23 
development of the race.’’ The decadence of this class 
was illustrated by the fact that, taking into a large 
account the ‘‘imperfection of the geological record,” 
200 genera with 1,500 species are known from the 
rocks, while those known to be now living belong to 
I2 genera and 400 species. 
Mr. J. E. Whiting then read an interesting paper 
(illustrated with exhibits) entitled ‘*‘ Twenty years of 
Hampstead ; being observations of a Field 
Naturalist.’’ His paper dealt entirely with the 
avifauna of the district and he reviewed what had come 
under his notice of the haunts and habits (nest-building 
and otherwise) of the birds he had seen in the 
immediate neighbourhood. 
Friday, 13th February, 1903. Sir Samuel Wilks, 
Bart., F.R.S., in the chair. 
The following exhibits were placed upon the table 
and commented upon by the several exhibitors :—Stone 
Implements from the Federated Malay States, by Mr. 
Cecil Wray, F.G.S.; Stone Axes from New Guinea, by 
Sir Samuel Wilks ; a series of Death-heads and Hawk 
Moths, by Mr. Martin Jacoby, F.E.S.; a series of 
Belemnites and some recent dibranchiate cephalopoda, 
by Mr. Hugh Findon; some British snakes and South 
African snake skins, by Mr. L. B. Hall, F.L.S.; a 
T.S. of the stem of Cyperus longus, by Mr. K. I. Marks, 
F.R.M.S.; and a L.S. of the eye of the fresh-water 
crayfish (Astacus fluviatilis), by Dr. J. W. Williams, 
Pte. 5. Evi, M.S. 
Mr. Martin Jacoby, F.E.S., read a paper on ‘* The 
Study of Entomology and its Pleasures,’’ dealing 
with his subject mainly from its educational value in 
cultivating powers of observation and deduction. He 
pointed out that the study of the life-histories of insects, 
