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Kingdom ; there was a yellow variety of most red shells, and 

 yellow varieties of the Zygaenidae. It would seem that the 

 red and yellow pigments were closely associated ; one would 

 almost suppose one was merely a form of the other. Mr. Weir 

 said that if redpoles were bred in confinement, the red colour 

 of the head became yellow. 



On behalf of Mr. C. A. Briggs, Mr. Carrington exhibited 

 hybernating specimens of Helix pomatia, L., and stated that he 

 once found this species in large numbers at Box Hill just 

 coming out from hybernation. Those shown to-night were 

 very dark, and were probably not British, which were gene- 

 rally larger and yellower. Mr. Weir remarked that the colour 

 would depend on the geological formation ; he once had 

 some very light specimens in his garden at Blackheath, and 

 succeeded in getting a brood, and the shells of those bred 

 there became very much darker, which he attributed to the 

 smoke of London. Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell said the species 

 in England was confined to the chalk, while on the Continent 

 they were found more generally distributed. 



Mr. E. Step read a paper upon " Mosses," of which the 

 following is a brief summary. Taking the Common Hair 

 Moss (Polytrichum commune) as a convenient type, he pointed 

 out the general characters of root, stem, leaf, and fruit, their 

 structure, and the generic and specific variations of these. 

 Then, proceeding to the more important subject of reproduc- 

 tion, the fructification of P. commune was shown and described. 

 At the summit of its stem P. commune bears a shaggy, extin- 

 guisher-like body {calyptra), beneath which is a squarish box, 

 or urn. The calyptra removed, we find the angular box, or 

 capsule, as it will be well to call it, is surmounted by a sort of 

 lid {operculum), with a handle-like process in the middle. 

 When the moss-fruit is ripe, the expansion of the capsule 

 forces off the calyptra, and soon the lid follows. Whilst this 

 has been going on the capsule has been losing its erect 

 character, and gradually assuming a position at right angles 

 to the long fruit-stalk. We can now see that the top of the 

 capsule is a finely-ribbed ring, within which is stretched a 

 thin membrane. Now this ribbed ring really consists of a 



