OIJKKKNT NOTES. 39 



CCrUKRENT NOTES AND SHORT NOTICES. 



" Marvels " indeed ! ! ! — In '/'/«' Thdbj Teleijraph, Tuesday, January 

 24th, 1922, appears an article on " Plant Life Marvels," from which a 

 correspondent culls the following choice devices for reproduction : — 

 " Some seeds are covered with a capsule, which Imrsts and scatters 

 them broadcast. Others get distriljuted in the excrement of birds and 

 many foreign weeds are introduced to our lands by such means, and so 

 are plants growing on walls, on church towers and other inaccessible 

 places. Animals like the sheep will carry certain seeds of wild plants 

 in their wool. Another remarkable growth is the fungus known as 

 ergot, which thrives on the flowers of certain grasses in our meadows, 

 and when eaten by sheep is said to produce the disease known as 

 'fluke' or perforation of the life organs by a sort of maggot." — W.H.B.F. 



In the Irish Naturalist for November, 1921, Mr. K. A.Phillips gives 

 some interesting notes on a number of nests of the ant Stenannna 

 westiroodi, discovered by himself in Ireland. In the saiiie number Mr. 

 Donisthorpe records Gymnetron sfjiiamicdlle, a beetle taken by himself 

 in Co. Kerry, new to the British Isles. 



We are pleased to hear that Messrs. F. N. Pierce, F.E.S., and T. W. 

 Metcalfe, M.A., F.E.S., are about to publish the results of their investi- 

 gation on the " Genitalia of the British Tortricidae." The volume will 

 contain nearly a thousand outline drawings, and includes the female 

 characters, which the authors consider to be of the greatest importance. 

 They go so far as to give a classification of the group, and express their 

 belief that the result indicates a distinctly natural system. The price 

 of issue of this volume in advance is fifteen shillings and sixpence, to 

 be raised after publication to twenty-five shillings. We have much 

 pleasure in urging our readers to subscribe for this worthy object. 



At a recent Council Meeting of the S. E. Union of Scientific 

 Societies it was decided tbat a Zoological Section should be formed, it 

 being left in the hands of the President, Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 

 Treasurer, R. Adkin, F.E.S., and two other well-known members, 

 Messrs. H. .J. Turner, F.E.S., and Stanley Edwards, F.L.S., to proceed 

 ■on behalf of the Council in the formation of that Section. 



We are advised that the plate 6 given in the last issued part of 

 Vol. IV. of the lUiU. Soc. lep. Genere is to be replaced by an entirely 

 new one, which members of the Society will receive in due coarse. 



The Publishers of Seit/' Macrolepidoptera Exotic Section, are now 

 " Making the foreigner pay," they having increased their charge per 

 part to 2s. for parts still to be published. This comes to about M. 80 

 per part at the present rate of exchange. 



Those of our readers who have obtained a copy of Kennel's 

 *' Palsearctic Tortrices " should see that they get the very useful 

 " Stammtafel " referred to on the title page, which should be placed 

 opposite page 18 of the work. 



Part III. and. IV. of the Transactions of the F,ntoiiioLo(iicaL Societij 

 for 1921 have been issued together at the end of January. A iiiuch 

 earlier date for these parts than for many years past. Part V. which 

 will complete the year's issue is in an advanced stage of preparation 

 and should be in the hands of Fellows by Easter at the latest. 



The Annual Address read to the Entomological Society by Lord 

 Rothschild was a most interesting: account of Algeria as a field for 



