48 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[March 



the formulating a system by which their various variations may be 

 represented. A step in the right direction has been made by Mr. 

 Gain, which I w^ish to supplement by a few observations of my 

 own. 



In the Spring of 1888, I collected large numbers of H. nemoralis 

 and H. hortensis, which were confined in large glass cases. As far as 

 I could ascertain, in only one case did H. nemoralis pair with H. 

 hortensis, but no ova were deposited. Dark banded forms sometimes 

 paired with light banded examples, and vice-versa. In all the 

 examples I was able to trace, the young bore little resemblance to 

 the parents except in a very few instances. Where the parents were 

 alike, the, progeny w^ere also, with few exceptions, and in these the 

 variation was very slight. 



Experiments with H, aspersa give a like result. There was always 

 a slight difference in the youn,^: in eitlier the shading, thickness of the 

 shell or banding, indicating, I thought, a reversion to the type. — 

 Walter E. Collinge, Assistant Demonstrator in Zoology, St. Andrew's 

 University, and Editor of the Conchologist.'' 



Reports of Societies. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



January 27th. — The 5gtli Annual Meeting, adjourned from the 20th inst. on 

 the death of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence, Mr. F. DuCane Godman, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair. x\n abstract of the Treasurer's accounts, showing a good 

 balance in the Society's favour, having been read by one of the Auditors, the 

 Secretary, Mr. H. Goss, read the Report of the Council. It was then announced 

 that the following gentlemen had been elected as Ofiicers and Council for 1892 : — 

 President, Mr. Frederick DuCane Godman, F.R.S. ; Treasurer, Mr. Robert 

 jMcLachlan, F.R.S. ; Secretaries, Mr. Herbert Goss, F.L.S., and the Rev. Canon 

 Fowler, InT.A., F.L.S.; Librarian, Mr. George C. Champion, F.Z.S.; and as other 

 Members of the Council, llr. C. G. Barrett, Mr. Herbert Druce, F.L.S., Captain 

 Henry ]. Elwes, F.L.S., Prof. Raphael Meldoa, F.R.S., Mr. Edward B. Poulton, 

 M.A., F.R.S., Dr. David Sharp. 'nLA., F.R.S., Colonel Charles Swinoe, F.L.S., and 

 the Right Hon. Lord Waisingham, LL.D., F.R..S. It was also announced that the 

 President would appoint Captain Elwes, Dr. Sharp, and Lord Waisingham, Vice- 

 Presidents for the Session 1892-3. The President then delivered an Address. After 

 alluding to the vast num^ber of species of insects and to the calculations of Dr- 

 Sharp and Lord Waisingham as to the probable number of them as yet undescribed, 

 he referred to the difficulty of preparing a monograph of the fauna of even a 

 comparatively small part of the world, c. t^., Me.\ic:) and Central America, and certain 

 small islands in the West Indian Archipelago, upon which he, with a large number of 

 c )mpetent assistants, had been engaged for nianv years. I'he examination of the 

 collections receatly made in St. Vincent alo;ie, had obliged him to search the whole 

 of Europe and North America for specialists ; and similar collections from Gi'enada 

 were still untouched in consequence of the number of workers being unequal to the 



