NATURAL HISTORY NOTES.-REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 141 
The amount and frequency of snow storms were unusual for March. 
A slight thunderstorm visited Loughborough on the 29th, and thunder 
was heard at Coston Rectory on the same day. Sunshine was deficient. 
12, Victoria Street, Loughborough. Wm ' Beeeidoe > F ' E ' Met ' Soc ' 
Composition of the Earth. — The 
following 
estimate of 
the 
proportion of the various elements in the crust of the globe is by 
the Italian geologist, Prof. A. Stoppani:— Parts in 1000 
Oxygen 
Silicon 
Aluminium 
Magnesium 
Calcium 
Potassium . 
Sodium.... 
Iron. 
Carbon 
Sulphur.. .. 
Hydrogen . 
Chlorine .. 
Nitrogen. 
500 
250 
227 
23 
Of the remaining elements, about 57 in number, the aggregate mass is 
too small to be noticeable.—H. 
Boulder-Clays.— The finely laminated clays which occur irregularly 
in the drift I have always found to be unfossiliferous. They appear to 
have been formed by rapid streams issuing from the termination of the 
melted ice and carrying along the finely-divided particles which are 
formed by the crushing of the rock-fragments along the bed of a 
glacier.—H. 
Trees.— At the outside there are only about fifty common forest 
trees in Great Britain ; not more than twice as many as the letters of 
the alphabet. Yet how many know the alphabet of trees? How many 
people can name even the trees they see in a single walk? Loudon’s 
book, now out of print, is still the best general guide to a knowledge of 
trees and shrubs.—H. 
Reptiles — Roman Coins. —Will any reader of the “Midland 
Naturalist” kindly inform me if “ Reptiles” exist at the present time 
in Ireland ; and, if so, what species, and in what localities? Also the 
best work from which to name and tabulate “ Roman Coins,” together 
with price aud name of publisher.—J. W. Bodger, 18, Cowgate, 
Peterborough. 
ports of Societies. 
BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL 
SOCIETY. —General Meeting, March 2nd.—Dr. Crosskey delivered 
an address on “ The Physical History of Great Britain from the 
Glacial Epoch to the Present Day.” Dr. Crosskey chiefly occupied 
himself with the discrimination between the established facts and the 
problems yet to be solved. A rise in the level of the land accompanied 
the coming in of Arctic conditions. The exact height reached is 
uncertain, but the existence of large river beds beneath ice-made 
clays ; the changes in water courses necessary for the existence of 
