224 



NORTHERN NEWS. 



Mr. J. Whitaker describes a Kestrel laying- in an artificial nesting-box 

 at Rainworth Lodg-e, Notts. (' Zoolog-ist,' May 1904). 



At a recent meeting- of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological 

 Society, Mr. C. E. Scott exhibited a specimen of Periplmieta aiistralasice, 

 a Cockroach which has become naturalised at Worsley, Lancashire. 



The Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society held an excursion to 

 Whitby from 20th May to 25th May. In connection with this a useful 

 pamphlet on the geology of the district has been prepared by Mr. C. Fox- 

 Strangways. 



In the report of the Committee of the Natural History Society of 

 Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne for 1902-3 a substantial 

 increase of members is recorded. No fewer than iii new members joined 

 during the year, leaving the present membership 327, 



At a recent meeting of the Whitby Urban Council it was suggested that 

 the Council should consider the advisability of advertising the fact that 

 Prof. J. J. Thompson had discovered that the sands at Whitby were more 

 strongly radio-active than at any other place in England. 



It is very gratifying- to note the practical interest that is being shown in 

 botanical survey work. The Royal Society has just awarded a g-rant to 

 Mr. W. M. Rankin, B.Sc, late of Leeds, for the survey of Hampshire and 

 for his contribution to the survey of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 



Readers of the ' Naturalist ' will be interested to learn that the University 

 of London have granted the degree of D.Sc. to Mr. F. Cavers, late of the 

 Yorkshire College, now at Plymouth, for his work on the Hepaticse, and 

 that the Royal Society have given him a grant of ^25 towards his investi- 

 tions of these plants. 



The Rev. E. A. Woodruffe Peacock, Cadney, informs us that in a letter 

 written to him last year by the late S. H. Hudson it was stated that 

 Nisionades seijiiargus was not extinct. Mr. Peacock is anxious to know 

 the exact locality for this species, and would supply the six inch map to 

 anyone who knows, in order that the locality may be recorded thereon, 

 or he would gladly join any lepidopterist who knows the locality in an 

 excursion. 



At the recent annual meeting of the Ripon Naturalists' Club, the 

 secretary, Mr. B. M. Smith, gave an account of the history of the society. 

 It dates back to 1882, when the then secretary of the Yorkshire Naturalists' 

 Union supplied two Ripon workers with a list of other naturalists in the 

 district, and the society came into existence. The society is now relieved 

 of its financial anxiety, and has a balance in hand. Its museum is in the 

 possession of the Ripon City Council. 



Included in the Duke of Norfolk's wedding gifi to Sheffield of a 48-acre 

 open space at Wincobank, is an ancient encampment, which is generally 

 considered to be of pre-Roman date. An effort is being- made to get this 

 fenced in and preserved, and Mr. E. Howarth, Curator of the Sheffield 

 Museum, suggests that a model of the earthworks should be prepared. 

 Objects of archaeological interest are not very numerous near Sheffield, and 

 it is to be hoped that something will be done in the desired direction. 



Mr. Percy F. Kendall, F. G.S., who has been Lecturer in Geology at the 

 Yorkshire College since October 1891, has been appointed to the Professor- 

 ship of Geology in the University. Mr. Kendall formerly studied at the 

 Royal School of Mines, and was subsequently elected to the Bishop 

 Berkeley Fellowship at the Owens College, Manchester. He is well known 

 as an active contributor to the literature of geology, especially relating- to 

 Yorkshire, and he has recently been invited by the Geolog-ical Section of 

 the Royal Coal Commission to report upon the concealed portion of the 

 York, Derby, and Nottingham coalfield. 



Naturalist, 



'^j 5 dUt. 1904 



