88 NEWS [JANUARY 



meeting on 1st December P. J. Holmqvist read a paper on the Rapakivi Granite 

 of Podo, near Sundsvall. This district shows numerous variations and inter- 

 minglings of acidic and basic eruptive rock of post-archaean age . G. Gellerstedt 

 exhibited sections of clay-pits at Ekeby, near Upsala ; these were drawn on a 

 natural scale, and showed that the distortions in the clay could not be due to 

 any slipping, but might be ascribed to the pressure of land-ice. 



The Society for the Protection of Birds (3 Hanover Square, London, W.), 

 has issued a leaflet, copies of which may be had from Mrs. F. E. Lemon, Hon. 

 Sec, giving a summary of the proceedings at a conference held on Oct. 7, 

 18 ( J8. Mr. John Colan and Mr. W. B. Gerish dealt with imperfections in the 

 Protection Acts ; Mr. J. H. Allchin discussed the recent decrease of swallows 

 and martins ; Mr. Ernest Bell spoke of the value of birds of prey ; and there 

 were other papers. 



In future the annual gathering of the learned societies of France is to take 

 place alternately in Paris and the provinces. At Easter next it will be held at 

 Toulouse. 



The Economic Society of Mohrungen, near Konigsberg, offers a prize of 

 four thousand marks for the best work on the relations of electricity to living 

 organisms. 



We regret to see announced in Lafeuillc ties jeunes naturalistes the dissolu- 

 tion of the Societe des Naturalistes de Provence. 



At a meeting of the Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh, on December 21st, 

 the following communications were made : — On results of feeding Drosera with 

 various chemical foods, by Miss L. H. Huie ; on the age of the Shetland old red 

 sandstone, by Dr. J. S. Flett ; exhibition of and remarks on the eggs and embryos 

 of Ornithorhynchus, Echidna, and Ceratodus, by Dr. Gregg Wilson ; exhibition 

 of eggs of Xanthophilus bojeri from Witu, British East Africa, by J. B. Dobbie. 



At the meeting of the Geologists' Association, London, on January 6, Mr. 

 H. W. Monckton will lecture on the glaciers and fjords of the Bergen district, 

 Norway. 



On December 15 Mr. J. G. Goodchild gave an address to the Edinburgh 

 Geological Society on some recently exposed rock sections in Edinburgh, and 

 gave approximate estimates of the thickness of the various series : — lower red 

 sandstone, 1000 feet; Craigmillar sandstone, 500 feet; Balagon rocks, 350 

 feet ; volcanic rocks of Arthur Seat, 750 feet ; Abbeyhill series, 500 feet ; the 

 limestone series, 2000 feet. 



On 6th December, Professor G. B. Howes lectured at the Free Public 

 Museum, Whitechapel, on " The Story of a Thigh Bone." Forthcoming lectures 

 are: — 10th January, Dr. E. Starling, "How we digest our Dinner"; 7th 

 February, F A. Bather, " A Piece of Limestone " ; 7th March, Miss Cora B. 

 Sanders, " The ways in which Animals warn their Enemies and signal to their 

 Friends"; 11th April, P. Chalmers Mitchell, "Brain." Lecturers at this 

 Museum are sure of a good audience, and the curator, Miss Hall, is always glad 

 to hear of anyone willing to help in this good work. 



Several series of Lectures have been delivered during the past autumn at 

 the Manchester Museum. Prof. F. E. Weiss had for his subject "Darwin's 

 Botanical Work on Movement in Plants, Insectivorous Plants, and Fertilisation in 

 Flowers." Prof. S. J. Hickson discussed the " Extinction of Species." Mr. Hoyle 

 begins a Bank Holiday course on " Aquatic Mammals " on Boxing Day, including 

 a special lecture for children, entitled " Water Babies," on January 7th. On 

 January 21st, 28th, and February 4th, Prof. Boyd Dawkins is to lecture on the 

 " Physical Geography of Britain in the Tertiary Period." He is also giving 

 short addresses in the Museum on various Saturday and Sunday afternoons. 



