1899] NEWS 417 



The ninth University Extension Meeting at Oxford will be held from July 29 

 to August 23, and it is said (we have received no formal programme) that some of 

 the lectures have been arranged to illustrate the progress of science between 

 1837 and 1871. There will be lectures by Professors Gotch, Poulton, Sollas, 

 Miers ; and by Messrs. G. C. Bourne, A. W. Brown, Arthur Ransome, G. J. 

 Burch, H. N. Dickson, and Beginald Farrar. 



The Annual Report of the Zoological Society of London for 1898 shows 

 receipts £29,208, an increase of £495 over that for 1S97. This is largely made 

 up by the subscriptions, as there is a falling off in " admissions " and other 

 items. On the "payments" side there is an increase in salaries and pensions 

 and in food for animals, and a new and gratifying item, "Grants in aid of 

 science " £200. Sir William Flower still remains president, we are glad to see, 

 and Dr. John Anderson, W. E. De Winton, Dr. Charles Gatty, Sir Hugh Low, 

 and Dr. Henry Woodward are the new members of council. On the committee 

 of publication F. E. Beddard, Sir George Hampson, Bt., and A. D. Michael 

 replace Herbert Druce, E. T. Newton, and Oldfield Thomas, retired. The 

 Transactions, vol. xiv. part 5, has been issued. 



The prizes to be awarded in 1900 by the Belgian Royal Academy are 

 announced. In natural science the subjects for essays are : — the geological 

 formations at Comblain au Pont ; the physical modifications produced in 

 minerals by pressure ; the structure and development of the Platoda ; the pre- 

 sence of a nucleus in the Schizophytes ; and the Devonian flora of Belgium. 

 The essays may be written in French or Flemish, and must be sent to the 

 secretary before August 1, 1900. The prizes are gold medals of 600 francs 

 value. 



The Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club has issued an attractive pro- 

 gramme of meetings and excursions for the summer session. Some of the ex- 

 cursions are in connection with the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, to which this 

 society is affiliated. 



The thirtieth annual meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' 

 Society was held at the Castle Museum on March 28, the president,- Mr. 

 J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S., in the chair. Mr. J. T. Hotblack was elected president 

 for the coining session. The retiring president gave an address and read a 

 paper on "The Bearded Titmouse and the Norfolk Broads." This is one of 

 the twenty species for which the British list is indebted to the productive 

 county of Norfolk. Here it was discovered by Sir Thos. Browne, who, through 

 Ray, brought it to notice in 1674. Practically, the bearded titmouse is limited 

 at the present day to the Norfolk Broads district, an area twenty-five miles by 

 thirteen, of which part is marsh, where it still breeds annually. 



At the meeting of the Geologists' Association, April 7, a paper on " The 

 Geology of Brittany, with special reference to the Whitsuntide excursion," was 

 communicated by Charles Barrois, D.Sc 



We have received the Report of the Committee of the Bristol Museum for 

 the two years from October 1, 1896, to September 30, 1898. It is an- 

 nounced that the valuable geological collections of the late curator, Edward 

 Wilson, have been presented to the Museum by his surviving brother and sister. 

 Various structural improvements have been made. The top floor has been 

 furnished with a plastered ceiling, thus rendering it useful for the storage of 

 specimens. Two workrooms have been erected in the yard. The zoological 

 specimens are being remounted and exhibited in smaller cases, just as is being- 

 done in so many other museums. The collection of British Lepidoptera has 

 been re-arranged and re-labelled, with the help and generosity of G. C. Griffiths. 

 The specimens of local rocks have also been re-arranged. Special temporary 

 exhibits have been brought together in connection with public holidays : the 

 first, a collection of books, manuscripts, and pictures, bearing upon the life of 



