Repoets of Societies. 



143 



These were of great interest to tlie members on account of the beautiful 

 markings and different shapes of many of them. Mr. Varley laid on the 

 table the stomach of the willow grouse, which was quite full of 

 particles of twigs of the birch, thus showing to a certainty the kind of 

 food they subsist upon. Mr. Varley then proceeded with his paper upon 

 *' The General Character and Structure of Birds," in which he noticed 

 the differences of the lungs of birds and the mammalia, showed how the 

 air is taken through the lungs into those hollow bones which in the 

 mammalia and young birds are full of marrow, thus rendering the birds 

 capable of being easily supported in the air, and many other points in 

 their structure, well known to anatomical naturalists. 



Lan"cashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — Monthly 

 meeting, February 28th, in the Free Library. — The president (Mr. S. J. 

 Capper) read a letter he had received from Miss Ormerod, of Isleworth, 

 which was accompanied by a copy of her "Notes of Observations on 

 Injurious Insects, for 1880." The object of the work, he said, was the 

 study of the life-history of certain insects injurious to our crops and fruit 

 trees, so as to provide means for preventing their ravages. He was sure 

 the members of the society who had not already assisted Miss Ormerod 

 by their observations ought to do so. The number of insects selected for 

 observation this year is thirty-two. He then called attention to a work, 

 now in the press, by the same authoress, entitled " Manual of Remedies 

 and means of prevention for the attack of insects on food crops, forest 

 trees, and fruits." The work, which will be published at 3s., will be 

 invaluable to farmers and producers. Mr. Nicholas Cooke read a paper 

 entitled "Insect-Hunting in Scotland," in which he detailed his expe- 

 rience of many summer holidays spent in collecting insects in various 

 parts of Scotland — illustrating his paper with two cases of Scotch insects 

 compared with English representatives of the same species — among 

 which was a fine series of Cry modes exulis, one of the rarest moths of 

 Scotland. During the conversazione Lieut. Mason exhibited some 

 butterflies and beetles collected in Africa. — J. W. Ellis, Sec. 



The Leeds Naturalists' Club and Scientific Association. —414tb 

 meeting. Feb. 22nd, Mr. W. B. Turner, F.C.S., F.R.M.S., president, in 

 the chair.— Lecture given by Mr. G. R. Yine, of Sheffield, on "The 

 Carboniferous Limestone — the shores of an Ancient World." 



415th Meeting, March 1st, the president in the chair. — Shells from 

 Holderness shown by Mr. W. E. Clarke ; dragon-flies of various species 

 by the president ; and parasites of the tufted duck, ring ouzel, and house 

 ■ martin by Mr. F. Emsley. 



416th Merting, IMar. 8th, the president in the chair. — Mr. Washington 

 Teasdale, F.R.M.S., brought a fluid lens, made by Mr. Sellars of Birken- 

 head, whose system of cementing glass was excellent. Mr. Teasdale 

 demonstrated that the graphoscope is in principle and effect the chromatic 

 stereoscope of Brewster, and exhibited a variety of diagrams in illustra- 



