.8,3. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 327 



mentary volume in which the zoological collections are described has 

 been issued with several large groups of insects omitted, as no one 

 has been found able to describe them. 



British Association. 



The 62nd Annual Meeting of the British Association is to be 

 held at Edinburgh, commencing August 3. 



Geology on this occasion receives especial honour in the person 

 of the President, and rightly so. The Science of the Association is 

 now divided into eight sections, and during the 61 meetings Geology 

 has been represented seven times ; by Buckland, Sedgwick, 

 Murchison, Lyell, Phillips, Ramsay, and Dawson. Now the 

 Presidential chair is to be occupied by Sir Archibald Geikie. 



The cities and towns where meetings have been held include 22 in 

 England, four in Scotland, three in Ireland, two in Wales, and one in 

 Canada. Birmingham has on four occasions received the Associa- 

 tion, in this respect standing alone. There are, however, many large 

 English towns that at present remain unvisited, partly, it may be, on 

 account of a lack of local scientific enterprise, and partly on account 

 of the difficulty in finding accommodation, or in raising the funds 

 necessary to offer a fitting reception. 



Among these towns we may mention the following, all of which 

 have a population above that of Exeter, one of the cities to which a 

 very pleasant visit has been made. We give these in order, beginning 

 with the lesser populations : — Darlington, Lincoln, Worcester, 

 Burton-on-Trent, Hastings, Newport, Northampton, Reading, 

 Halifax, Burnley, Carlisle, Huddersfield, Derby, Preston, Bolton, 

 Blackburn, Oldham, Sunderland, Leicester, and Portsmouth. Other 

 towns of importance might be mentioned, but some of these, like 

 Wolverhampton, are situated very near to larger towns that have 

 accorded a welcome to the British Association. 



The following Presidents of the several Sections for the 

 Edinburgh meeting have been elected : — A. Mathematical and 

 Physical Science, Professor Arthur Schuster ; B. Chemistry and 

 Mineralogy, Professor Herbert McLeod ; C. Geology, Professor 

 Charles Lapworth ; D. Biology, Professor W. Rutherford ; E. 

 Geography, Professor James Geikie ; F, Economic Science and 

 Statistics, The Hon. Sir C. W. Fremantle, K.C.B. ; G. Mechanical 

 Science, Professor W. C. Unwin ; and H. Anthropology, Professor 

 Alexander Macalister. 



The Seychelles, their Land Tortoises and Turtles. 



Probably the most interesting of the Annual Colonial Reports 

 issued this year is No. 40 [C. 6563, price ^d.] , Mauritius (Seychelles 

 and Rodrigues), which contains a Report on the Islands of Aldabra, 



