groups—the Bats and the Cetaceans—which appear to be always the most imperfectly studied mammals in any district. With regard to the Bats, the result of Roebuck’s investigations has been that, with the assistance of correspondents, the geographical range of some of the forms in Yorkshire has been studied to some purpose. One species is added to the list, and two others—hitherto only recorded for the county on the strength of isolated occurrences— have been fully confirmed as inhabiting the county, one of the latter indeed proving to be a common and widely distributed form. There is yet good work to be done in this group, for Daubenton’s Bat— which is sure to be found sooner or later—has not yet been detected. Yorkshire appears still to remain the northern limit of the range of the Noctule, as Mr. R. Morton Middleton informs us that its reported occurrence in South Durham was not confirmed. The study of the Cetaceans is much more difficult from their habitat and large size, and our only hope is that a competent naturalist may be at hand in the event of the capture of animals of this order. CLARKE AND RoEBUCK: VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 149 Birps.—Numerically the Yorkshire avifauna remains at 3:)7, the addition of the Rustic Bunting being counterbalanced by the subtrac- tion of the Barbary Partridge. Should, however, specific rank be accorded to Pallas’s Great Grey Shrike, as is done by Mr. Seebohm, this form would also rank as an addition. . « Here it will be advisable to call the pointed attention of our readers to the two paragraphs at the head of p. xxxvii. of the Introduction to our Handbook, which appear to have been overlooked by some of our critics, who might there have learned that we never allowed or recognized the claims of such dubious records as those of Richard’s Pipit, the Purple Martin, the Great Black Woodpecker, the Hairy Woodpecker, the Little Owl, the Acadian Owl, the Harlequin Duck, the Passenger Pigeon, the Virginian Colin, the Sooty Tern, and the Laughing Gull. None of these are included in our numerical summaries, although in the body of our work we felt it quite within our duty to give the evidence of their occurrence for what our readers might consider it worth. Reprites 4ND AMPHIBIANS.—As to these groups there is nothing to remark except that it is very desirable that naturalists should keep a look-out for further occurrences of the Natterjack Toad iu the county. As to the so-called Sand Livard, we have not yet been satisfied that the animal occurs so far north, the Northumbrian occurrence hinted at on p. xli. being a myth. As to the FisHes—the least-investigated class in our fauna—we are pleased to be able not only to add seven species to the list, but to give a variety of further particulars and additional occurrences of interesting forms; and it may be as well to remark that to the severe storms which prevailed in early April, 1882, we owe several records of pelagic and abyssal forms, such as the Torpedo and the Deal-fish, and other rare species. No doubt had naturalists been more numerous in our sea-board towns and villages, others would have been detected. The numbers which are prefixed to the names are intended to correspond to those used in the Handbook. MAMMALIA. 1. Rhinolophus hipposideros (Bechst.). Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. This species—an important addition to the Yorkshire fauna—is not © uncommon at Eavestone, near Ripon, where it is taken by Messrs. James Ingleby and William Storey, from both of whom Roebuck has received specimens in the flesh, and one or two alive (Zool 1882, p. 186; Nat. 1882, p. 166). 150 Tue NATURALIST. 12. Vespertilio Nattereri Kuhl.. Reddish-gray Bat. Two specimens were sent in the flesh to Roebuck by Mr. W. Storey — of Pateley Bridge, who captured one of them on the 24th of May, - 1883, in Harefield Wood, near that place, and the other in the same habitat a few days later. 15. Vespertilio mystacinus Leisl.. Whiskered Bat. This species, which our work was the means of introducing to the Yorkshire fauna, may now be considered as a widely distributed and fairly numerous form in the county. Roebuck bas had specimens from Harrogate (Grange), Eavestone (Ingleby), Pateley Bridge (Storey), Ben Rhydding (Smethurst), &c. 23. Martes sylvestris Nils. Marten. Specimens are recorded as having been killed in Raydale and in Kexby Woods, near York (Field, Oct. 1, 1881, p. 504). 28. Meles taxus (Schreb). Badger. Stragglers continue to be reported from time to time, as at Yarm, Sleningford, ce. 42. Hyperoédon rostratum (Chem.) Common Beaked-whale. Ve A. latifrons Gray. Broad-fronted Beaked-whale. Mr. Southwell informs us that H. latifrons has been proved to be the male of H. rostratum, thus diminishing the Yorkshire list by one species. 50.—Globicephalus melas (Trail). Pilot Whale. One was captured off Flamborough, in February, 1865, and recorded as the “ Ca’ing Whale, Globicephalus deductor” (J. Freeland Young, Field, Feb. 25th, 1865.) 53. Delphinustursio Fab. Bottle-nosed Dolphin. One stranded near Goole, Oct. 4th, 1881, the identification of which - was confirmed by Mr. Thomas Southwell (Bunker, Naturalist, 1881, p. 65). . | BIRDS. 5. Turdus varius Pall. Whites Thrush : Additional occurrences: Rimswell, near Withernsea, one shot during the first week in November, 1881, and now in the collection of Mr. R. T. Burnham, of Rimswell, where Clarke has seen it. — Waplington Manor, near Pocklington, one shot in early January, 1882, (Backhouse, Zool, 1882, p. 74; Inchbald, Field, 1882, p. 201). NoTEs AND QUERIES. — 151 8. Turdus torquatus L.. Ring Ouzel. _ The solitary instance of this species nesting near Beverley must “now be considered doubtful. 11. Cinclus metanogaster C. L. Brehm. Black-brcasted Dipper. Seebohm having expressed a doubt as to the occurrence of this species or race in Britain, Clarke forwarded him the Welwick specimen for examination, with the result that it was considered an undoubted example of this form. (To be continued. ) Hotes and Queries. GoosaNDERS aT Newron Kyme.—lI saw nine behind my house on the River Wharfe. I never saw birds in such magnificent plumage, but I could not get ashotat them. Itis very unusual to see so many together. J. CHatonger, Newton Kyme, March 6th, 1884. Banks’ OarrisH—-Regalecus Banksir.—In April, 1882, I recorded the capture of this fish on the Yorkshire coast, and as the local newspapers may not fall into the hands of all your readers, I extract the following from the Bridlington Gazette of last week :—‘‘ On Tuesday, a tine speci- men of the ribbon fish was driven ashore on Flambro’ rocks, during the late heavy gale ; the length of the specimen is 15 feet 3 inches, 18 inches wide, and about 4 inches thick. On the fisherman approaching, it rose up in the air, moved in a serpentine fashion, but was stunned by a stone and easily captured. It was eventually sold to Dr. W. Whittaker, of Scarbro’, and is now. in the hands of Mr. Thompson, taxidermist of that place, for preservation, and with the intention of exhibiting it in London and the provinces. A bid of £25 was made on behalf of the British Museum authorities.”” The specimen I recorded in 1882 was 19 feet long, but as Couch’s largest was 15 feet 6 inches, the present is a noteable capture. The style of motion mentioned above, conforms pretty well to that given to Couch, by fishermen, on a similar occasion. ‘‘It came on with a gentle lateral undulating motion, shewing its crest and a small portion of the head above the water.”—N. F. Dobrée, Beverley, Ist March, 1884. Tectura testudinalis, Miller, 1n YorKsHire.—-In the Naturalist for - October, 1883, page 53, I have read Mr. Crowther’s remarks respecting the occurrence of this species at Whitby. On referring to my note book, I find I collected living specimens ten years ago, at Flamboro’, on the rocks, at extreme low water; and my friend Mr. Cash, of Halifax, informs me that he met with it in the same place last summer. I may also state that in August last ] dredged it in 20 fathoms water, off Port 152 THe NATURALIST. Soderic, Isle of Man, but chiefly dead shells. This however, is not a new locality, as the late Prof. Edward Forbes, in his ‘‘ Malacologia Monensis,” page 34, mentions 7’. testwdinalis as occurring ‘‘ on the under surface of stones at very low water, Ballaugh.” The Manx shells I obtained are smaller, and not so prettily marked as the Yorkshire speci- mens. Much has been written about the migratory habits of this species, and it would be interesting to learn whether it may not be found much further south than the localities hitherto recorded.—Gzo. H. Parks, Furness Abbey, February Ist, 1884. Rainfall for February. Height ToTaL Faun of NNO. To Date. | | Date of | Amount gauge | Rain-| of heaviest above | fall. | Days . ie leeball: nena ee. 1884. | 1883. ses Be. | In: HUDDERSFIELD (Dalton) ...| 350 1°57 | 16| 7°32 | *5°51 23 0°60 (J. W. Robson) | LEEDS ... (Alfred Denny)...| 183 | 1°94 | 14 5:97 3°27 uh 1 1°16 HorRsFORTH ... (James Fox)} 350 | 2°30 | 18 607 4°76 t 1 1:19 Hatirax...(F.G.S. Rawson)} 365 | 4°12 | 22 a 11°78 2 1-21 BaRNSLEY ... (Dr. Sadler)...} 350 | 1°78 | 16 5°46 5'70 1 0°72 INGBIRCHWORTH(Mr.Taylor)| 853 2:92 | 20 | 10°24 | 10°50 1 0-91 WENTWORTH CASTLE (Mr.} 520 1°87 | 17 6 16 A333 1 0°70 Fisher) GooueE ...... (J. Harrison)... 25.) 1°22 | 11 4°82 4°36 1 “50 Hutt (Derringham) (Wm.| 10) 1.44/16| 426 | 2°929§ 1 72 Lawton) ScarBoro’ (A. Rowntree)...| 130 | LS why 4:74 | 1°76|| i "85 THIRSK...(W. Gregson) ...... 100, 1°52 | 15 5:94 1 0°57 MasHAmM (Thos. Carter) ...| 269 | 2°31 | 19 7°66 Li 0.46 SHADWELL (Geo. Paul) | 2°19 | 14 5°94 it * Average to date for 17 years, 1866-83. + Average of 30 years, 1853-62, & 1865-84. + Average of 15 years, 1870-84. § Average of 34 years, 1850-83. || Average fall for Feb. (18 years). Reports of Societies. BarnsLtEy Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting March 18th, Mr. T. Lister in the chair.—The chief business was in connection with the results of the exhibition got up for the visit of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. Letters were received, and personal communications given, expressing favourable opinions of the exhibition, the annual meeting, and the lectures.of Mr. J. G. Baker, president of the Union, Mr. W. F. de V. Kane, Reports oF SocigEtigzs. 