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REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
plumicornis ); Mr. Camm exhibited Badhamia utricularis, grown on blotting 
paper from the plasmodium ; Mr. Greeuway exhibited a sketch of a grampus, 
which he had seen off the coast of Barmouth. 
BIRMINGHAM MICROSCOPISTS’ AND NATURALISTS’ UNION.— 
May 15th. The President, Professor Bridge, M.A., delivered an address on 
“ Vocal Organs in Fishes.” He said it was a common but erroneous idea that 
fishes had no vocal organs, that they were the most dumb of all animals. 
He would, however, show that they were possessed of many sounds varying 
in intensity in different fishes, but he would only deal with voluntary sounds. 
After describing the various methods by which the sounds were produced, 
the speaker said the sounds were monotones, and could be heard a long 
distance ; they rarely produced them when isolated but mostly when in 
groups. The sounds may be classified under three heads: 1st, Stridulation by 
friction of interspinal bones ; 2nd, By expulsion of air from air bladder, and 
in certain cases, of the muscular vibration of the diaphragm ; 3rd, By 
muscular vibration intensified by the resonance of the air bladder. The 
president then dealt with the value of vocal organs, and said that the 
conclusions were not as yet completely satisfactory ; that they must be of use, 
is evident by the relation they bore to the period of reproduction, being 
heard much more at that time than at any other. In conclusion the president 
thought that the presence of vocal organs in fish facilitated the fertilization 
of the ova, and also helped to protect them from their enemies. The address 
was profusely illustrated by diagrams and preserved specimens.—May 29th. 
Holiday Exhibits.—Mr. H. Hawkes exhibited (for Mr. J. Madison) a 
collection of plants from Derbyshire, including specimens of Helleborus viridis, 
Geum rivale, &c. ; Mr. Linton, land shells collected in Dovedale ; Mr. Madison 
gave an account of a visit of a few members to Dovedale. with a description 
of the trout breeding establishment of Lord Hindlip; Mr. Hawkes gave a 
description of the Torquay district recently visited by a few members, and 
gave some account of the objects observed.—June 5th. Mr. Hawkes showed 
PEcidium tragopogonis, Puccinia vialvacearum, and other fungi from Maxstoke ; 
Mr. P. T. Deakin, a collection of insects taken during a recent visit to the 
Fens. They were in fine condition and comprised specimens of Nascia cilialis, 
cribralis, phragmitellus, chlorana, flammea , and venosa from Wickeu Fen, and 
Banliia argentula from Chippenham Fen ; Mr. Rolan, specimens of the larvae 
of some of our common moths preserved and mounted on their food plants ; 
Mr. White, specimens of fragrant orchis, Habenaria conopsea and Ophioylossum 
vulgatum ; Mr. G. H. Corbett, fossils from the Aymestry limestone.—June 
12th. Special: Botany.— Mr. Hawkes showed secidiospore stage of Puccinia 
Epilobii, and a series of flowering plants and sea-weeds, mounted as 
transparencies for lantern slides, many of them retaining their colour in a 
life-like manner ; under the microscope, Mr. J. Collins, two sections through 
the male and female conceptacles of Fucus. 
BIRMINGHAM ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—May 15th. Mr. R. C. 
Bradley in the chair. Mr. G. W. Wynn showed Acherontia Atropos from 
Cannock Chase. Mr. A. H. Martineau said that at Solihull a specimen of 
Sphinx ligustri had entered a hive and been killed by the bees. The bees 
then, unable to remove so large a body, had covered it up with wax. The 
secretary announced the receipt of a handsome present of books, about forty 
volumes, from Mr. John Willis, of Edgbaston ; and a vote of thanks was 
passed to Mr. Willis for his kind gift. Whitsuntide Excursion. —An 
excursion was made to the Cotswolds at Whitsuntide, when, under the 
kind guidance of Mr. Frank Stephens, a pleasant three days were spent in 
the neighbourhood of Stroud. Lyco&na Adonis and Ino Geryon were common 
amongst the lepidoptera, and a number of interesting diptera and hymenoptera 
were taken, the best capture perhaps being Cheilosia chrysocoma. 
July, 1893. 
