150 Proceedings of Provincial Scientific Societies. 



it altogether, one would be disposed to ask for details of the colonies 

 on the Durham Moors. Tristram in 1905 stated that there was no breed- 

 ing place in the county. The statements with regard to the Southern 

 counties are equally unreliable, and it is rather surprising that the Editors 

 of The Naturalist should have thought a paper so full of misleading in- 

 formation worthy of quotation. — F. C. R. JOURDAIN. 



We are not quire sure whether our valued contributor, who is the 

 present editor of British Birds, is using his ornithological knowledge in 

 order to teach us how to extract the contents of eggs by means of suction, 

 or not ; but we can assure him that, when quoting from the Journal of 

 the Board of Agriculture, or from British Birds, or other publications, we 

 are always very careful to make it clear that we merely quote ; we give 

 no guarantee as to the accuracy of the statements quoted ; and we usually 

 assume that our readers are able to see the reasons for the particular ex- 

 tracts we make. — Ed. 



: o : 



The Proceedings of the Cheltenham Natural Science Society, N.S., 

 Vol. III., Part 3, contains the presidential address of Mr. C. I. Gardiner on 

 ' The Natural History of Coal.' The publication is sold at one shilling. 



In the Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, etc., Vol. XLIX., 1917, is an interesting paper on ' Parasitical 

 Hymenoptera ; Ichneumonidae and Braconidre, type species in the Bignell 

 Collection,' by T. V. Hodgson. In this Mr. Hodgson describes the Bignell 

 Collection, which is now in the Plymouth Museum and contains specimens 

 from various parts of the country, including Yorkshire. 



The Transactions and Journal of the Eastbourne Natural History, 

 Photographic and Literary Society, No. 19, contains papers on the Flint 

 Nodules of Beachy Head, The Mote at Eastbourne, Natural History 

 Legends, and other items of local interest. Referring to the New ' Geo- 

 logical Physics Society,' we notice that the editor considers that ' the new 

 Society promises to be a veritable Hercules in the way of strangling the 

 snakes of geological difficulties in its cradle.' 



In The Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archcpological 

 Society, N.S., Vol. III., part 4, 1917, Mr. P. M. Johnston figures and 

 describes a ' Roman Water Vessel found in Grove Lane, Camberwell, 191 3-' 

 and mentions that the ' Hull Museum has other examples ' (p. 334). 

 But the Hull examples have been figured and described as modern 

 Egyptian, as the Camberwell example certainly is ; consequently any 

 deductions based on the evidence it gives of Roman occupation are hardly 

 trustworthy. 



The Proceedings of the Coventry Natural History and Scientific Society 

 for 1917, are edited by Mr. J. H. Wheldon, and contain a record of the 

 Society's eighth year of work, as well as an account of the summer excur- 

 sions, the annual Soiree, Nature Study competitions, and summaries of 

 the various addresses given before the Society. There are a number of 

 illustrations from excellent photographs, one of which represents ' A 

 Fungus {Onygena equina) growing on the horns of a dead Ram, found in 

 Over Wyresdale.' This skull was presented to the British Museum 

 where it is exhibited. 



The Report of the Corresponding Societies Committee and of the Confer- 

 ence of Delegates, held in London last July, has been issued by the British 

 Association (54 pp., i/-) and contains the address of the President (Mr. 

 John Hopkinson) on the ' Work and Aims of our Corresponding Societies ' ; 

 a paper on ' Regional Surveys, ' by Mr. Fagg ; ' Money Scales and Weights,* 

 by Mr. Sheppard, and one on ' The part to be played by Local Societies 

 after the War in the Application of Science to the Needs of the Country,' 

 by Mr. Mark Webb. There is also the usual useful index to the contents 

 of the publications of the various Scientific Societies connected with 

 the Association. 



Naturalist, 



