174 



The Naturalist. 



five in" number, and including most 

 of the wild flowers of the month, 

 which grow in the district, were 

 named by Messrs. Moulton and 

 Went worth. Amongst the plants 

 exhibited for the first time this 

 year in bloom, were Stellaria 

 Holostea, Stellaria nemorum, Oxalis 

 acetosella, Frunus Padus, Veronica 

 Chamcedrys, Veronica montana, Pri- 

 mula veris, and others. Mr. G. L. 

 Lister exhibited and named a 

 number of shells including LymncBa 

 auricularia, Bidimus ohscurus, Cyclas 

 rivicola, Planorhis carinatus, &c. 

 A number of specimens of Anthra- 

 cosia, from Low Moor, were also 

 exhibited by Mr. Lister. Mr. 

 Wentworth exhibited a curious red 

 coloured bee, a colony of which 

 had been discovered by himself 

 and Messrs. Whitely and Lister 

 whilst out botanising. The bees 

 were busy making their nests, 

 which are situated in the ground, 

 and resemble small mole hillocks. 



SHErriELD Naturalists' Club. 

 — First excursion for the season, 

 29th April, to the romantic dell 

 called Creswell Crags. Here they 

 inspected the curious caverns which 

 tradition says were used as hiding 

 places by Robin Hood and his men. 

 These caverns possess considerable 

 interest for the paleontologist and 

 the antiquary. Some members of 

 the Club, after examining the breccia 

 which fills up the floor of one of the 

 caverns to a considerable height, 

 gave way to the temptation, and 

 seizing hammer and augur, with the 

 loss of some perspiration, succeeded 

 in detaching several fragments, 

 among which were found embedded 



a fine canine tooth of a powerful 

 carnivorous animal, probably hyena 

 or cave lion, an incisor apparently 

 from the same jaw, teeth of a horse 

 and of another herbivorous animal, 

 and pieces of bone exhibiting marks 

 of gnawing. But the most import- 

 ant finds were two flints of human 

 manufacture, embedded in breccia 

 containing bones, small fragments 

 of charcoal, and water- worn pebbles. 

 One of the flints is circular, and the 

 other a long flake, of knife form. 

 The traces of primeeval man's occu- 

 pation found in these caverns 

 exhibit him in the lowest stages of 

 barbarism. From Creswell Crags, 

 several of the members proceeded 

 to those beautiful bushy glens 

 known as Markland Grips. The 

 flora of the district does not appear 

 particularly rich, but those flowers 

 which are met with grow in great 

 abundance. The three beautiful 

 representatives of the genus Pri- 

 mula, i.e., vulgaris veris, and 

 elatior, are exceedingly conspicu- 

 ous, and Lathrma squamaria, and 

 Paris quadrifolia are found near 

 the rivulet. 



Stainland Naturalists' So- 

 ciety. — This Society held its 

 monthly meeting at Burwood, Mr. 

 S. Calvert in the chair. — Mr. W. 

 Robinson read Mr. Wainwright's 

 ' (the president of the West Riding 

 Naturalists' Society) annual address 

 delivered on Easter Monday, after 

 which specimens were exhibited as 

 follows : by C. C. Hanson : eggs of 

 sparrow hawk, kestrel hawk, and 

 rook ; by J. Edwards : Doronicum 

 Pardalianches, and others. — C. C. 

 Hanson, Hon. Sec. 



