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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



process been witnessed. These tracings would be 

 covered by the next high tide with a coat of similar 

 material and thus preserved to puzzle the future 

 geologist, should he chance to find them. It is 

 hardly necessary to observe that the operation would 

 be repeated on the successive surfaces until the plant 

 would decay or disappear, and that, possibly, many 

 fossils which puzzle the present geologist may be 

 referred to such agencies. — G. Rees, Aberystwyth. 



The " Proceedings of the Geologists' Association " 

 for July, edited by F. A. Bather, M.A., F.G.S., 

 contains the following articles : " On Geological 

 Tours," by Horace B. Woodward, F. G.S. ; an 

 account of an " Excursion to the Cuttings on the 

 new railway between Upminster and Romford, Essex, 

 March 5th, 1892;" "Visit to the British Museum 

 (Natural History), March 19th, 1892," and to that of 

 W. H. Hudleston, Esq., F.R.S., President of the 

 Geological Society ; " also to that of Practical Geo- 

 logy (Jermyn Street) ; and accounts of excursions to 

 Devizes, Swindon, Faringdon, Abingdon, Hendon. 

 Finchley, Walthamstow, Wendover and St. Albans. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field 

 Club. — The third excursion of the season was made 

 under the leadership of Mr. Wells Bladen, to Haugh- 

 ton, Aqualate, and Newport. The party, which 

 numbered forty-five, on arrival at Stafford drove by 

 way of Castle Church and Bury Ring to Haughton, 

 where they were met by the Rector, the Rev. G. T. 

 Royds, who pointed out the chief objects of interest 

 in his beautiful church, which is dedicated to St. 

 Giles, and which was completely restored in 1887, 

 Mr. J. L. Pearson, R.A., being the architect. Mr. 

 Royds also directed the attention of the members to 

 the Old Hall, a half-timbered building of the time of 

 Henry VIII., which is in a very perfect state of 

 preservation. The next halt was made at Gnosall, 

 where a few minutes were spent in the church, which 

 was much admired. From here the party drove 

 direct to Aqualate, where, by the kindness of Sir T. 

 F. Boughey, Bart., the hall, the gardens, the pleasure- 

 grounds, and the mere were thrown open to the 

 members. The mere was the chief attraction, anxious 

 inquiries being made for the heronry. Many of the 

 members were disappointed on finding they could 

 only get a view of it across the water, but at least 

 one visited it. The nests are built in Scotch firs ; but 

 as the nesting season is over, very few birds were seen 

 about. It is a very interesting fact that each year 

 one or more pairs of birds nest in the reeds on the 

 mere. We have not seen this habit recorded before. 

 The heron is no doubt very destructive to fish, but it 

 is to be sincerely hoped that notwithstanding this 

 grave fault in the eyes of fish preservers, it may be 

 long before this beautiful bird, like its near relative 

 the bittern, is driven from its breeding-places in this 

 country. It is to men like Sir Thomas Boughey, 

 and to places like Aqualate, that we are indebted for 

 many of our rarer British birds. Another rare, and 

 in this county very local bird, the great crested 

 grebe, was observed, and the sw-eet song of the reed- 

 warbler was heard on all sides. In the pleasure- 



grounds many magnificent forest-trees were greatly 

 admired, one oak-tree, said to be 900 years old, 

 being especially noticed. At half-past three a start 

 was made for Newport, where the Rector (the Rev. 

 W. T. Burges) met the members, and read a very 

 interesting paper on his church, of which St. Nicholas 

 is the patron saint ; its restoration, which is just 

 completed after ten years' work, has cost ^10,000. 

 After visiting the ancient butter-cross the members 

 sat down to tea at the Royal Victoria Hotel. At 

 the subsequent meeting, the general secretary, the 

 Rev. T. W. Daltry, in the chair, several new mem- 

 bers were elected, and five were nominated for 

 election at the next meeting. Votes of thanks to 

 Sir T. F. Boughey, the Rectors of Haughton and 

 Newport, and the Leader having been passed, the 

 party re-entered the carriages and drove by way of 

 Forton, Sutton, Woodseaves, and Ranton Abbey to 

 Great Bridgeford Station, where they joined the train, 

 and arrived at Stoke at 7.30. 



Brown Hairstreak and Clouded Yellow. — 

 I have discovered the haunts of both these butterflies 

 in the neighbourhood of Llandyssil, South Wales. 

 On August 25th I captured Thecla betula (a female) 

 near Llanfair. Last year also I had one near the 

 village on the road to Llanybyther. The brown 

 hairstreak seems to resort to brambles on the edges 

 of oak-woods. Colias cdiisa is plentiful this year on 

 the heaths belonging to Fairdrefawr Farm. — T.Alfred 

 W. Rees, F.R.M.S. 



Sexual Selection. — What is meant exactly by 

 the phrase "Sexual Selection"? It seems to me 

 that the words may be used in two senses. According 

 to one, suppose that a certain peculiarity in the males, 

 say, of a species gave an advantage to its possessors 

 in the struggle for existence. Then certain females 

 would admire this peculiarity, and consort by pre- 

 ference with males possessing it. Their male off- 

 spring would, by virtue of possessing the peculiarity 

 have an advantage over the male progeny of others, 

 and they would transmit the tendency to admire the 

 peculiarity to their female descendants. So the pecu- 

 liarity would go on increasing, and, at the same time, 

 the liking for it in the females would go on increasing 

 too. So far, however, the sexual selection would be 

 merely helping to do work which would be done by 

 natural selection without its aid, although more 

 slowly ; but when the peculiarity had reached such a 

 degree of development that its further increase was 

 no longer beneficial to the species (although not 

 actually injurious), unaided natural selection would 

 give no further advance, but the mental tendency in 

 the females would still remain, and under its influence 

 the peculiarity would go on increasing until a point 

 was reached at which further increase would be 

 actually detrimental. Using the phrase in this sense, 

 sexual selection seems to me to be a priori probable 

 enough. In the other sense, we have to suppose that 

 for some unknown reason, all or most of the females 

 of a species simultaneously conceived an admiration 

 for some peculiarity in the males which was of no 

 advantage in particular in the struggle for existence, 

 and that this objectless liking persisted through 

 successive generations, causing the peculiarity ulti- 

 mately to reach a high stage of development. This 

 seems to me to be so highly improbable a priori that 

 it would require very good evidence to make me 

 believe it had taken place in any particular instance. 

 Of course, in order that some special peculiarity 

 should be developed by sexual selection of the first 

 kind it is necessary that a slight degree of develop- 

 ment should be beneficial to the species. — J. R. Holt. 



