Northern Neivs. 41 



Melanthia albicillata, all of which used to occur at Sledmere in 

 considerable numbers, are now scarce. Notwithstanding- the 

 larg-e numbers of larvae which are obtained by some of the York 

 collectors and their friends, the very local Epione vespertaria 

 was in abundance near York on the nigfht of the 15th July, when 

 also several Geomctra papilionaria occurred. 



Some beautiful varieties of Abraxas grossulariata have been 

 reared by Mr. S. Walker, from larvae obtained at York ; 

 and a number of specimens of the variety varleyata of the same 

 species from larv^ obtained in the Huddersfield district, were 

 bred by different collectors. 



Mr. F. Emsley records the capture of two specimens of 

 Acidalia cmutaria at Kilnsea, near Spurn, on June 27, 1905 ; 

 whilst Mr. L. S. Brady records Euchrornia tnygindana from 

 near Sheffield, both of which species are new to the County 

 List. 



♦♦ 



A specimen of Otiorrhynchus nigifrond, Gyll., is recorded in Miller's 

 Dale, Derbyshire (Enfoinologisi's Monthly Magazine, January). This seems 

 to be the most inland locality at which this usually maritime species has been 

 found in Britain. 



The President's address, entitled "What were the Carboniferous 

 Ferns?' by Dukinfield H. Scott, F.R.S., is printed in the 'Journal of the 

 Royal Microscopical Society ' (1905, pp. 137-149). It contains some excellent 

 illustrations of fossil plants from the Barnsley bed, etc. 



Some thousands of tons of sand having- been carted away from the shore 

 between Tynemouth and St. Mary's Island during- the past few months, the 

 natural barrier to the encroachment of the sea has been removed, and the 

 waves are undermining and removing- the grassy slopes. 



The following is a fair sample of newspaper natural history, taken from 

 a recent issue of a leading halfpenny paper: — 'Rare Moth Caught. — A 

 convolvus or hawk moth just captured at Hartford (Cheshire) was presented 

 to the Northwich Museum yesterday. It is a rare specimen, and the best 

 informed naturalists declare they have never before seen one in this part of 

 the country. The hawk moth is nocturnal, and lives upon smaller moths, 

 being- quite cannibalistic. The specimen measures four inches from tip to 

 tip of the wing-s. ' 



At the recent Annual Meeting of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomo- 

 log-ical Society Mr. Horace St. J. K. Donisthorpe gave an address. He first 

 dealt with the eighteen species of Beetles that had been added to the 

 British list during 1905, and afterwards summarised the more noteworthy 

 papers that had appeared in current Entomolog-ical literature during- the 

 year. Later, in discussing the Science of Entomology, he exhorted mem- 

 bers to undertake original research, and to collect with some special object 

 in view. There were the theories of mimicry and protective resemblance ; 

 the courtship of insects ; the uses of the scents they bear, attractive and 

 repellant ; and other equally interesting- problems for solution. In many 

 cases he deprecated a protracted waiting- for further evidence before 

 venturing to theorise, and insisted on the faculty of imagination, rightly 

 used, being as essential to a scientist as to a literary man, as instanced in 

 Darwin, and referred to the mass of material already accumulated in the 

 museums of the country. 



1906 February 1. 



