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REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
—Section D, Zoology and Botany. Chairman, F. T. Mott, F.R.G.S. 
Monthly Meeting, Wednesday, April 21st. Attendance twelve (two 
ladies). The Chairman read the draft of the annual report of the 
Section to be presented to the Council of the Society, which was 
approved and adopted. Exhibits :—A leaf of chrysanthemum on the 
under-side of which were several minute cocoons of some very small 
insect, by Mr. E. F. Cooper, F.L.S. Mr. Vice undertook to keep these 
cocoons and report the nature of the insect which should emerge. 
Specimens of Ricciocarpus natans, a floating hepatic new to the 
county, recently discovered in a pond near Thurcaston, by the Chair¬ 
man. Dr. Finch read a paper on Colchicum autumnale, commonly 
called the autumn crocus, which abounds in a meadow near Keyham, 
and has the unusual habit of producing its leaves in spring, its seed- 
vessels in summer, and its flowers in the autumn. The seed-vessels 
are of course those which result from the flowers of the previous 
year, but it was believed by early writers to be an anomalous plant 
which produced its seeds before its flowers. The poisonous and 
medical properties of the several parts of the plant were pointed out, 
and the paper was illustrated by an excellent series of fresh and 
dried specimens, in various stages of growth. Mr. Thos. Carter, 
LL.B., read a letter from Mr. L. Fosbrooke, jun., of Ravenstone, 
describing the recent capture of a badger in that neighbourhood. 
PETERBOROUGH NATURAL HISTORY, SCIENTIFIC, AND 
ARC IDEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—March 18th. Geological Section. 
— Chairman, Mr. E. Wheeler. The subjects considered were the 
Danish peat and shell mounds, Crannoges and the lake dwellings of 
Switzerland.—March 25tli. Botanical Section. —Chairman, Mr. J. W. 
Bodger. An informal address was given by the chairman on the 
plants brought by the members, viz.: Draba verna, Tussilago far far a, 
Lamiuvi purpureum and L. album , Mercurialispereunis, Arum maculatum , 
Senecio vulgaris, Capsella Bursa-pastoris, Ranunculus Ficaria, Viola 
oclorata, Stellaria media, Cerastium scmidecandrum, Corglus Avellana 
(showing both male and female flowers), and Beilis pereunis. The various 
forms of leaves and parts of the flowers were considered, and the 
chief characteristics of the plants pointed out.—April 2nd. Geological 
Section. —Chairman, Mr. E. Wheeler. Subject considered : “ The 
Alluvial Deposits of the Palieolithic Age.”—April 8th. Botanical 
Section. —The chairman gave an address on “ Phyllotaxis, or the 
Arrangement of the Leaves,” illustrating the terms orthosticliy, cycle, 
and genetic spiral by means of diagrams ; showing also plants of 
N. 0. Labiutce and Caryophgllacece having a divergence of 4 . also Sedges 
with | divergence, and giving instances of divergences of %, §, 
and |f. Miss Lilley exhibited in flower Laminin album, Cerastium 
viscosum, Cardamine hirsuta, Cory dal is solida, Capsella Bursa -pas tori s, 
Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, and other plants.—April 15th. Geological 
Section. —Chairman, Mr. E. Wheeler. Portions of Lyell’s “ Students’ 
Elements,” pages 126—148, were read and discussed, reference being 
made by Mr. J. W. Bodger to the skull of the ox found in the 
Cambridgeshire Fens with a flint celt partially imbedded in the bone 
immediately between the horns ; and by whom bones and teeth of 
Elephas primigenius, Equus caballus, Cervus alces, and of other animals 
from the Pleistocene gravels in the neighbourhood of Peterborough 
were exhibited. 
