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REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
May, 1889. 
collection of shells from the Straits of Magellan ; Mr. J. Madison, 
Bulirnus pacificus, from Queensland, also B. arelaira and Gorbicula 
nepeanensis, from New South Wales.—April 8th. Mr. W. H. Bath 
showed a specimen of the great green grasshopper, Bhasgonura 
viridissima , from St. Albans ; Mr. A. Camm, a fungus, Virgaria nigra ; 
Mr. J. W. Neville then gave an exhibition of lantern pictures of 
“ Pond Life.” They comprised a series of drawings of the Infusoria, 
llotifera, Polyzoa, Entomostraca, and other interesting slides, 
including nest of stickleback, homes of water spiders, &c., &c. A 
short description of the life and habits of the different objects was 
given.—April loth. Mr. C. P. Neville exhibited a collection of 
Silurian corals from Wenlock and Benthall Edge. Mr. J. Moore read 
a paper on “ Simple Methods of Staining.” The process adopted by 
the writer was simple in the extreme, only two dyes being used, an 
aniline dye and logwood, to both of which a little alum should be 
added. Any of the aniline dyes would answer the purpose, but he 
gave preference to magenta and green. Every degree of intensity 
could be obtained by strengthening or diluting the solution. If the 
colour was found too intense it could be reduced by soaking in spirits 
of wine. Objects stained with aniline dye could be mounted in 
Canada Balsam ; and those coloured with logwood, in glycerine or 
glycerine jelly. A number of objects stained by this process were 
shown ; they consisted of palates, wood sections, and insect 
preparations, and had been mounted for five years. 
OXFOKDSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.—Tuesday, 
April 2nd, 1889; Rev. J. W. B. Bell in the chair. The Secretary read 
a letter from the President, Mr. E. B. Poulton, stating that arrange¬ 
ments were being made with the editor of the “ Midland Naturalist ” 
to publish a selection of the Society’s lectures in that magazine, and 
he therefore suggested that a considerable number of members would 
like to take it in. The meeting was a small one, owing to its being 
vacation, but a list of twelve subscribers was made out. Mr. Henry 
Balfour then gave a lecture on the “ Finmarken Whale Fishery.” 
Briefly describing the two genera of whales—the Right and the Fin 
whales, he said that while the former were hunted in the Greenland 
fishery, the latter, which are much larger animals, alone appeared off 
the coast of Finland; they are called Rorquals. There are several 
species. An average size is sixty to eighty feet long, and some are 
even longer. To the Greenland fishery, as all knew, large ships went 
out, and the whales were harpooned from small row boats. The 
Finmark whales, on the other hand, are hunted from small 80 to 100 
ton steamers, having a powerful harpoon gun fixed on a swivel in the 
bows. The harpoon itself was a terrible weapon of steel, six feet long, 
and carrying in its point, besides barbs, a shell, which was made to 
explode within the animal after it had been struck. A small model of 
one of these instruments was shown, and a whale hunt vividly described. 
The dead whale is towed to shore at the whaling station. The process 
of cutting off the blubber and rendering the oil was also gone into, and 
all the surroundings of a whale factory explained. The whale fishery 
is a very interesting study for a naturalist, and a visit to its head 
quarters gives one a pleasant voyage along the coast of Norway, round 
the North Cape to Finland. It has only one drawback—a whaling 
station is excessively mal-odorous ; but the enthusiastic naturalist will 
not mind this. The lecture was illustrated with diagrams, pictures, 
and specimens. Everyone has heard something of the Greenland 
whale fishing, but this account of the Finmarken fishery, like the 
industry itself, is new to most people. 