153 of Dublin, and Dr. Brady of Sunderland. Local excursions were proposed for the season, the first of which is to be Edlington and Conisborough. Little to remark as to birds: a flight of long-tailed tits seen about the gardens, Silkstone, Feb. 22; chaffinch, song first noted Feb. 15; the yellow- hammer sang on the 16th ; pied-wagtails again noted Feb. 19th, and now becoming frequent ; they partially migrate to warm parts of England in winter, grey wagtails coming in late autumn and leaving in spring ; king- fishers frequently noted every winter. The most unusual occurrence has been a pair of wheatears, Jan. 17th, on Staincross common ; they are usually summer visitors, leaving for warmer southern counties in late autumn. I saw a kestrel, Jan. 7th, hovering low and darting to a hedge bank, near Sandal ; saw siskins again in railway cutting below my house at Victoria Crescent, but not in such great numbers as were reported about Christmas. A heron was brought for my examination, Jan. 12th, shot at Brough: several were seen up to the close of the month. Mr. Bond, of Wombwell, reports many sparrow-hawks, kestrels, and gulls ; and two more otters making about seven in the Dearne valley in two years : these are desired by the land proprietors to be protected. From Hems- worth woods and reservoir, which are under wise protection, little grebes, goosanders, herons, sparrow-hawks, kestrels, gold-finches, and gold- crested wrens are reported by Mr. Creighton, who thinks that the bird _ and gun acts, and trespass laws, are causing some scarce birds to increase in numbers.—T. Lister. BrapForD Naturatists’ Socrety.—Meeting held Jan. 29th, 1884. Mr. Carter presided. Mr. Firth described a ramble to Shipley Glen, and reported having seen the dipper, creeper, blue titmouse, cole titmouse, magpie, thrush, missel thrush, wren and robin. Mr. Soppitt gave an account of a ramble about Saltaire, and reported having found a fungus (Mycena hyemalis) which he considered very early. Mr. Carter exhibited a box containing the whole of the British representatives of the genus Zygena (burnet moths), and pointed out their specific characteristics. Mr. Firth exhibited a number of moths which pass the winter in the perfect state, including D. templi, C. vaccinu, C. miata, S. dubitata, &e. Mr. Shackleton, of Keighley, showed a number of mosses collected in various localities. Mr. Soppitt then gave his lecture on ‘‘ Hetercecism of certain Fungi,” which he said signifies a species which commences life on one plant and completes it on another. He gave as an illustration the corn-mildew, which is so destructive in the corn-growing districts, but has not been found here. It commences its growth on the barberry (Berberis vulgaris), and completes it on the corn. The lecture was illus- trated by a number of specimens of fungi in different stages of their growth. Meetine held Feb. 12th, 1884, Mr. Soppité in the chair.—Mr. Soppitt reported a ramble about Seven Arches, near Bingley, and in Shipley Glen, and named a number of flowers he had seen; he also found 154 THE NATURALIST. the following shells : Zonites aliarius Z. crystallinus, and the fresh-water mussel. He also reported having seen the grey wagtail. Mr. Carter exhibited a box of beetles from Reading, but as he had only just received them, they had not been named. Mr. Bennett exhibited with the oxy-hydrogen light a series of photographic views of Irish scenery, and views taken in the vicinity of the Falls of Niagara, accom- panied by explanatory readings by Mr. H. S. Ward. Mr. West exhibited a number of specimens of plants found in different parts of Ireland, some of which had not been found elsewhere. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SocteTy.—Meeting Feb. 25th, in the Free Library ; the president (Mr. 8. J. Capper,) in the chair. A paper entitled ‘* Reminiscences of Burnt Wood, Stafford- shire ”—communicated by Mr. Joseph Chappell (Manchester)—was read, in which the author (who was present) detailed his experiences of several excursions into that district, special allusion being made to the captures of the exceedingly rare Notodonta bicolora by himself and a friend, specimens of this insect In various stages being exhibited by him. The Rey. 8. Fletcher Williams followed with a paper on ‘‘ Henry Thoreau, the American Poet-Naturalist,” in which were vividly portrayed the life and character of this extraordinary student of nature and persevering observer of the habits of the animals of his native woods. During the conversazione, the Rev. H. H. Higgins exhibited the collection of insects intended for the circulating museum for educational purposes. MancHEsTER Cryptocamic Society.—Dr. B. Carrington, F.R.S.E., in the chair.—The honorary secretary exhibited and presented to the society specimens of Amblystegium porphyrrhizum which had been gathered at Southport, 1875. He subsequently made some remarks on its discovery, detection, and its position as a British moss. Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited some specimens of hepatics which he had received for determination from Prof. N. E. Kindberg, of Sweden, which had been collected in Spitzbergen by R. Gyllencreutz. They were Marchantia polymorpha, Sauteria alpina, and Blepharozea ciliaris. Mr. Pearson also exhibited Plagiochila tridentata from Llanberis., collected in May, 1883, this being a new locality for this rare hepatic. Mr. George Burgess exhibited a number of freshly-gathered mosses from the neighbourhood of Delamere ; amongst them was the interesting Tetraphis pellucida in abundant fruit. Two pamphlets in French were placed upon the table, presented by R. du Buysson, a corresponding member of the society— the one being an analytical key to the mosses belonging to the family Grimmacee, and the other was entitled ‘‘ Mouses et Hepatiques de L’Allier,” par l’ Abbe V. Berthoumien et R. du Buysson, 1883. Mr. J. Cash read a first portion of the letters and correspondence of Edward Hobson, which he had kindly arranged at the wish of the society. The portion read proved extremely interesting to the members.—Tuos. Rogers, Hon. Sec., 27, Oldham-road, Manchester. Reports oF SociEerizs. 155 York Freatp Naruratists’ AND ScrentTIFIC Soctrty.—The first meeting of this newly organized society was held in the Albert Rooms, Stonegate. The following specimens were brought by members for exhibition :—Mr. Alfred Waller, four new British plants, Naias alaganensis, Ononis horrida, Agrostis nigra, and Chara braunit; Mr. Robert B. Cooke, a group of British marine shells—Pinna pectinata, Anomia ephippium, and Pecten maximus from Brixham, Pecten varius and Nassa reticulata from Torbay, Fusus antiquus and F. gracilis from Lynn, and Cyprea Europea from Sheldon, South Devon. The hon. sec. (Mr. 8. Walker) exhibited a series of the local Hrebia epiphron and Dicranura furcula. Mr. Bailey’s - box contained eggs of the following birds :—Capercaille (Tetruo wro- gallus), grey plover (Squatarola helvetica), heron (Ardea cinerea), spoon- bill (Platalea leucorcdia), black stork (Ciconia nigra), also a large species of sea star (Asterias) from Brisbane. Mr. Robert Dutton showed a cabinet drawer of lepidoptera, containing Chelonia plantaginis C. villica, Arctia fuliginosa, A. uitice, &c. The president read a paper on ‘‘ Bacillus tuberculosus,”and showed a specimen under the microscope. Having explained the method of preparing the specimen, he said that Koch had first described these baccilli, which were delicate thread-like bodies from one-quarter to one-half as long as the diameter of the blood corpuscule. They behaved in a characteristic manner with certain of the aniline dyes. Koch had cultivated them for weeks and months apart from the body, and then inoculated animals with them, producing the characteristic disease by this means. Without entering before that non-medical audience upon the great question of the pathology of tuberculi, and its relation to consumption, the lecturer said he might at any rate point out that here was a definite botanical organism, found under very peculiar conditions, and therefore interesting to all naturalists. Certain people were prone to tubercular diseases. It was markedly hereditary. It prevailed especially under special hygienic and geographical circumstances. This and many other facts seemed to show that whether or not the bacillus was the cause of the disease, at any rate it required a specially disposed animal-tissue for its soil. Of course, so far, the case was on all fours with that of the yeast-plant, which also required a special soil, viz., one containing sugar, to produce alcoholic fermentation. A vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer at the close of his able and interesting address, —Samt. Waker, Hon. Sec. YorkKsHIRE Naturatists’ Union.—22np ANNUAL MEETING, BARNSLEY, Turnspay, Marcu 41x, 1884.-—-This was a very successful meeting, and in _ honour of it the Barnsley Naturalists’ Society had organized an extensive _ and admirably arranged Exhibition of Natural History objects. This was opened at about half-past two by Mrs. T. EH. Taylor, of Dodworth Hall, after which the visitors proceeded to inspect the various objects shown. The business meetings commenced at 4 p.m., when the General Commitiee met to receive the report of the Executive. There were present several 156 THe NATURALIST. of the permanent members of that Committee, besides delegates repre- senting the Societies at Huddersfield, Barnsley, Heckmondwike, Wake- field, Holmfirth, Liversedge, Ovenden, Rastrick-cum-Brighouse, Honley, Leeds (3), Bradford (3), Goole, Selby, Sheffield, Dewsbury, Malton, Halifax, Doncaster, Beverley, York, Ilkley, and Shipley. The chair was occupied by the President, Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S. The minutes of the previous annual meeting having been taken as read, the following new members of the Union were elected :—Rev. H. EH. Fox, M.A., of Durham, Messrs. F. Priestman, ex-mayor of Bradford, Thos. Pratt of Ripon, J. Rawlinson Ford of Leeds, A. Paterson of Doncaster, Arthur Roberts of Keighley, Henry Marsh of Leeds, W. E. Brady and George Rose of Barnsley, and J. A. Erskine Stuart, of Staincliffe, near Dews- bury. The ten following members were then chosen as additional perman- ent members of the General Committee :—Messrs. J. C. Burrell of Shef- field, W. N. Cheesman of Selby, J. EH. Clark, B.A., B.Sc., &c., and Geo. C. Dennis