12 



The Naturalist. 



agreed to be an entire success, to 

 which the fine weather, and the 

 genial kindness of Capt. Best 

 greatly contributed. The next 

 excursion of the Society was ar- 

 ranged for July I7th, to Pontefract 

 Castle, where a paper would be 

 read by T. W. Tew, Esq. The 

 Society at present numbers 24 

 members. — H. FnANKLm Parsons, 

 M.D., Secretary. 



GooLE Scientific Society. — A 

 joint excursion of the Goole Scien- 

 tific Society and the Huddersfield 

 Literary and Scientific Society, was 

 made on July l7th, to Pontefract 

 Castle, where a paper, the fruit of 

 much laborious research, was read 

 by Mr. Tew, J. P., giving an account 

 of the Castle, and of the events in 

 English history of which it was the 

 scene, from its foundation by 

 Ilbert de Lacy in the reign of 

 William the Conqueror, to its 

 demolition by order of Parliament, 

 in 1649. The ruins were carefully 

 examined, the party descending 

 with lights into the subterranean 

 passages and magazine cut out in 

 the solid rock (of a soft Permian 

 sandstone) on which the Castle was 

 built. The following plants were 

 found firmly established on the 

 ruins : — Gheiranthus Gheiri, Biplo- 

 taxis tenuifolia, Smyrium Olusatrum 

 and Echium vulgare. 



Huddersfield Naturalists' So- 

 ciety. — Ordinary Meeting, July 

 5th, 1875, the President, G. T. 

 Porritt, F.L.S., in the chair. — 

 Mr. Nettleton complained of the 

 decrease of the moUusca in our 

 ponds, and suggested that either 

 the Society or a number of its 

 members should take a field, with 



a run of water through it, for the 

 the purpose of making ponds, in 

 which to preserve shells and aqua- 

 tic plants. — Mr. Hobkirk named 

 two old red sandstone fossil fishes, 

 Gephalaspis and Osteolepis, exhibited 

 by Mr. Conacher, from Scotland, 

 The plants were principally exhib- 

 ited by Mr. John Armitage, taken 

 from his garden, but originally 

 collected wild. Amongst a large 

 number of others, the following 

 may be particularised : — Geranium 

 sylvaUcum, molle, lucidum ; Rosa 

 arvensis, villosa, ruhiginosa, spino- 

 sissima ; Galium mollugo, uliginos- 

 siim ; Plantago coronopus, mariti- 

 ma, media, majm', major var. rosea ; 

 Achillea tanacetifolia, Dianthus 

 deltoides, GerasUum alpinum, Are- 

 monia agrimonoides, Mentha mini- 

 ma, Oxalis corniculata, Thymus 

 serpyllum, ditto var. alba; Pru- 

 nella vulgaris, var. alba; Lycopsis 

 arvensis, Borago officinalis, Gentau- 

 rea scabiosa, Draba incana, Gonium 

 maculatum, Bryo7iia dioica. Salvia 

 verbenaca, Hernia/ria glabra, Gam- 

 panulapersicifolia, Valeriana rubra, 

 Poterium sanguisorba, Epilobium 

 alpinum, angustifolium, tetragonum ; 

 Myriophyllum spicatum, Gardamine 

 impatiens, Fragaria vesca (with ripe 

 fruit and flowers), Veronica offici- 

 7ialis, Polypodium Dryopteris, Pheg- 

 opteris; Scandix pecten-Veneris, Tri- 

 folium minima. Mr. Armitage 

 dwelt on the distance to which the 

 seeds of Oxalis and other plants 

 spread naturally, the cultivation 

 of varieties, and many other inter- 

 esting points. He had taken a 

 white variety of Prunella vulgaris, 

 and its seedlings had remained 

 white during the twelve years he 

 had grown it. — Mr. Liversedge 



