3° 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



there was no doubt as to this form occurring in the 

 species, as it had recently been bred. Mr. Moore, 

 specimens of Anasa tristis (the squash bug), 

 Murgantia histvionica (the harlequin cabbage-bug), 

 Anophthalmia tenuis (a blind cave-beetle), and Blissus 

 leucoptenis (the clinch-bug), all from the United 

 States of North America ; and contributed notes. 

 The blind beetle was from the famous Wyandotte 

 caves. Mr. Winkley, a variety of the slug Anon 

 ater, of a beautiful red flesh-colour instead of the 

 typical black, It was found by Mr. Frohawk in a 

 wood to the south-east of Croydon. Mr. Lucas, 

 specimens of the marsh violet, Viola palustr is, from 

 Oxshott. Mr. Albert Jones, a very large number of 

 European lepidoptera, mostly bred, and in the finest 

 condition, to illustrate his paper on the subject of 

 " Collecting in the Riviera." Mr. Tutt and Dr. 

 Chapman gave details of their recent experiences in 

 the district. — Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report. Sec. 



North London Natural History Society. — 

 Thursday, March 17th, 1898. Mr. R. W. Robbins, 

 President, in the chair. — Exhibits : Mr. Bear, 

 specimens of Dermanyosus avium, which attacks 

 cage birds, causing them to lose their feathers, 

 found in the cracks of the cage doors, etc., where 

 it hides during the day. Various accounts were 

 given of the sallows, which appeared to be not yet 

 out in Epping Forest, out here and there at Brox- 

 bourne, and about half out at Winchmore Hill. 

 Mr. Austin announced that he and Air. Harvey 

 had found daffodils in the old locality at Cheshunt 

 last Sunday. Mr. C. Nicholson opened a discussion 

 on "Nebulae." Previous to the invention of 

 telescopes, only one of these objects appears to 

 have been recognized, namely, the Great Nebula, 

 in Andromeda, which was known at least as early 

 as the tenth century. The Orion Nebula was 

 first mentioned by a Swiss Jesuit, Cysatus, in 1681. 

 The earliest catalogue was made by Messier in 

 1781, and Herschel's catalogues of 2,500 Nebulae 

 appeared some years later. Herschel was the first 

 to suspect a distinction between true nebulae and 

 clusters of stars. The distinction has been subse- 

 quently shown by Dr. Huggins with the spectro- 

 scope. The spectrum of a star, and therefore of 

 clusters, is a continuous band of coloured light, 

 crossed by numerous dark lines ; that of a nebula 

 is not continuous, but consists only of some half- 

 dozen bright lines. The Andromeda Nebula, and 

 that in Canes Venatici, are not true nebulae, as 

 their spectra are continuous. True nebulae are 

 generally considered to consist of vast masses of 

 glowing gases, and hydrogen is almost universally 

 present. — Lawrence J . Tremayne, Hon. Sec. 



Royal Meteorological Society. — The 

 monthly meeting of this Society was held on 

 Wednesday afternoon, May iSth, at the rooms 

 of the Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington 

 House, Mr. F. C. Bayard, LL.M., President, in 

 the chair. Mr. R. H. Scott, F.R.S., read a paper 

 on the " Frequency of Rainy Days in the British 

 Islands." He had taken the number of rainy days 

 in each month at forty stations for the twenty years 

 1876-95, and then divided that number by the total 

 number of days in the month, and so ascertained 

 the resulting percentage. The greatest excess of 

 frequency is always on the extreme north and west 

 coasts. June is the month with the least number 

 of rainy days, but in July the summer maximum 

 of rain occurs, bringing the well-known Lammas 

 floods. In October the weather becomes decidedly 

 showery, and the distribution begins to assume its 

 winter type. November is the month with the 



greatest frequency of rainy days. Mr. F. J. Brodie 

 read a paper on the abnormal weather of January 

 last, which was one of the most remarkable winter 

 months on record. The month was singularly dry, 

 with an absence of snow or sleet — a somewhat 

 unusual feature in January, even for any individual 

 station, but far more remarkable as applying to 

 the country as a whole. The special feature, 

 however, was the striking absence of severe frost, 

 the frequent prevalence of unusually mild weather, 

 and as a result the abnormal warmth of the month, 

 especially in the more northern parts of the 

 kingdom. The mean temperature was generally 

 over the whole country about 5 above the 

 average, while at many places situated in the more 

 northern parts of the kingdom, it was more than 

 6° above the average. The atmospheric pressure 

 throughout the month was also very high, the 

 mean being from two to three-tenths of an inch 

 above the average. 



Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' 

 Club. — At the usual fortnightly meeting (Dr. 

 Hollingworth, M.R.C.S., in the chair), Mr. J. F. 

 Robinson gave the results of the botanical work 

 done on the club's outing to Brough the preceding 

 Saturday afternoon, and confirmed some previous 

 plant records. A visit had been paid to the patch 

 of boggy ground around a spring below the 

 " cockle-pits," a spot so well-known to botanists 

 on account of the numerous plants of a sub- Alpine 

 character which grow there. On the present 

 occasion the place was yellow with the marsh 

 marigold (Caltha palustris). The Secretary gave an 

 account of the geological work done on the same 

 occasion. Mr G. H. Hill read a few notes on the 

 yellow milk vetch (Astragalus), one of the plants 

 collected at Brough. Mr. Robinson reported he 

 had received a list of plants found in the Driffield 

 neighbourhood from Mr. H. W. Blakeston, of 

 Driffield, a member of the club. This was of value to 

 him in connection with the flora of the East Riding, 

 which is being prepared, as some of the species 

 recorded by Mr. Blakeston had not previously been 

 included in the club's list of East Ridinr plants. 

 The Secretary exhibited some birds' skulls .ound 

 on one of the excursions, and also the skull of a 

 dog and some deer bones from the peat at Goole. 

 The deer remains include the whole of the bones 

 of the lower leg of possibly a fallow deer. Thanks 

 to the excellent preserving properties of the peat, 

 the remains are in perfect condition, so much so 

 that even the hoofs and hair found with the bones 

 are almost as fresh in appearance as if buried but 

 yesterday. The dog's skull, though found at the 

 same time, and undoubtedly of some age, is 

 evidently not so old as the deer bones. The latter 

 are stained a very dark colour, and were found at 

 some depth ; the dog's skull, however, though 

 stained, is not to the same extent as the 

 deer bones, and, moreover, the teeth, etc., 

 are ramified in all directions by rootlets, point- 

 ing to its being found near the surface The 

 President exhibited some photographs taken on the 

 previous Saturday whilst on the Brough excursion. 

 A good show of different kinds of corallines was 

 handed round by the lecturer and graphically de- 

 scribed. These included many well-known forms 

 from the east coast of Yorkshire, including " sea- 

 hair," " sea-ferns," the " bottle-brush" and " her- 

 ring-bone" corallines. The lecture was further 

 illustrated by a very fine series of lantern slides 

 specially prepared by the president for the meeting. 

 These were principally photographs and photo- 



