Notes and Comments. 277 



It is not mentioned in Cnrtis's " British Entomology," but 

 as Curtis is the author of the name it may possibly occur in 

 his " Guide to an arrangement of British Insects " — to which 

 I have failed to gain access, as it does not appear to be in any 

 of our Manchester Libraries. I should therefore esteem it a 

 favour if any of my readers could furnish any information 

 either from Curtis's work or from their own personal knowledge 

 of the insect itself, as I am desirous to know something of its 

 life history.' 



REFRACTORY MATERIALS. 



With the above heading the Faraday Society has reprinted 

 from its Transactions, a General Discussion on the subject, 

 held in November last.* It has remained for the war seriously 

 to bring home to us the necessity for paying regard to the 

 scientific study of Refractory Materials, among many others. 

 The Faraday Society has devoted a long meeting to the dis- 

 cussion of this subject, and, with many written contributions 

 by specialists, has issued a full report thereon. This includes 

 contributions by Sir Robert Hadfield, Prof. W. G. Fearnsides, 

 Dr. A. Strahan, Mr. J. Allen Howe, Mr. Cosmo Johns, Dr. 

 P. G. H. Boswell, Prof. Cronshaw and others. The volume 

 may safely be said to form a useful and up-to-date account of 

 the scientific side of refractory materials, from almost every 

 point of view. There are several plates, tables, and a biblio- 

 graphy. 



YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS* UNION. 



By the kindness of our friends at Wakefield, the date of the 

 Annual Meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union has been 

 altered to December 8th, in order to ensure the presence of the 

 President, Sir Archibald Geikie, O.M., F.R.S. We are informed 

 that the title of Sir Archibald's address will be ' A Yorkshire 

 Rector of the Eighteenth century,' and we have reason to 

 believe that he will deal with the important work of a Yorkshire 

 Geologist. 



NUTRITIVE VALUE OF EDIBLE FUNGI. 



In The Journal of the Board of Agriculture for July is an 

 article with the above heading. It is stated that ' Suggestions 

 are frequently received that the use of edible fungi should be 

 encouraged, particularly in times of shortage like the present. 

 Such suggestions are largely founded on the widespread belief 

 that the nutritive value of mushrooms and other edible fungi 

 is very great. It is now known that this is not the case, and 

 in view of the well-known risks attaching to the use of fungi as 

 food by persons not very well acquainted with the plants, it 

 is desirable that the true facts as to their place in the diet 



* 189 pp., 12/6. 

 1017 Sept. l. 



