CORRfcSPONDENi E Ki PORTS. 



Brat "bearing," about U inch thick; skating at Alton on 23rd. 

 24th. Furdus pilaris, in a flock of about twenty, first se< a by assistant 

 at fool of Weaver Hills.— December 8th. -Yellow Jasmine in full 

 flower over house porch at Alton, loth to end of month. — Primula 

 veris still in flower in my garden at Farle] : Geranium Robertianum in 

 full flower and fairly vigorous during entire month in old limekilns 

 near foot of ] -Clement L. Wbagge, F.R.G.B.. P.M.S. 



ilcports of ^otictics. 



— ♦ — 



BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL 

 SOCIETY.— Microscopical General Meeting, January 18th — Mr. Bolton 

 reported the capture of one male and several female specimens of Chiro- 

 eephalus diapJumus, from the locality mentioned nt tbe last meeting. Mr. 

 Pickering exhibited Cordicepsmilitaris, Fries, a beautiful scarlet fungus parasitic 

 00 the larvae and papas of moths. Mr. Morhy confirmed the statement in 

 the " Royal Microscopical Society's Journal" of the power possessed by a 

 saturated solution of carbolic acid to render transparent, in a few minutes, 

 many objects which must be soaked in turpentine for several days before the 

 same effect is produced. He asserted that, when the object is afterwards 

 mounted in Canada balsam, the balsam follows the carbolic acid as 

 readily as it does turpentine. Mr. G. E. Davis, F.R.M.S., then read an 

 interesting and highly practical paper on "Photo-micrography." He gave 

 a description of the mode of arranging the light, microscope, and camera, 

 and recommended the use of a dry plate for receiving the image. He 

 also gave a list of magnifying powers, with various objectives, at_ a fixed 

 distance of thirty-six inches, a table of the lengths of i xposure required, and 

 of the correction of the fine adjustment necessitated by the difference between 

 the visual and actinic foci. Many beautiful photographs were exhibited in 

 illustration. 



BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND INSTITUTE SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 

 — December 29th.— The annua] eoirie was held in the Bristol Street Board 

 Schools. The scientific exhibition included the following experiments : — Com- 

 bustion of air in coal gas, decomposition of steam by magnesium, relative 

 transparency of different media to radiant light and heat, material nature of 

 the atmosphere, molecular structure iu its relation to polarised light, and 

 Balmain's luminous paint. A vocal ami instrumental concert was followed by 

 , which was kept up till midnight. January 3rd.— Mr. W. J. Harrison, 

 gave a very instructive lecture on " The Uses of Geological Know- 

 January 19th. — Mr. C. J. Woodward, B.Sc, read a paper on " The 

 Wave Theory of Light," and various experiments illustrating phenomena of 

 polarised light were shown, and Fresuet's theory applied to the explanation 

 of thi ni. To elucidate the view that plane elliptical aid polarised light may 

 be conceived as made up of two vibrations at light angles to each other an 

 apparatus was. xhibited, consisting of two series of cranks, with rods at right 

 to each other. By an adjustment of one crank m relation to the other, 

 a wave corresponding to cither plane elliptical or polarised light was obtained. 



CHELTKNJIAM NATURAL SCIENCE SOCIETY.— December loth.— 

 Mr. G. B. Witts read an interesting paper on the examination of the " West 

 Tump " long barrow, situated in the middle of Buckholt Wood, near Birdlip, 

 tershire. Long barrows are regarded as of greater antiquity thau 

 round barrows. This particular one, strau remained unknown 



till the present time. The excavations commenced in August last and were 

 carried on until November, when it became necessary to cover up the walls so 

 as to protect them from frost. We hope to have the pleasure of printing in 

 these pages Mr. Witts' account of his researches, and from what we know of 

 them we feel sure our arcbaological readers will be greatly interested. 



