REPORTS UP SOCIETIES. 



237 



been scratched by the glaciers passing over 

 it, as it bears unmistakable proofs of the well 

 known ice action of that very ancient period. 

 The president next exhibited a piece of clay 

 slate, from which he explained the great 

 laws of the structure of our globe, and 

 enlarged upon the deposits on its surface, 

 and the wonderful " dip and strike" of its 

 rocks. He also exhibited a set of litho- 

 graphs of the minute foraminifera, of 

 which our chalk rocks are composed, 

 twenty-eight millions of their remains 

 forming but one cubic inch of chalk, and 

 yet they have been magnified to a large 

 size, and the powers of the photographer 

 brought to bear upon them when so en- 

 larged ; a large antler of the wild red deer, 

 in a fossil state, found embedded in six 

 feet of clay at Silton, and presented to him 

 by Mr. E, M, Jaques ; a "tibia" (leg 

 bone) of the great extinct mammoth, from 

 near Pocklington, in the East Riding ; an 

 oak shovel, found in one of the Swaledale 

 lead workings, and presented to the presi- 

 dent by Captain Harland, This caused an 

 instructive discussion on the workings of 

 the " old man" and lead veins. The pri- 

 mitive appearance of this implement proved 

 the inadequate means at the time used for 

 such purposes. Mr. J. Stoddart exhibited 

 a fine example of the fossil Produdus 

 giganteus, from near Gilling, Mr. James 

 Aspdin exhibited a rather rare specimen of 

 the beetle tribe, Astynomus oedilis (male), 

 captured by Mr. J. H, Brown, on board 

 the s. s. British Queen, midway between 

 Hartlepool and Hamburgh, on her return 

 passage from the latter port, timber laden, 

 last September. The larva had evidently 

 fed on the timber which formed part of the 

 cargo, or upon some part of the vessel 

 itself, and had just emerged from the 

 chrysalis when discovered by Mr. Brown. 

 Mr. Aspdin read some interesting notes on 

 the beetle by Mr. J. A. Harker of Perth, 

 N. B, Mr. G. A, Bridges exhibited speci- 

 mens of those well known chemical toys, 

 .called riiaraoli's serpents, and read an in- 

 teresting paper on their composition and 



manufacture, Mr, J. Raine of Richmond, 

 and Mr. Attre Johnson of London, were 

 elected new members. After a vote of 

 thanks to the Chairman, the meeting ad- 

 journed to the second Tuesday in December. 

 — James Aspdin, Hon. Sec. 



HIGH WYCOMBE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



The first evening meeting took place on 

 Tuesday, November 28th, J. Parker, Esq., 

 having kindly placed his house at the dis- 

 posal of the society for that evening. The 

 members partook of tea at six, after which 

 the several collections sent for exhibition 

 were inspected. Four cases of magnificent 

 insects from China were sent by H. Gamble, 

 Esq., one of the London members; \hQjcon.- 

 sistedoi Lepidopter a, Coleoptera, Heteroptera 

 and Orthoptera. These were much admired. 

 The Wycombe species of Ranunculacece were 

 sent by Miss Chandler, being a portion of 

 the collection which gained the silver 

 medal of the Horticultural Society in 1864; 

 Wycombe moths sent by the secretary ; 

 British Ferns and Exquisetse by the same ; 

 a pair of Albatross wings ; a specimen of 

 the Little Bittern, Ardetta minuta, a very 

 rare British bird, shot by T. Marshall, Esq. 

 by the Thames below Maidenhead. 



After these had been well examined, the 

 President, the Rev. T. H. Browne, F.G.S., 

 read a paper on the Geology of High 

 Wycombe, which will shortly appear in 

 the Naturalist. 



Mr. Ullyett supplemented this with a 

 few remarks on the Boulders now being 

 excavated on Naphill Common, their size, 

 depth, and direction of deposition ; he 

 mentioned the fact that while all on the 

 north side of the common are imbedded 

 (some very deeply) in a red loam, and are 

 composed of sandstone, there are about 

 fifty above the surface in a field on the 

 south side leading towards Bradenham 

 Green, lying in a wide furrow having the 

 appearance of being, so to speak, ploughed 

 up by the agent of their translation, and 

 curiously enough, none of these are sand- 

 stone, all are conglomerates of gravel pebbles. 



