Oct. 26, 1888.J 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



445 



was now opened in a lofty, spacious, and well-lighted 

 room, ninety feet in length, with the minerals imme- 

 diately adjoining, accessible in every part. From the 

 year 1873, when the present premises were secured, the 

 Society had made a continuously steady advance in 

 membership and otherwise, and many valuable papers 

 had been read. The revenue of the Society had been 

 carefully looked after, and the reserve fund now stood at 

 over ;£t,ooo. 



Coming to the ordinary report, the Council had pleasure 

 in stating that the Society showed no signs of decadence 

 or loss of vitality, but rather seemed to have witnessed 

 a renewal of its vigorous youth in the more than average 

 number and quality of the papers that have been 

 brought before the meetings. The papers, twenty-nine 

 in number, had been varied in character, and some of 

 the subjects which had been discussed were especially 

 noteworthy as matters affecting large commercial inte- 

 rests, and in some degree our national prosperity. In 

 accordance with a request in the last annual report, that 

 the Society should take up some definite work in connec- 

 tion with one or other of the committees of the British 

 Association, the Council were pleased to state that a 

 beginning had been made by a few of the members in 

 collecting information as to the distribution of erratic 

 blocks in Lancashire and adjoining counties. A portion 

 of that information had already been embodied in a paper 

 read before the Society. The number of members on 

 the roll, 215 in all, showed a slight diminution. During 

 the year nine new members had been added to the list, 

 nine had resigned, and four had died. 



The following officers were elected for the coming 

 year: — President, Mr. John Knowles; Vice-Presidents, 

 Messrs. H. Bramall, J. S. Burrows, G. Peace, and R. 

 Winstanley ; Council, Messrs. Barrett, C. Newton, G. 

 H. Peace, J. Ratcliftv, J. Tonge, H. A. Woodman, R. T. 

 Burnett, J. Wilde, C. Pilkington, and H. Saint ; Treasurer, 

 Mr. H. M. Ormerod ; Hon. Secretaries, Mr. Mark 

 Stirrup, F.G.S., and Mr. G. H. Hollingworth ; Auditors, 

 Mr. Clegg Livesey and Mr. A. Pilkington. 



MANCHESTER CONCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 At the monthly meeting held on October 4th, Mr. 

 Thomas Rogers exhibited specimens of Limax flavus 

 and eggs — a slug generally found in cellars, but oc- 

 curring abundantly in yards near the river Irk, behind 

 the gas works in Rochdale Road. The indifference of 

 this species to the impurities of the atmosphere of a town 

 is one of the few exceptions to the habitats of the Land 

 Mollusca generally. He also showed a fine living speci- 

 men of Helix aspersa, which had been picked up in 

 Smithfield Market from amongst some artichokes. 

 The specimen when first obtained was quite young, 

 and little larger than a pea, but had since grown into 

 the large size exhibited. Mr. Rogers thought it might 

 have been possibly imported with vegetable produce 

 from Algiers or some Mediterranean port, as the spe- 

 cimen compared favourably with some large shells of the 

 same species which he exhibited from the interior of 

 Morocco. 



Mr. R. Standen exhibited a beautiful and well- 

 mounted series of the " darts " of various species of 

 Helix, which he had obtained by dissection of the 

 animals. He drew special attention to the marked dis- 

 tinction, both in size and structure, between the " darts " 

 of Helix nemoralis and Helix Iwrtensis, as showing be- 



yond doubt that these are really distinct species, a fact 

 now generally accepted by conchologists, although 

 Jeffreys and others considered hortensis merely a variety 

 of nemoralis. The exquisite appearance of these curious 

 crystalline bodies elicited deserved admiration, showing 

 as they do very varied and elegant forms. The " dart " 

 is a straight or curved, sometimes slightly twisted, 

 tubular shaft of carbonate of lime, tapering to a fine, 

 solid, transparent point above. It is only found in 

 mature shells. After much speculation as to its use, 

 the general opinion now seems to be that it serves an 

 important part in pairing. It has been ascertained that 

 we have in the British Isles, four species of Helix which 

 carry two darts, and eleven species which have but one. 

 Two species of Zonites also possess darts. 



SOUTH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 

 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 

 This active and energetic society held its annual Exhibi- 

 tion at the " Bridge House" Hotel, London Bridge, on 

 October 17 th and 18th. The specimens brought 

 together illustrated almost every department of natural 

 history, and we feel ourselves well within the mark in 

 saying that a display so beautiful, so varied, and, above 

 all, so instructive, has certainly never been previously 

 brought together on the south bank of the Thames. 



The Exhibition occupied three large rooms. In the 

 Nelson Room, on the first floor, we noticed a very ex- 

 tensive assortment of microscopes, microscopic objects, 

 and apparatus. So richly stocked, in fact, was this 

 department that an entire day would have been requisite 

 to inspect everything worth seeing. Next, we noticed a 

 display of birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects ; a collection 

 of rocks and fossils, illustrative of the geology of the 

 South-East of England, contributed by Messrs. T. Leigh- 

 ton, F. D. Power, and T. D. Russell. Mr. Livesey con- 

 tributed some good osteological specimens, whilst Miss 

 M. E. Adkin, Miss F. Billups, and Messrs. Pearce and 

 Step had furnished a good botanical collection. Lastly, 

 that indefatigable naturalist, Mr. J. T. Carrington, and 

 Mr. E. Step had brought together an assortment of fungi 

 — a department too much neglected. In the Wellington 

 Room, on Wednesday, 17th, Mr. R. May delivered two 

 lectures, one on " The Wonders of Minute Vegetable 

 and Animal Life," at 8 p.m., and one on " Curious Houses 

 and Queer Tenants," at 9.30 p.m. 



On Thursday evening, at 7 p.m., in the same room, 

 the Sciopticon Company gave a beautiful exhibition of 

 photo-micrographic slides, whilst at 8.15 Mr. G. Day 

 gave a further display of micro-photographic slides illus- 

 trative of entomology, geology, etc. 



The main display, however, was in the ball-room on 

 the third floor, which was converted into a well-stocked 

 museum. The assortment of birds, birds' eggs, and 

 nests was decidedly good. As regards the display of 

 insects, the Lepidoptera were evidently the favourites. 

 We particularly notice a specimen of Daphnis nerii caught 

 at Poplar. Odeoptera played but a subordinate part, 

 though the collection of British beetles furnished by the 

 President, Mr. T. R. Billups, comprised nearly ail tne 

 species known to occur in Britain. The collections of 

 Mr. J. H. Leech and W. West were also well deserving 

 of admiration. 



As for the " neglected orders," a collection of Neurop- 

 tera had been furnished by Mr. R. McLachlan, whilst 

 assortments of Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and Diptera 



