HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



207 



travel on, carrying the granulated mass with them 

 (as at fig. 128). Some few of them have taken the 

 form shown at fig. 126. The larger processes at E, 

 in the course of an hour were seen to withdraw, and 

 then the creature assumed the form at fig. 125 with 

 the spines thickly set, and did not take on the 

 globular form of A. sol, but continued to move on 

 slowly in the direction of the arrow. There were 

 also a number of infusoria, of the kind represented at 

 fig. 132, the names of which I do not know. Fig. 133 

 shows the curious manner of self-division of the 

 C. hirtus. They divide exactly in the middle, and 

 as the two halves gradually recede from each other 

 they take on the perfect form, occupying about thirty- 

 five minutes to complete the division. 



These are some of the many objects cbtained from 

 my fish globe, with which I have been much 

 interested ; and I thought that they would not be 

 altogether void of interest to your readers. 



James Fullagar. 



SCIENCE IN THE PROVINCES. 



THE annual volumes of " Proceedings," " Trans- 

 actions," &c, which many of our leading 

 provincial scientific societies now issue, must draw 

 off a large supply of papers from the metropolitan 

 societies. Nor is the matter contained in such 

 publications of an inferior kind to many of the papers 

 read before the Linnean and Geological Societies 

 at the present day, whilst if we compare the twenty- 

 year-old volumes of the latter with the best of these 

 papers we at once see what an advance has been made 

 by natural science. 



The Literary and Philosophical Society of Liver- 

 pool is one of the oldest and best in the kingdom, 

 and in their last issued volume, besides other con- 

 tributions and abstracts of proceedings at the 

 meetings, we have the following papers : — "A Fresh- 

 water Sponge from Bahia," by T. Higgins, F.L.S.; 

 a lengthy and ably- written paper on " Development - 

 alists and Evolutionists ; or the Use of Dogma in 

 Science," by the Rev. H. H. Higgins; "Scientific 

 Materialism from a non-scientific point of view," by 

 J. A. Picton, F.S.A; "The Salt-lakes, Deserts, and 

 Salt Districts of Asia," by Thomas Ward ; " Tides in 

 the Irish Sea and in the River Mersey," by J. N. 

 Shoolbred, B.A., C.E., &c. The annual volume of 

 the Cumberland Association for the Advancement of 

 Literature and Science is now a very welcome book, 

 which has unquestionably been so soon raised to its 

 present position by the genius and energy of its 

 lamented secretary, the Rev. J. Clifton-Ward, F.G.S., 

 whose loss cannot be too deeply deplored. We are 

 glad to notice that the vacant secretaryship has been 

 filled by Mr. J. D. Kendall, F.G.S., an able geologist 

 and mineralogist. The " Transactions," of the 

 Cumberland Association is now before us, and 



contain (besides purely literary papers) essays on 

 "Our Summer Visitors," by J. Duckworth; "The 

 Entomology of the District," by George Dawson— a 

 most enthusiastic and careful entomologist — and 

 a "List of Birds in the Carlisle and Keswick 

 Museums," by George Dawson and the Rev. J. 

 Clifton- Ward. The last issue (vol. ii. part v.) of 

 the "Transactions" of the Norfolk and Norwich 

 Naturalists' Society contains the following papers : — 

 "The Gannet City," by J. H. Gurney, F.L.S.; 

 " Norfolk Decoys," by Thomas Southwell, F.L.S.; 

 "A Memoir of Samuel Woodward," by his grand- 

 son, H. B. Woodward, F.G.S. (already noticed by 

 us) ; " Fauna and Flora of Norfolk, Part ix. 

 Hymenoptera (Chrysididre and Aculeata)," by J. R. 

 Bridgeman ; and a very able Address by the President, 



F. W. Harmer, F.G.S. , reviewing the latest dis- 

 coveries in Tertiary palaeontology, and their bearings 

 upon the doctrine of Evolution. 



The "Proceedings" of the Liverpool Naturalists' 

 Field Club; for 1879-80, is not of so ambitious a 

 character as the publications just noticed. It is devoted 

 chiefly to accounts of the various excursions made 

 during the summer months which are very pithily 

 condensed, and frequently serve as very effective 

 guides to the natural history of favourite localities. 

 The president is the Rev. H. H. Higgins, M.A., 

 indefatigable in his advocacy of science in Liver- 

 pool), and his address, given in full, consists of 

 Biographical Sketches in Zoology, from its origin to 

 its union with Botany in the Science of Zoology. 

 There is also a capital report of a lecture (illustrated) 

 by the same naturalist on "Floral Defences." The 

 Twenty-second Report (1879) of the East Kent 

 Natural History Society gives some very well executed 

 abstracts of the papers read at the monthly meetings. 

 Among the contributors of papers we find the 

 names of Professor Gulliver, F.R.S., James Fullagar, 



G. Dowker, F.G.S., G. S. Saunders, Col. Horsley, 

 W. H. Hammond, &c, whereby we are let into the 

 secret of the high standing occupied by this society. 

 We commend to the notice of geologists the lengthy 

 and interesting paper giving an " Outline and Index 

 to the Geology of East Kent," by Capt. McDakin. 

 The " Proceedings " of the Nottingham Literary and 

 Philosophical Society for 1879-S0 contains some 

 very able papers (besides the President's address on 

 " What is Science ? "), among which we specially 

 notice that on "Sandstones," by J. H. Jennings;, 

 and another on "The Structure of Molecules," by 

 J. J. Harris Teall, M.A. The South London Micro- 

 scopical and Natural History Club has just published 

 their Ninth Annual Report, containing, besides the 

 address of the President (W. T. Suffolk,, F.R.M.S.), 

 valuable papers by H. and J. Groves on the Phanero- 

 gamia, Filicides, and Characere of the South London 

 District ; lists of Lepidoptera of the same, by W. 

 West and J. S. Ponsford ; as well as brief abstracts 

 of papers read before the club. 



