HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



William III. having slept in it on his way from 

 Torbay to London. 



The 42nd Annual Meeting of the Birkbeck Building 

 Society was held recently at the offices, 29 and 

 30, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. The 

 Report adopted states, that the receipts during 

 the year which ended 31st March last, reached 

 £12,169,030, making a total from the commence- 

 ment of the society of ,£163,297,213. The deposits 

 received were ,£9,857,817, and the subscriptions 

 £215,871. The gross profits amounted to £213,867. 

 The surplus funds now stand at £5, 727, 331, of which 

 £1,670,210 is invested in consols and other securities 

 guaranteed by the British Government. Upwards of 

 two millions (£2,093,590) registered in the books of 

 the governor and company of the Bank of England. 

 The cash in the hands of the bankers is £478,586. 

 -The permanent guarantee fund stands at £150,000, 

 and the balance .£162,983, making together ^312,983 

 in excess of the liabilities ; the whole amount being 

 invested in consols. The subscriptions and deposits 

 withdrawable on demand amount to ,£5,883,572. The 

 surplus funds (which are invested in readily con- 

 vertible securities) are sufficient to pay the depositors 

 1 1 if per cent, on the amount of their deposits. The 

 new accounts opened during the year were 13,752, 

 and there are altogether 67,244 shareholders and 

 depositors on the books. Since its establishment, 

 the society has returned to the shareholders and 

 depositors .£135,309,265, the whole amount having 

 been repaid upon demand. In dealing with these 

 large sums, entrusted to the society by the public, 

 the directors have exercised the utmost care and 

 caution. They have refrained from locking up the 

 whole of the funds in ordinary building society 

 mortgages, with repayments spread over a number of 

 years, and therefore unavailable in time of pressure ; 

 at the same time, they have not neglected this depart- 

 ment of their business, having advanced to members 

 on mortgage, since the foundation of the Society, 

 £2,464,645. They have, however, adopted what they 

 consider the wise policy of investing a very large 

 proportion of the deposits in Consols, Indian, 

 Colonial, and Corporation stocks, and other liquid 

 securities, available at the shortest notice, to meet 

 any emergency that could arise in times of public 

 financial embarrassment and distrust. The practice 

 has been to retain large cash reserves, and to invest 

 one-third of the deposits in consols, and the remain- 

 ing two-thirds in other liquid securities and freehold 

 ground rents. The directors venture to submit that 

 no better proof of the soundness of this policy, and the 

 strength of the society's position, could be afforded 

 than that given by the manner in which it met the 

 run brought about in September last, by the collapse 

 of the " Liberator " and its allied companies. In the 

 early days of that month, the office was besieged by 

 members and depositors anxious to withdraw their 



189 



money. Every facility was afforded them, the office 

 hours were even extended for this purpose, and not a 

 single applicant was disappointed, every claim being 

 met on demand. The panic lasted eleven days, aind 

 during that period ,£1,578,005 was withdrawn. The 

 sudden demand was met by a sale of a portion of 

 the society's consols, pending the realisation of which 

 the Bank of England advanced ,£500,000, and there 

 were, besides other convertible securities in hand,, 

 sufficient to have paid every depositor in full. This 

 becoming generally known, the panic subsided. A 

 large proportion of the money withdrawn was re- 

 deposited, and attracted by the evidence of stability 

 thus afforded, the number of members and depositois- 

 has largely increased, and the directors have every 

 reason to believe that the Birkbeck now stands higher 

 than ever in public estimation. The consols sold 

 during the panic have been repurchased, the advance 

 made by the Bank of England has been repaid, and 

 the business is now pursuing its normal course. So' 

 large has been the amount of deposits received since 

 the panic, that the directors have thought it prudent 

 to reduce the rate of interest on deposit accounts- 

 from 31st March, 1893, to two-and-half per cent., a 

 step which they believe has materially strengthened 

 the position of the society, and which will enable 

 them in the future to invest a still larger proportion, 

 of the funds entrusted to them in consols and other 

 British Government securities. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Meadow-Pippits. — Last year a pair of these birds 

 built their nest within the boundary-wall of Walton.' 

 Gaol, and successfully brought off their young. This 

 season they nested again within a couple of yards of 

 the old nest, but after five eggs were laid the nest 

 was found, and the eggs taken. — J. A. Wheldon. 



Local Moth. — When botanising at Wallasey in 

 April I saw large numbers of a sluggish moth clinging 

 to the stems of Salix repens. I sent a couple to my 

 friend, Mr. Walker, of York, who found . them to be 

 the local Nyssia zonaria (belted beauty). — J. A. 

 Wheldon. 



Common Sheldrake. — Does this handsome duck 

 breed amongst the sand-hills on the coast of Lanca- 

 shire? To-day (May 29th) I observed a flock of nine 

 near Hightown. They allowed me to approach 

 within about twenty yards, and then flew off to sea. 

 Their note of alarm reminded me very forcibly of the 

 "laugh" of the red grouse. — J. A. Wheldon. 



I WITNESSED a very unusual sight a few days ago. 

 Opposite my window some children were gathered 

 round one of the poplar-trees, in a state of excitement. 

 This tree has been in a sickly condition for some 

 time, from the bark being damaged. From it 

 hundreds, if not thousands, of insects were hurrying 

 away, and spread themselves over a considerable 

 distance around. On examination I found them to 

 be young woodlice (Oiiiscus asellus, Lin.), in a variety 

 of sizes, and very active. We have often observed 



