HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



277 



membrane ou one hand and cartilage on the other. 

 Ossification in membrane and ossification in cartilage 

 were then separately described. Following this was 

 the process of growth, which varied in different bones. 

 The paper was freely illustrated by diagrams and 

 microscope specimens. 



The Microscopical Society of Victoria. — 

 It is with much pleasure we welcome the appearance 

 of the first three numbers of the "Journal" of this 

 society. The members are evidently well aware of 

 the wealth of new material by which they are sur- 

 rounded. The present numbers contain the address 

 of the president (Mr. T. S. Ralph), and excellent 

 practical papers by Mr. F. Barnard, J. R. Y. Gold- 

 stein, and W. M. Bale ; descriptions of new 

 species of Polyzoa are given by C. M. Maplestone, 

 J. R. Y. Goldstein (hon. sec), and J. B. Wilson, 

 and one on the Radula of Australian Mollusca, by 

 J. E. Tenison-Woods. The illustrations of the latter 

 papers are surprisingly good. 



The Highbury Microscopical and Scientific 

 Society. — This Society has opened its fourth session 

 with the Annual Soiree, held at Harecourt Hall on 

 the 14th October, which was numerously attended ; 

 and many new and interesting objects and instru- 

 ments were exhibited. On the 28th the president 

 (Mr. Frederick Fitch, F.R.M.S.) read his annual 

 address, giving a " History of the Microscope and 

 Microscopic Research." Amongst the papers pro- 

 mised for the coming year, we notice " How a 

 Plant grows," by Mr. Worsley-Benion, F.L.S. ; 

 "Corals," by the hon. sec. (Mr. B. H. Wood, 

 ward) ; "Flints," by Mr. C. W. Blackmail, &c. &c. 

 Several excursions are as usual arranged to places in 

 the neighbourhood of London. 



The Doncaster Microscopical Society. — We 

 are glad to see, from ^the programme just issued 

 for 1880-81, that this newly-formed society shows 

 evidences of active life. Some very interesting 

 papers are down for reading. 



ZOOLOGY. 



White Beaked Dolphin.— A fine young male 

 specimen of the white-beaked dolphin {Delphinus 

 albirostris) was caught in a net off the Bell Rock, 

 east coast of Scotland, on the 7th of September last. 

 The animal, has been presented to the Kelvingrove 

 Museum, Glasgow. This is the first record of its 

 capture in Scotch seas. — J. M. Campbell. 



Porbeagle. — A specimen of this shark (Lamna 

 cornubica) was taken in a net off Blairmon in the 

 Firth of Clyde on the 8th of October. It has been 

 preserved, and is now in Kelvingrove Museum where 

 also its mate (the male) found its way a few days 

 afterwards, having been captured in the same place. 

 —J. M. C. 



Limn^ea stagnalis, var. fragilis, in river Froom, 

 Stapleton, Bristol.— I beg to inform you of an 

 additional habitat of this variety, to those noted in 

 Mr. Rimmer's recently published "Land arid 

 Freshwater Shells."— Jas. IV. Cundatt. 



Var. of Succinea elegans. — A few months 

 ago I took at Beverley several specimens of a white 

 variety of Succinea elegans. I shall be glad of informa- 

 tion respecting its occurrence in any other locality. 



A Parasite of the Honey Bee. — Mr. Pettitt 

 the well-known apiarian of this town, recently 

 brought me a queen bee of the ordinary English 

 variety — dead, and infested with a parasite. It 

 appears to be the bee louse (Braula ccrca) figured 

 in Mr. Packards' paper on "Bee Parasites" in 

 Science-Gossip for January, 1870. As described 

 there it is neither a "louse" nor a "tick," but 

 a wingless fly, belonging to the order Diptera, 

 and allied to the so-called "sheeptick" (Malopha- 

 gus). Mr. Pettitt tells me that in the course of his 

 forty years' experience as a bee master, during which 

 time hundreds of stacks both of English and Ligurian 

 bees have passed through his hands, he has never 

 seen it before ; it would therefore appear not to be 

 common. The most curious circumstance is that 

 although the unfortunate queen had some thirty of 

 these hungry little wretches on her, not one was to 

 be seen on any of the workers of the same stock. 

 The queen was perfectly fresh when brought me, and 

 appeared to be in good condition. The stock was 

 obtained from a farm a few miles from Dover. Can 

 any of your readers say whether the parasites would 

 be likely to cause the death of the queen — or whether 

 their presence may be accepted as a proof that she 

 was already diseased or weakly. — Edward Horsnaill, 

 Dover. 



The Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' 

 Society. — Part 1 of vol. iii. of the "Transactions" 

 of this vigorous and practical society has just 

 appeared. It contains the address of the president 

 (Thos. Southwell, F.Z.S.), which turns upon the 

 interesting subject of the extinction of animals by 

 civilised man. The chief papers of the present part 

 are the following : — " On Collecting Lepidoptera in 

 Norfolk," by F. D. Wheeler, M.A. (hon. sec.) ; " On 

 Hawking near Yarmouth," by Professor Newton; 

 " Discovery of Emys lutraria in the Mundesley 

 River-bed," by H. B. Woodward, F.G.S. ; " Natural 

 History Notes," by Frank Norgate ; "Notes on 

 Hawking as Formerly Practised in Norfolk," by 

 J. E. Harting, F.L.S. ; "On the Occurrence of the 

 Deal Fish on the Norfolk Coast," by Thos. South- 

 well, F.Z.S. (president) ; "On the Abundance of 

 the Pomatorhine and Smaller Skuas on the Norfolk 

 Coast in October and November, 1879," by H. Ste- 

 venson, F.L.S. &.C. 



