SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



155 



of Antrim, Mull 

 and Staff a are 

 of contempora- 

 neous origin, 

 while it would 

 appear certain 

 that the various 

 overflows took 

 place in Mid- 

 Tertiary times, 

 when the ex- 

 posed surface 

 of the stratified 

 rocks had in a 

 great measure 

 been denuded of 

 its more recently 

 deposited mate- 

 rials. The ochre 

 or laterite beds 

 consist of sili- 

 cate of alumina 

 weathered basalt, 



Photo by] 



Lord Antrim's Parlour, Giant's Causeway. 



and oxide of iron derived from 

 and as they occur at the summit of 



each sheet, this, 

 together with 

 the fact that 

 lignite and leaf 

 beds are interca- 

 lated with them, 

 points to the 

 probability that 

 great intervals of 

 time — reckoned 

 by years — 

 elapsed between 

 the out-pouring 

 of the several 

 sheets. Be this 

 as it may, one 

 fact is patent, 

 that the volcanic 

 activity which 

 gave birth to the 

 Giant's Cause- 

 way and the sheets of Antrim must have been 

 more intense than any of modern days. 



Durnlea, Littleborough, Manchester; May, 1894. 



[R. Welch, Belfast. 



REPORTS OF SOME SOCIETIES. 



'THE "Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich 

 Naturalists' Society," vol. v. part 5 (Norwich, 

 1S94) includes pages 509 to 662, and reflects much 

 credit on Mr. W. A. Nicholson, the Honorary 

 Secretary, who is the editor also, for the careful 

 manner in which this part has been produced. 

 The "Transactions " of the Society are looked upon 

 by many as a model which might be followed with 

 advantage by some other societies. The amount 

 of good work done by the members of the Norfolk 

 Society is admirable. As is usual, the President's 

 Address for the year leads the articles, but in this 

 case Mr. Southwell has duplicated his duties, for 

 there is reported a second one, though first delivered . 

 They are each interesting reading, and out of them 

 we may pick much pleasant chat about the fauna 

 and flora of the county, rich as it is in both. 

 Reference occurs in the address given at Great 

 Yarmouth, to the establishment of a museum in 

 that town, and the foundation of a branch of the 

 society in Yarmouth. Among the more notable 

 papers in Part 5 of these ' ' Transactions " are ' ' Notes 

 on Norfolk Earthworms," by Arthur May field, 

 in which he enumerates fourteen species, and 

 ••Varieties and Distribution of the Herring," by 

 C. Stacy-Watson, appropriately read at Yarmouth. 

 The parts of the "Fauna and Flora of Norfolk " are 

 the Ichneumons, by J. B. Bridgeman, the well- 

 known student of that section of insects ; the 

 Mammalia (additions), by Thomas Southwell; the 

 Fishes, by Dr. John Lowe ; Birds (additions), by 



J. H. Gurney and Thomas Southwell : Hemiptera 

 (additions), by James Edwards : and additions to 

 the list of Flowering Plants by Herbert D. Geldart, 

 There is among the illustrations one of a tropic 

 bird found dead at Cradley, Herefordshire, illus- 

 trating a note by Mr. Gurney. 



Another publication of like character is the 

 "Abstract of Proceedings of the South London 

 Entomological and Natural History Society" for 

 the years 1892 and 1893. With these are the 

 Presidents' Addresses. The first of these is by 

 Chas. G. Barrett, dealing chiefly with some little- 

 known but remarkable cases of protective mimicry 

 in lepidoptera ; and the other by John Jenner 

 Weir, delivered shortly before his death. Before 

 dealing with some passing events of his year of 

 presidency, Mr. Weir treated upon the delights of 

 natural- science as a study. His opening remarks 

 are worthy of reproduction here. He said : " There 

 are few, if any, of the sciences which combine in 

 their pursuit, more than natural history, health- 

 giving out-of-door exercise and that severe study 

 which is necessary to enable the student to solve 

 the difficult problems presented. Whether the 

 naturalist roams over lofty mountains, bleak 

 moors, shady woods or sheltered valley's, he is 

 certain to find an abundance of objects of equal 

 interest. Another advantage is that, in one form 

 or another, it affords recreation and enlightenment 

 from childhood to old age. Man still retains that 

 hunting instinct which in prehistoric times was a 



