368 Northern News, etc. 



to pr6ve a general rule. The author's third point is personal, and there- 

 fore we shall not touch upon it here. To turn again to the introductory 

 statement, we must observe that however insecure may be the foundation 

 on which the stately edifice of geological science is supported, they were 

 at least laid on sounder premisses and more justified conclusions than some 

 set forth in this book. We feel, too, that the author could have done 

 better. He is undoubtedly an accomplished microscopist, and we must 

 be prepared to make concessions when he assures us that a specially 

 trained eye is necessary. He has, moreover, spared neither trouble nor 

 expense in pursuing this research. He has travelled widely in order to 

 study rocks in their natural exposures ; he has consulted a wide range 

 of literature ; and has evidently had a free hand in examining the rocks 

 and fossils on the great National Collection at South Kensington. It 

 must be noted, also, that he is wise enough to anticipate one difficulty, 

 and to include a phylogenetic note, stating that ' it seems singular that 

 nummulites, regarded as the highest type of Foraminifera, should prevail 

 in the oldest known rocks.' We conclude that the author's views on 

 nummulites do not agree with those of most people, and we hope that the 

 Trustees of the Natural History Museum will adhere to their orthodoxy, 

 and not yet cause their terra-cotta walls to be labelled as ' exhibiting 

 traces of Nummulites.' 



NORTHERN NEWS, etc. 



P'rances Pitt writes on ' Seasonal Changes in the Coloration of the 

 Pine Marten,' in the Scottish Naturalist for September. 



We regret to learn that Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, head of the Bird 

 Room, British Museum (Natural History), has retired on account of ill 

 health. 



Dr. W. G. Smith favours us with a copy of his paper on ' The Im- 

 provement of Hill Pasture,' reprinted from The Scottish Journal of Agri- 

 culliire, Vol. L, No. 3. 



The Manchester Microscopical Society's Annual Report for 1917 is cut 

 down somewhat in view of the prevailing conditions, but it is nevertheless 

 a valuable record of another year of this Society's useful work. 



Among the Contents of the Hull Literary Club Magazine, Vol. V., Pt. 

 n., we notice : ' Reality in Life, Education and Art,' by C. S. Hill : ' The 

 Coming Generation,' by C. H. Gore; 'The Man, the Nation and the 

 State,' by A. Jordan, and ' Our German Ancestors ' (with map), by T. 

 Sheppard, M.Sc. 



We learn from the Yorkshire Post that the Leeds Philosophical and 

 Literary Society recently entertained at tea 100 soldiers from the local 

 hospitals, Mrs. Kitson Clark being the hostess. The lecture was by Dr. 

 Wager, F.R.S., the subject being " Toadstools and their Ways," which 

 black-board illustrations. 



The ' Quarterly ' Journal of the Geological Society, No. 290, contains a 

 paper on Aclisinia and Aclisoides, by Mrs. Longstaff, in which she describes 

 species from the Carboniferous Limestone of the Northern Counties ; 

 Mr. L. M. Parsons writes on the Carboniferous Limestone bordering the 

 Leicestershire Coalfield, and Messrs. F. Dixon and T. F. Sibly writes on 

 the Carboniferous Limestone of the South-eastern Margin of the South 

 Wales Coalfield. 



The Proceedings of the Liverpool Naturalists' Field Club for 1917, recently 

 issued, contain the President's address, ' Notes on the Collecting of 

 Butterflies and Moths,' by J. W. Griffin ; detailed Reports of the Field 

 Meetings during 1917 ; a list of the records in various branches of Natural 

 History during the year, and an account of the Ellis Memorial, consisting 

 of a cabinet of Coleoptera and a local Herbarium, presented by the Society 

 to the the Liverpool Museum. 



Naturalist, 



