SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 457 



whereby land-birds sometimes cross the Atlantic, he read a letter from Mr. 

 Ralph Neilson, of Fulwood Park, Liverpool, dated October 31st, in which 

 the writer stated that during a recent voyage from Boston, Mass., in the 

 steamship 'Ottoman,' when off Cape Race, ten or a dozen birds, " probably 

 identical," came on board, and several were captured. 



A paper was read by Col. Swinhoe on mimicry in butterflies of the genus 

 Hypolimnas, Hiibner. Illustrating his remarks by a series of coloured 

 lantern-slides, he described the changes in mimetic forms in a single genus 

 of nymphalid butterflies, from India through Arabia to Africa, and from 

 India through the Malay Archipelago to Australia, commenting upon the 

 resemblance they always bear in colour and pattern to different forms of 

 Danais and Euplcea, insects well known to be distasteful to birds and 

 reptiles. 



Mr. G. F. Scott Elliot communicated a paper entitled " A Revision of 

 the genus Pentas," in which some account was given of the distribution 

 of those plants in Africa, with a rectification of the synonymy, and description 

 of five new species. The genus as a whole showed in a remarkable manner 

 the way in which local species occur wherever a different climate restricts 

 the distribution of a wide-ranging form, and several examples of this were 

 mentioned. A discussion followed, in which the President, Mr. W. P. 

 Hiern, and others took part. 



On behalf of Dr. A. G. Butler, an abstract was read of a paper on 

 Butterflies of the genus Char axes, of which 150 species were recognised, 

 nearly all of which were represented in the National Collection. Five 

 species — Charaxes princeps, C. repetitus, C. layardi, C.fervens, and C. coniger 

 — were described as new. 



November %lst. — Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. 



His Grace the Duke of Bedford, Messrs. Bernard Arnold, and E. B. 

 Fernan were elected Fellows of the Society. Mr. B. B. Woodward was 

 admitted. 



The Rev. G. Henslow exhibited a MS. commonplace-book of the latter 

 end of the 14th century. The entries in Latin and English were found 

 to consist chiefly of medical recipes, in which about 200 plants are named 

 for their use, and some new methods of distilling aqua vita are described. 

 There were also some notes on geometry and astronomy, and calculations 

 of altitudes and superficies. Mr. Baker thought the number of plants 

 named at the date referred to was a matter of interest to botanists, and 

 suggested publication of the list of names, with their identification where 

 possible. 



Mr. Henslow also exhibited a series of shells of Buccinum undatum 

 and Fusus antiquus, showing the variation in form which occurs in the 

 reparation of injury sustained at an early stage of life, the subsequently 

 renewed whorls assuming shapes resembling those of other species in the 



ZOOLOGIST, THIRD SERIES, VOL. XIX. DEC. 1895. 2 N 



