GLEANINGS i 9 



organs appear to possess all the characteristics of the imago. On the 

 extensor surface of the second segment of the palpi a few hairs are 

 to be found, while the flexor surface possesses the thin conical peg 

 with its chitinised apex. The short fifth segment ends in two 

 curving claws, surrounded by a number of hairs. The provisional 

 genital area has four acetabula protected by two plates, bearing a 

 few hairs on their margins. — William Williamson, Edinburgh. 



GLEANINGS. 



It is with genuine regret that we refer to the death, already 

 recorded in many British journals, of Mr G. H. Verrall, the 

 eminent dipterist, which took place on the 16th September last. 

 Students of British Diptera have suffered a severe loss in the 

 decease of their chief, who was only spared to complete two of 

 the proposed fourteen volumes of his monumental work on British 

 Flies. These exhaustive volumes appeared in 1901 and 1909 

 respectively, and deal with probably the most generally attractive 

 families. It will, we fear, be many a long year before anyone 

 takes up the work so thoroughly begun by Verrall, whose reputation 

 was world-wide. 



We are glad to notice, in the Annals and Mag: Nat. Hist, for 

 December (pp. 770-777), an article giving the results of a vote 

 taken in Scandinavia regarding the strict application of the rule of 

 Priority in Zoological Nomenclature. A criticism is given of the 

 methods adopted by the secretary of the International Commission, 

 for obtaining lists from zoologists of names which should be 

 exempted from the rule. It is pointed out that the time allowed 

 for the preparation of the suggested list of 50 generic names (chosen 

 by each zoologist independently) was totally inadequate, and hence 

 the apparent lack of interest in the matter is not surprising. The 

 vote in Scandinavia is of much interest — 120 names are recorded 

 against the strict application of the rule, thus allowing the most 

 important and generally used names to be protected against change, 

 while only 2 are in favour of a rigid adherence to the law. We 

 congratulate our neighbours across the North Sea on taking such a 

 wise decision. It is interesting to learn that the Committee 

 recently appointed by the British Ornithologists' Union to prepare 

 a new list of British Birds are of the same opinion. 



An amusing letter appeared in a recent issue of a local evening 

 paper, entitled " An Extraordinary Bird Record." It ran as 



