SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



which is opposite Southend, across the Thames 

 estuary, I am very hopeful of finding it here. A 

 beginner told me a short time since that he had 

 netted a " brown-tail " near Shoeburyness. 1 have 

 not seen the specimen. P. similis abundant, larvae 

 particularly so on oak, ash, whitethorn, black- 

 thorn, dog-rose, etc. 



Leucoma salicis, not common ; larvae on osier 

 at Benfleet and Eastwood ; perfect insects at light, 

 Southend. 



Orgyia antiqua, common ; sometimes taken at 

 light, Southend. 



Trichiura crataegi seems to be pretty well 

 distributed ; I have found larvae on whitethorn 

 at Shoeburyness, Leigh, Benfleet and Eastwood. 



Eriogaster lanestris. Abundant as larvae. The 

 large, white, closely-woven nests are conspicuous 

 on the blackthorns. Often remain in pupa two or 

 more years. 



Bombyx neustria. Nests of larvae common, but 

 not so well "advertised" by their nests as the last ; 

 moth frequently taken at light, Southend. B. 

 castrensis. This most interesting insect, of which 

 I have a splendid series, occurs commonly, but 

 very locally, between Shoeburyness and Haven 

 Gore. The larvae, which are singularly free from 

 the attacks of ichneumons, love the sunshine ; 

 but the evening is the great feeding time, when 

 they may be found freely enough on Statice 

 Umonium, A triplex porhrtacoides and A. littoralis, 

 Sitaeda maritima, Artemisia mavitima and, in fact, 

 anything that grows en the salt marshes. In 

 confinement they thrive on dog-rose, and would 

 probably do equally well on other substitute 

 food-plants. The imago varies considerably. I 

 have male specimens which range from pale 

 unicoiorous oenreous to unicolorous red-brown ; 

 some with usual transverse lines obsolete, and 

 others with lines approximating. I quite thought 

 that the great flood of November, 1897, might 

 have affected the distribution of B. castrensis 

 at Great Wakering, but" last year I saw few 

 larvae away from the old well-known stretch of 

 marsh. B. rubi, abundant as larvae. I have 

 only once successfully hibernated them in cap- 

 tivity. The very long cocoon of this species is 

 curious. B. quercus larvae are not uncommon ; 

 imago not frequently seen, often in pupa more 

 than one year. 



Odonestis potatoria, larvae common, particularly 

 in reed beds. I have a few females which show 

 coloration approaching that of the male. 



Lasiocampa querci folia, larvae at Shoeburyness, 

 Southend and Benfleet, but far from common. 



Saturnia pavonia, larvae not uncommon at Ben- 

 fleet and Eastwood. The females of this species 

 are very large and very beautifully marked. 

 Cilix glaucata, common in hedges. 

 Dicranura bifida, scarce ; larvae once found in 



Southend. D. viiuila, larvae rather common — 

 Southend, Leigh and Eastwood. 



Lophopteryx camelina, larvae not uncommon at 

 Eastwood ; moth once taken in Southend. 



Notodonta dictaeoides, once only, at a Southend 

 gas-lamp. 



Phalera buccphala, generally abundant. 



Pygaera pigra, larvae common on aspen at 

 Eastwood. 



(To be continued.) 



NATURAL HISTORY EXHIBITION. 



T"HE seventh annual exhibition of the North' 

 London Natural History Society was held at 

 the Sigdon Road School, Dalston Lane, on the 

 evenings of Saturday, December 31st, 1898 and 

 Monday, January 2nd, 1899. Notwithstanding 

 very unfavourable weather, there was a large 

 attendance, and the exhibition was a highly suc- 

 cessful one in all respects. In addition to the usual 

 variety of exhibits — zoological, botanical, geologi- 

 cal, etc., the Committee was fortunate in securing 

 several novelties which proved attractive. Note- 

 worthy among these were the excellent " Lantern 

 Illustrations of Bird Life " by Mr. R. B. Lodge, of 

 Enfield, the well-known ornithologist. Also the 

 very interesting ethnological exhibits of Mr. W. H. 

 Barber, such as various native weapons, utensils, 

 and musical instruments from South Africa ; this 

 exhibitor was in personal attendance both evenings, 

 and gave, at frequent intervals, instructive and 

 entertaining explanations of his collection. A few 

 of the more prominent among the exhibits in the 

 various departments were the following : a good 

 specimen of the Serval cat (Felis serval), by Dr. J. S. 

 Sequeira; large collections of birds' skins and eggs, 

 by Messrs. O. G. Pike and P. J. Hanson, Mr. 

 Pike's collection of skins alone numbering about 

 eighty specimens of sixty different species ; also a 

 number of photographs of bird life, by Messrs. 

 Lodge, Pike, Hanson and others ; some very 

 interesting plants collected by Messrs. C. S. 

 Nicholson, R. W. Robbins and others ; Mr. Nichol- 

 son's included Helianthemum polifolium, the rare 

 white cistus, also Trinia glaberrima, Silene conica, 

 very fine Bidens cermia var. radiata, etc. ; those of 

 Mr. Robbins included Viola lutea, Poly gala calcarea 

 and Cuscuta ewopaea. Among the geological exhi- 

 bits were a fine selected set of madrepores from 

 South Devon, exhibited by Mr. Oldham; petroleum 

 shale, alum shale, chrome iron and copper, by Mr. 

 B. S. James. Numerous microscopes were also on 

 view on both evenings ; and on Saturday a lecture 

 was given by Mr. A. U. Battley on " Spiders," 

 while on the Monday Mr. A. J. Rose, F.E.S., 

 lectured on " The Lowest Forms of Life." 



Louis B. Prout, Hon. Sec. 



