Nov. 28, 1889] 



NATURE 



93 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Entomological Society, November 6. — Prof. J. O. West- 

 wood in the chair. — Mr. J. W. Douglas sent for exhibition 

 specimens of Anthocoris visct, Dougl., a new species taken 

 at Hereford, in September last, by Dr. T. A. Chapman ; also 

 specimens o{ Psylla visci, Curtis, taken by Dr. Chapman at the 

 same time and place. — Mr. R. McLachlan, F.R.S., exhibited 

 coloured drawings of a specimen oi Zygana filipenduLc, in which 

 the left posterior leg is replaced by a fully-developed wing, 

 similar to an ordinary hind wing, but less densely clothed with 

 scales. Mr. McLachlan also exhibited a female specimen of the 

 common earwig, Forjicula aiiricularia, with a parasitic Gordius 

 emerging from between the metathorax and abdomen. He 

 said that it had been placed in his hands by Mr. A. B. Farn, by 

 whom it was taken, and that other instances of similar para'^ilism 

 by Gordius on earwigs had been recorded. — Mr. W. F. Kirby 

 exhibited a gynandromorphous specimen of Lyacna icarns, 

 having the characters of a male in the right wings and of a female 

 hi the left wings, caught at Keyingham, Yorkshire, in Jime last ; 

 also a specimen of a variety of Crabro intcrruptus, De Geer, 

 found at Uxbridge. — Mr. W. L. Distant exhibited a male and 

 female specimen of a species belonging to a new genus of 

 Discocephalinic, from Guatemala, in which the sexes were 

 totally dissimilar, the female having abbreviated membranes, 

 and being altogether larger than the male. — Dr. D. Sharp 

 stated that he had observed that in the Ipsiita division of 

 Nitidulidce there was present a stridulating organ in a position 

 in which he had not noticed it in any other Coleoptera — viz. on 

 the summit of the back of the head. He had found it to exist 

 not only in the species of Ips and Cryptarcha, but also in other 

 genera of the subfamily. He exhibited specimens of If>s and 

 Cryptarcha, mounted to show the organ. Dr. Sharp also 

 exhibited a number of Rhynchota, chiefly Pentatomidiv, in which 

 the specimens were prepared so as to display the peculiarities of 

 the terminal segment in the male sex. — Mr. R. Adkin exhibited 

 for Mr. H. Murray, a fine series of Polia xantliomista, var. 

 nigrocinda, from the Isle of Man, and Cidaria reticulata and 

 Etnmelesia tantiata from the Lake District. — Mr. W. White 

 exhibited a living larva oi Zeuzera cescuH, and called attention to 

 the thoracic segments with several rows of minute serrations, 

 which evidently assist progression. He stated that the larva 

 exudes from its mouth, when irritated, a colourless fluid, which 

 he had tested with litmus- paper and found to be strongly alkaline. 

 — Captain H. J. Elwes exhibited a number of insects of various 

 orders, part of the collection formed by the late Otto Moller, of 

 Darjeeling. — Mons. A. Wailly exhibited the cocoon of an 

 unknown species of Antheraa from A^^sam ; also a number of 

 cocoons and imagos of Anophe venata from Acugua, near the 

 Gold Coast ; specimens of Lasiocampa otiis, a South European 

 species, which was said to have been utilized by the Romans in 

 the manufacture of silk ; also a quantity of eggs of Epeira 

 madagascariensis, a silk-producing spider from Madagascar, 

 locally known by the name of " Halabe." He also read extracts 

 from letters received from the Rev. P. Camboue, of Tananarivo, 

 Madagascar, on the subject of this silk-producing spider. — Mr. 

 H. Goss read a communication from Dr. S. H. Scudder, of 

 Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., on the subject of his recent 

 discoveries of some thousands of fossil insects, chiefly Coleo- 

 ptera, in Florissant, Western Colorado, and Wyoming. Prof. 

 Westwood remarked on the extreme rarity of fossil Lepidoptera, 

 and called attention to a recent paper by Mr. A. G. Butler, in 

 the Proc. Zool. Soc, 1889, in which the au hor described a new 

 genus of fossil moths belonging to the family Euschemidic, from 

 a specimen obtained at Gurnet Bay, Isle of Wight. — Mr. F. P. 

 Pascoe read a paper entitled " Additional Notes on the genus 

 Htlipus" and exhibited a number of new species belonging to 

 that genus. — The Rev. Dr. Walker read a paper entitled " Notes 

 on the Entomology of Iceland." Mr. R. Trimen, F. R.S., 

 asked if any butterflies had been found in the island. Dr. Walker 

 said that neither he nor Dr. P. B. Mason had seen any during 

 their recent visit, nor were any species given in Dr. Staudinger's 

 list. Dr. Mason said that during his recent visit to Iceland he 

 had collected nearly one hundred species of insects, including 

 about twenty Coleoptera. He added that several of the species 

 had not been recorded either by Dr. Staudinger or Dr. Walker. 