of York, N. F. Dobrée and J. Ambrose Ridgway, F.R.A.S., of Beverley, W. Gregson of Baldersby, J. H. Rowntree of Scarborough, M. B. Slater of Malton, and J. J. Stead of Heckmondwike. The Annual Report and Balance Sheet were then read by Mr. W. Hagle Clarke, F.L.S., of Leeds, one of the Secretaries, as follows :— 22np ANNUAL REPORT. The progress of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union during this the 22nd year of its existence has been steady and well-sustained, and the Executive Council have to congratulate the members on the fact that the new constitution which was adopted at the last annual meeting has worked in an extremely satisfactory manner. The modifications which it introduced were mainly in the direction of the further development of the British Association principle of government, and it is to one of these modifications that the Executive Council, which now addresses the members for the first time, owes its existence. ‘They have to report that one of the Union’s objects has been promoted during the year by means of the publication of the two instalments of the Transactions, and the other by a successful series of field-meetings, at which (as will appear by the reports of the Sections) sound and useful observational work has been done. THE FIELD MEETINGS held during the year—for each of which was prepared the customary circular descriptive of the natural history and physical features of the neighbourhood visited—were five in number, one for each of the districts into which Yorkshire is now divided for this purpose. The places visited were as follows :— Doncaster, Whit Monday, May 14th. Filey, Monday, June 11th. Strensall Common, Saturday, July 14th. Washburn Valley, Monday, August 6th. Malham, Saturday, September Ist. REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. LEN The interest taken in the meetings was well sustained, the attendance averaging about 60 at each. At some of them the Union was indebted to local gentlemen for permission to visit their estates, and to Mr. Winter Cockill and the High Sheriff of Yorkshire for their generous hospitality to the members who visited Doncaster and Malham respectively. The Strensall meeting in July was disap- pointing so far as regards the attendance, but on the other hand the largeness of the attendance when the Union visits places which are but little known or more than usually difficult of access is a source of encouragement, evidencing that members are fully alive to the cardinal importance of the exploration of little- known districts. THE SOCIETIES which constitute the Union are now 39 in number, an increase of four during the year, the newly-added Societies being the following :— NO OF, SEES Shipley Field Naturalists’ Club ...2....0.....secseoccoveseeseess 28 ibradtord Macroscopical Society s.c..:-2<-r-+ -secastcceceseoes 61 Rotherham Naturalists’ Society ...............--.0sec0 ssscessecs 63 Doncaster Juvenile Naturalists’ and Scientific Society ... 24 176 The statistics which are furnished by the secretaries of the different Societies show that the Union now includes 2408 Associates and 326 Members, or 2734 altogether, an increase of 361 Members and Associates during the year. THE MEMBERSHIP of the Union itself—as distinguished from that of the various individual Societies —has now to be considered in a new aspect. The Annual Subscribers of former years are now designated Members, and have increased in number during the year, the figure now standing at 326. The Executive Council would now again urge upon the attention of the Associates the desirability of their supporting the Union in its work by becoming Members. There is much valuable matter awaiting publication in the Transac- tions, for which additional funds are needed ; and it may be pointed out moreover that the penny per head which is contributed by the associated Societies for their members can only be looked upon as a nominal retaining-fee, much more money being spent upon the Associates than the Union receives from them. It can therefore be fairly expected that Associates and others who take an interest in the investigation of Yorkshire Natural History and are able to contribute towards its financial encouragement, should assist by enrolling themselves as Members. PUBLICATIONS. Parts 5 and 6 of the Transactions have been issued to the Members during the year, while Part 7 is printed and will be circulated immediately, and Part 8 isin preparation. Special attention has been given to this most important branch of the Union’s work, and your Executive venture to think that their report upon this head is a satisfactory one. It is also a matter for satisfaction that the year has witnessed the completion of the printing of Mr. Porritt’s long-expected “ List of Yorkshire Lepidoptera,” the 158 Tue NATURALIST. first completed memoir which the Union has issued, and also the first completed attempt to catalogue the indigenous Yorkshire forms of that important group of insects. “THE NATURALIST,” which has since its foundation nine years ago been the recognized organ of the Union, having been conducted under its auspices by Messrs. Hobkirk and Porritt at their own risk, will, on the completion of the current or ninth volume, become the property of the Union, the present Editors having decided to relinquish the office which they have held so long and so worthily, and which they originally undertook at the Union’s request. In their stead Messrs. Roebuck and Clarke have been appointed the Editors of a new series, which is to be commenced in August next. THE PRESIDENCY. Your Executive have now to announce that the important office of President has been offered to and accepted by the Right Hon. Lord Walsingham, M.A., F.LS., F.Z.S.. a naturalist whose tenure of it will add yet further distinction to that which it derives from former occupants of the chair; and they will conclude their report by the expression of their sense of the obligation under which the Union and all its Members have been laid to the distinguished author of “‘ North Yorkshire,” who this day ceases to be our President, by his. acceptance of the highest mark of respect and appreciation which it is in our power to bestow. After some discussion, the report and balance sheet (as appended) were unanimously adopted on the motion of Mr. J. W. Davis, seconded by Mr. A. Clarke, president of the Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. The excursion-programme was then considered, and the recommendations of the Executive (with the alteration of one of the dates from Saturday to Thursday) were accepted as follows :— Maltby Common and Roche Abbey, Thursday, May 8th ; Sherburn, for Bishop’s Wood, Whit Monday, June 2nd ; Hawes, Saturday, July 5th ; Spurn Point, Bank Holiday Monday, August 4th ; Helmsley, Wednesday, Sept. 3rd. For the next Annual Meeting there were two invitations presented—one from Beverley, and one from Doncaster. The delegates from those towns having spoken in support of the invitations, motions were duly made and seconded in favour of each. On being put to the vote, the majority was found to be in favour of Doncaster. Various dates were proposed, but eventually Tuesday, the 3rd of March, was decided upon. Proceeding to the election of officers, the President stated that his successor had already been chosen, the office having been accepted by Lord Walsingham, M.A.., F.L.S., F.Z.S. The two retiring Secretaries—Messrs. Wm. Denison Roebuck and Wm. Hagle Clarke, F.L.8., both of Leeds—and the ten retiring members of the Executive Council—the Revs. W. Fowler, M.A., Liversedge, and W. C. Hey, M.A., York, Messrs. J. W. Davis, F.L.S., Halifax, Thos. Birks, jun., Goole, C. P. Hobkirk, F.L.S., Dewsbury, REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 159 G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., Huddersfield, E. B. Wrigglesworth, Wakefield, J. J. Stead, Heckmondwike, B. Holgate, F.G.S., Leeds, and H. T. Soppitt, Bradford—were all re-elected, and Messrs. B. Holgate and W. B. Russell, LL.B., of Leeds, were again chosen as auditors. This concluded the business of the General Committee. Tea was then served, after which the various sections met and elected their officers as follows : : VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY : — Mr. John Cordeaux, M.B.O.U., Great Cotes, president (re-elected) ; Mr. James Backhouse, jun., York, secretary. CONCHOLOGY. Rev. W. C. Hey, M.A., York, president ; Mr. J. D. Butterell, Beverley, secretary ; both re-elected. ENTOMOLOGY : Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., Huddersfield, president ; Mr. EK. B. Wrigglesworth, Wakefield, secretary ; Mr. S. L. Mosley, Huddersfield, recorder in Economic Entomology : all re-elected. BOTANY : Mr. Thos. Hick, B.A., B.Sc., Harrogate, president ; Mr. P. F. Lee, Dewsbury, secretary for phanerogamic botany ; Mr. Geo. Massee, Scarborough, secretary for cryptogamic botany : al] re-elected. GEOLOGY : Mr. J. W. Davis, F.L.8., F.G.S., Halifax, president : Mr. J. K. Wilson, Bradford, and Rev. E. Maule Cole, M.A., Wet- wang, secretaries : all re-elected. The Annual Public Meeting was held in the evening in the large room of the Public Hall, when there was an attendance of about 300, and the chair was taken by Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., F.L.S., president of the Union, who was accompanied on the platform by the Mayor of Barnsley and other gentlemen. The Annual Report having been read and the Excursion programme announced for the information of the members generally, the Presidential Address was delivered, Mr. Baker taking for his subject ‘‘ The Fathers of Yorkshire Botany.” Dr. Lancaster, the president of the Barnsley Naturalists’ Society, presided during the delivery of the address, and at its close'a vote of thanks was enthusiastic- ally accorded to Mr Baker, on the motion of Mr. Chas. Wemyss, of Cannon Hall, seconded by Mr. W. F. de V. Kane, M.A., of Dublin. Mr. Baker having replied to the vote, resumed the chair, and a vote of thanks tothe Barnsley Naturalists’ Society for their cordial reception of the Union, was moved by Mr. A. H. Allen, F.1.C., &c., of Sheffield, seconded by Mr. EB. B. Wrigglesworth, of Wakefield, and cordially voted. Mr. Thos. Lister replied, after which the meeting closed. 160 THE NATURALIST. . Y.N.U.