96 



Northern News. 



The new President of the Ro3^al Microscopical Society is Dr. D. H. 

 Scott, F.R.S. 



Mr. J. E. Marr, M.A., F. R.S., whose excellent work on the g-eolog-y of 

 the Lake District, etc., is well known, has been selected as President of the 

 Geolog-ical Society of London. 



The 'Halifax Naturalist' for February contains 'Local Records in 

 Natural History, 1903,' by various contributors. The part also includes 

 an instalment of ' The Flora of Halifax.' 



A Great Spotted Woodpecker, which has been under observation for 

 some months in Hang-ing-stones Wood, near Huddersfield, has been shot, 

 and taken to Mr. C. Mosley ' for preservation ' ! 



What is said to be a record cod was landed at Grimsby by the trawler 

 'St, Lawrence,' nth February, and measured 49 inches in leng-th, 32 inches 

 round the shoulders, and 9 inches round the tail. 



With the issue of No. i of ' Knovvledg-e and Scientific News,' the 

 column devoted to ' British Ornithological Notes,' hitherto conducted in 

 ' Knowledg"e ' by Mr. H. F. Witherby, is to be discontinued. 



We reg'ret to record the death of Mr. Ang-us Macpherson, of Redcar, 

 which took place early in February. Mr. Macpherson has been a member 

 of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union since 1888, and has cilways taken i\ 

 g-reat interest in natural history. 



Dr. D. H. Scott has an interesting- article on 'Germinating- Spores in 

 a Fossil Fern-sporang-ium ' in the 'New Phytologist' for January. The 

 specimen described was obtained by Mr. J. Lomax in February 1903, and is 

 cut from a nodule from the Halifax Hard Bed. 



'Nature Study in a Leeds School,' by the Head Master, and 'Nature 

 Study : the Equipment of the Teacher, and its Co-ordination and Co-relation 

 with other School Subjects,' by J. B. Branson, appear in the January and 

 February ' Nature Study,' respectively. The latter paper was read at the 

 Nature Stud}^ Conference, held at Beverley in November last. 



Mr. A. H. Pawson, J.P., F.L.S., F.G.S., of Leeds, has accepted the 

 presidency of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union for 1904, on the invitation of 

 the Executive Committee of the Union. Mr. Pawson is a well-known 

 Yorkshire naturalist, and takes particular interest in botany and g;eolog-y. 

 His charming contributions to 'The Naturalist' will be familiar to our 

 readers. 



The January ' Zoolog-ist ' contains the following- records of interest to 

 our readers : — A Lesser Shrew at Ackworth, the Great Grey Shrike in 

 Cheshire, Ferruginous Duck at Ackworth, and the Great Skua in the Isle 

 of Man. Mr. T. H. Nelson gives a note from the forthcoming- ' Birds of 

 Yorkshire' relating- to the 'White-Spotted Bluethroat obtained at Scar- 

 boroug-h in 1880.' 



Owing- to the prog-ress made b}- the Keighley Museum during- the past 

 three \'ears, it has been found necessary to appoint an Assistant Curator. 

 The post has been given to Mr. George Rose, late of Barnsley, a well- 

 known and successful breeder of lepidoptera. A new insect room is to be 

 fitted up, and while making- it interesting^ and instructive to teachers and the 

 g-enerai public, we imderstand that Mr. Mosley intends to carry on some 

 experimental work in Entomology. 



'Vestiges of the Celts in the West Riding,' is the title of a valuable 

 p.iper in the ' Bradford Antiquary ' (tlie journal of the Bradford Historical 

 and Antiquarian Society), Part 8, 1903, edited by Prof. Federer. The 

 autlioi- is Mr. J. H. Rowe, who gives a useful summary of the evidence of 

 the early occupants of the district. The sauic journal has other interesting 

 papers by Messrs. S. O. Bailey, W. Cud worth, C. A. Federer, H. Speight, 

 T. T. Empsall, and James Parkei-, thoug^h they hardly come within the 

 sco]3e of this journal. The Editor's ' Story of the Turvin Coiners ' is a most 

 readable description of these famous forgers. 



Naturalist, 



MAR. m 



