June, 1889. 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
147 
being thus destroyed. This island was visited by Mr. Lea, as a 
volunteer naturalist, in company with an expedition sent out to make 
collections for the British Museum. He gave some graphic illustrations 
of life on the island, which is used as a convict settlement. The 
temperature, he said, varied only between 78° and 82° throughout the 
year. Mr. Pumphrey afterwards exhibited a series of lantern photo¬ 
graphs, including a number of beautiful illustrations of hoar-frost on 
trees and shrubs, which he took last winter.— Biological Section, 
May 14tli. Mr. G. Pumphrey in the chair. Mr. W. B. Grove, M.A., 
exhibited Gornuvia metallica , a beautiful myxomycete new to the 
district; also, for Miss Gingell, Auricularia mesenterica, Peziza Adce , 
and the oecidial stage of Triphragmium ulmarice, from Dursley; Mr. 
J. E. Baguall showed Orchis mascula, Scilla nutans Jlore-albo, and other 
flowering plants and mosses, from Dursley. An interesting paper by 
Mr. J. B. Stone, J.P., entitled “ Plant Marches, or the Geological 
Progression of Plant Life,” was read, in the absence of the author, by 
Mr. Herbert Stone. A short discussion followed in which Messrs. 
Pumphrey, H. Stone, Bagnall, Grove, and T. Clarbe took part.— 
Geological Section, May 21st. Mr. Waller, B.A., B.Sc., in the chair. 
Mr. W. P. Marshall exhibited Spider orchis, from Wye Common in 
Kent; Mr. Grove, various fungi ; Mr. Thomas Bolton, some elvers, 
sent by Mr. Cullis, from Gloucester. Mr. Grazebrook, of Dudley, read 
a note, communicated by Mr. E. Pritchard through Mr. W. R. Hughes, 
on “ Gold-bearing Quartz of South Africa.” Some fine specimens of 
the rock were exhibited, including conglomerates, quartzites, and 
volcanic ash. Mr. Goode exhibited samples of crushed gold-beariug 
rock, from Victoria, Australia, said to yield :—(a) 18ozs. lodwts. to the 
cwt., ( b ) llozs. 4dwts. to the cwt. An interesting discussion followed, 
and a cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Grazebrook. A communication 
was read from the British Association on the subject of Geological 
Photography. 
BIRMINGHAM MICROSCOPISTS’ AND NATURALISTS’ 
UNION.—April 29tli. Mr. H. Hawkes reported on the excursion of 
the members to Weymouth, and read lists of the flowering plants and 
seaweeds observed, and afterwards shown at the meeting. Mr. J. 
Madison exhibited specimens of Helix cereolus and H. Carp enter iana, 
from the United States; Mr. Camm, the following Fungi: —Dothidea 
ulmi, Laclinella nivea, Reticularia lycoperdon , and Cornuvia metallica ; 
Mr. Hawkes, a series of marine algse, with reproductive organs. 
Mr. G. H. Corbet then read a paper on the “ Diffusion of Iron.” The 
writer said he did not purpose speaking of its diffusion in organic 
nature, but rather of its geological distribution. The various rock 
systems from the Laurentian to the Chalk were reviewed, with the 
amount of iron they contained and the forms in which it occurred. 
The Carboniferous system was particularly rich in this mineral, 
twenty-five kinds of ironstone being found in our local coalfields. 
Magnetite, ilmenite, limonite, chalybite, marcasite, hematite, and 
specular iron ore were described at some length, with the quantity of 
iron they yielded. This metal, so generally distributed, had been 
called the “pigment of nature,” and, considered with our coal supply, 
had largely contributed to our national greatness. A collection of the 
various ores, &c., was shown at the meeting.—May 6tli. Mr. J. 
Collins exhibited a named and mounted collection of marine algae, 
from Weymouth ; Mr. J. Moore, specimens of Helix nemoralis, with an 
umbilicus; also specimens of Cyclosloma elegans var. ochroleuca, from 
Portland ; Mr. J. Madison, Helix Newberryana and H. californiensis, 
