44" 



NORTHERN NEWS. 



Mr. A. Biidlaiid is tlie president of the Bradford Natural History and 

 .Microscopical Society for 1906-1907. 



We have received a copy of the Rules of the Lancashire Union of Natural 

 History, Literar\ , and Philosophical Societies. Tiiis Union has recently 

 been inaujifurated, and should have a useful career before it. 



Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons are publishing- ' The World's Commercial Pro- 

 ducts,' a descriptive Account of the Economic Plants of the World and tlieir 

 Commercial Uses, in twelve fortnivfhtly parts, at yd. each. Part I. is before 



us, and is excellently illustrated. 



In the Reports of tlu- Kxpedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical 

 Medicine (Memoir X\'IIL ) to the Conj^o, 1903-1905, recently issued, Messrs. 

 J. W. W. Ste|)hens and R. Newstead, have an mteresting' paper on ' The 

 Anatoms' of the I'roboscis of KiliiiiC Flies,' which is well illustrated. 



I^r. I). H. Scott describes the occurrence of g-erminating spores in 

 S/tniro/y/rn's oldliaiiiia, in a specimen from Shore-Littleborough, Lancashire 

 (AVtc Plivtologist, \'ol. \'., No. 7). In the preceding issue of the same 

 journal, Mrs. Scott has a note ' On the Meg-aspore of Lepidostrobiis foUaceus^ 

 based on specimens from Uulesgate and the Halifax Hard Bed. 



In a paper on ' Earthworks at Claxby, near Alford, in the October 

 Li II coin shire Xolcs and Queries, Mr. IC. H. R. Tatham goes to some con- 

 siderable length in describing objects, principally of a very imimportant 

 character found on the site of wliat is called a 'camp.' A good proportion 

 of the notes refers to what the autlior ilid lud find. A subsequent paper is 

 promised. 



Mr. W. Percival Westell, who informs us that * the pen is said to be 

 mightier than the sword,' recently found a purple coloured toy balloon at 

 the top of a hazel bush, and writes at some length on the discovery in The 

 Animal World. To him. in 'this little incident .... several interesting- 

 points are raised. Firstly, it illustrates the seeing eye of a field iiaturalist.' ! 

 We nuist congratulate the author of ' My Country Diary,' on his powers of 

 observation. 



The Manchester Literary anil Pliilosophical Society is one of the few ' Lit. 

 and Phil.' societies in the country which is still doing grand scientific work. 

 Its Memoirs, which appear from time to time, contain most valuable contribu- 

 tions. .\mongst the items in part 3 of \ol. 50, recently issued, the following 

 are of |)articular interest to our readers : ' Observations on a Ca|)tive M<jle,' 

 by L. E. Adams ; ' A New Fein from the Coal Measures : Tuhicaulis sut- 

 rliffii spec, nov.' by M. C. Sto]3es ; 'Notes on the Pala?arctic Species of 

 Coal Tits,' bv F. Nicholson (with a beautiful coloured plate); and 'The 

 Species of Ctenopterj-x, a (ienus of I )il)ranchiate Cephalopoda," by L II. 

 Ashworth and W. E. Hoyle. 



It is encouraging to find that the principal scientific societies are doing- 

 tlicii- best, by means of lecture schemes, to encourage the study of natural 

 science. The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union has recently issued a revised 

 list of lectures, by well-known scientific men. of which full advantage has 

 bi-en tak<n by the various societies affiliated with the Union. Similarly, the 

 .Manchester Microscopical Society, by means of its ' Extension Section," 

 has issued an admirable syllabus of fifty-three lectures, 'The purjjose of this 

 section is to bring siientilic knowli-ilge. in a po|)ular form, belori" societies 

 who arc unable li> pa\' l.irge fees to |)i-ofcssional lecturers.' The lion. Sec. 

 is Mr. 1". B. Cocker, 21 l-iU-y Road. Fallowliclil, Manchester. 



Naturalist, 



