252 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



circ. 6£ inches), a right horn core (Bos urus), was 

 found near the Scotch brook. It was eight feet 

 below the surface, the bottom twelve inches being 

 clay. Professor Boyd Dawkins wrote on this : 

 " The second horn core also belongs to a domestic 

 variety of Bos urus (primigeniics), and probably to a 

 cow." No. 3, a left horn core (Bos urus), (length 

 i8f inches, circ. 7J inches), and No. 4, a left 

 horn core (length 10 inches, circ. 5^ inches), 

 were found together in Stafford Street. No. 5, a 

 right horn core (length 10 inches, circ. 7J inches), 

 was found near Oak Inn. The latter three 

 cores were found at the same depth, eight feet from 

 the surface, in gravel. Referring to these, 

 Professor Dawkins wrote: "All the larger horn 

 cores appear to me to belong to domestic oxen of 

 the strain of Bos urus, the aboriginal wild ox of 

 Europe and Asia, from which all of our larger 

 breeds are descended. No. 4 may be crossed 

 with the strain of Bos longifrons. The presence of 

 the urus strain proves that the date of the deposit 

 is not older than the English invasion." 



Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society. — 

 A meeting was held on October 28th, 1895, at 

 the Castle Museum, the President (Mr. H. D. 

 Geldart) in the chair. Mr. Southwell read some 

 notes on a few of the more remarkable birds in 

 the Castle Museum collection. On the present 

 occasion, he confined himself to the two families 

 containing the Megapodes, or "mound-builders," 

 and the wingless apteryx, of New Zealand. Mr. 

 Patterson read " Some Old Notes, from June 1st to 

 October 26th." An oyster-catcher was seen on 

 Breydon, on June 3rd, this being unusual, as this 

 bird seems to prefer the beach. Mr. Patterson's 

 most interesting record is that of a streaked gurnard, 

 which came into the Rev. C. J. Lucas' possession 

 on July 29th. It was 9^ inches long. This is the 

 first occurrence in Norfolk. 



Natural History Society of Glasgow. — At 

 the forty-fourth annual general meeting — Professor 

 Thomas King, President, in the chair— Mr. R. D. 

 Wilkie, on behalf of the hon. secretary, read the 

 report of the Council on the work and progress of 

 the Society during the previous year. It was stated 

 that the names of one honorary, two corres- 

 ponding, one life, and twenty-nine ordinary, 

 members had been added to the roll (the total 

 membership being 269), and that twelve associates 

 had also been admitted. The statement of accounts 

 showed an estimated net balance of ^40 at credit 

 of the Society. Mr. James Mitchell, hon. librarian 

 gave in a favourable report of the library during 

 the year ; a large number of books, many of them 

 gifts, dealing with all branches of biological science, 

 had been added. Mr. J. Paterson exhibited an 

 example of the great or solitary snipe (Gallinago 

 major, Gmelin) shot on September 27th last. 

 The fact was recalled that it is thirty-one years 

 since this species was last exhibited to the Society, 

 although in 1885 a pair were shot at Clydebank in 

 May, an unusual season for the great snipe to occur 

 in this country, as its appearances are almost 

 confined to the period of the autumn migration. 

 Mr. A. Somerville, B. Sc, F.L.S., on behalf of Mr. 

 F. Lockhart Robertson, showed a young oak-tree 

 eleven inches in height, and with a root forty-one 

 inches long, grown in twenty months, from an 

 acorn suspended over water, sustained by the store 

 of nourishment in the cotyledons, and by the 

 chemical elements in the atmosphere and water, 

 dealt with by the chlorophyll in the leaves. 



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CORRESPONDENCE. 



E. A. Webb (Chislehurst). — You will find reference to 

 luminous centipedes in May (p. 82) and June (p. no) numbers 

 of Science-Gossip for this year. 



D. Hooper (London).— (i) The bending over of plants is 

 attributed by some physiologists to an increased growth on 

 the side of the stem most exposed to light, thus pushing over 

 the top of the stem into a drooping position. This varies in 

 habit according to species. (2) The term lores is used in 

 ornithology for describing the side of the head, between the 

 eye and the upper mandible, which space is sometimes 

 naked and generally has either bristles or characteristic 

 feathers. Derived from the Latin lorum, a thong or strap. 



EXCHANGES. 



Notice. — Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 

 name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 

 be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 

 or less. 



Wanted, No. 1 of "Naturalists' Journal"; good value 

 given in exchange. State wants. — Charles Mosley, Wood- 

 side Road, Huddersfield. 



Duplicates. — Helicella fusca, Mont., and others; desi- 

 derata, vars. of Limnaeae. — E. W. W. Bowell, Huntsham, 

 Bampton, N. Devon. 



Ferro-type reproduction of plates of Greville's " New and 

 Rare Diatoms," Series Nos. 1 to 20, in exchange for micro- 

 scopic slides or natural history literature. — J. B. Bessell, 8, 

 Elmgrove Road, Cotham, Bristol. 



Pap. demoleus, P. policenes, P. erinus, P. similis, P. 

 antheus, Timetes corinna, A. sagana, A. niphe and others 

 offered in exchange for butterflies from North of Scotland 

 and West of Ireland. — Harry Moore, 12, Lower Road, 

 Rotherhithe, S.E. 



Cuckoos' eggs with those of foster parent wanted. — 

 W. Wells Bladen, Stone, Staffordshire. 



Duplicates. — Pisi, bred Adonis, dark uniform Dilutaria ; 

 desiderata, Plecta, light ground-coloured Dilutaria. — Hy. J. 

 Turner, 13, Drakefell Road, St. Catherine's Park, Hatcham, 

 S.E. 



Science-Gossip for the years 1880 and 1881, complete, and 

 November and December of 1879. What offers? — (Rev.) 

 Fred. Sumner, 283, Oxford Road, Reading. 



Wanted, foreign stamps. Offered, several hundred 

 species of British Coleoptera, about 10,000 specimens, all 

 correctly named and in fine condition. — A. Ford, 48, Rugby 

 Road, Preston, Brighton. 



Wanted, entomological store-boxes, corked or not corked. 

 Offered, 500 natural history books, magazines, British 

 marine, land and freshwater shells, Alpine butterflies and 

 zoophytes. — W. Harcourt-Bath, 195, Lady wood Road, 

 Birmingham. 



Science-Gossip for the years 1881-82-83-84-85, unbound, 

 clean, complete ; offers wanted in photo or scientific appara- 

 tus. — W. Scorah, optician, Fleetwood. 



Demandk, en Exchange d'autres coquilles, terrestres des 

 Pupa et Vertigo europ6ens rares ou exotiques, ainsi que des 

 Opercules terrestres d'Europe.— E. Margier, juge destruc- 

 tion, a Alais (Gard), France. 



