SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



55 



specimen of Smerinthus populi having the right hind 

 wing of a light cream colour. Mr. A. Bacot read 

 an exhaustive and instructive paper on " The 

 Genus Smerinthus." — Tuesday, February 19th, 1895. 

 Mr. Clark exhibited a sooty black specimen of 

 Dicranura vinula, which he had purchased at a 

 recent sale at Stevens's. Mr. May, Catocala nupta 

 from Tooting Bee Common, which had been relaxed 

 slightly with damp sand and then with wood 

 naphtha ; one of the specimens had an unusually 

 pale central blotch on each fore-wing, thus closely 

 resembling its congeners, C. promissa and C. sponsa. 

 Mr. Bacot; a bred specimen of Nyssia hispidaria 

 having male head and thorax and a female body. 

 On behalf of Dr. Knaggs, Mr. Clark exhibited a 

 sample of a preparation of linoleum, which, on 

 account of the closeness of its substance, is superior 

 to cork for setting boards, etc.; also samples of the 

 new "nickel pins" by Messrs. Deyrolle, of Paris. 

 Some of these had been exposed to the vapour of 

 butyric acid and were covered with a greenish 

 coating akin to, and resembling verdigris. This 

 showed that there was a good deal of copper in the 

 so-called " nickel pins," the green substance being 

 butyrate of copper. Dr. Knaggs also sent for distri- 

 bution some of his own " sulphuretted " pins, which 

 are the ordinary white ones dipped first into a 

 nitrate bath and then into hydrosulphate of 

 ammonia. These pins are considerably hardened 

 by the process and are not liable to verdigris. — C. 

 Nicholson, A. N. Battley {Hon. Sees.) 



The South London Entomological and 

 Natural History Society. — February 28th, 1895. 

 Mr. T. W. Hall, F.E.S., President, in the Chair. 

 Mr. Beauman, 18, Victoria Road, S.W., was 

 elected a member. Mr. Edwards exhibited larvae 

 of the Dipteron Eristalis tenax, L. , found in some 

 water in the stump of an old apple-tree. Mr. Adkin 

 exhibited a series of Crambus ericellus, from Suther- 

 land. It was stated that this species differed from 

 C. pascuellus, in always having the silvery stripe 

 narrow and even. Mr. Mansbridge, the skin and 

 rattle of a rattlesnake from the Indian Territory, 

 U.S.A., and referred to the habit of these reptiles 

 of swimming the Mississippi, and hibernating in 

 the " cluffs " on the eastern shore. Mr. Tutt, 

 continental specimens of Xanthia ocellavis, and 

 pointed out the features distinguishing it from 

 X. gilvago, viz. — (1) the lower part of the reniform 

 stigma was white, (2) the nervures were well 

 dotted with white scales, (3) the apex of the wing 

 was different. Mr. Tutt also read a paper, entitled 

 " Lithosia lutarella, L., and its varieties," illustrating 

 it by a magnificent series from Deal and the Alps. 

 —March 14th, 1895. T. W. Hall, Esq., F.E.S., 

 President, in the Chair. Mr. B. G. Rye, of Fulham, 

 was elected a member. Mr. Frohawk exhibited a 

 magnificent and long bred series of Vanessa c-album, 

 showing both light and dark forms of male and 

 female from one batch of ova. A discussion ensued 

 in which it was suggested that the pale form was 

 the one which produced a second brood, while the 

 dark form went early into hibernation. Mr. 