—BALANCE SHEET, March 4th, 1884. RECEIPTS. £1) 8.70 PAYMENTS. by eSamds Balance from last year...... 13 5 9 | For Members’ Card and Levies paid by Associated General Expenses, Prin- ting, Postages, Minute Societies :— Books, &Co es ee 1017 5 a po dee 9 © | Guarantee in respect of the ” » 1883 11 7 4 Meeting at Wakefield in 5 WOO 4e L276 UBB 2) i salbiesa tence eteusereectts Lc Orey, Members’ Subscriptions :— Expenses of Doncaster 1878" -0. 5.0 Meeting ..... Besar ee sta 5 14 2 5 » 1879 211 6 | Expenses of Filey 9% Sead i, 1880" male 0 5 Strensall _,, 5 6 0 ss » p18815°=20018, <6 ” Washburn ,, eo Meee SH Sc ulBS2 8802 orl 9 Malham _,, 5.10 2 - » 1883 5518 0 Ns Annual Meet- TGS i 5 eis Pe Sayles tel eects 3810 0 y OO e ane eae Expenses incurred by the Sales of Publications......... orlOs Treasurer for Postage and Receipt Stamps, Cir- culars, Receipt Books, (4 a MEME ESE Anas Bhoaoe 715 1 Subscription refunded which was paid twice over ...... 0.10 6 Prospectus, Entry Forms, Envelopes, and Special Circulars to accompany same, and Postage of part) Of same, syeeeee 12 15 10 Hektograph and Rubber Stamps ie. sae ecseeneeee Pehl: 6 Expenses of Library and Exchange of ‘Transac- CLOMS: “3 ieek eetansonences 2 LO The Naturalist, Vol. [X.— Copies supplied to 69 Members {at eeeeoeee 12 “is 6 Reprints of President’s Ad- OneSS aiiese caste pneoeeoe Ve aleO Part V. of ‘Transactions Printing 2 jciccsan see Los exfuiG Binding, Postages, Author’s Reprints and Corrections, . and Printed Wrappers... 511 1 | Part VI. of Transactions Printing 4.) oe ee 19 15 0 Binding, Postages, Author’s Reprints and Corrections, Printed Wrappers, and | SUMGries.; cs sehsusecepeueene 5 12 10 | Total Expenditure............ 12611 1 Balance in Treasurer’s | Tame ec eee 245 Oe £150 11 3 £150 11-3 a Diary.—Meetings of Societies. April 1. asses Naturalists’ Society. : Bishop Auckland Naturalists’ Field Club. Barnsley Naturalist’s Society. . Entomological Society of Londen, 7 p.m. Wakefield Naturalists’ and Philosophical Society. Linnean Society of London, 8 p.m. . Huddersfield Board Schools’ Naturalists’ Society. — Ramble to * Mollicar Wood. . » 7. Leeds Naturalists’ Club, 8 p.m. ae Be Bradford Naturalists’ Society .— Microscopical Exhibitions, 7-30 et ‘p.7H: a 9. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. ~. 4 40. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society.—Paper by J. Patchett, . B.Se., eee 8 p.m. 4, 12. Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society.—-Geological Ramble. _ ._4.. 12. Hudderstield Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. ., 15. Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. ae . Linnean Society of London, 8 : = ._ ,, 19. Heckmondwike~ Naturalists’ Society, 7-30. p.m. fe . 19. Huddersfield Board Schools’ Naturalists’ Society. — Ramble to 29 Grimescar. 5, 21. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 p m, » 22. Doncaster Juvenile. Naturalists’ Society. — “Geology,” F. V. ; Walker and R. M.~ Hartley. ee: 5, 22. Bradford Naturalists’ Socicty, 7-30 p.m. Re » 24. York Field Naturalists’ and Scientific Society. -,, 26. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society.—Ramble to Bentley Springs, : from Kirkburton Station. 4; 28. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. : 28. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society. Exhibition of Spring Plants, Ee a he 8 p.m. : -.,, -29. Barnsley Naturalists Society. SHS BS cree Pes SH Replete with instructive matter...... Specially interesting te scientific . readers and naturalists.” —Leeds Mercury. THE NATURALIS SiS WORLD AND SCIENTIFIC RECORD, pees e ie Sree WITH. WHICH IS INCORPORATER 6“ “THE PR ACTICAL NATURALIST.” ee - eis - PRICE TWOPENCE MONTHLY. ie Each number is well illustrated. The contents are numerous and varied, and inelnde original articles on almost every scientific subject of interest. 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ONe. CVL, <2 MAM Is840% VOL. EX. CONTENTS. : << Page. ORIGINAL ARTICLES, XC. : Natural ee Notes from South Africa. —Continued.—S. D. Bairstow, PAs Se: 161 Lastrea cristata near Thorac: Tts ‘Discoverer aud a History. _P. “Arnold = Dees: 164 Notes on. the Wartebiate Hanna of Voukuhite, 1881-1888 SAW. - Bagle Clarke: : . FLL.S., and W. Denison Roebuck _... 167 a, HORT MAHOB (00 Soc ee ee Woe Son ee Norgs, &o-:— | ne : “ Omithological Notes from Barnsley.—F. Lister .. FOTN Sees ae a Yer Northern Range of the Sand Lizard.—G@. T. Poe ee “ed LS ; - Effects of the Mild Winter on Insect Lite: = Albert H. Waters, B. A. oat OTS EOamrc any = Laas Eos : William Prest si pao Oe ay =, ae Se Oe yan ' Joseph Wainwright, PLS: es Be Ek. Re ve Se Pet © REPORTS: OF SOCIETIES :— : ya SNA ~ Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society .. ae ne ae ot ABO : Manchester prypsgamic Rqcrety aae We wae ES ae eG! Ws ees HUDDERSFIELD : B. Brown, Markrr Piace CoRNER. TO CORRESPONDENTS. 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ALIST, Pl. i R NATU Original Articles. NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. (Continued. ) By S. D. Bairstow, F.LS. The marine Mollusca, or rather sea-washed specimens of impres- sionable shells, for excepting Turbo, Patella, Bullia, Twaitella, Halotis, Lriton, Chiton, Pleurotoma, and a few others (univalves, bivalves excepted) occurring near or upon the shore or rocks, we have seldom an opportunity of taking living animals, and for many reasons dredging is expensive and dangerous. Probably if these difficulties could be removed there would be a magnificent field for the collector around the east coast of Southern Africa. Scarcity of rain is our agricultural curse. Peculiarity of river courses is one of the banes of progression and enterprise, and around the Algoa coast stream or river in rapid succession cuts into the land, and renders locomotion difficult, and navigation dangerous. This impacability of African rivers has bothered the mental powers of all our famous travellers, and a big obstacle it is to remove. . The physical features of our dark continent are truly perplexing. Drifting sands and sand barriers along the coast. Inland yawning chasms, and stubborn kloofs surprising us by the suddenness of their appearance. Scarcity of water where plenty is wanted ; abundance where useless or rejected. Mountain blocks and brackish karoos. ‘These circumstances all combine and scorn human effort. Likewise the ocean jeers at expert navigators. Not satisfied with reefy custodians or personal surf muscles,* with jutting capes or Samsonian waves, not satisfied to link current to current in one tempestuous rushing torrent—a marine river—passing with fearful velocity round the southern point, we must needs have minor currents cropping up unawares, and deceitful shifting stream beds. Add to these submerged plateaux of connected rocks, and bristling semi-hidden reefs, add stiff south-easters, and you may form a mild conception of * As I write, news arrives of a tremendous tidal wave observed at Hast London, Port Alfred, and other coast ports. It was slightly felt here. Capt. Webster, Com. Currie, 8.8. ‘“‘ Hawarden Castle,’ reports great strain on his ship’s cable, and violent plunging of the vessel. At East London the tide rose considerably. Tide gauges at various places indicated curious irregularities. Says the H.P. Telegraph—“ The origin of this tidal wave may probably be as- eribed to remarkable volcanic action of unusual severity reported to have occurred in the Straits of Sunda, where the physical features of the place have undergone considerable changes.”’ N.S., Vou. 1x. May, 1884. 162 Tak NATURALIST. the reasons which mitigate a shell-collector’s dredging ardour. That good stuff lines the border bottom of our quaint old ocean I am sure. How to get at it is another question, and we are compelled to accept what his eccentric whim may cast ashore. Against such opposition Rous calculates as a good day’s work the bagging of one fair shell, and so do I. More than once have [ tramped my twenty miles o’er rocks and sand, on naked feet, to return with one decent Terebratula,* or one Marginella, or one Cyprea. Now and then a capital haul turns up: Kraussia rubra, or Terebratula radiata in quantities after a sea-breeze, and other shells in due order, but very seldom is this the case. The localisation of shells on this coast is noticeable. Walking on the sand towards Port Elizabeth, until the Zwartkops river is reached, vast quantities of bivalves, Donazx, Venus, Mytilus, and sometimes Pinna, are found ; then past the town round by Cape Recife a break occurs, when they re-commence and continue to the next pile of rocks, and so on indefinitely. But it is impossible to connect a fixed law proving the habitats or peregrination antics of Algoa mollusca, although aching limbs through useless roving have relegated my hopes of new finds in distant solitary spots, and although I have proved most conclusively the value of a site selected. I know just where to go to risk the taking of a decent Pupzllia (see Pl. ix., Fig. 5). I know that from the Beacons to Recife is a good ground for Conus tinianus, C. rosaceus (Fig. 3), and our eagerly sought for Voluta Bullata. I know one sequestered sand nook anent a mighty cave, where a certain Spirula is a dead certainty. I would: it were otherwise. Of V: Bullata, from fifty-four collected specimens I have managed to secure one really handsome (Fig. 1, nat. size). Our representative collections show a deficiency in marine fauna, but I do not believe the one figured can be beaten in any African -museum. Next to #ullata I have prized Marginella Mosaica (Fig. 2) seldom obtained in good condition. I count upon six species of this genus from P. E., but I cannot state accurately without comparison. Of these M. piperata is decidedly most abundant. I have classed a yellow species independently, but it is probably only a mimetic form of the last named. The variety, if variety it is, appears constant in size and colour. Port Alfred is richer in species of the genus, and I. have one from that locality not men- tioned by Krauss, awaiting christening. Oyprovulum Capensis is decidedly fitful, as regards worthy specimens. Cyprea edentula occurs this year in thousands, and some are lovely shells with purple bands, * We have-three Zerebratule—one wanting a name. Barrstow : Naturat History Nores rrom Sours Arrica. 