44 



The Naturalist. 



A letter from him on Sept. 11th records five herons, some of them young* 

 He thinks they have bred in the woods by Hemsworth dam ; if so, we 

 may have another heronry. No doubt it will be protected by W, H. 

 Leatham, Esq., M.P., as that at Walton was by Mr. Waterton. Sept. 8, 

 sparrow-hawk and six terns ; 10th, gold-crested wren, great, blue, and 

 marsh tits, five herons, coots, moorhens, lapwings, three of swallow tribe. 

 Last sand-martin noted on 11th, and two ring ouzels shot at Penistone. 



Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — Monthly 

 meeting, Aug. 28th, the president (Mr. S. J. Capper) in the chair. — Mr. 

 T. von Sobbe read a paper entitled " Our Holidays at Tunbridge Wells," 

 in which he detailed (and exhibited) the entomological captures made by 

 himself and son in that neighbourhood during the early summer, con- 

 cluding with some remarks on the general scarcity of insects during the 

 whole of the present season. Mr. C. J. S. Makin read a paper on " Silk 

 and Silkworms," in which, after briefly sketching the history of sericulture 

 from its origin in China to its introduction into England in 1685, he gave 

 a detailed account of the life-history of several of the silk-moths which 

 have, within the last few years, attracted the attention of silkworm 

 breeders, such as Bomhyx Yama-mai, B. cynthia, B. pernyi, B. cecropia 

 (the silk-moth of the United States), A. atlas, &c. He illustrated his 

 paper by specimens of each species, and by living larvse (worms) of 

 B. mori, B. cecropia, a,iid. B. Boylei. 



Manchester Cryptogamic Society. — Monthly meeting, August, Dr. 

 B. Carrington, F.R.S.E., in the chair. — Captain Cunliffe exhibited a 

 beautiful series of mosses, mounted for microscopical examination. Some 

 of the sections of the stems and leaves of Sphagna were excellent as 

 scientific objects, and admirable as specimens of manipulative skill. Mr. 

 William Jones, of Llandudno, sent a few freshly gathered mosses, from 

 the Orme's Head, for distribution amongst the members. Mr. C. P. 

 Hobkirk, F.L.S., editor of the Naturalist, sent copies of his paper on the 

 development of Osmunda regalis. Mr. W. H. Pearson exhibited speci- 

 mens of Lejeunia calyptrifolia, collected by Mr. C. Wild at Tyn-y-Groes ; 

 he also exhibited specimens of a sphagnum new to Europe, Sphagnum 

 sedoides, Bridel, which had been found at Finisterre. A collection of 

 lichens, which had been collected by W. H. Scholes in South America, 

 and specimens of the male plant of Radula germana (Jack), collected by 

 F. Rogers on Ben Cruachan, July, 1881, and Radula commutata 

 (Gottsche), from the herbarium of Dr. Carrington, collected in the New 

 Forest by C. Lyell, 1818, were exhibited by Mr. Pearson. Mr. Cunlifie- 

 exhibited a quantity of starch which he had obtained from the rhizome of 

 Pteris aqnilina, and stated that the starch grains of this fern differed con- 

 siderably from the starch grains of L. Jilix-raas ; the hon. secretary, a 

 number of mosses recently collected in New Zealand. Dr. Carrington 

 then read a short paper on the Manchester water supply at Eccles, where 

 it had been the subject of some complaint in reference to its drinkable 

 qualities. — T. Rogers, Hon. Sec. 



