1894- NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 397 



balancing the above-mentioned and other out-payments. The mortgage debt, 

 which is steadily reduced £1,000 a year, now stands at only /a, 000. The Society 

 hold no stocks beyond the ;f2,ooo Davis Fund Trust. 



The report of the Epsom College Natural History Society for the year ending 

 Christmas, 1893, reaches 86 pages, and shows evidence of considerable activity 

 Among the lectures delivered last year we note one by Mr. J. J. H. Teall, on Silica, 

 one on the Puss moth, by Mr. O. H. Latter, and a third, on Captures of a Tow-net, 

 by Dr. Hudson. Numerous excursions were made in the district round Epsom, a 

 method of instruction upon which it is impossible to lay too much stress. Lists are 

 given of the birds, plants, and lepidoptera of ihe district, with notes on their earliest 

 observed occurrence. The system of giving a prize for the best lecture or essay, 

 delivered by a member of the school during the year, is an excellent one, and tends 

 to stimulate research and accuracy. Last year the prize was won by Mr. H. Mayo, 

 for his paper on "Evolution." This year the subject selected for competition is 

 "The Life and Work of Darwin." Might we suggest that subjects of more local 

 and less cosmic interest would better bring out the scientific capabilities of our 

 intelligent youth ? 



From the Sixty-ninth Annual Report of the Norfolk and Norwich Museum we 

 learn that the glass cases are almost completed. The departments of Ornithology, 

 Mammalia, and Ethnology have been enriched by important additions, among which 

 may be mentioned : a series of specimens from the bank of the Amazon ; an adult 

 skull of Hippopotamus amphibius ; twenty-two specimens of birds of prey from Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney ; and numerous animals of local interest and rarity, including the adult 

 female of the great Bustard {Otis tarda) referred to in Stevenson's " Birds of Norfolk " 

 (vol. iii., p. 401), which now permits the exhibition in the Museum of an un- 

 equalled group of these birds. A full account of the Norfolk and Norwich Museum 

 from the pen of Dr. Henry Woodward appeared in this Journal for November, 1892. 

 The twenty-fifth annual meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society 

 was held in the Museum, Norwich", on 27th March, the president (Mr. T. Southwell, 

 F.Z.S.) in the chair. In reading his address, Mr. Southwell remarked upon the pub- 

 lication in the Society' sTransact ions of very valuable records of the local fauna and flora, 

 and of the biographical memoirs of Norfolk naturalists, among the more interesting 

 of which we recall those of C. B. Rose and Samuel Woodward. The series of 

 letters from Gilbert White to Robert Marsham, of Stretton, were also referred to, 

 as well as the endeavours of the Society to prevent the wanton destruction of rare 

 and interesting birds that occasionally visited the country. The full strength of the 

 Society is 226, and despite the heavy cost of printing the Transactions, it is now in 

 a fairly prosperous condition. Mr. Southwell then gave a sketch of the avifauna 

 of Norfolk, and the pastoral value of its soil. Dr. Charles Plowright was elected 

 president in succession to Mr. Southwell, and" Professor Collett and Mr. E. T. 

 Newton were elected honorary members. 



We note the following papers in Publications of British Societies. The 

 December number of Tinuhri, the journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial 

 Society of British Guiana, contains a paper by the editor, Mr. Rodway, on the 

 history of the Society for the first two years of its existence. The writer notes 

 that the i8th March, 1894, was the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the 

 Society. The excellent work of the Society in furthering the agricultural and 

 commercial interests of the colony is touched upon, and attention is called to the 

 importance of the Museum and Library, and the large collection of newspapers and 

 magazines to be found in the reading room. No more interesting work can be done 

 by the editor of a fifty years' old Colonial journal than to give a sketch of this kind, 

 for the present generation are apt to forget the names of those who founded, and of those 

 who carried successfully on, a Society which has stimulated such good work and pro- 

 vided so much entertainment for those whose interests lie in the development and 



