72 



could only be found in summer. The truth was there was no day in the year 

 when insects could not be found by those who knew wh<'re to look for them, an t 

 were willing to sacrifice personal comfort to entomological enthusiasm. Myriads 

 of insects of ail orders passe., the winter in a aeclu leu state ; in fa s; , paradoxical 

 as it might appear to the uninitiated, the more severe and prolonged the winter 

 the more likely were they to survive. Anyone could readily confirm this by 

 becoming an observer of insect life for two or three seasons, and the time and 

 labour thus bestowed would not be iil spent. He then took his hearers on an 

 imaginary winter excursion in search of insects, and, supposing them to have 

 arrived at a locality suited for their labours, he gave a list of the numerous 

 insects which might be found in a dead reed, at the routs of trees, the bark of trees, 

 the moss and lichens growing on the tree trunks, the decayed stumps of oak and 

 birch trees, grass clumps on the margins of watercourses, fungi, the accumulate 1 

 rubbish on the sides of hedges, coping of stone wails, the trunks of popiars, and 

 the decaying s umps of hawthorns, haystacks, &•. A vote of thanks wis passe I 

 to Mr. Blatch, and the Rev. W. Fowler, in moving i', pointed out that in the 

 neighbourhood of Burton numerous insects might be found in the rubbish left 

 in the fields after a flood. — Mr. H. T. Ford then read a short piper relating to tne 

 discovery of bitumen on Bearwood Hill, his observations being illustrated by 

 diagrams contributed by Mr. Boden. Mr Ford stated that the catting through 

 Bearwood Hill having recently been widened to improve the way f -om Bimou 

 to Wiusnill now displayed a most interesting section of tne Keuper sandstones, 

 part of tne New Red formation. Near the middle of the cutting, -nd at the babe 

 of the sectiot;, there was a ben of very hard sandstone strongly impregnated with 

 hittitr.en. In ex pi nation of how this bitumen cam a there, he said it was 

 usually laid down that such mineral oily matters were uistii leu by subterranean 

 heat iroin deposits of coal or other vegetable matter, and in th.it ca-e it might 

 have exuded through a fault or fracture in the strata, which struck this le osit 

 at a right angle. H also point'"! out that th^re was a remarkable contrast in 

 the sand and clay resting on the sandstone. One end ot the section was a reddish 

 brown, and the other blue an i green, tne cnange taking place without ai,y 

 break in the stratification. The h ui stain w -• considered to be from carbonate 

 of iron, and might have resulted from percolation of water from a small lake 

 which must once have existed in Wmshill hollow its outlet being clearly 

 traceable turouyu a guily running nurm-weBl. The beds also contained the 

 well-known ripple-marked water-stones, some specimens of which wele e^nibited, 

 together with a drawing of the labyrinthodcn, a toad of gigantic proportions, 

 whose hand-like footprints were sometimes found on those waterstones. 



NORTHAMPTON NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.—Jauuary 8h.— 

 Botanical Section — a co nmunication was read from the President, Rev. M. J. 

 Berkeley, in whicn he said he was not inclined to attribute the scarcity of fungi 

 i 1879 to the long continued fn>st in ihe Spring; thit he had found 

 Hygrqphorus Wynnice in Wa'es in 1S70 : tint during the eav'y annum he 

 examined some tru» Pdyporus varies trbm an apple tree, and noticed tuat. tne 

 spores, when just arriving at tneir iull uevelopm n., Were fringeu null delicate 

 threads like eyelashes. Tn. s. uu ler i he microscope proved to be cylindrical 

 bodies filled with plobo=e sporidia. A piper by Mr. G 0. "mee, F.T.S., on 

 "The Botany of Fruits" was then read, in which he described tne preseut 

 classification of fruits, and described soine oi men coiw.vnutta for oecouiiug 

 disseminated. December 20th. — Mr. R. G bcriven rea.i a pip -r on " Common 

 Ferns," in whi'-h he described the different genera o^ui-inr in Britain, and gave 

 some very useful hints on the cultivation of British Ferns. January loth. — 

 Rev. T. 0. Beasley read a naper on " Weather Forecasts." January 29ih. — 

 Geological Section. — Mr. Luosou exhioiteu specimtns from the Lias from 

 E.ing=thoip , and gave an interesting paper on " The Study of Geology." 



EXCHANGE. 



Microscopic apparatus and slides in exchange for geological 

 specimens or British land and freshwater shells.— C. L. Lord, 6, Ambler 

 Street, Manningham, Bradford. 



