Reports of Societies. 



127 



appears to exist with regard to their distinctness • as Binney, Haldemanny 

 and others combine them in greater or less proportion ; but, judging 

 from the specimens exhibited, the three species would appear to be 

 abundantly distinct. 



7th Meeting, Feb. 1st, Mr. Wm. Nelson, president, in the chair. — ■ 

 Mr. Henry Crowther demonstrated the anatomy of the fresh-water 

 mussel {Anodonta cygnea). The principal points touched upon were the 

 attachments to the shell of the anterior and posterior adductor muscles, 

 and their position in situ in the mollusc, followed by an explanation of 

 the formation of the palial and muscular scars ; next were shown the 

 position of the labial palps, the mouth, and the gills or branchiae. Par- 

 ticular attention was directed to the situation and peculiar construction 

 of the heart, the intestine passing through it, and the organ of Bojanus 

 (kidney ?) underlying it, and other organs of the pericardial cavity. Kext 

 followed the manner of attachment of the gills, the formation of the 

 branchial and cloacal chambers, &c., concluding by an exposition of the 

 pidal and the parieto-splanchnic ganglia as illustrations of its nervous 

 system . 



MiRFiELD Naturalists' Society. — Meeting 3rd February. — Mr. Joseph 

 Tindall (president of the Huddersfield Naturalists' Society) read a very 

 interesting paper on " Insects destructive to root crops." Several plants 

 — a few of them in bloom — were produced and named. At this meeting 

 the matter of Mr. Barber's testimonial was discussed, and it was unani- 

 mously agreed that Mr. Barber's long and unwearied endeavours as 

 secretary of the. W. R.C.N. Society ought to be acknowledged by making 

 him a handsome present. 



Selby Naturalists' Society. — Meeting 23rd January. — A paper was 

 read by Dr. Parsons on " The hard parts of animals, their composition, 

 structure, and uses." The uses of hard parts were stated to be — 1st. — As 

 cases for the protection of tender and important organs, e. g. the human 

 skull, the shell of the oyster and crab. 2nd — To form a framework or 

 skeleton for the support of the soft tissues. This skeleton is internal in 

 vertebrate animals, external in many invertebrate animals, as the lobster ; 

 in sedentary compound animals, as corals, it serves both to connect the 

 several members of the community together, and to attach the whole 

 colony to the rock or other substance on which it grows. 3rd — As levers 

 or mechanical instruments of motion. 4th — For the seizing and mastica- 

 tion of food, e.g., teeth and the hard plates found in the gizzards of some 

 of the lower animals. 5th — As weapons of offence, as claws, teeth, horns, 

 <&c. In animals which fight for the females, as the stag, these weapons 

 are often found only in the male sex. 6th — They form part of the 

 mechanism of special organs, as the eye, the ear, the larynx, &c. Dr. 

 Parsons then passed in review the several classes of animals, pointing out 

 the general plan, structure, and chemical composition of the hard parts 



