191 
Proceedings of the Society. 
THIRD WINTER SESSION—1867-1868, 
THIRD EVENING MEETING, JANUARY 7.—Held at the house of John 
Parker, jun., Esq., at hiskindinvitation, T, Marshall, Esq., read a paper on 
“The Migration of Birds,” which will be found at page 184. This elicited 
much conversation, and some interesting facts were adduced, It was 
followed by a paper “On the Order Leguminose,” by the Secretary, in 
which the marked characteristics of that important tribe were referred to, 
and several of its more common representatives described ; this was illus- 
trated by coloured engravings, as well as by Miss Chandler’s dried speci- 
mens. The objects exhibited were: a case of Indian Butterflies, lent by 
Mr. Norris ; beautiful specimens of the Argus Pheasant of the Himalayas, 
brought by Mr. Beck ; dried specimens of New Zealand Ferns, brought by 
Mrs, Small; Star-fishes and other objects, by the President, etc. The 
microscope was then brought into use ; after which the meeting dispersed. 
FourtH EVENING MEETING, FEBRUARY 4,—Held at the house of 
the Mayor, T. Wheeler, Esq., at his kind invitation. The Rev. W. Bramley- 
Moore read a paper “ On the Stones of our Fields,” which, beginning with 
the question “ What’s in a Stone ?” proceeded to unfold some very interest- 
ing secrets relating to the origin of the common stones scattered at 
random over our fields ; in fact, he extracted a very good “sermon from 
stones.” Having several specimens before him, he discussed their com- 
position and origin, and the mode by which they had been brought to our 
fields. Nos, 1 and 2—flints, impure varieties of quartz, formed probably by 
the aggregation of siliceous matter round some nucleus, ¢.g., a sponge or 
shell, during the ages when the chalk was being deposited in the same sea. 
During the erosion of the chalk by the retiring waves these flints were 
washed out, and being better able to resist the action of the water were 
left behind on the ground thus left dry. The gravel pebbles so very 
numerous in the neighbourhood had all been thus washed from the chalk, 
and in most cases rounded by the action of water as No. 1 evidently was, 
while occasionally, like specimen No, 2, they retained their sharp angles, 
showing they had escaped this action. No.3, a pebble, perhaps a fragment 
of some great nodule of flint, washed against others on the beach of a 
restless sea for ages until it achieved its present smoothness of form, then 
entombed in a deposit of Plastic Clay, and finally transported to its present 
