218 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 



to relieve us of all responsibility and to continue it as an indepen- 

 dent journal. We had rather see it continue in other hands than 

 drop out of existence altogether, and we believe that our opinion 

 will be shared by most of our readers. Now is the time for expres- 

 sions of admiration and sympathy to be translated into practical aid. 



The Biological Exhibition at Bkistol 



Among, the features of the British Association meeting that held 

 out promise of novelty and interest was the widely-advertised 

 Biological Exhibition arranged at the Zoological Gardens, Clifton. 

 At 3 p.m. on September 8th, the entrance to the grounds was 

 crowded by those who came to hear and see Sir John Lubbock 

 open the exhibition. These numbers can hardly have been 

 expected by those responsible for the arrangements, and it 

 resulted that Sir John was seen by few and heard by fewer. 

 The exhibition itself was attractive in many ways, and, con- 

 sidering the intense heat of these few days, remarkable as a 

 tour de force ; but to the biologist it was rather disappointing. 

 The greater part of it was a flower-show, to which many lead- 

 ing firms of florists contributed. In this section the exhibit of 

 most scientific interest was that of Dr E. J. Lowe, who showed 

 beautiful examples of rare ferns, with crossed varieties of double,, 

 triple, and quadruple parentage. The zoological section contained 

 a somewhat miscellaneous lot of exhibits, and it was clear that the 

 committee had been prevented by the usual considerations from 

 exercising that stern selection which alone could have maintained 

 the desired standard. We, who are not thus hampered, need only 

 mention the following : — Dr J. A. Norton of Bristol showed clutches- 

 containing cuckoos' eggs, in illustration of the various foster-parents,, 

 also a series of robins' nests with cuckoos' eggs, intended to elucidate- 

 the problem whether there be any variation in the egg according to 

 the nest in which it is laid ; Mr 0. K. Kudge of Clifton, various 

 nests of British birds, with an analysis of the materials from which 

 they were formed. Mr G. C. Griffiths of Clifton had an interesting 

 little case containing hybrids of Lepidoptera, examples of mimicry 

 of plants by Lepidoptera {e.g. Kallina inachis, the Indian leaf- 

 butterfly and its allies), and instances of protective and aggressive 

 resemblances among Orthoptera. Mr H. A. Francis of Clifton 

 showed specimens of local wasps and wild bees, with examples 

 of protective mimicry of the same by other insects. Professor 

 E. B. Poulton exhibited the proof quite recently obtained by Mr 

 Guy A. K. Marshall, that Precis octavia-natalc7isis and P. scsamus 

 are but seasonal variations of the same species : the parent speci- 

 men, here exhibited, of the form P. octcivia-natalensis laid three eggs 

 on February 27, 1898 ; on April 15, one of these produced a P. 