163 which fade rapidly. Luponia Algoensis is a rara avis known to me by name only. Doubtless it may escape detection sometimes from its similarity to the former. OC. moneta (sp. ?) has been taken—come astray! Trivia oniscus, one of my favourites, is fairly common, and I have a smaller one not yet determined. Typhis (Fig. 6) is a scarcity here but abundant at the Kowie. One of my prizes is the large Turritella (Fig. 4), somewhat water-worn, but bearing evidences of fulvous striz and markings. I picked it up during a Society ramble from Colga to Zwartkops. Unfortunately the outer lip of aperture is partly broken at the dotted line (vide fig.), but the shell, if not a cast- away from foreign seas, is a rarity. The Tenthia figured on plate (Fig. 7) was first dredged by Mr. Rous near the mouth of the Zwartkops (aboard the steam-tug ‘James Searle”’), since when numbers have been secured by various fishermen. I am endeavouring to obtain a specimen of the living animal from which to make a drawing. The figure was taken from a shell given to me by Mr. Rous. Cuttles abound in the sea, and I fancy their shells might be turned to some commercial advantage. In my beachian rambles I have met scores of fishermen in search of “ sea-cats”’ for bait. I give an account of the method of capture employed, as expressed to me by a cute member of the craft :—“ I lugs’em hout wi’ my ’ookstick. I smashes °em hon the rocks huntil they’re slickered. I turns ’em hinside hout, I ’angs ’em hon the ‘ook, and when I’se got ’em hon, I works ontil I’ve got henuf, and then I goes ’ome and ’as refresher- ments !” Short, sweet, sufficient! I may here mention my welcome friend Argonauta argo, the glorious Paper Nautilus, to be looked for after a south-easter anywhere along the beach, a cephalopod luxury to the eyes of naturalist Croesus, Lazarus, European, Colonial, or nigger, &e., &e. We have numerous species of Fissurella, of which the small hiatula is commonest, but it is hard to procure good specimens of the large ones in the adult stage. Mr. Woodward remarks twenty- two species of Zvochus from 8S. Africa. I have only taken three or four on the Algoa coast, and none in remarkably good condition. The fragile Triton dolarius, with its shady green epidermis, is very abundant at all times, and I find the epidermis preserves moderately well. This genus is largely developed, and I have bagged some living monsters. They are extremely hardy, surviving after immersion in scalding water. Ancient specimens lose all their exterior beauty, and the rich bloom of colour disappears, enveloped in hideous punctated excrescences of carbonate of lime, and conglutinate rubbish. Our 164 THe NATURALIST. great FRanella is seldom taken in good condition. I received one minute species selected from a few thousand common shells from Port Alfred, which was submitted to Mr. Woodward and determined Ranella hastula, Reeve. At a first glance it looked like a flattened Scalaria, and, occurring simultaneously, might be overlooked. Since then Mr. Farquahar has obtained it on our coast. That gentleman possesses also a splendid Oliva, and various other shells awaiting recognition. We have two, if not three, species of Haliotis. Of Buccinide, Bullia semiplicata (vide Woodward’s diag.) generally visits us in broken parts. &. annulata I never saw alive, but suspect it occurs quite close to the shore; and the common B. achatina came sidling across my path with no instinctive forethought (!) during the first of many beach rambles, and insinuatingly demanded attention as an item of impressive Natural History. Since then I have made a point of watching these most friendly carnivorous mollusca. The tide is gradually casting ashore one of these immense MMeduse. Here it comes, now settling its great smooth barrel-carcase on the sand, patiently awaiting decomposition, atmospheric or aqueous, or perhaps animal dissection. A family of Achatime is located somewhere about the vicinity. By some subtle communication the stranger is either seen, smelt, felt, or heard—it matters not which—and a regiment of snaily gluttons is soon established on the spot, gaining recruits at every moment,—all propelled by sordid selfishness, dread of losing a thumping dinner. ‘To notice surroundings before Medusa arrives, and again after Medusa has arrived, is to wonder where such numbers of hungry elves have sprung, and why these were not perceived before. They draw nigh from the sea and wet sand to the point Medusa, seldom from the earlier washed drier parts, and their tracks, increasing in complication with the addition of each fresh arrival, nevertheless denote a wonderful unity of interest, viz: pacification of appetite. Is their normal food jelly-fish ? Then they never need starve, for plenty comes ashore of size pro-digeous. (To be continued. ) LASTRHA CRISTATA NEAR THORNE: ITS DISCOVERER AND ITS HISTORY. By F. Arnoup LEzs. Iv was with genuine pleasure I read James Backhouse’s note (March No., p. 187); for the date he gives of the presumably earliest York- shire specimen gathered by William Casson helps not a little to clear away some of the mist in which the early history of this rare fern, in Lees: Lastraa CristaTA NEAR THORNE. 165 its connection with our county, is shrouded. It were much to be desired that our veteran botanists would give us more than they do of the information stored up in their herbaria, before itis for ever too late to convey it with the force of a personal witness—an element often undervalued—without which the dry record even of a duly dated and localised specimen in a collection is not unfrequently liable to a not-to-be-rebutted, if un-provable, assertion of ‘ transposition of label, ‘inadvertent confusion, &c.; more especially in those cases where the fact happens to be singularly notable, or in one way or another subversive of some closet-naturalist’s pet latter-day general- isation! No one who has had much to do with the overhauling of herbaria but must admit that something more or less inexplicable to him is always found; and therewith comes the not-to-be-satisfied wish that he could have the author at his elbow to settle with the desiderated oral particulars such critical points of interest as are otherwise peculiarly liable to be misconstrued, or read variously. What has been published as to the occurrence of Lastrea cristata in South Yorkshire is worth recounting. Edward Newman, in the first edition of his British Ferns (1844), makes no mention of it as a Yorkshire plant at all. Henry Baines, in his Mora of Yorkshire -(184C), does not name it as a Thorne plant, or indeed at all; either, if my view be correct as to the ‘A spidium cristatum’ given (loc. cit., p. 123), as occurring ‘on Plumpton Rocks, near Knaresbro’,’ being zot our Lastrea, but the cristate-fronded variety of the male fern (L. Filia- Mas.)* Dr. Carrington says this Plumpton plant appears to have been Z. spinulosa, but that does not occur on the rocks in question, L. Filiz-Mas (in three or four varieties), and L. dilatata, with Poly- podium vulgare only growing thereon. Later by fourteen years, Baker, in his Supplement to Baines (1854), gives L. cristata, judiciously, as ‘incognit,’ remarking on the necessity for re-observance. * Note.—I am, perhaps, confirmed in this by the very earliest record for the ‘ cristatum, 10 connection with Yorkshire, which occurs. Jonathan Salt, in his MSS. Flora Sheffieldiensis, 1800 (in the library of the Sheffield Lit. and Phil. Society), has ‘ P. eristatum.—In woods not uncommon,’ and he had, undoubtedly, no knowledge of the species nnder consideration, yclept ‘ Ehrhart’s’ bog-fern by Newman. There was a Polypodium cristatum of Linneus ; but the name as used by writers from 1800 to 1840, clearly shews that they had rather the original Polypodium spinulosum in view ; although Newman (l.c., p. 216) distinctly says he could not make out Lastrea spinulosa to be either the Polypodium spinulosum, as supposed by Willdenow, or the Linnean P. cristatwm, as supposed by Bolton and Withering. 166 THe NaTURALIST. Next, we are presented with a curious record, the warrant for which I have not been able to clearly ascertain. In Miall and | Carrington’s W. &. Flora (p. 57) occur the words—‘ L. cristata (crested brake-fern), Thorne Moor, near Doncaster, Baines?’ This query I can only assume to have been put to shew some doubt as to who really was the authority for some rumour which reached them as to the fern growing there. Whether they doubted the correctness of the station, or the species, I have no means of knowing; but probably the latter, for the authors give ‘ Lastrea cristata’ amongst a number of other names (p. 93) probably erroneous. Could a forgetting of the name of the communicator have inspired a doubt, and so led to the mark of interrogation? Itis worth remembering, as to this, that the Flora was issued in 1862—a date seven years sub- sequent to that in which Mr. Casson’s specimen in Herb. Backhouse was gathered—yet none of the names (Backhouse, Casson, or Hardy) appear in the list of contributors from whom records or specimens were received, given at the end of the work. I, myself, first gathered Lastrea cristata in August, 1872, along with Lathyrus cristata and Peucedanum palustre (only again re-found in 1883, by Henry Johnson, of Barnsley), in a bushy, boggy place (an alder car if I recollect rightly), not on the ‘ Waste’ exactly, but upon the less open border much nearer Thorne. I hit upon the one station after much roundabout rambling ; but previously in 1870-71, or early in 1872, I had received the general locality from John Hardy, with whom I was at one time in correspondence; and I, knowing not then aught of a Mr. Casson, presumed Hardy to be the discoverer, as he was certainly the communicator to me of that and other facts which I duly acknowledged in the preface to ‘“‘ West Yorkshire.” I willingly reject, as very improbable, the idea that Mr. John Hardy could have found the bog-fern in question before 1856. I received no specimen or date, which led me to search so carefully for myself. Probably Mr. Hardy himself first learnt of the fern’s occurrence from Mr. Casson in some more or less indirect way, living on the spot, as it were, as the latter gentleman did. Honour, however, where honour is due! It is part of the plan of my West Yorkshire Flora to give date with name of the earliest notice of each constituent species ; so that now, thanks to Mr. Backhouse’s timely note, the record stands: ‘ 1856, Wm. Casson, Thorne.” NOTES ON THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE, 1881-1883. By Wm. EHacur Ciarke, F.L.8., anp Wm. Denison Rogsuck. (Continued.) 