REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. Oo 



BIKMIXGHAM MK'ROSCOPISTS' AND NATL'RALISTS' UXIOX.— 

 Februaiy Cth -A meeting devoted to Special EiitouioloKj-. Exhibited by Mr. 

 J. \V. Neville, Slide of Dissections of House Spider, sliowius; falces, tougue, &c. 

 by llr.Wykes, Proboscis of Jloth showiuR organs of taste l.aud Eggs of Blow-Fly 

 by Jlr. Delicate. Common Flea, stained: by Mr. Darley, Foreign Lepidoptera ; 

 by Mr. Poland. Stiitted Specimens of Night .Tar (foreign); by Mr. Bradbury, 

 Micro Dissections of the Colorado Beetle.^ February 13th :— Exhibited by Mr. 

 Darley, Pale Brindled Beauty, and Dotted I'order iMoths, from Sutton; by Mr. 

 Baxter. Opliincnwfi rnauln under microscope ; by Mr. Moore, ' ommou Stickleback, 

 which was infested in ^ remarkable manner by a fungoid gi-owth, proceeding in 

 tufts tvvo-anil-a-half inches in length, entirely covei-ing the tail and a third of the 

 creature ; a pajjer, " Hints on Dry Mounting," was read by Mr. Baxter. February 

 •JOth.— Microscoi)ical aud (ieneral— Exhibited by Mr. J. \V. Neville, Skin of 

 Si/n'ij)ta (dllueroix. showing anchors and I'lates in nitii ; by Mr. Wykes. Sand, 

 from Trent, containing foraminifera : by Mr. Delicate, Skin of Lizard, under the 

 microscope; by Mr. Dunn. Marine Algiv. PolijsiijJionia fustiijiita showing 

 antheridia. also Chi/'ocUnlin urticK'ata. February 27th. -Exhibited by Mr. 

 Delicate, Slide of Polycistina, from Barbadoes chalk; a paper was read ou 

 •• Ice and its Work," bv Mr. Hindmarsh. 



CHELTENHAM NATL'KAL SCIENCE SOCIETY.— This Society has been 

 doing admirable work during the winter by the reading of papers of high quality 

 on various interesting subjects, on the regular meeting nights ; aud devoting 

 extra nights to a series of connected addresses, by competent authorities, dealing 

 with the lower forms of life. The i)resident, Dr.'T. Wright, F.K.S., started this 

 Series with "An Outline of the .\nimal Kingdom ; " Dr, A. Pullar uext read a pai)er 

 on "The Protozoa "i the simplest forms of life; on the third evening. Dr. Edward 

 T. Wilson treated of the " Porifera and Cieleuterata." In each case the papers 

 were fully illustrated by specimens under the microscope, &c. On the l,Stli of April, 

 Dr. Wi-ight will occupy the fourth and last extra night of the session with a 

 l)aper on the •' Echinodermata." The example of this Society might be followed 

 with great advantage by many other natural history societies. 



THE OXFORDSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.-Pebruary litli.- 

 .\t the University Museum. Professor Westwood, M.A., F.L,S.. in the chair. Mr. 

 H. Macpherson, B,A., read " Xotes ou the^Year 1881" iwhich have appeared in 

 exten.so in the " Zoologist" ), dwelling esjiecially on his researches in the Auvergue, 

 about (ieneva, and in Paris. The objects noted included the edible Frog, the 

 palmate Newt. \ ijiers. blue-throated Warbler, etc. He then read a continuance 

 of his notes ou the (ioldlinch, which will be printed in a future number. Mr, O. 

 W .\plin. President of the Ornithological section, read a sunnnary of the 

 Ornithological OccuiTences in North Oxfordshire for the year 1881, Prof, West- 

 wood, F.L,S., then exhil>ited some plates of various Oak Galls, mentioning as a 

 curious fact in the life history of one of the species that the early brood pro- 

 duced a different Gall, from which emerged an insect so very dissimilar from the 

 latter brood as to be distinguished by a separate name and placed in a different 

 genus, a fact wliich had only recently been pointed out. Prof. Westwood also 

 exhibited and described a mole's nest which had been presented to the Museum. 

 Thei'e was also exhibited by :Mr. Macphersou for Mr. Darby a specimen of the 

 tufted Duck, shot near Oxford, and two of his own specimens— a hybrid between 

 the BulHinch and Goldfinch -and a L.ii)land Bunting from Kent,- Mr. .\.plin 

 showed a Hairy Woodpecker, supposed to have been killed in North Oxon about 

 five years ago ; a Snow Bunting, found in Aston-leWalls, Northamptonshii-e, 

 January, 1879; a Crossbill, in Bodicote, Oxfoi-dshire, in red plumage; a blue 

 variety of egg of common partridge, taken near Banbury from a nest containing 

 other eggs of the normal colour ; eggs of Tree Sparrow, from North Oxon ; and 

 Alcedo isjjiVZa— England, and AUedo liemialenxix — India, pointing out tlieir 

 resemV)lance in colour, but great difference in size. A. Benoalenxis takes the 

 place of injiiiln in the East, and may almost be considered as the en-iteru funn. 



