473 NATURAL SCIENCE. June, 1893. 



At the Soiree of the Royal Society of London on May 10, there was little 

 novelty in the Natural History Exhibits. Colonel Swinhoe showed a series of 

 butterflies illustrating protective mimicry ; Dr. G. H. Fowler exhibited a series of 

 oyster shells, to illustrate the various modifications and rate of growth ; the Zoo- 

 logical Society of London contributed a collection of lepidopterous insects reared in 

 the msect house, and the Marine Biological Station sent some marine invertebrata 

 from Plymouth; Dr. D. Sharp illustrated the sound-producing apparatus of ants; 

 Professor Williamson showed the microscopic structure of some Carboniferous 

 plants, and Mr. E. Wethered the micro-organisms in limestone. Mr. H. O. Forbes 

 exhibited bird-remains from New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, and Mr. E. T. 

 Newton had some casts of the skulls of the extinct Triassic reptiles discovered near 

 Elgin. 



At the Annual Meeting of the Linnean Society on May 24, the officers were re- 

 -elected, Professor Charles Stewart retaining the presidency for another year. The 

 newly-issued part of the Journal of the Society (Zoology, vol. xxiv., no. 154) con- 

 tains a paper on the Buprestidas of Japan, by G. Lewis ; descriptions of Crinoids 

 from the Sahul Bank, North Australia, by Professor Jeffrey Bell, and of Land-shells 

 from Borneo, by Edgar A. Smith ; a discussion of the affinities of the genus 

 Madrcpora, by George Brook ; and on two new species of Rhax, by H. M. Bernard. 



The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. xlix., part 2), which appeared 

 in the last few days of April, is noteworthy as containing a paper on bivalved 

 mollusca — a subject comparatively neglected in these recent years. It is very 

 encouraging to find, too, that the Society has not been niggardly in regard to illus- 

 trations, for no less than four plates, containing 60 figures, are devoted to Dr. 

 Wheelton Hind's paper on Anthracoptera and Aiitltracoinya. Dr. G. J. Hinde con- 

 tributes two short papers on Radiolarian rocks ; the Rev. P. B. Brodie records some 

 Cestraciont remains from the Keuper of Shrewley ; and Mr. Lydekker has a note on 

 a Dinosaurian Vertebra from the Wealden. Mr. Wethered continues his work on 

 the singular structure he refers to Girvanclla, but we are not prepared yet to consider 

 this under the head of palaeontology. Petrology is represented by Mr, Simmons, 

 "On the Petrography of Capraja"; by Miss Raisin, "On the Variolite of the 

 Lleyn " ; while Professor Judd returns once more to the controversy, carried on 

 between Sir A. Geikie and himself, over the succession of the rocks in Skye. Messrs. 

 Fox and Teall describe " Some Coast-sections at the Lizard " ; and foreign geology is 

 treated of by Lieut. Frederick, on the New Hebrides group, and Mr. Power, on the 

 Pambula gold deposits, New South Wales. In the May number, too, as is the custom, 

 the President's Address is printed in cxtenso, together with the Annual Report, with 

 obituary of deceased Fellows. Mr. Hudleston in his address has given a critical 

 resume of the " Recent work of the Geological Society," and also a readable account 

 of the Quarterly Journal for 1892, while at the same time briefly sketching British 

 geology published elsewhere. 



The Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club has issued pt. 7 of its first volume of 

 Proceedings. Mr. Oldfield Thomas contributes a list of the known mammals of 

 Trinidad, with valuable hints for collectors who can still add greatly to knowledge of 

 the subject. Mr. J. H. Collens records some personal observations on the Trinidad 

 manatee, which is now almost extinct ; and Mr. W. M. Crowfoot furnishes a 

 preliminary list of Trinidad butterflies. There are other minor communications, 

 and the club appears to be in a very prosperous condition. 



