CURRENT NOTES. 45 



Buckler, Stainton and Drs. Chapman and Wood, in counting the 

 head as the ' first ' segment of the larva." We are pleased to see that, 

 in the description of the second, he appears to have followed Dr. 

 Chapman's later practice. 



Mr, C. G. Barrett adds PlatyptiUa tessi'radactijla to the British list, 

 from specimens captured by Mr. W. F. de V. Kane and the Hon. R. 

 E. Dillon, at Clonbrock, in the first week of June, 1895. This species 

 is very like P. gonodacUjla. 



SOCIETIES. 



Entomological Society of London. — January 20th, 1897, the 

 64th Annual Meeting. — Prof. Raphael Meldola, F.R.S., president, in 

 the chair. An abstract of the treasurer's accounts, showing a 

 balance in the society's favour, having been read by one of the 

 auditors, the secretary, Mr. H. Goss, read the report of the council. 

 It was then announced that the following gentlemen had been elected 

 as officers and council for 1897 : — President, Mr. Roland Trimen, 

 F.R.S. ; treasurer, Mr. Robert McLachlan, F.R.S. ; secretaries, 

 Mr. Walter F. H. Blandford and Mr. Frederic Merrifield ; librarian, 

 Mr. George C. Champion ; and as other members of the council, the 

 Rev. Canon Fowler, Mr. Herbert Goss, Sir George F. Hampson, Bart., 

 Herr Martin Jacoby, Prof. Raphael Meldola, F.R.S. , Mr. Osbert 

 Salvin, F.R.S., Mr. James W. Tutt, and Mr. G. H. Verrall. The 

 President then delivered an address, and took for the subject, " The 

 Utility of Specific Characters from the Point of View of the 

 Darwinian Theory." His remarks had reference to the paper on this 

 subject, read last June before the Linnean Society, by Dr. A. R. 

 Wallace, and the subsequent discussion. Prof. Meldola pointed out 

 that the question of " utility," as necessitated by the theory of 

 natural selection, had hitherto been made to depend too exclusively 

 upon external and visibly manifest utility, a restriction which he did 

 not believe to be warranted by facts. He argued in favour of a con- 

 nection of the nature of correlation between apparently trivial external 

 characters and latent physiological characters of great importance to 

 the welfare of the species. From this point of view it was contended 

 that the diagnostic characters used for purposes of description did 

 not truly represent the sum total of the characters which must be 

 regarded as specific. The president concluded by referring to the 

 losses by death during the year of several Fellows of the Society and 

 other entomologists, special mention being made of Mr. A. S. Ollift', 

 Mr. Edward Armitage, R.A., Mr. Peter Inchbald, Miss G. E. 

 Ormerod, Mons. Auguste Salle, Mr. Arthur Dowsett, Herr Julius 

 Flohr, Mr. J. Chappell, and Dr. Morawitz. A vote of thanks to 

 the president was proposed by Lord Walsingham, F.R.S., seconded 

 by Mr. Osbert Salvin, F.R.S., and carried. A vote of thanks to the 

 officers was then proposed by Prof. Poulton, F.R.S., seconded by Mr. 

 R. Trimen, F.R.S., and carried. Prof. Meldola, Mr. McLachlan and 

 Mr. Goss replied, and the proceedings terminated. 



Cambridge Entomological and Natural History Society. — A 

 meeting of this society was held on Jan. 15th.- Exhibits. — Mr. Fleet 

 exhibited a good specimen of a large weevil (Cleonus nelndosus) from 

 the crop of a stone curlew, purchased in the market. It was suggested 



