288 



SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



Mr. Ford, of Gwynallt, whose station is also at 

 Lynmouth, and within a quarter of a mile away, 

 but 300 feet above the sea level, generally records 

 a heavier fall than at this lower station, though on 

 December 12th last, as above referred to, he only 

 recorded 1-94 inches. Lynmouth, however, is by 

 no means the wettest place in the neighbourhood, 

 as Ilfracombe, Martinhoe, South Molton, and 

 Parracombe nearly always have much heavier 

 falls. The two places, however, from which the 

 heaviest returns come are Arlington Court, where 

 the gauge is taken by Lady Chichester — the fall 

 there last year was 5233 inches — and at Simons- 

 bath, nine miles inland from Lynmouth, where 

 the Kev. N. L. Pigot recorded 63-74 inches. The 

 heights above sea level of the last two stations are 

 respectively 925 feet and 1,080 feet. In every year 

 of which I have any note Simonsbath has always 

 had by far the heaviest fall in North Devon. The 

 past four summers have all been dry, with little or 

 no midsummer rains. Two summers ago, some of 

 the springs on the moors about five miles hence 

 were running very dry, and I have been told 

 that last year, which had the lowest fall of the 

 four, other springs besides those on the moors were 

 running very short, and in some places were abso- 

 lutely dry. There is no apparent cause for this 

 shortness of the rainfall, as surface draining is not 

 extensively carried on near here, and there is 

 not much cutting of woods or other alteration of 

 the surface of the surrounding country. — Thos. H. 

 Mead-Briggs, Rook House, Lynmouth, North Devon, 

 January 1902. 



NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 



Ordinary meetings are marked f, excursions * ; names of persons 

 following excursions are of Conductors. Lantern Illustra- 

 tions §. 



North London Natural History Society. 



Feb. 11. — f " The Progress made in Botany, Entomology, Orni- 

 thology, and General Zoology during 1901." 

 Various Members. 



„ 22. — Annual Exhibition. 



„ 25— § " Mites." Rev. C. R. N. Burrows. 



RoYAii Institution of Great Britain. 



Feb. 4.— f " The Cell." Dr. Allan Macfadyeu. 



„ 7.— f " The New Mammal from Central Africa." Pro- 

 fessor E. Ray Lankester. 



., 11.— t " The Cell." Dr. Allan Macfadyen. 



„ 14.— f " Magic Squares and other Problems on a Chess 

 Board." Major P. A. McMahon. 



„ 15. — f " Some Electrical Developments." Lord Rayleigh. 



„ 18.— t " The Cell." Dr. Allan Macfadyen. 



„ 21. — f " Musical and Talking Electric Arcs." W. Duddell. 



„ 22. — f " Some Electrical Developments." Lord Rayleigh. 



„ 25. — f " The Temperature of the Atmosphere." W. N. 

 Shaw. 



Selborne Society. 



Feb. 6.— § " A Talk about the Solar System." H. Keatley 

 Moore, B.A., B.Mus. 



Hampstead Scientific Society. 



Feb. 7. — f General Meeting. " The Zero of Temperature." 



Walter Bailey, M.A. 

 „ 12.— § Photographic Section. " Pictorial.Photography." 

 „ 14. — Natural History Section. " Spiders and their Ways." 



F. P. Smith. 

 „ 28. — Photographic Section. Beginner's Evening. Criticism 



of Prints, Negatives, etc. 



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EXCHANGES. 



Notice. — Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 

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 prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words or less. 



Wanted : Termites (in spirit preferred). Would exchange 

 microscopic slides to value. — R. Hancock, Thornhill Road, 

 Handsworth, Birmingham. 



Offered: "The Photogram," vol.2; "Amateur Photogra- 

 pher," vol. 16 ; " Wide World Magazine " (Newnes), Nos. 1-14 ; 

 all unbound. What offers in exchange ? — Charles Mosley, 

 Moor End, Lockwood, Huddersfield. 



Wanted : Localised varieties of H. nemoralisand. H. hortensis 

 in exchange for other British L. & S.W. shells. Also notes upon 

 the variation of the above species. — Chas. Pannell, jr., East 

 Street, Haslemere. 



Offered : Monthly or weekly supply, parcel fresh-gathered 

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CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Our Cockroaches. By E. J. Burgess Sopp, F.R.Met.Soc, 



F.E.S 257 



Study of a Lower Organism. By Harold A. Haig.. 260 



Notes on Sussex Plants. By Thomas Hilton.. .. 263 

 An Introduction to British Spiders. By Feank 



Percy Smith. Illustrated 264 



Butterflies of the Palaearctic Region. By Henry 



Charles Lang, M.D., F.E.S 266 



COLKOPTERA NEAR CARLISLE. By JAMFS MURRAY .. 268 



Manganese Ores of Thuringia. By 0. Boulenger .. 269' 



Books to Read. Illustrated 270 



Botany. Illustrated 271 



Science Gossip 273 



Microscopy. Illustrated 276 



Photography 280- 



Physics. Illustrated 281 



Chemistry 283 



Astronomy 284 



Notes and Queries. Illustrated 286 



Notices— Exchanges .. .. *• 288 