 Capt. Elwes inquired if Mr. J. J. Walker, with his great 

 experience as a collector in all parts of the world, was aware of 



any land outside the Arctic Circle from which no butterflies had 

 been recorded. Mr. J. J. Walker replied that the only place 

 in the world which he had visited, in which butterflies were 

 entirely absent was Pilcaiin Island. 



Royal Microscopical Society, October 9. — Dr. C. T. 

 Hudson, F. R.S., President, in the chair. — The President re- 

 ferred to the deaths of the Rev. M. J. Berkeley and Dr. G. W. 

 Royston-Pigott, the former an honorary, and the latter formerly 

 an ordinary, Fellow of the Society.— Mr. Crisp announced that, 

 owing to certain business arrangements, he was obliged to retire 

 from the secretaryship of the .Society and from the conduct of 

 the Jourqal. Tt was with the very greatest reluctance that he had 

 found it necessary to resign, but there would, he anticipated, be 

 no difficulty in continuing the Journal on its present lines, while 

 he was sure there were many Fellows both able and willing to 

 undertake the duties of Microscopical Secretary. — Mr. John 

 Meade's communication on stereoscopic photo-micrography was 

 read. — The President brought for inspection three photo-micro- 

 graphs of one of the new rotifers mentioned in his supplement — 

 Gomphogaster areolatus. — Mr. E. M. Nelson exhibited a new 

 elementary centering sub-stage which he thought was likely to 

 be useful. It was fitted in the simplest manner by placing two 

 legs under the main stage, and the movement was given to it 

 with the finger ; it was very inexpensive, and was only designed 

 to render the ordinary student's microscope of a higher degree 

 of efficiency by providing it with an easy method of correctly 

 centering the condenser and diaphragm. — The President men- 

 tioned that Pedalion was to be had in many places in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London about a month ago, where it had not been 

 previously found. — Mr. Ahrens's description was read of his new 

 patent polarizing binocular microscope for obviating the difli- 

 culty of using analyzing prisms with the double tube. The 

 inventor uses for an analyzer a black glass prism, set above the 

 objective with a horizontal side upwards. Two faces are sym- 

 metrically inclined to the optical axis at the polari?ing angle. 

 The pencil is thus reflected at the proper angle, and at the same 

 time divided into two parts, which are then reflected up the two 

 tubes either by prisms or by plane reflectors. — Prof. Abbe's 

 paper, notes on the effect of illumination by means of wide- 

 angled cones of light, was read. — Mr. T. F. Smith read a paper 

 on the ultimate structure of the Pleurosigma valve. 



Royal Meteorological Society, November 20. — Dr. W. 

 Marcet, F.R. S. , President, in the chair. — The following papers 

 were read : — Second Report of the Thunderstorm Committee. 

 This is a discussion by Mr. Marriott on the distribution of days 

 of thunderstorms over England and Wales during the seventeen 

 years 1871-87. Notices of sheet lightning are included in the 

 term "thunderstorms." The years of greatest frequency were 1880, 

 1882, 1884, and 1872 ; and the years of least frequency 1887, 

 1874, 1879, and 1 87 1. Years of greater or less frequency alter- 

 nate regularly throughout nearly the whole of the period. The 

 average yearly number of thunderstorms is about thirty-nine. 

 The districts with the greatest yearly frequency are the south of 

 England and extreme northern counties, and those with the least 

 yearly frequency are Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. The 

 greatest number of thunderstorms occur in July, and the least in 

 February and December. — On the change of temperature which 

 accompanies thunderstorms in Southern England, by Mr. G. M. 

 Whipple. — Note on the appearance of St. Elmo's fire at Walton- 

 on-the-Naze, September 3, 1889, by Mr. W. H. Dines. — Notes 

 on cirrus formation, by Mr. H. Helm Clayton. The author, who 

 has made a special study of cloud forms and their changes, gives 

 a number of notes and drawings on the formation of cirrus under 

 various conditions, e.g. in a previously cloudless sky, cirrus bands 

 with cross fibres, cirrus from cirro-cumulus clouds, cirrus drawn 

 out from cumulus clouds, " mares-tail " cirrus, &c. Curved cirrus 

 clouds when accompanied by decreasing barometric pressure 

 frequently indicate that a storm of increasing energy is approach- 

 ing. — A comparison between the Jordan and the Campbell- 

 Stokes sunshine recorder, by Mr. F. C. Bayard. As a result of 

 a year's comparison between these two instruments, the author 

 found that the Jordan photographic recorder registered nearly 30 

 per cent, more sunshine than the Campbell burning recorder. — 

 Sunshine, by Mr. A. B. MacDowall. This is a discussion of the 

 hours of sunshine recorded at the stations of the Royal Meteoro- 

 logical Society. — On climatological observations at Ballyboley, 

 CO. Antrim, by Prof. S. A. Hill. This is the result of observa- 

 tions made during the five years 1884-88. 



