76 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



been thrown by entomological study, notably the demonstration that 

 permanent races, differing from the parent stock, could be produced 

 by artificial interference with the germ-plasm. This had been sur- 

 mised from early experiments of Weismann, followed by Standfuss 

 and Fischer, and had now been placed beyond doubt by the careful 

 work of Tower in America, who had also shown that the new form 

 might stand in Mendelian relation with the stock from which it 

 sprang. Other topics touched upon in the Address were the 

 psychophysical character of the material presented to the operation 

 of natural selection — a point particularly emphasised by Professor 

 Mark Baldwin ; and, in connection with this, the special interest 

 attaching to the communities of the social Hymenoptera, where the 

 group rather than the individual appeared as the unit of selection. 



Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — Meeting 

 held November 21st, 1910, at the Eoyal Institution, Liverpool. 

 Dr. P. F. Tinne in the chair. — Mr. H. E. Sweeting, M.A., read 

 a paper on " Collecting in the North of Ireland during August, 

 1910." In this period only eight whole days were free from 

 heavy rain, and in consequence of the unfavourable weather the 

 results were much below what one might reasonably expect under 

 good conditions. The outstanding feature of the holiday was the 

 capture, on a private estate, of a long series of Hydroscia crinan- 

 ensis ; the moth was identified by Mr. F. N. Pierce, who examined all 

 the specimens while the bodies were yet soft enough to permit an 

 inspection of the genitalia. A series of Gidaria tnmcata contained 

 the usual forms, and also a very fine melanic variety of the centiim- 

 notata form wholly suffused with fuscous, the hind wings being 

 nearly as dark as the primaries ; other specimens also had a strong 

 melanic tendency. A series of Noctiia dahlii contained some almost 

 black examples. The butterflies were noteworthy as showing dis- 

 tinctly brighter colouring than is usually found in England. Lycana 

 icarus, unfortunately, was not met with ; the females from this 

 locality, as is well known, have very bright blue coloration. The 

 paper was illustrated by a large scale-map of the district, coloured to 

 indicate the collecting areas, a feature which added greatly to the 

 interest of the descriptions. A discussion ensued, in which several 

 of the members present gave their experiences in the North of 

 Ireland. — -Mr. W. B. Crabtree exhibited two aberrations of Nemeo- 

 l^hila plantaginis, male and female, in which all the black markings 

 were replaced by orange, the ground colour of the fore wings being 

 pale straw-colour, while the hind wings were unicolorous orange ; 

 they were taken wild on a mountain near Helvellyn. The same 

 member also showed a variety of EucheUa jacobcece, in which the 

 usual red markings were smoky black sparingly intermixed with 

 crimson ; this very striking specimen was bred from a larva found at 

 St. Anne's-on-Sea. — Mr. A. W. Boyd showed a large number of 

 Micro-Lepidoptera taken in various parts of Cheshire during 1910. — 

 — H. R. Sweeting and Wm. Mansbridge, Hon. Sees. 



