Repokts of Societies. 



148 



time and labour. The president exhibited fresh-gathered specimens of 

 Dicranodontium longirostre, Eudadium verticillatum, and Campylostelium 

 saxicola — all new to the district ; also the rare Campylopus paradoxus, 

 gathered at Stayley Brushes. Another interesting moss exhibited (sent 

 by Mr. Hobkirk) was a dried specimen of the Dicranum gathered last 

 year at Wharncliffe Crags by Dr. Parsons, which has been the subject of 

 much speculation and doubt. It was at first thought to be the species 

 falcatnm, but this was considered by competent bryologists to be 

 quite erroneous ; and at length the Rev. J. Fergusson gave it the 

 provisional name of Dicranum saxicola. The president exhibited fresh- 

 gathered specimens of a closely allied moss from Stayley Brushes, and 

 expressed his opinion that this latter, at all events, was a form of 

 D. fuscescens ; also fine fruiting specimens of the moss mostly known as 

 Hypnum elegans, Hook., gathered by himself and Messrs. Ashton and 

 Percival near Barmouth. He also pointed out that it disagreed in several 

 important characters from Hooker's figure and description in " Musci 

 Exotici," and expressed his opinion that the name given to it by Dr. 

 Spruce in 1846 {H. Borrerianum) would most likely be reverted to. 

 He also stated that he -was supported in this opinion by Prof. Lindberg, 

 Dr. Spruce, Dr. Braithwaite, and the Rev. J. Fergusson. A specimen of 

 Orthodontium gracile from Tunbridge Wells, was exhibited, having been 

 gathered there by Mr. Holmes. This moss has been generally supposed 

 to be peculiar to Cheshire and Yorkshire, but it was stated that Mr. 

 Borrer had gathered it at Tunbridge so long ago as 1844. Mr. R. R. 

 Bastow read an interesting paper on the potato fungus Peronospora 

 infestans, which was illustrated by specimens under the microscope, and 

 lithographed sketches. 



Wakefield Naturalists' Society. — Meeting March 5th. — Mr. E. B. 

 Wrigglesworth, v. p. (in the chair) exliibited a very fine specimen of 

 Goliathus magnus, from South Africa, and several species of British 

 coleoptera. 



Yorkshire Naturalists' UmoN Exhibition at Leeds. — BepoH 

 on the Entomological Section. — This section made a good show, 

 though, as is almost always the case, the exhibits in lepidoptera far 

 exceeded those in all the other orders put together. It is greatly to be 

 deplored that our entomologists so persistently ignore the less conspicuous 

 — but none the less interesting — other branches of the science. Perhaps 

 the most interesting exhibit was the grand collection of larvae sent by 

 Lord Walsingham, the specimens preserved and mounted by himself. It 

 is impossible to speak too highly of this collection, so great an advance is 

 this method of arranging the specimens in a cabinet over our old stifi" 

 manner of'keeping simply a series of pinned images. Here the space left 

 for each species was about the same as in most cabinets, but only a single 

 imago was placed at the top, and beneath it the food plant, on which was 

 mounted, in the most natural positions, a number of larvse of the species 



