ABSTRACTS OF LECTURES. 67 



carefully coloured lantern slides. Several cases of preserved 

 and mounted larvae were also exhibited. The eggs, the 

 hatching, and the structure of the caterpillar were first briefly 

 described ; then its feeding, growth, and moults were dealt 

 with. Figures were quoted to show the enormous bulk of 

 food consumed in preparation for the subsequent period of 

 fasting and activity ; and some instances of special changes 

 at the moults {e.g., in the white admiral and the swallow- 

 tail) were depicted. Protective mimicry was illustrated 

 particularly by examples from among the geometer larvae. 

 As cases of more active defence the larvae of the puss-moth 

 family and of the swallow-tail were taken. The attacks of 

 ichneumon and other parasites, different methods of hyberna- 

 tion, and various other factors in the life of the caterpillar 

 were spoken of; and an account was given of the general 

 characteristics of the larva in some of the principal families 

 of the lepidoptera. 



March loih. — Spiders. 



By Dr. A. Randall Jackson, M.Sc. 



The lecturer gave a general account of the spiders, 

 dwelling particularly on such features as are especially 

 characteristic of the order, e.g., their various methods of web- 

 spinning, hunting, courtship, and breeding, and the points of 

 structure connected with their habits. He then surveyed 

 some of the chief families of spiders and their special forms, 

 habitats, and modes of life. The lecture was illustrated by 

 lantern slides, and by microscopic mountings shown on the 

 screen by means of the projection microscope. 



April 2jrd. — Coal. , 



By C. E. Stuart, B.Sc. 



After an introduction dealing with the general nature and 

 character of coal, and showing its vegetable origin from the 

 fossil remains composing it or found in it, the theories 

 advanced to explain the deposit of coal in beds were reviewed, 



