Repoets of 



Mr. Dore, Serpula ; by Mr. S. L. 

 Mosley, a case containing some 

 beautiful specimens of silkworms, 

 viz., Bomhyx cecropea and B. Cyn- 

 thia, from 'North. America,, B. Yama- 

 mai, China, and B. peryni, Japan, 

 some cocoons and prepared silks. 

 Mr. Conacher presented a series of 

 birds' eggs for the cabinet, and Mr. 

 Varley mentioned having seen 

 several fine examples of Scolopax 

 major (great snipe) exposed in Hud- 

 dersfield market. Specimens of 

 Fontinalis antipyretica, Corylus 

 Avellana, Petasites alhus, Salix 

 caprcea, and Polypodium vulgare 

 were on the table. Mr. Edward 

 Brooke, F.G.S., opened the dis- 

 cussion on the alleged submerged 

 forest at Holmfirth, which was con- 

 tinued by other members, a digest 

 of which will be found on page 

 138. — Geokge Brook, ter. Hon. Sec. 



Meeting March 18th, the presi- 

 dent, Mr. G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., in 

 the chair. The secretary, Mr. G. 

 Brook, read a very interesting and 

 instructive paper on " The Meta- 

 morphoses of Insects," which he 

 illustrated by means of the large 

 microscope, with beautifully- 

 mounted specimens of the different 

 organs, &c., of various orders of 

 insects. A discussion ensued. 



MiRFiELD Naturalists' Society. 

 — Meeting 4th March, the vice- 

 president, Mr. Simeon Kaye, in the 

 chair. — A paper was read by the 

 secretary on the plants which had 

 been seen in bloom in this district 

 in the months of January and 

 February, and a discussion followed. 

 About thirty specimens of plants in 

 an early stage of growth were pro- 



SOCIETIES. 143 



duced and named. Bammcnlus 

 hederacea, B. ficaria, and Stellaria 

 media were produced in bloom. — 



E. Stoks, Hon. Sec. 



North Staffordshire Natu- 

 ralists' Field Club. — Meeting at 

 Hanley, Feb. 17th. Mr. J. Ward, 



F. G.S., president, in the chair. — 

 Mr. W. Scott, F.M.S., of Barlaston, 

 for many years the meteorological 

 correspondent of the Advertiser, 

 read a valuable and interesting 

 paper on " Climate, with special 

 reference to the Climate of North 

 Staffordshire." Mr. Garner, F.L.S. 

 in proposing a vote of thanks to 

 Mr. Scott, bore his testimony to 

 the thoroughness with which that 

 gentleman had studied meteorology, 

 and to the great value of the records 

 which he had kept for many years. 

 In order to give some idea of the 

 quantity of water which falls in the 

 form of rain, Mr. Scott said that an 

 inch of rain was equivalent to 101 

 tons of water on an acre of ground. 

 (Consequently, in 1872, when the 

 rainfall at Barlaston reached 50 '03 

 inches, upwards of 5,000 tons fell 

 on every acre.) The Rev. T. W. 

 Daltry, F.L.S. , followed with an 

 account of the lepidoptera added to 

 the North Staffordshire list during 

 the season of 1875. The number 

 added to the list given in the volume 

 of the Society's Transactions is 25, 

 raising the total from 379 to 404. 

 The total number of British species 

 is 983, but Mr. Daltry had little 

 doubt that if North Staffordshire 

 were thoroughly worked it would 

 be found that the list of lepidoptera 

 indigenous to the district would be 

 considerably increased. 



