SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



95 



The Selborne Society.— The members and 

 friends of the Selborne Society (Croydon Branch) 

 paid a visit to Hayes and Keston Commons on 

 Saturday, July gth, the occasion being favoured 

 with lovely weather. Under the leadership of 

 Mr. E. A. Martin, F.G.S., and Mr. A. E. Parnell, 

 the party also visited Caesar's Camp and the 

 picturesque lakes in the neighbourhood, pushing 

 on as far as the famous " Wilberforce Seat," where 

 the great question of slave emancipation is said 

 to have been discussed and decided upon by Pitt 

 and Wilberforce. Tea was taken at Keston. The 

 bracken, Pteris aquilina, was at its best on the 

 common, and interspersed here and there were 

 fine clusters of heather (Erica cinerea and£. tetralix), 

 the common ling or heath (Calluna vulgaris) scarcely 

 yet showing its blossoms. Dog-roses, honeysuckle, 

 tormentil, mulleins, nipplewort, ivy-leaved lettuce 

 (Lactuca muralis), yellow bedstraw, mountain 

 groundsel (Senecio syvaticus), buck's-horn plantain 

 (Plantago coronopus), and hoary cinquefoil (Potentilla 

 argentea) were amongst the many flowers which 

 were gathered. In the lakes the frogs were just 

 taking to the land, many being seen with tails still 

 unabsorbed. 



Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' 

 Club. — A large party of members of this club 

 left Hornsea in waggonettes for Atwick and Skipsea 

 Brough on the afternoon of June 18th. After a 

 pleasant drive to Skipsea Brough the party alighted, 

 and under the guidance of Mr. Boyle inspected the 

 remarkable mound and earthworks for which the 

 place is so famous. After a steep climb, the 

 summit of the central mound was reached, and 

 from this elevated position a good view of the 

 surrounding earthworks and the general aspect 

 of the country could be obtained. Mr. Boyle then 

 gave a most interesting lecture on the antiquities of 

 the neighbourhood in general and the earthworks 

 in particular. It would seem that the Skipsea 

 Brough earthworks were most admirably con- 

 structed for what was in those days the most 

 advantageous course to take during times of war, 

 viz., a passive resistance rather than active aggres- 

 sion. The most marvellous thing in connection 

 with these earthworks is their enormous size. 

 With such implements as the ancient Britons had, 

 it can hardly be conceived how they laid out the 

 plan and built the structure. Notwithstanding the 

 fact that 2,000 years have elapsed since the erection 

 of these works, they are still in good condition, 

 and it is not at all necessary to draw upon the 

 imagination in order to prepare a restored plan 

 of them. A brief stroll was then taken in the 

 neighbourhood ; the earthworks were again tra- 

 versed and photographed, the members were taken 

 to Atwick in waggonettes, and a very pleasant time 

 was spent at that village. Mr. Morfitt and his sons 

 took great pains to show their excellent collection 

 of local geological specimens and antiquities. 

 Such a collection is rarely seen, and doubtless 

 Messrs. Morfitt have the best series of derived 

 f ossils — that is, fossils from different rocks which 



are found in the Boulder clay — in this part of the 

 country. The collection of agates, consisting of 

 several hundred specimens, and some of enormous 

 size and beauty, were well shown in large bowls 

 of water. But the Liassic ammonites, nautili, 

 saurian remains, bivalves and also the gorgeous 

 examples of Speeton clay, chalk and other fossils 

 excited the admiration of all. A large and beautiful 

 series of Carboniferous limestone corals was ex- 

 hibited. Of more recent date, though none the 

 less interesting, were the mammoth, deer, horse, 

 ox and other remains from the coast and peat beds 

 in the vicinity. Foremost among them should be 

 mentioned the perfect skull and antlers of a Cervus 

 elaphus, which had recently been discovered in the 

 peat near Hornsea. Amongst the antiquities were 

 various examples of ancient pottery, stone and 

 bronze implements, all from the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. After a substantial tea kindly provided 

 by Messrs. and Miss Morfitt, the party visited the 

 cliffs, which at this point are unusually high, in 

 search of the recently-discovered boulder of Snap 

 granite. The members then reluctantly bid adieu 

 to their host, and after another pleasant drive 

 reached Hornsea. The fine weather, together with 

 the variety of the afternoon's work, rendered the 

 outing most profitable and enjoyable. — T. Shcppard, 

 Hon. Sec, 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. 



NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 



Ordinary meetings are marked f, excursions * ; names of 

 persons following excursions are of Conductors. 



CoNCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, LONDON BRANCH. 



Aug. 6.— "Hampton Wick. Train leaves Waterloo 2.40 p.m. 

 Hon. Sec, J. E. Cooper, 68, North Hill, Highgate, N. 



Geologists' Association of London. 



July 28 to Aug. 3. — ^Birmingham district. Prof. Chas. Lap- 

 worth and others. 



Sept. 10. — *Gravesend, Kent. G. E. Dibley, F.G.S. 

 Further particulars from Horace W. Mcncktcn, 

 Hon. Sec. (Excursions), 10, King's Bench Walk, Temple, E.C. 



Lambeth Field Club and Scientific Society. 

 Aug. 1.— *Leith Hill. 

 „ 27. — *Epping Forest (in conjunction with E. London 

 Micro, and Nat. Hist. Soc). 

 Sept. 18. — *Caterham. 

 „ 20. — t" Dew." (With experiments.) J. J. Denton. 

 Hon. Sec, H. Wilson, 134, Abbeville Road. Clapham, S.W. 



North London Natural History Society. 

 Aug. 1. — *Wicken Fen. W. Woodward. 



,, 4. — f" Notes on a Visit to South Africa." W. H. 



Barber. 

 ,, 6. — *Hayes, Kent. L. J. Tremayne. 

 ,, 18. — fDiscussion : "Alpine Lepidoptera and their 

 British Allies." Opened by R. W. Robbins. 

 Sept. I.— +" The Microscopic Inhabitants of a Stagnant 

 Ditch." C. Nicholson, F.E.S. 

 „ 3. — *Epping Forest. The President. 

 „ 15. — tDebate: "Are the Man and the Monkey de- 

 scended from a common Ancestor?" Opened 

 in the affirmative by A. Bacot ; opened in the 

 negative by B. S. lames. 

 Oct. 6.— rPocket Box Exhibition. 

 ,, 20. — f" Buttercups and their Allies ; or, the Teachings 

 of Systematic Botany as to Evolution." Prof. 

 G. S. Boulger. 

 ,, 22. — *Visit to the Epping Forest Museum. Wm. Cole 

 (Curator of the Museum). 

 Nov. 3. — t" Henry Walter Bates : his Life and Work." L. 

 B. Prout, F.E.S. 

 ,, 17.— tDiscussion : "The Origin of Migration in Ani- 

 mals." Opened by J. A. Simes. 

 Dec. 1. — t" Solitary Bees and Wasps." W. H. Smith. 

 „ 15.— tGeneral Business. 



Visitors will be cordially welcomed at all meetings and 

 excursions. Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Sec, 



Lincolnshire Science Society. 



Sept. 3. — *Barkstone, for Syston and Belton Parks. Rev. E. 

 Nelson, M.A. 



„ 21. — "Woodhall Spa : botany of the Moors ; glacial beds. 

 Oct. 8.— *Torksey : Old Trent gravels. W. E. Asquith. 



Hon. Ser., G. A. Grierson, F.L.S., 312, High Street, Lincoln. 



