GLEANINGS REPORTS. 171 



diminishing during the last twenty-five years ; they quote statements 

 made by hatters in all parts of the kingdom in proof of this ; one 

 large hat-maker writes — " Fifteen years ago the usual sizes of hats in 

 England were from 6J to 7§, and even 7£ was not uncommon ; but now, 

 if a 7g hat was wanted, we should have to make a block purposely." 



Fossiliferous Bunter Quartzite Pebbles. — We have more than once 

 mentioned the occurrence in the drift of the Midlands of quartzite 

 pebbles, apparently derived from the Buuter pebble-beds, and con- 

 taining some remarkable fossils, more especially Orihia Budleighensis, a 

 brachiopod which also occurs in the stones of a pebble-bed in the 

 Trias at Budleigh-Salterton, near Exmouth. Mr. A. H. Atkins, B.Sc. r 

 of King Edward's School, Birmingham, has lately found some good 

 specimens of the same fossil in a precisely similar matrix — a reddish 

 quartzite — in a true Bunter pebble-bed, at Kinver Edge, west of 

 Stourbridge. No British rock is yet known which by its disintegration 

 could have yielded these pebbles, at least no such rock has as yet been 

 certainly identified. In Normandy and Brittany, however, this fossil 

 (O. Budleighensis) occurs in just such a quartzite. A much larger 

 collection of these pebbles with included fossils should be made, and 

 as they are scattered all over the Midlands, either in the Bunter beds 

 or in the drift, all readers of the "Midland Naturalist" are asked to help 

 in the search, and to forward any which may contain fossils to our 

 office. Under the name of " petrified kidneys," similar pebbles still 

 pave the back streets of our large towns, and the broken heaps which 

 are seen on the roadsides afford admirable opportunities for the search 

 we recommend. 



departs af Sariettts. 



BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL 

 SOCIETY. — General Meeting, May 3rd. — Mr. Bagnall exhibited Cincinnulus 

 Trichomanis, in fruit ; Lophocolea heterophylla, Mnium subglobosum, Polytri- 

 chum formosum, and Hypnum striatum, from Kingsbury Wood ; Physcomitrium 

 pyriforme, in fruit, from drains near Seckington ; and Salix Hoffmanniana, 

 from Freasley. Mr. Blatch exhibited Achenium humile, from Salford Priors, 

 and Aneurus Icevis, from Bewdley Forest, both rare and new to the district. 

 Mr. Grove exhibited Peziza vesiculosa, from Sutton. Mr. J. Morley 

 exhibited Drapiarnaldia plumosa, from Sutton. Mr. Pickering exhibited 

 a monoecious form of Alercurialis perennis. Professor T. W. Bridge read a 

 paper on '• Pasteur's Experiments on Bacteria," illustrated by diagrams. He 

 described particularly the life history of Bacillus anthrax, and its connection 

 with splenic fever. He also described the connection of Bacteria with fowl- 

 cholera, and gave an account of the experiments which have been made with 

 them, especially as to the mode by which the virulence of the disease is abated, 

 when the organisms are cultivated for a certain length of time in artificial 

 media. — May 31st. Biological Section. — Mr. W. R. Hughes, F.L.S., 

 read a paper on Bopyrus squillarum, a small parasitic crustacean infesting 

 the common prawn. Assuming, according to the laws of evolution, that the 

 parasite and its host had been derived from a common progenitor, Mr. Hughes 

 showed that the parasite — especially the female — had been worsted in its 

 struggle for existence, owing to the peculiar position which it occupies 

 within the carapace of the prawn. The embryo or nauplius stage of 

 Bopyrus exhibits a much higher state of development than that of the adult 

 animal. The paper was illustrated by a specimen and by some beautiful 

 drawings by Miss Hadley. Professor Bridge gave a report on the Echinoderms, 

 dredged by the society during the last two marine excursions to Arran and 

 Falmouth. He stated that the class was exceedingly well represented, only 

 a few genera being absent. The specimens had been admirably put up by 



