Ixxii Procrciiinr/s. 



an excellently illustrated paper by Mr. C. Davics Slierborn, 

 F.G.B., on the evening of the 14th of September. The author 

 referred to the various groups into which Foraminifera were 

 divisible, and dwelt at considerable length on their methods of 

 re-production (Tkans., art. G4). 



On the 12th of October the paper was "On the Power of 

 Movement in Plants," by Mr. H. W. Worsley-Benison, F.L.S. 

 The lecturer observed that the power of moveuient in some form 

 or other was an essential condition of life, and that the motion 

 to which he would refer was the result of life and its processes, 

 admitting only the mention of such external forces as light and 

 heat, to which an organism responded in virtue of the life which 

 it possessed (Trans., art. G5). 



On the 9th of November INIr. Albert J. Crosfield read a paper en- 

 titled " Notes on Birds seen in Bombay and the Central Provinces 

 of India during December, 188G, and January, 1887," when he 

 noticed over seventy s[)ecies of birds, all of which occur in con- 

 siderable abundance in these parts of India during the cold 

 season. The paper was illustrated by specimens of most of the 

 species referred to. 



On the-lltli of December, IMi-. W. Murton Holmes read a 

 paper on " The Epidermic Growths of Vertebrate Animals." In 

 this communication attention was drawn to the fact that a great 

 number of useful and ornamental articles derived from the 

 animal world are modified epidermic formations, as are also the 

 horny scales of the armadillo and pangolin, and the spines of the 

 porcupine and hedgehog, which serve as a means of defence to 

 these animals. The structure of the epidermis was then de- 

 scribed as showing a gradual transition from a series of rounded 

 nucleated cells at the surface of the true skin into flattened 

 horny scales at the outer surface, identical in composition with 

 hair, horns, naili and hoofs, aud increasing in thickness where- 

 ever there is pressure or friction. The cast skin of a snake was 

 an illustration of the continuity of the epidermis over the 

 exterior of the body. 



The scales of fishes were stated not to be analogous to the 

 scales of reptiles aud other vertebrates, but are developed in the 

 substance of the true skin, resembling cartilage and bone in their 

 texture and composition. 



Artificial pearls are made from the scales of the bleak — 

 cijprinus alburnns—hj washing them in water and collecting the 

 pearly powder deposited on standing. Tliis powder is then 

 mixed with solution of isinglass aud introduced into small 

 globules of glass, which, when dry, are filled up with wax. 