17. Ruticilla titys (Scop.). Blackstart. Mr. Bailey’s note, that he has observed this species at I'lamborough, in October and November, having been doubted in high quarters, it is interesting to know that Clarke shot one at Spurn, in the last week of October, 1882, and saw another there about the same date in 1883. It is probably a regular autumn visitant. 18 or 19. Cyanecula(? species). Bluethroat. : Spurn Head, one shot in Clarke’s presence on the 11th of September, 1882, and another seen the same day. ‘The specimen procured was an immature bird, in which state of plumage the two species C. leucocyana and C. suecica are indistinguishable. 21. Daulias luscinia (L.). Nightingale. The northern range of this bird has been extended as far as Scarborough, where it undoubtedly bred in 1882 (W. Robinson). At Staveley, near Boroughbridge, two pairs nested in 1881 (Knubley), and a pair nested near Harrogate in 1883 (Inchbald). 37. Acrocephalus streperus (Vieill.). Reed Warbler. Seebohm, in his “ British Birds,’ remarks that it ‘seems very doubtful whether the Reed Warbler breeds in Great Britain north of the Humber.” This surprising conjecture is of course quite erroneous, for the species is known to breed quite commonly in various localities which are not only north of the Humber, but some of them actually in the northern half of the county, as for instance Staveley near Boroughbridge, and Knaresborough, in both of which localities it nests annually. It is also a regular nesting species near Leeds, and at Hornsea Mere in the East Riding it breeds in great abundance. This is not the only instance in which we have to regret the vague and sketchy manner in which so important a subject as the distribution in Britain of British birds is treated in so valuable a work. Tla. Lanius major Pallas. Padllas'’s Great Grey Shrike. - This form is allowed specific rank by Mr. Seebohm in his work on British Birds. From the number of Yorkshire specimens that 168 THe NaTuRAList. have come under Clarke’s notice, it is in all probability not only an annual winter visitant, but, perhaps, of much more frequent occurrence than is suspected. 93. Linota linaria (.). Mealy Redpoll. The year 1881 may be added to the list of seasons in which this species occurred in large flocks in the county. 96. Linota flavirostris (L.). Twite. Mr. Allis’s statement that this bird had bred on Tome Waste is paralleled by the observations of the Rev. H. H. Slater (Nat., 1882, p. 179), who found it nesting on Pilmoor, near Thirsk, a similar low-lying locality. 107. Eméeriza cirlus L. Cirl Bunting. Additional occurrence: Fen Bog, near Whitby, a female shot on ~ the 28th of February, 1882, now in the Whitby Museum. Two others were seen at the same time and place (Stephenson). 108. Emberiza hortulana L. Ortolan Bunting. The specimen captured off the Yorkshire coast, which served for Bewick’s figure, is now, according to Seebohm’s “ British Birds” (vol. ii., p. 153) in the Newcastle Museum. 109. Eméberiza rustica Pall. Rustic Bunting. An addition to the avifauna—an accidental] visitant from North Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Easington, a female (?), shot September 17th, 1881, (Clarke, Zool., 1881, p. 465; Nat., 1881, p. 57 ; Ibis, 1882, p. 181.) 133. Cypselus melba (Li.). Alpine Swift. Additional occurrence: Huddersfield, a female brought in the flesh to Mr. 8. L. Mosley, on the 2nd of June, 1881, which had been found in an exhausted condition a day or two before (Mosley, MS.) 139. Picus mionr L. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Mr. Thomas Carter, of Masham, informs us that this species occurs about Aysgarth, in Wensleydale, and around Masham. 141. Lyne torquilla LL. Wryneck. Is an annual summer visitant to Walton Park, near Wakefield (H. B. Hewetson). 143. Coracias garrulus L. Roller. One was seen by Mr. H. T. Archer on the banks of the Wharfe, near Ilkley, about the end of July, 1881. (Archer, Field, August 6th, 1881, p. 198, and MS.) CLARKE AND ROEBUCK: VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 169 152. p.m. » 13. Barnsley Naturalist’s Society. ,. 14. York and District Naturalists’ Field Club. ~,, 17. Heckmondwike Naturalists’ Society, 7-30 p.m. ,», 19. Manchester Cryptogamie Society, 7-30 p m. », 19. Leeds Natnralists’ Club, 8 p.m. ,, 20. Doncaster Juvenile Naturalists’ Society.—“ Life of a Plant,’ W. H. Stott. ; » 20. Bradford Naturalists’ - Society. —‘ Nest- Building Fishes,’ Mr. Eastwood, 7-30 p.m p22. York (St: Thomas’ ) Nataralists’ Field Club. » 24. Linnean Society of London —Anniversary Meeting, 3 p. m. , 26. Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society—Exhibition of Plants, 8 p.m. ,, 26. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. », 26. Leeds Naturalists’ Club.—-Exhibition of Entomological Specimens. , 27. Barnsley Naturalists’ Society. 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Dewsbury Naturalists’ Society.—Ramble to Kirklees. 4, 16. Manchester Cryptogamic Society, 7-30 pm. 5 17. Bradford a. Socicty.—* Plant Lore,” Mr. Spencer, 7-30 p 5, 19. Linnean Saat of London, 8 p.m. 5, 21. Huddersfield. Naturalists’ Society.—Excursion to Lepton Great Wood, from Fenay Bridge Station. 3 20: Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, 8 p.m. ,, 26. York (St. Thomas’) Naturalists’ Field Club. ,, 28. Huddersfield Board Schools Naturalists’ Society. —Ramble. te ‘Lindley Moor, from Oakes Board School. », 20. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Seciety. ANTED, the followmg Numbers of the ‘“ Naturalist,’ 42, January, © - 1879; 88, November, 1882; 104 and 105, March and A Apel 1884, ~ Wim. Denison Roebuck, ee Bank, Leeds. - * Replete with instructive matter...... Specially interesting to scientific readers and naturalists.”"—Leeds Mercury. THE NATURALIS1’S" WORLD AND SCIENTIFIC RECORD, WITH: WHICH IS INCORPORATED “ “THE PRACTICAL NATURALIST.” PRICE TWOPEN CE, MONTHLY. 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See Pee eee 20TH ORIGINAL ARTICLES, &c. : . ~The late Mr. Wilson : Notes on his early Bryological Work, —J. Cash weit oO eS Norgs, &c. :— | . Polecat, &e. —G. Roberts a8 ay pa SL oy NZS ~ Insects at Cambridge.—A. H. Waters, B.A. si ves aa ee ans . Laverna phragmitella in Yorkshire.—G. T. Porritt... is SsacS ee ES ~ RAINFALL FOR May ie CEN yas ae 1s ex = sh we 214 “ REPORTS OF SOCIETIES :— _ Barnsley Naturalists’ Society ee a =o easier ifs eee 7 i: -Bradford Naturalists” Society Si “ oe a ae ns AOS VAs Hull Field Naturalists’ Society ... aS Yen gs DER AS Lancashire and Cheshire Ruieeolectal Society” ae vas as Teed LO Ovenden Naturalists’ Society aot a a es wii! Sees York Field Naturalist’ and Scientific Society a =e te ae wet S246 Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union —Sherburn, June ond 2.3 cag tes awe a5 S216 ) i 1 ——p- | Py eR Ae AU DD ERABT ELD: B. Brown, Marker Prace Corner. — | | I mportant N otice. CHANGE OF -EDITORSHIP.. Tue present number is the last under the present Editorship. 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Secretaries of the ee Naturalists’ Union, WM. DENISON ROEBUCK, - | Sunny Bank, Leeds ; WM. EAGLE CLARKE, oO, East View, Hyde Park, Leeds. Dont otal PESTA. Se or OO GR. BB AD RR ae? ? ‘“ Pour prendre congé.’ If is now nine years since, at the request of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union (then the West-Riding Consolidated Naturalists’ Society), we undertvok to edit and publish this Journal. It has appeared regularly ever since, indeed we believe we are correct in saying it has never been a day late, but has always been in our subscribers’ hands by the first of the month during the whole of that period. Financially, it has always been satisfactory, there having been at the end of every year) a small balance in hand. Of its utility we must leave others to judge. Many of the articles have been of great value; the discovery of species new to the county or to Britain, in nearly all branches of Natural Science has been promptly recorded, and many have been described for the first time in this Journal. The Notes, &c., have kept the naturalists of this large county thoroughly informed as tc what was being done by their brethren in the various branches of Natural Science; and, consequently, cannot fail to have advanced the knowledge of the natural history of our county very materially. To all our contributors we offer our warmest thanks for the hearty co-operation they have always accorded to us. Personally we have made many friends among them, through our little Journal, and our labours in connection with it have always been so great a pleasure, that it is only other and urgent duties which have induced us to resign the position entrusted to us. Even this we did not carry out until we had secured the promises of Messrs. W. D. Rorpuck and W. E. Cuarks that they would, if appointed, undertake the editing in future; but, knowing it is to be in the hands of such competent, enthusiastic, and conscientious naturalists, we have no hesitation or misgiving in handing it over to them, and we trust more support will be accorded to them even than has been to us. Cc. P. HOBKIRK. G. DT. PORRITT., N:S:, WOE. 1X. Juny, 1884, Original Artieles. THE LATE MR. WILLIAM WILSON: NOTES ON HIS EARLY BRYOLOGICAL WORK. By J. Casu. (Read before the Manchester Cryptogamic Society.) Untit Mr. Wilson, when quite young, became interested in the botany of his native county, the cryptogamia, both of Lancashire and Cheshire, had been (except by one or two humble botanists in the neighbourhood of Manchester) comparatively neglected. George Caley was one of the first to pay attention to the bryology of these parts, and, as the discoverer of at least one interesting species originally classed with the Werssie, but now known under the familiar name of Discelium nudum; his name is not likely to be forgotten in bryological history. Con- temporary with him, and even more distinguished as a bryologist, was Edward Hobson, to whose zeal and attainments testimony is borne by | Sir William Jackson Hooker in the pages of the Wuscologia. Hobson’s career was almost ended when that of Wilson began. If the latter proved the more successful bryologist of the two, it was owing, no doubt, to his superior educational advantages, and to his greater leisure for study both at home and in the field. Wilson had, from the first, an innate love of nature. Possessing. a weakly constitution he was precluded from following the profession his parents had marked out for him, and as a means of recruiting his health much of his time, at suitable seasons, was spent out of doors. What more natural than that he should turn his attention to the fiowers and mosses which grew in his path? The study of these yielded him mental occupation that was most acceptable and enjoyable, just as their collection afforded him the requisite inducement to take the exercise which was necessary for his physical strength. If Mr. Wilson had not botanised in his younger days he would never in all probability have reached the age of three score years and ten. It was about the year 1826—possibly a little earlier—that Mr. Wilson began his bryological studies. I have seen a little portfolio of selected specimens, representing probably thirty species, gathered by him about that time in the vicinity of Over, in Cheshire. They were mostly common species. Amongst them was Aulacomnium androgynum, a moss which may still be found growing luxuriantly, but aiways barren, on the sandy hedge banks about Over and Delamere. Another was Bartramia pomiformis, which also is still to be found there. At first Mr. Wilson studied pheenogamous plants, and this study he continued Caso: THr Late Mr. Wriiittam WILSON. 