126 



The Naturalist. 



Clayton- West Naturalists' Society. — Meeting, 13th. February : 

 Lecture by J. Wainwright, Esq., F.L.S. ; subject, '^Damascus to 

 Lebanon." — W. Waite, Sec. 



CoNCHOLOGicAL SOCIETY OF Great Britain AND IRELAND. — This Society 

 still continues to do good work. Its collections have been enriched by 

 the gift by one of its members (Mr. R. Scharff, Bradford) of a valuable 

 series of land shells, collected by the donor in Germany last summer, 

 also by the president and Mr. J. W. Taylor of land and freshwater shells. 

 The exhibitions have been principally confined to fossil and recent shells, 

 and but few papers have been read ; but one on a new species of Planorbis 

 (P. Gihhonsii), and the introductory address of the president delivered on 

 Jan. 15th, were of special interest. In the latter, after dwelling upon the 

 beauties which conchology opens out to us, were reviewed the motives of 

 the Society, the uses to which it, as a co-operation, is being put, in 

 forming lists of shells and working out their distribution. Taking Dr. 

 Jeffrey's work as his text-book, he proceeded to show how many, out of 

 the 126 British species might occur in Yorkshire, and by interesting 

 deductions placed it at 115 ; of these 86 have been gathered and placed 

 on record by the Club. The districts — which have been examined pretty 

 weU — and the workers upon them, were next touched upon : these are 

 our own as far as Wetherby in a north-easterly direction, Wakefield 

 including West- vale, Huddersfield and Wensleydale, &c. — H. Crowther, 

 Secretary. 



GooLE Scientific Society. — Meeting Jan. 31st. — A paper was read by 

 the Rev. R. D. Maxwell, on " MoUusca." The author spoke of the land 

 and fresh-water moUusks, especially the bivalves. Taking Unio pictorum. 

 as an example, he gave an interesting description of the anatomy of the 

 shell and soft parts, and of its life history. The principal other British 

 fresh- water bivalves were briefly treated. He exhibited a list of the British 

 land and fresh- water moUusca, in which he had marked the species found 

 in this neighbourhood. 140 species were enumerated, of which 67 had 

 been found living near Goole. The lecture was illustrated by diagrams, 

 and by a large number of shells, living specimens, and microscopic 

 slides. — H. F. Parsons, Sec. 



Huddersfield Scientific Club. — Meeting February 8th, Mr. G. T. 

 Porritt, F.L.S., president, in the chair. — Mr. S. L. Mosley showed a 

 beautiful series of coloured plates, painted by himself, of varieties of 

 British lepidoptera. The plates of Polyommatus phlmas, Arctia caja, and 

 Abraxas grossulariata were especially splendid. The president showed 

 specimens of Acidalia degeneraria, Tryphcena siihsequa, Grambus dume- 

 telhis, Homo&osoma sinuella, Phycis subornatella, and Galleria cerella, 

 recently received from various localities. Mr. John Conacher showed 

 the mounted palate of Gyclostoma elegans, from a Wetherby specimen ; 

 Mr. Mosley, a European grass covered with dead specimens of a minute 



