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The Naturalist. 



Thecla quercus, Arctia mendica, Eurymene dolabraria, Himera pennaria, 

 Nyssia hispidaria, Tephrosia biundularia, Asthena luteata, Eupisteria 

 heparata, Eiipithecia exiguata, Melanthia albicillata (very plentiful), 

 Cidaria silaceata (common), Thyatira batis, Cymatophora duplaris, 

 Euclidia mi, Herminea grisealis, Tethea subtusa, Tseniocampa populeti, 

 Cnephasia musculana, Dictyopteryx Conwayana, Grapholitha obtusana, 

 Tinea semifulvella, &c. Mr. S. D. Bairstow was elected the sectional 

 representative on the Publication Committee. . Botanical Section — Dr. 

 Parsons : The flowering plants observed during the day were 218, but 

 that number did not adequately represent the floral wealth of the district, 

 some fruitful directions, as the Humber Bank and Walling Fen not having 

 been sufficiently explored. The flora of the neighbourhood of Brough 

 was a characteristic calcareous one, and approached a South of England 

 type. Among the rarer species met with were Carduus eriophorus, the 

 handsomest of our British thistles, a southern plant, not hitherto 

 recorded for the East Riding : Atropa Belladonna, Spiraea Filipendula, 

 Scabiosa columbaria, and Trifolium striatum. A sandy field near 

 EUerker yielded Papaver Argemone and Anchusa arvensis, and the 

 Humber Bank some maritime species, as Plantago maritima, Scirpus 

 maritimus, and Glaux maritima. In marshes and ponds by the railway 

 at Staddlethorpe were found "^Ranunculus hirsutus, Samolus Valerandi, 

 Potamogeton pectinatus P. heterophyllus, * Scirpus Tabernsemontani, 

 and * Carex vesicaria, also Lemna trisulca in flower, a state in which it is 

 rarely found, its propagation being usually effected by buds. The flowers 

 of Lemna trisulca are very small, but the flowering fronds may be easily 

 recognised by the anterior part being bent downwards so that the plant 

 has the appearance of an irregular Maltese cross. The species marked * 

 appear not to have been previously recorded for the East Riding. Twenty- 

 five mosses were noted, the rarest being Ditrichum flexicaule from North 

 Cave and Brantingham Dale. The Hepaticse presented no special feature. 

 Lichens were abundant as regards individuals, the tree trunks being 

 covered with Parmelise, Ramalinse, &c. , to an extent not seen in any 

 part of the West Riding hitherto visited by the Union. About 18 species 

 were observed, including Physcia ciliaris and Parraelia caperata. The 

 Algse included Rivularia angulosa, Chsetophora elegans, Batrachospermum 

 moniliforme, and Navicula cuspidata ; and the Fungi, Peziza trechispora 

 and ^cidium rubellum. Dr. Parsons also exhibited the curious infusorian 

 Ophrydium versatile, allied to Vorticella, which forms large algse-like 

 masses of green jelly ; it occurred in ponds at Staddlethorpe. — Mr. 

 Hunter remarked that rabbits ate the deadly nightshade with impunity. 

 Dr. Parsons replied that this was so, and was apparently an idiosyncracy 

 peculiar to the rabbit. Experiments had been made with Atropia, the 

 poisonous principle of the deadly nightshade, of which one-eighth of a 

 grain was a fatal dose for a man, and it was found that 17 grains were 

 reqjik^T^J^ili a rabbit. — Wm. Denison Roebuck, S.ec. 



END OF VOL. III. 



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