72 



THE NATURALIST. 



Wakefield Naturalists' Society.-^kt 

 a meeting of the above Society held 

 on the 3rd June, there were exhibi- 

 ted many fine specimens of Lepi- 

 doptera ; among others were the 

 following, the imago of L. venosa, 

 A. prcecoXy and larva of 0. dilutata, 

 shewn by Mr. Lumb ; the imago of 

 H. defoliaria, C. curtula, C. Ana- 

 choreta, N. Dodoncea, C. Verbasci, S. 

 lunaria, and larvse of H. pefinaria, 

 P. pilosaria, H. aurantiaria by Mr. 

 Talbot ; L. dispar, 0. fascelina, T. 

 criida, C. Aiiachoreta by Mr. Gib- 

 son. In Conchology Mr. Hebden 

 exhibited the genus Trochus almost 

 complete ; Mr. Eoberts shewed 

 many specimens of shells which he 

 had recently collected in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Settle, also the eggs of 

 the Pied Wagtail one of which was 

 almost purely white. Seveial birds 

 were shewn, none of which however 

 were rare. A large number of 

 flowers were laid on the table and 

 named. Mr. Gibson read an inter- 

 esting and instructive paper on En- 

 tomology, giving a general outline 

 of it as a science, and describing, 

 from personal observation, many of 

 the transformations of insect life. 



Oswestry Naturalists' Field Club. 

 — The first excursion for the year 

 of this Society took place on Thurs- 

 day, 0th June, and was attended by 

 about fourteen members. The route 

 lay along Pen-y-lan lane towards 

 Llainforda, through the Craigforda 



Woods, and thence to the summit 

 of the northern shoulder of Craig-y- 

 rhiw, thus crossing both the Moun- 

 tain limestone, and Millstone grit 

 formations. The geologists were 

 rewarded with a nice series of fossils 

 from the grit, which was at one time 

 supposed to contain no traces of 

 former life, and were also much in- 

 terested in observing the boulders 

 of greenstone and other igneous 

 rocks, left on the retirement of the 

 " glacial sea " from the valley of the 

 Ceiriog. Amongst the plants col- 

 lected were, Scrophularia vernalis, 

 Anchusa sempervirens, Lysimachia iie- 

 morum, Polystichimi lobatum, Gerani- 

 um lucidum, both species of Chrysos- 

 plenium, Ophioglossum vulgatum, Sco- 

 lopendrimn vulgare, and Botrychium 

 lunaria. Polypodium calcareum {Ro- 

 bertianum) was seen, but not gather- 

 ed, there being at present only a 

 small patch of it growing in one 

 locality. A grand and terrific thun- 

 derstorm drove the party from the 

 tojD of the hill to the friendly shelter 

 of some cottages, and they after- 

 wards dined together at the Queen's 

 Head. The business of the Club 

 was transacted after dinner, and the 

 balance sheet shewing a balance in 

 hand, nearly double that of last year, 

 a number of books were ordered to 

 be added to the library. The next 

 excursion was fixed for the lOtli 

 June, to meet the Caradoc Field 

 Club at Breiddanon. 