 Adkin, a series of Melanippe hast at a, from Suther- 

 land, intermediate in colouration between the usual 

 southern and northern forms. Mr. Sauze, a 

 specimen of a south European locust, Mdipoda 

 tartarica, taken among imported garden produce at 

 Brixton. Mr. A. Hall, a Pierine butterfly, 

 Ithomia patilla, with Danaine mimic Dismorhpia 

 fortunata, from Nicaragua. Mr. Edwards four 

 varieties of the female of Papilio memnon, P.segonax, 

 P. westwoodii, two P. epycides, two P. ant Urates, and 

 P. panvnon var. javernana. Mr. Adkin, on behalf of 



Mr. South, read a paper on " Nettles." It was 

 announced that on May 9th, Mr. Mansbridge will 

 read a paper entitled "Prairie Insects." May 

 18th, Field Meeting at Bookham and Ranmore, 

 conducted by Messrs. Carpenter and Henry J. 

 Turner. Whit Monday, Field Meeting at New 

 Forest (an endeavour is being made to have a 

 three days' excursion). June 29th, Field Meeting 

 at Oxshott and Esher, conducted by Mr. Adkin. — 

 Hy. J. Turner (Hon. Report. Sec). 



Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society. — 

 A meeting was held on February 25th, at the Castle 

 Museum, Mr. T. Southwell, F.Z.S., in the Chair. 

 The Chairman reported that the sub-committee ap- 

 pointed to consider the resolution submitted to the 

 society from the Wild Birds Committee of the 

 County Council had met and drawn up a report, 

 which he read to the meeting, recommending that 

 the whole of the foreshore from Wolferton Creek 

 to the eastern boundary of the parish of Stiffkey 

 should be scheduled under the Wild Birds Pro- 

 tection Act of 1894, thereby rendering it illegal to 

 take or destroy the eggs of any wild birds nesting 

 in that area ; they also recommended that certain 

 named species, on account of their usefulness to 

 man or increasing rarity, should likewise be pro- 

 tected by name. This report, the chairman said, 

 he had presented to the Committee of the County 

 Council on the 23rd inst. He had also presented 

 a memorial from the owners and residents in the 

 neighbourhood of Hickling, Somerton, Martham, 

 Horsey, Ormesby, Rollesby, and Filby Broads, and 

 the lowlands adjacent, praying that an application 

 might be made to the Secretary of State for an Order 

 prohibiting the taking or destroying of the eggs of 

 any wild birds nesting in those districts between the 

 1st day of May and the 1st of August in any year, 

 Both these reports, he said, had been favourably 

 received by the committee, and he had reason to 

 believe that their adoption would be recommended 

 to the County Council. Mr. J. H. Gurney read a 

 paper on the recent abundance of the Little Auk 

 (Mergulus alle) in Norfolk, in the course of which he 

 said that from various sources he had received 

 reliable information of 277 of these dapper little 

 sea-birds being picked up dead or alive, and, in a 

 few cases, shot. Two of them were sent to the 

 Zoological Gardens, by Col. Feilden and Mr. le 

 Strange, but soon died there. The strange places 

 in which these most involuntary migrants were 

 found, included the roof of a stable, farm premises, 

 arector's kitchen, St. Stephen's Street (in Norwich), 

 and Chapelfield. The Rev. Mr. C. H. Bird sent a 

 ' ' Note on the Water-rail ' ' {Ralhis aquatints) , in which 

 the great difference of size between individual spe- 

 cimens of this bird was noticed. Axillary feathers 

 of the two birds were shown, for comparison. The 

 feathers on the forehead of each were, apparently, 

 interspersed with little, black, horny processes. 

 The microscope showed that the terminal points of 

 these feathers were not those of ordinary feathers, 

 abraded by constant contact with vegetation, but 

 that the rachis was gradually enlarged from where 

 the rami ended, and then again contracted so as to 

 present the appearance of semi-transparent Indian 

 club-shaped vessels. Measurements of two of the 

 birds were given. A letter from the President, 

 Dr. Plowright, on luminosity in decaying wood, was 

 read by the Hon. Secretary." Mr W. A Nicholson 

 (Hon. Secretary) read a short paper advocating the 

 establishment of a freshwater biological station on 

 the Norfolk waters. The freshwater fauna and 

 flora of Norfolk offer a wide field for biological 

 study, waiting to be opened up. 



