REPORT-. 2-1? 



Eeprts of Societies. 



BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL 

 SOCIETY —August 30th — General Meeting. Mr. Bagnaii exhibited Arte- 

 misia vulgaris, var. coarctata, Forcel, a variety new to Britain, and also 

 intermediate forms between that and the type. He a. so exhibited two Fungi, 

 Agaricus (Amanita) paniherinus, an i Russula emetica, from near S"ratford- 

 on-Avon. Mrs. Marina. 1 (-xuiuitei tn>- skin of a p-.ican. Mr. Wagstaff 

 exhibited Stephanoceros Eichhomii and Dra\ omerata. Mr. H W. 



Jones exhibited three crabs from the Gr<-at Orine, Hya 'lana 



platy chiles, and Corystes cassivelaunus. Mr. Bolton exhibited some marine 

 organisms. Mr. W. B. Grove exhibited a number of Fungi from the neighbour - 

 hood, iacluding Arcyria punict , t , Trichia chrysosperma, and Peziza virginea 

 from Sutton, Agarcius citrinellus, Coprinus plicatilis, and BolLiJi 

 from Witton, and Hydnum niveum from Bromsgrove. — Septemb-r 6th. — 

 General Meeting. Mr. Boiton exhibited living Foraminifera, Trilo> 

 trigonula, from Brighton; also Follicularia Boltoni from Evesham. Mr. 

 Leviek exhibited Melicerta anmdata, and M. tyro, from his garden pond. 

 Mr. Wagstaff exhinite ; »s and Cristatella Mucedo, from K. 



Norton. Mr. J. F. Goode exhioited Nonionina Barleeana, from sand dredged 

 at Oban during the visit of the society, in Juiy, 1681. This i3 a purely 

 northern species of Foraminifera, the most southern place at which it has 

 been recorded being Scarborough. Mr. Silvanus Wiikins exhibited a collection 

 of Fungi, found in a wood near Hunter'= Lodge, about three miles from 

 Axminster, on the Charrnouth Road. Amongst them was the interestingLa'.ticed 

 Stinkhorn, Clathrus cancellatus, the odour of which is as disgusting as its 

 form and colour are beautiful. It is very rare, being found only in a few 

 places in the South of England. There were aiso specimens of the brignt- 

 coloured but poisonous sp ec caria and Boletus luridus, and a 



large one of the edible Boletus edulis. Mr. Robinson exhibited Polyporus 

 sulphureus. Mr. R. M. Lloyd exhibited Poly] iosus, from Hodge Hill, 



Castie Bromwicu. Mr. W. B. Grove exhibited the following Fungi, Agaricus 

 xublateritius, A. rubescens, Paxillus involutus, Gantharellus aurantiacus, 

 Bussula Emetica, Boletus eduhs, Polyporus sulphureus, Tremella foliacea, 

 Peziza vesiculosa, P. cinerea, Bulgaria inguinans, and Nectria cinnabarina, 

 all from Sutton Park. — September 13th. — Biological Section. Dr. Deane 

 exhibited Amanita muscaria. Mr. W. Southall exhibited tne fruit of Caryocar 

 nuciferum, (Butter-nut,) from S r )Uth America. Mr. Boiton exhibited Fl 

 laria trifolium, found by Mr. Wagstaff near Birmingham. This rotifer was 

 discovered for the first time in Scotland last year. Mr. J. E. Bagnall exhibited 

 Agaricus paniherinus, A. rubescens, A. ' eandicans, A. phylloph.il>> s, 



A. laccatus, Lactariv.s zonarius, L. subdulcis, Marasmiv.s urens, Corttna 

 hinnuleus, Lycoperdcn gemmatum, and L. pyriforme. Mr. C. J. Watson 

 exhibited a bottle of gas obtained from confervoid growth in a marine 

 aquarium, and which was shown to consist cniefly of oxygen gas. Mr. S. 

 Wiikins exhibited Cuscuta europcea (Greater Dodder) from near Axminster. 

 Mr. W. P. Marshall exhibited a series of drawings from the Yirgularia speci- 

 mens of the Oban dredging, and pointed out their non-agreement with the 

 statement made in Nicholson's Manual of Zoology that the polypes of Yirgu- 

 laria are of two distinct kinds on different portions of the stem — one kind 

 sexually complete and furnished with tentacles, and the other kind sexless and 

 without tentacles. Mr. Marshall suggested that this difference in the polypes 

 is only due to their being at different stages of their development, and pointed 

 out that the polypes in most of the Oban specimens showed a grauual progres- 

 sion from a rudimentary state at the bottom to a fully developed state at the top, 

 while in other specimens they all showed a fully developed state throughout the 

 entire length.— Sept. 20th.—' Miceoscopicai, General Meeting. Mr. J. Leviek 

 exhibited Cyathus vernicosus, the bird's-nest fungu,-. Mr. T. Boiton exhil 

 Limnoeodium Sowerbei, the fresh-water medusa, lately discovered in the tanks 

 of the Victoria regia, at the Royal Botanical Gardens; aiso Peda^ 

 strange and rare rotifer. Mr. Wright Wilson exhibited and made some remarks 

 about a parasite on a fish caught in the River Coie. Mr. Badger exhibited, on 