203 for some time with much success, but after his intimacy began with Sir Wm. Jackson Hooker he devoted closer attention to the Musci, which eventually, as we all know, became his specialty. In a former paper read to this society some particulars were given of Mr. Wilson’s journeys to the Highlands, on the invitation of, and in company with, the distinguished Glasgow Professor. Their meetings in after life were not frequent, but the correspondence which passed between them covers a period of nearly fifty years, and a perusal of it throws much interesting light upon the history of many now familiar species. I propose in this communication to give some aceount of Mr. Wilson’s early explorations in his own immediate neighbourhood. I am indebted much for information to my late lamented friend, Dr. Kendrick, of Warrington, who obligingly placed in my hands a good deal of Mr. Wilson’s botanical correspondence and private memoranda. For an enthusiastic bryologist some forty or fifty years ago, Lanca- shire and Cheshire were by no means barren ground. I have already mentioned one locality, viz., Over, on the border of Delamere Forest, which Mr. Wilson frequently visited. His family was interested in property there, hence his intimacy with the place. In February, 1828, on the road side between Over and Delamere he found upon the hedge bank a moss resembling Pottia truncata, but presenting certain peculiar features which in his judgment removed it from that species. He named it provisionally Gymnostomum affine, MSS., and sent specimens to Sir Wm. Hooker, along with Pottia truncata, var. RB, which grew associated with it. Sir Wiliam replied in a letter dated Glasgow, April 5th, 1828, as follows :— ‘‘ The arrival of your letter and your parcel gave me very much pleasure, and not myself only but my boy Joseph,* who is highly gratified by the valuable proof you have given him of your recollection of him. * * You have given me, too, some interesting employment in the examination of your beautiful botanical specimens. I have devoted no little attention also to the Gymnostoma, and you will, I fear, think me very unreasonable in not being entirely of your opinion with , regard to the two being distinct species. J see, indeed, all the characters you point out, and your sketch is entirely faithful. Amongst such minute objects as mosses and other cryptogamia, it is very difficult to say what constitutes a species and what a variety; and, perhaps, had I seen only your Gymnostomum truncatulum, var. 8, and your G. affine, MSS., I should have agreed with you in thinking them distinct. * Now Sir J. D. Hooker, of’ Kew, for whom Mr. Wilson had sent a present of mineralogical specimens. 204 THe NATURALIST. But I find in looking into my herbarium and to published specimens and figures such a gradation between the common truncatulum, with its turbinate capsules, and your affine, with its ovato-cylindrical ones, contracted at the mouth, that I know not where the line is to be drawn. If Gymnostomum affine be reckoned a species, then the G. untermedium of authors must be so too, But I confess I had, unless your further observations should confirm your present opinion (and I will be very open to conviction) rather, at present, keep them as varieties—G. truncatulum, B = G. intermedium; y = G. affine. The leaves, I think, afford no character. The asperity of the upper part of the calyptra is so excessively minute that, without the other characters of the plant were paramount, I would not lay much stress upon it. I had the same plant in view in making variety 8 of trun- catulum, and mentioned the characters as varying from ovate to oblong.”* Passing from this subject, the writer compliments Mr. Wilson upon the beauty and accuracy of his sketches. This habit of sketching minute plants was, he said, the best way to understand them thoroughly. ‘ Your MS. observations upon those little favourites of mine, the Jungermanniz,” Sir William wrote: “are admirable, I shall take the liberty of putting them into my own copy of the ‘ British Jungermanniz ’ ; those on the mosses I shall keep for my ‘ Muscologia.’ * * J am glad I directed your attention in the ‘ Muscologia Britannica’ to Bryum [ Mnium| affine, for I have compared your plant with figures and find it to be the true one. I hope you will find it more advanced as to its capsules; the leaves are quite satisfactory.” Mr. Wilson, notwithstanding the great authority of his correspon- dent, maintained his ground with regard to Gymnostomum affine, and Sir Wm. Hooker at length admitted its specific claims. Writing on the 23rd June, 1828, he said : '“ Before setting out on my Highland excursion on Wednesday next— when [ shall miss your company—I have many letter debts to pay, and amongst them one to you, for from you I have received a very long and very interesting communication. To this communication I. have one, and only one objection, namely, that you should have paid a very heavy postage upon it, which entirely belongs to me, and which I should most cheerfully have paid had it amounted to twice as much and contained only half the information that it does. Pray bear this in mind in your future letters. I have already, I think I may say * See “Mus. Brit., Ed. IT.” Caso: Tart LATE Mr. WriiiAm WILsoN. 205 entirely, come over to your mind on the subject of your Gymnostomum —not afine, for that name is pre-occupied, but Welsoni, MSS.; and you will think me unreasonable in requiring the testimony of another botanist before I could satisfy myself on the subject. Scarcely two days after I sent you my last letter, Drummond* came to me from Forfar, and told me that he had found a new Gymnostomum allied to truncatulum. I told him I knew what it was, and would show it to him. We then compared his species and yours, which exactly agree ; and he (Drummond) declares he could find no specimen ‘to vary from these which were before us. I shall, with your permission, publish figures in my ‘ Botanical Miscellany '—probably in the next.” In the same letter Sir William speaks of the fruit of Mniwm affine, which Mr. Wilson had gathered in perfection shortly before, near Over, as “‘an excellent discovery.” It would appear that fruiting specimens of this moss had not previously been observed in Britain. The letters, of which abstracts are given above, constitute a pleasing addition to our knowledge of the history of Pottia Wilsont, Hook. Mr. Wilson gathered the moss in subsequent years in the same locality ; and in March, 1831 (as appears by a memorandum he made at that time) it was very fine and abundant in the original station. I regret not to be able to report that it grows there still. In the spring of this year I searched long and carefully for it, but failed to discover any trace of its existence. It 1s, however, recorded from several other localities in Britain, and quite recently [ have had a specimen sent to me from Minehead, in Somersetshire. On the continent it is reported as occurring in France and Sardinia. | It may be fitting here, as the species has been mentioned, to say a little more about Mnium afine. About the same time that he found the Pottia which bears his name, Mr. Wilson was fortunate enough to observe this species with young fruit. The locality, I have reason to believe, was Paper Mill Wood, where, three years later (March, 1831), he sought it again without success. On the 11th April, 1831, however, he came upon fruiting specimens at a place called Dale Ford, the fruit being nearly ripe; but being unable to make further search at the time, he determined to devote a day specially to it. Accordingly on the 15th of April he set out for Sandiway Head, and by nine o'clock in the morning he was on the ground. At the end of the day he had the satisfaction of recording that he had found Mniuwm affine in * Thomas Drummond, the distinguished botanist and traveller. t Schimper, “ Synopsis,’ p. 152. 206 Tat NATURALIST. fruit, in four stations previously unknown to him—a fact of which he apprised Sir Wm. Hooker in a letter dated April 18th, adding that be had gathered above thirty specimens. In April of the following year, the moss was again found fertile, but not so plentifully except in one station ; and on a visit to Knutsford Moor, Mr. Wilson, strange to say, found it there also—and that, too, on the day of his discovery on the same ground of faludella squarrosa. On March 24th, 1831, Mr. Wilson records the finding of various mosses and Jungermannie at Over: Blazia pusilla, was seen with perfect fruit; he also gathered Jungermannia obtusifolia. At New- church Bog he observed Climacium dendroides with over-ripe capsules, On April 11th, at Pettypool, he gathered Jungermannia trichomanes, J. connivens, and J. polyanthos, in fruit; he also observed Tetraphas pellucida on a bank on the margin of Newchurch Bog, with fruit; in the same neighbourhood Phascum ulternifolium; in Paper Mill Wood Ortholrichum puichellum, and near Grange Wood Aypnum polymorphum. Hypnum filicinum was observed at “ Wade’s Sand-hole,” but much too unripe to gather. Another station for fruiting Hypnum filicinum was found on a subsequent visit, near Hartford Bridge. On the 4th of May Mr. Wilson, who had shortly before made the acquaintance of Mr. J. E. Bowman, went with him to Delamere specially to gather fruiting Mnium affine. The journey was a successful one; they found in addition to fruiting specimens of that moss, Jungermannia obtusifolia, in spots ‘‘not far from the brook below Dale Ford”; also J, Francisci and J. exsecta “ by the roadside as you go down to Dale Ford —perhaps fertile.’ I find memoranda with regard to various other mosses and hepatics. One moss which Mr. Wilson met with puzzled him greatly. He thought it was a species of Dicranum (Dicranella) and anew one. He first observed it on the 24th of March, 1831, “whilst rapidly crossing a field below Mr. Little’s garden at Over,” and picked up a large tuft. ‘It may,” he wrote, “prove to be a Gymnostomum. I compared it with Weissia controversa, and was con- firmed in my opinion of their being quite distinct.’ The fruit was not quite ripe, and Mr. Wilson confessed that for the time he could make nothing of it. He gathered it on subsequent visits, examined it and re-examined it, but to no purpose. At length he sent it Sir Wm. Hooker, who replied as follows (April 21st, 1831) :— ‘Your supposed Dicranum is the veritable Gymnostomum microstomum., Upon this I will stake all my little knowledge of mosses. I almost recognised it with the naked eye, and I felt quite sure of it with the aid of a single lens. Would that I had as hittle difficulty with many Caso: Tos tate Mr. Wittiam WILSON. 207 mosses, which others seem to have no difficulty whatever in deter- mining. In Gymnostomum microstomum the capsule does exhibit - generally, if not an inclination in the capsule, at least an obliquity, and that pretty little mouth never can be furnished with sixteen cleft teeth. The jaw would not contain them.” On the 10th of May Mr. Wilson, again visiting Over, gathered a good stock of the moss, which was to him at the time an interesting novelty. Subsequently he corresponded with Mr. Bowman respecting it, and received from that gentleman specimens from Derbyshire, which proved to be identical with his own Cheshire specimens. sh Mr. Wilson’s most notable discoveries at Knutsford in 1831-32 (i.e. Paludella squarrosa and fertile Hypnum Blandovi) were described in a previous paper ; there is, therefore, no necessity to refer to them in detail here; but there remain one or two interesting facts to mention in connection with his journeys to Knutsford, Baguley Moor, Castle Mill, and other places in that part of Cheshire.. On the 19th of April, 1831, he visited the Bollin Valley, and in Butts Clough gathered Mnium undulatum “in a good state;” also fruiting Jungermannia trichomanes. At Castle Mill he saw “‘ Hypnum salebrosum, with old fruit, on the slope in the corner of the field.” The moss referred to is not the Hypuum salebrosum of Hoffman, but H. glareosum, Br. and Sch. (Bry. Eur.). Edward Hobson was the first to detect it asa British’ moss, and this spot near Castle Mill was where he found it. The following memorandum by Mr. Wilson referring to the same visit is interesting :—‘‘ In Cotteral Clough most of the trees were cut down, and I could not find Jungermannia tomentella in fruit. Gathered Neckera pumila with over-ripe fruit on several trees near that on which I used to gather it. It ripens about November. Could not see any Hypuum splendens in fruit.” Mr. Wilson crossed over from Ringway towards Baguley Moor, and in the fields observed Hypnum polyinorphum with nearly ripe fruit. ‘“‘On Baguley Moor,” he wrote, ‘‘ I gathered plenty of Hypnum aduncum, fr., nearly ripe; Jungermannia crenulata with fruit; and in the splash of water a large thick Chara (new to me) along with Chara vulyaris, small var. Gathered also Jungermanna inflata, var. a. N.B.—Hypnum scorpioides is plentiful in the same swampy spot with “/. aduncum, but always barren. I observed /. fiuitans barren on one part of the moor. On returning by the hollow way, near Bollin Bridge, I gathered some very fine Mypuum filicinum in a good state.” 208 THe NATURALIST. The moss referred to in the above extract as Hypnum aduncum is our H. erannulatum, and is mentioned by Mr. Wiison in a communica- tion which appeared in the Naturalist (1st series, vol. 11.) where he enters into a critical examination of Hppnum aduncum and its allies. “ This moss,” he says (referring to 4ypnum exannulatum) “ described in ‘ Bryologia Britannica’ under the name of Hypnum aduncum, was first found with ripe fruit on Baguley Moor, in April, 1831, and was then, and at the time of the publication of ‘ Bryologia Britannica,’ the only known moss which could be well referred to Hedwig’s Hypnum aduncum, and there was the great authority of Dr. Swartz for so naming it.”’ Mr. Wilson shows that the H. aduncum of Hedwig is identical with H. vernicosum, Lindberg (= H. aduncum var. tenue, Bry. Kur.), the H. aduncum of Bry. Eur. being our H. Wilson, formerly found fruiting at Ainsdale. With regard to H. exannulatum, Mr. Wilson says in the article cited: ‘‘In Bry. Eur. the leaves are unhappily described as ‘ haud plicaéa,’ for if not actually plicate asin 4, uwncinatum —with which it is contrasted, they are remarkably striate, and by this obvious mark the moss may always in the field be easily recognised.” On the 30th January, 1833, Mr. Wilson again visited Ringway, and procured a good stock of Hypnum glareosum, with perfect fruit. He also gathered Tortula rigida and Jungermanunia turbinata. Neckera pumila in Cotteral Clough, was “‘ over-ripe and very scarce.’ Itis not clear what species is referred to in the following memorandum which Mr. Wilson made in his journal :—‘* At the fork in Cotteral Clough grows a hypnum, now with young sete, which | take to be Hypnum _fluviatile, Brid., having the leaves entire. It may prove to be a variety or H. filicinum.” Again, on Feb, 6 Mr. Wilson rode to ‘Cotteral Clough for more Hypnum glareosum, and took the opportunity of exploring other woods up the Bollin. He writes: “ Observed as I went along Daltonia [| Cryphea| heteromalla, Anomodon viticulosum, Hypnum | Leskea| sericeum, Leucodon sciuroides, and Orthotrichum pulchellum. Hypnum salebrosum is fertile at the entrance of the lane near the bottom of Cotteral Clough, on the west side near the gate, under a tree, and likely to be abundant. A large dense patch of the barren plant is just by, nearer to the gate ; this I partly transplanted to the fertile spot.’ Mr. Wilson’s first visit to Mere Mere was made, I believe, in 1832. He went, apparently for its rare pheenogamous plants, Limosella aquatica and Elaéine hexandra—which, together with Scirpus acicularis, he records having then gathered—but no mention is made of the bryological rarities which have contributed to make the place famous. CasH: THE LATE Mr, WiLtittam WILSON. 209 It was in the autumn of 1834 that Mr. Wilson first collected Phys- comitrium sphoericum in that which is still the only known station for -itin Britain. His botanical journal in the latter half of that year was, Owing to private circumstances, not kept with the care he had previously bestowed upon it, and the only entry I can find bearing upon the bryology of Mere is the following, which is without specific date :—‘‘ Made discoveries of several new mosses at Mere, in Cheshire, Irlam, &c.”’ The most notable of these discoveries was that of the rare Physco- mitriuum; but Mr. Wilson also found some rare Phasca, including Phascum stenophylium (Phascum sessile, var. 8 Bry. Brit.), and the rare Archidium phascoides. Fruit of Riccia fluitans, for the first time in Britain, was on this occasion discovered. The Irlam discovery was fertile Dicranella Schrebert. Mr. Wilson communicated these facts to his friend Sir Wm. Hooker, who wrote as follows :— “ Glasgow, November 28th, 1834. Dear Sir,—I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 31st of October, and would not have suffered a month to have elapsed without answering it had I been master of my own time. I have wished particularly to congratulate you on your most extraordinary and interesting recent cryptogamic discoveries. To say nothing of Gymunos- tomum | Physcomitrium | sphericum and other good mosses, I do think your having found the fruit of Riccia fluitans a circumstance on which you deserve to be congratulated by all lovers of botany. Hundreds have searched for it, but no one ever saw it before in that state. 1 wish you would make a drawing of it on a small size such as the space included within this pencil line [about 5in. by 24in.], and write a description, and-let me publish it—if I am mad enough to go on with the ‘ Botanical Journal.’ I am a very great loser by the four numbers I have already published ; yet I am very desirous to continue it, for it is a means of giving much botanical information to the public which would otherwise be entirely lost. I should not be so much a loser if the publisher could afford to pay me what I expend upon it, and as he is bound to do. But as the sale has not covered the expenses of adver- tising, and as the man is poor, I have not the heart to ask him for the money. Your Dicranum Schreberianum looks like what Greville and I found on Ben-y-Gloe some years ago, and which I suppose is what Bridel makes var. 8. Grevilleanum. I cannot lay my hands on my own specimens now, and my second edition of ‘ Muscologia Britannica,’ where I have figured it, is gone to the binding. But in some con- tinental specimens given in Mougeot and Nestler I find the beak of the 216 aa THe NatTuRALIST. lid varying in length; never, however, I allow, so long as in Greville’s figure. In regard to size I have seen German specimens almost twice the size of yours, and with a very indistinct struma. * * * Most faithfully yours, ‘ W. J. Hooker” On May 6th, 1835, Mr. Wilson again visited Mere. The water was very high, and there was no access to any of the mosses seen in the previous year. A subsequent visit in the autumn was attended with better success. He gathered Phascum stenophyllum more plentifully than in 1834. Physcomitrium sphericum was, however, very scarce, and