Eeports of 



Manchester Scientific Stu- 

 dents' Association. — About thirty 

 members of this Society visited 

 Urmston on Saturday, 10th Sept., 

 under the leadership of Mr. Thos. 

 Armstrong, F.E.M.S. A goodly 

 number of plants was gathered 

 during the afternoon, but none of 

 any great rarity. After tea, at the 

 house of the leader, a meeting was 

 held, Mr. Leo H. Grindon in the 

 chair, when a paper was read by 

 Mr. Henry Hyde, on " The Lower 

 Forms of Life, in which he described 

 the most characteristic features, 

 mode of nourishment and repro- 

 duction of Amoiba, the Foramini- 

 fera, Poly cysU'i tee, Monas crepuscu- 

 lum, Melicerta, Vorticella, Volvox, 

 Sydra, &c., and particularly 

 pointed out the important part 

 played by some of these minute 

 organisms in past geological ages, 

 large mountain masses in many 

 countries being composed almost 

 entirely of their shells. The paper 

 was well illustrated by diagrams 

 and living specimens. 



Mirfield Naturalists' Society. 

 — Meeting, 2nd October — Rev. B. 

 Wilson, president, in the chair. 

 Twenty-four wild plants (22 of them 

 in bloom) were produced and named 

 by Mr. John Newsome and Mr. 

 Joshua Buckley ; and geological 

 specimens were also produced and 

 examined. — On Saturday, the 9th 

 October, the members and friends 

 of the Society held a social meeting 

 in the Working Men's Club-room, 

 the president, Rev. B. Wilson, in 

 the chair, who presented two prizes 

 for bouquets of wild flowers gath- 

 ered during the summer — first prize 



Societies. 63 



to William Buckley, Knowl, and 

 second prize to H. H. Oldroyd, 

 Hopton. The secretary was then 

 called upon to read his report, from 

 which it appeared that the Society, 

 though young, was in a very flour- 

 ishing condition, and promised well 

 for the future. Upwards of 200 

 different species of plants had been 

 produced at the meetings, some 

 being very rare ; and some of the 

 members had commenced the study 

 of geology and entomology. — The 

 chairman delivered a very appro- 

 priate address, commenting favour- 

 ably on the position and prospects 

 of the Society. — Mr. John Armi- 

 tage, a veteran botanist from 

 Almondbury, near Huddersfield, 

 spoke for a considerable time on 

 the advantages to be derived from 

 studying natural history. Bouquets 

 of wild and cultivated flowers 

 adorned the table, and a few choice 

 collections in lepidoptera and geo- 

 logy, lent by some of the members, 

 added greatly to the interest of 

 the meeting. — Edwin Stoks, Sec. 



OvENDBN Naturalists' Society. 

 — The monthly meeting of this 

 Society was held on Saturday. 

 Sep. 25th, in their Meeting-room, 

 Illingworth, Mr. T. Robertshaw, the 

 president, in the chair. A number 

 of botanical specimens, collected by 

 the president, were named by Mr. 

 R. Earnshaw, including Chrysan- 

 themum segetum, Carduus Maria- 

 mis, Scahiosa arvensis. Mr. T. Hirst 

 exhibited a number of birds, rare 

 in this district, including one Knot 

 (Tringa vulgaris), shot at Fly-flats 

 reservoir, by Mr. W. Watson ; one 

 greenshank {Totanus glottis) ; and 

 one redshank {T. calidris), shot 



