422 
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 
I will now, in accordance with our usual practice, briefly glance 
at the papers read and the work done during the session, which 
has been in all ways a prosperous one. 
In April, Dr. C. B. Plowright sent a note on Paraselenae or 
Mock Moons, observed at King’s Lynn on the 9th March, and 
Mr. Geldart exhibited a Grass ( Pleuropogon sabinii), brought from 
Novaya Zemlya by Colonel Feilden. Mr. Mottram showed under 
the microscope specimens of Sponge Spicules, and gave an account 
of Dr. Ilinde’s work in connection with these objects, also alluding 
to the Prince of Monaco’s paper on Deep-Sea Dredging. Mr. E. 
Corder exhibited the circulation of the protoplasm in Nitella, and 
made some remarks on the sudden disappearance of this plant in 
certain localities. 
In May, a portrait of the late Sir Edward Newton, President of 
the Society in 1887, was presented by Professor Newton, and 
Mr. Francis Sutton read his “ Development of the Protective 
Instinct in Fishes,” a subject of much interest. Mr. W. G. Clarke 
sent an extract from the ‘Norwich Mercury,’ of 1777, describing 
Pobert Marsham’s experiments in washing the bark of trees 
(cf. vol. ii. pp. 133 to 195). 
Mr. Bidwell laid on the table a new fruit from the Cape of 
Good Hope, known as the Melon Pear, of a pale yellow colour, and 
in taste resembling a Banana. Mr. Patterson showed drawings 
of a Plaice with an extra fin, and a Crab with two extra claws, and 
read his monthly notes on Fishes and Birds. On March 28th 
a Shag was brought him from the sea, which for three weeks 
proved an interesting pet, for it soon answered to call and would catch 
fish when thrown to it as neatly as a Pelican. “ When hungry,” 
continues Mr. Patterson, “ it uttered a harsh discordant trumpet 
note, and would peck at my boots, more especially at the shoe 
strings, when demanding attention. It ate 2| lbs. of fish a day. 
On one occasion it ate three ten-inch Whiting one after the other, 
and a handful of Dabs’ heads. It was no hard task to swallow 
a fish larger than its own head. Gurnards’ heads were particularly 
liked. All the indigestible bones were vomited in a compact mass, 
reminding one of the pellets of the Owl.” 
