238 



NATURE 



[July 4, 1889 



in 1884-85. The birds, belonging to 134. species, had been 

 examined and named by Captain Shelley. Amongst the beetles, of 

 which 89 species had been collected, he called attention specially 

 to Galerita africana and Teffliis megelii, and to the Rhinoceros 

 and Stag-horned Beetles. Of butterflies there were 90 species, 

 amongst which the most noticeable and characteristic were the 

 Acreas and thep!i\e-gresn.E/vnia^/ialassina, said to be typically 

 Gambian. The moths, of which some 220 species had been 

 brought home, were named by Mr. Herbert Druce, and several 

 had proved to be new or undescribed. A portion of this 

 collection had been exhibited at the Indian and Colonial 

 Exhibition of 1886, but had since been carefully gone over and 

 named, and was now exhibited for the first time in its entirety. — 

 Mr. Herbert Druce alluded to some of the Lepidoptera which are 

 most characteristic of the Gambia region ; and Mr. Harting made 

 some remarks upon the birds, pointing out the wide geographical 

 range of some of the species which had been collected. — Mr. 

 Clement Reid exhibited several specimens of fossil plants from 

 a newly-discovered Pleistocene deposit at South Cross, South- 

 elmham, near Harleston. — Mr. D. Morris exhibited specimens 

 of the fruit o{ Sideroxylon dtilcifictim, the so-called "miraculous 

 berry " of West Africa, belonging to the Sapotaccce. Covered 

 externally with a soft sweet pulp, it imparts to the palate a 

 sensation which renders it possible to partake of sour substances, 

 and even of tartaric acid, lime-juice, and vinegar, and to give them 

 a flavour of absolute sweetness. The fruit of Thaumatococcus 

 {Phrynium D^ttielli), possessing similar properties, was also 

 shown ; and living plants of both had lately been received at 

 Kew from Lagos through Governor Moloney. —Mr. Thomas 

 Christy exhibited growing plants oi Antiaris toxicaria{i\).e Upas- 

 tree) and Strophanthiis Kombe, both of them poisonous, to show 

 the similarity of the foliage. — On behalf of Dr. Buchanan White, 

 a paper was then read by Mr, B. D. Jackson, entitled a 

 " Revision of the British Willows." 



Royal Meteorological Society, June 19. — Dr. W. Marcet 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — Mr. W. Marriott gave a very 

 graphic and interesting account of the recent thunderstorms 

 which have prevailed over this country. On Sunday, June 2, a 

 thunderstorm passed across the country in a northerly direction 

 from Wiltshire about 5 a.m., and reached Edinburgh by 10.44. 

 It travelled at the rate of about 50 miles an hour. It is possible 

 that this storm travelled still further north, and reached Kirkwall 

 at 3.37 p.m. A severe thunderstorm prevailed over the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Tweed between 11 a.m. and noon, and was 

 accompanied by hail of very large size, some of the stones 

 being 5 inches in circumference. A very destructive storm 

 occurred over the whole of the north-west of England and south 

 of Scotland during the afternoon ; much damage was caused by 

 lightning, and very large hail fell over an extensive area. Some 

 of the hailstones measured 7 inches in circumference and weighed 

 7 ounces. During the night of the same day a severe thunder- 

 storm prevailed over Norfolk, which was also accompanied by 

 very large hailstones, some of which were 5 to 6 inches in cir- 

 cumference. On Thursday, the 6th, thunderstorms prevailed 

 ■during the afternoon over the whole of the south-east of 

 England ; that which passed over the Metropolis about 9 o'clock 

 was remarkable for the brilliant and continuous display of light- 

 ning. During the same night and in the early morning of the 

 following day a very destructive storm prevailed over the Eastern 

 Counties, much damage being done by the lightning in the 

 north-west of Norfolk. Severe hailstorms occurred between 2 

 and 3 a.m., both at Margate and Ipswich. During the afternoon 

 of the 7th, destructive thunderstorms prevailed over the whole 

 of the Southern Counties, much damage being done by lightning, 

 while at Tunbridge Wells there was a most remarkable hailstorm. 

 One of the hailstones which was weighed was actually half a 

 pound in weight. An interesting collection of over forty photo- 

 graphs of lightning taken during the storm on June 6 was also 

 exhibited to the meeting. In addition to the sinuous, ribbon, 

 and meandering flashes of lightning, several photograjohs showed 

 knotted, multiple, and dark flashes. — The following papers were 

 also read : — The climate of British North Borneo, by Mr. R. H. 

 Scott, F.R,S. — On the variation of the temperature of the air 

 in England during the period 1849 to 1888, by Mr. W. Ellis. 

 — Atlantic weather and rapid steamship navigation, by Mr. 

