384 



PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



The Annual Report of the Huddersfield Naturalist, etc.. Society for 



1911-12, contains a record of the Society's work in photography, anti- 

 quities, zoology, geology, etc. A strong feature is made of tlie local 

 records. A new antiquarian section has been formed during the year. 

 It is a pity the pages of the report are not numbered. 



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

 Vol. 2, part I, October, 1912, 142 pp., i,'-. 



This publication contains the presidential address of Dr. E. T. Wilson 

 on the Flora and Fauna of Great Britain and Ireland, when and whence 

 did they come ? ; and a paper on ' The Plant Geography of England,' 

 by Mi.ss C. L. Laurie. There are also reports of excursions, with illus- 

 trations. 



1 he elaborate quarto Transactions of the Leicester Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Society, \'olume xvi, 1912 (71 pp., 2/6) shew that chis society is 

 apparently developing the ' literary ' side to the detriment of the ' philo- 

 sophical.' The two papers printed in the publication are on Some 

 Thoughts on History, and the Greek Novel, respectively, while the reports 

 of Sections, which formed such a useful feature in the former more handv 

 octavo publication of this society, have dwindled to mere lists of officers 

 and excursions, 



In the Annual Report of the Hull Borough Analyst, recently i.ssued, 

 reference is made to the fact that 133 rats were examined, pathologically 

 and bacteriologically, during the year. Sixteen per cent, were found to be 

 affected by diseases of some kind, but none with the plague. The report 

 concludes " It is sometimes .stated that the eld English black rat is extinct 

 in this country. Aly results show that this is not so, as 35 per cent, of 

 the rats examined were black Alexandrine or old English house rats, and 

 65 per cent, were Norwegian grc^" rats, or common sewer rats.' 



Transactions of the Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club, Vol. IV., 

 part iv., 1912, pp. 187-230, 2/- net. 



Besides an excellent report of the Club's work during the previous year, 

 this publication contains a valuable paper on the Diatoms of the Humber, 

 by the late R. H. Philip, ' In Memoriam ' notices of that naturalist by 

 Messrs. J. F. Robinson and E. Eamplough, a note on East Yorkshire 

 Conchology by "Sir. J. W. Boult, and an elaborate paper on ' Glimpses of 

 old Hull in the light of recent exca\aaons ', by the editor, Mr. Sheppard. 

 This is illustrated bj- photographs, etc., of two hundred objects. 



The Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for 1911, 

 besides containing particulars of the additions to the York Museum, 

 includes the usual meteorological report, an elaborate and well-illustrated 

 paper on the Roman Pottery in the York Museum, by Mr. T. May ; Notes 

 on Fire Insurance Marks by Dr. C. K. Hitchcock ; the opening of a 

 Tumulus near Pickering, by Mr. J. E. Kirk, (when the author and a friend 

 ' set out to try our luck at opening a barrow ' — a curious object !) ; a 

 note on an inscribed Roman slab recently found at York, bv Mr. H. M. 

 Platnauer, and a reprint of Dr. Tempest Anderson's paper in the Geo- 

 graphical Joiinui! on " Volcanic Craters and Explosions.' 



Journal of the Derbyshire Archaelogical and Natural History Society. 

 Index : Vols. I-XX\'. 235 pp. 



We are informed on the title page that this Index was ' prepared 

 before his death by the Hon. Fredk. Strutt,' and printed by Messrs. 

 Bemrose and Sons, Derby. This society has issued a large amounc of 

 valuable information dealing with the geology, archaeology and natural 

 history of the county, and there can be no doubt that the present index 

 will make these publications more accessible and valuable. Unfortunatelv 

 the index is merely alphabetical, and there is no subject index. Thus, 

 judging from the Index, there has apparently only been one article on 

 geology, and one on birds, in the whole twenty- five volumes. 



Naturalist, 



