1900,] , 47 



As a naturalist he appears to have commenced by writing on Arachnida in the 

 *' Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist.," in 1854. In 1855 he produced a " Monograph of 

 the British PhalangidcB or Harvestmen " and a supplement thereto in 1861 ; also 

 papers on the spiders of coal mines, &c., some of which appeared in the " Zoologist." 

 Then, from some cause, probably pressure of professional work, he seems to have 

 written next to nothing on entomology or allied subjects for fully ten years. But 

 in the meantime he was amassing material in British Diptera, of which Order he 

 had a wide general knowledge. The difficult and obscure MuscidcB (in the broad 

 sense) became his speciality, and he was regarded as an authority thereon. Nearly 

 the whole of his writings on Diptera appeared in this Journal from 1875 down to 

 last year, when he published his paper on CordyluridcB, which was barely finished 

 before his last illness. He attacked the Anthomyiida, Sarcophagida, Tachinida, &c. 

 A generic paper on North American AnthomyiidcB appeared in 1878. In 1897 he 

 published separately " A descriptive list of British Anthomyiidce," which was a 

 second edition of his List in this Journal in 1881-3. We have heard Mr. Meade's 

 work in Diptera condemned as not being sufficiently in advance of the time. From 

 its style we think he never intended it to be more than tentative. He cleared the 

 ground for future workers ; he acquired a large amount of knowledge in a difficult 

 and little-worked group ; and he elected to let his fellow-students have the benefit 

 of it, rather than allow it to die with him : and it should not be forgotten that 

 much of his work was done at an age of more than four score years ! Mr. Meade 

 leaves three sons and three (two unmarried) daughters ; of the sons one is a surgeon 

 at Bradford, one a clergyman, and the third an officer in the navy. — R. McL. 



BiBMiNGHAM ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY : November 20th, 1899. — Mr. G. T. 

 Bethune-Bakee, F.L.S., President, in the Chair. 



Rev. C. F. Thornewill showed specimens of Lyccena hatica taken by Mr. Lowe 

 in Guernsey, and said that there had apparently been a large immigration of the 

 species to the island this year, as Mr. Lowe had taken about 80 in his garden, and 

 seen many others ; he also showed specimens of Oporahia dilutata from Calverhall, 

 Salop, where he said all the specimens were of the same dark leaden colour, with 

 but slight trace of the markings, and were much darker than those he had been in 

 the habit of taking at Burton-on-Trent ; and a series of Coenonympha Tiphon from 

 Calverhall. Mr. R. C. Bradley, a long series of Bomhus hortorum taken this year, 

 and showing a wide range of variation, var. RarriseUus, in all three sexes from 

 Droitwich, var. subterraiieus, $ and $ only from his garden at Moseley, and various 

 intermediate forms from difPerent places. Mr. J. T. Fountain, a number of insects 

 taken during the year at Acock's Green, near to Birmingham, close to the buildings 

 ol the town, including Leucania comma, Agrotix exclamationis (a variable series), 

 Anchocelis pistacina, Orthosia lota, Grammesia trigrammica, &c. Mr. P. W. 

 Abbott, Lepidoptera, all from Wyre Forest, and chiefly taken this year; they 

 included Agrotis cinerea. some of the dark form which represents the species 

 there, Sesia culiciforniis, with one white banded specimen caught last year, and an 

 orange banded one caught this year, with typical ones ; Oporina croceago, including 

 two specimens which were light brown in colour, no trace at all of the usual orange 



