228 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
—Section D, Zoology and Botany. Chairman, F. T. Mott, F.R.G.S. 
Monthly Meeting, Wednesday, July 21. Attendance, 6 (2 ladies). 
Three new members were elected, viz.: Mr. W. II. Winterton, Miss 
Sloane, and Miss Mary Sloane. The Chairman reported that at the 
Field-day Excursion last week only three members attended. They 
went by rail to Elmsthorpe, and walked by Burbage Wood and 
Common to Hinckley. In the pond in which Utricularia vulgaris was 
found several years ago they found the plant still abundant, but not in 
flower. In a pond in Burbage Wood, Equisetum limosum , variety 
Jluviatile , was found in its extreme and most typical form. The follow¬ 
ing objects were exhibited, viz.: By Mr. and Miss Grundy, growing 
plants of Drosera rotundifolia , Anagallis tenella, Botrycliium lunaria, 
Sphagnum cymbifolium in fruit, all from North Wales ; also a piece of 
heart-wood from a very large decaying yew tree, said to be 900 years 
old, growing in the same district, the annual rings of wood being 
plainly visible and about one-eightli of an inch in thickness, indicating 
an increase of about one foot diameter in fifty years during the period 
of vigorous growth. By Dr. Finch, fresh specimens of Colchicxim 
autumnale in fruit, the length of the stem from the corm to the capsule 
being just one foot, the capsule itself 1^ inch, and the decaying leaves 
one foot long. By the Chairman, a specimen of the moth, Abraxas 
ulmata, taken in Burbage Wood. The Chairman read a paper on “ The 
hairless condition of the human skin,” arguing against Darwin’s theory 
that it has been produced by sexual selection. 
PETERBOROUGH NATURAL HISTORY, SCIENTIFIC, AND 
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. — June loth. Annual Meeting.— 
Mr. E. Wheeler in the chair. Report read and officers elected : presi¬ 
dent, the Very Rev. the Dean of Peterborough ; secretary and trea¬ 
surer, Mr. J. W. Bodger.—June 17th. Botanical ramble, conductor 
Mr. J. W. Bodger, from gravel walk by Low Farm and tan yard, 
along Roman bank eastward. Plants collected, Sagina apetala , 
Malachium aquaticum, Barbarea vulgaris, Geranium molle, G. dissectum , 
Senebiera coronopus , Conium maculatum , Torilis nodosa , Cicuta virosa, 
Callitriche verna, Bryonia dioica, Solanum dulcamara, Veronica becca- 
bunga ; Holcus mollis, Alopecurus geniculatus, &c., &c. — June 24th. 
Geological excursion to Hetton Brickfields, Oxford Clay section. 
Among fossils obtained were teeth of Acrodus nobilis, Belemnites puzo- 
sianus, one having the phragmacone chamber filled with the clay, and 
containing two small bivalves pyritized ( Nucula? ), Avicula incequivalvis, 
Trigonia gibbosa, Serpula vertebralis , and Ceritheum .— July 1st. Botani¬ 
cal ramble by North Bank ; plants collected —Chelidonium majus, 
Ranunculus circinatus, R. jluitans, R. heterophyllus, Iris pseudo-acones, 
Hottonia palustns, Scrophularia aquatica, Spargarium ramosum, Alisma 
plantago, Convolvulus sepium, and others. — July 8tli. Excursion to 
Cambridge, conducted by Dr. W. Easby. The Fitzwilliam and 
Antiquarian Museums were visited, under the direction of the Rev. 
L. S. Lewis, M.A., and Dr. Waldstein, the latter gentleman giving an 
informal address on some of the treasures exhibited; Mr. Lewis 
taking charge of the party. The Chapel and Hall of Peterhouse 
were explored, also the libraries of Corpus Christi, Trinity, and St. 
John’s Colleges, so rich in rare and illuminated manuscripts. The 
tower of St. John’s was ascended, from the top of which a splendid 
panoramic view of Cambridge and the surrounding country was 
obtained. Magdalen and King’s Colleges were also visited, the party 
returning to Peterborough highly pleased with so delightful an outing. 
Geological excursion the same evening, under the guidance of Mr. E. 
Wheeler, to Oxford Clay section at Flett-m. 