 C. Harding. — Meteorological phenomena observed during 

 1875-87 in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford, by Mr. Henry 

 Corder. — Rainfall in China, and meteorological observations 

 made at Ichang and South Cape in 1888, by Dr. W. Doberck. 



Geological Society, June 5.— Prof. J. W. Judd, F.R.S., 

 Vice-President, in the chair. — The following communications 

 were read : — Observations on some undescribed lacustrine 

 deposits at Saint Cross, Southelmham, in Suffolk, by Charles 

 Candler (communicated by Clement Reid). Some remarks 

 were made on this paper by Mr. Clement Reid, Prof. Prestwich, 

 and Mr. Lydekker. — On certain Chelonian remains from the 

 Wealden and Purbeck, by R. Lydekker. In the first part of 

 the paper the author described a portion of the hind lobe of a 

 Chelonian plastron from the Wealden, which was remarkable as 

 showing a median row of epidermal shields. The name of 

 Arclurochelys valdcnsis was proposed for the form so represented. 

 The new generic term HylcEochdys was also proposed for the 

 Purbeck Chelonian described by Sir R. Owen as Plcurosternum 

 latisctitatiun, and was also taken to include some other forms 

 from the W^ealden. The second section of the paper treated 

 of the affinities of Pleurosteriitcin. It was concluded that Digerh- 

 hiim, Cope (as represented by the so-called Platcniys Bullocki), 

 is identical with Pletirosternuvi, of which there appears to be 

 only one Purbeck species. Evidence was brought forward to 

 show that in the adult of Pletirosterniim the pubis had a facet 

 for articulation with the xiphiplastral ; and it was proposed to 

 refer this genus, together with Platychelys and Bacna, to a new 

 section termed " Amphichelydia," which was regarded as allied 

 both to the true Cryptodira and to the Pleurodira. — On the 

 relation of the Westleton Beds or Pebbly Sands of Suffolk to 

 those of Norfolk, and on their extension inland ; with some 

 observations on the period of the final elevation and denudation 

 of the Weald and of the Thames Valley, by Prof. Joseph 

 Prestwich, F.R.S. The author in this, the first part of his 

 paper, described the Westleton beds of the East Anglian coast. 

 He commenced with a review of the work of previous writers, 

 especially Messrs. Wood and Harmer, and the members of 

 H.M. Geological Survey, including Messrs. H. B. Woodward, 

 Whitaker, and Clement Reid. In discussing this work, parti- 

 cular attention was paid to the Bure Valley beds, which weie 

 considered as a local fossiliferous condition of the Pebbly Sands; 

 but the term is not so applicable to these sands as that of the 

 " Westleton and Mundesley Beds," which the author proposed 

 in 1 88 1. The Westleton beds were carefully described, as seen 

 in coast-sections in East Anglia, proceeding from south to north, 

 and the following classification was adopted : — 



, I. Laminated clays, sand, and shingle with 



' l^lant-remains and freshwater shells 



(the Arctic forest-bed of Reid). 



Sand and quartzose shingle with marine 

 shells (the Leda my alls bed of King 

 and Reid). 



Carbonaceous clay and sands with flint- 

 gravel, and pebbles of clay, driftwood, 

 land and lacustrine shells and seeds 

 (the Upper freshwater bed of Reid). 



A greenish clay, sandy and laminated 

 in places, containing abundant mam- 

 malian remains, ar^d driftwood, with 

 stumps of trees standing on its sur- 

 face (the forest- and elephant-bed of 

 authors ; the estuarine division, in 

 part, of Reid). 



Ferruginous clay, peat, and freshwater 

 remains and gravel (the Lower fresh- 

 water bed of Reid). 



The Westleton beds were found to rest with discordance on 

 various underlying beds ; in places on the Forest series, else- 

 where on the Chillesford Clay, whilst occasionally the latter had 

 been partly or entirely eroded before the deposition of the 

 Westleton beds. In the north, where the present series dies out, 

 they come in contact with the so-called Weybourn Crag, which 

 the author supposed to be the equivalent of the Norwich Crag. 

 A similar discordance has been noted between the Westleton 

 beds and the overlying glacial beds, so that the former mark a 

 distinct period, characterized by a definite fauna, and by par- 

 ticular physical conditions. The Westleton beds being marine, 

 and the Mundesley beds estuarine and freshwater, the author 

 proposed to use the double term to indicate the two facies, as 

 has been done in the case of other deposits. But these facies 

 were found to be local, and the most persistent feature of the 

 beds is the presence of a shingle of precisely the same character 

 over a very wide area. By means of this the Westleton beds 



The Westleton 

 and Mundesley 



series 

 (The Mundesley 



section of it). 



The Forest-bed 



series of Reid 



(exclusive of No. 3 



of above). 



/4. 



