332 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
Boletus badius, Ag. acutesquamosus (rare, new to the district), Ag. 
squamosus, Russula drimeia, R. depalleus , R. Integra, R. fragilis , id. 
ochroleuca , 7i\ nigricans , 7t. cyanoxantha, Fistulina hepatica , and Sporo- 
dinia grand is , all from Sutton and Sutton Park. Mr. J. E. Bagnall 
exhibited d#. ( Triclioloma) imbricatus, new to Warwickshire; Boletus 
chrysenteron, and other fungi; for Mrs. E. Hopkins, Sphagnum rigidum 
var. compaction, S. cuspidatum var. falcatum , -S', tenellum , £. acutifolium 
var. purpureum, Polytrichum commune var. minus, and other mosses from 
Hampshire. 
BIRMINGHAM MICROSCOPISTS’ AND NATURALISTS’ 
UNION.—September 22nd. Mr. Dunn exhibited, on behalf of Mr. 
Baxter, specimens of larvse of Pale Tussock Moth, Orgyia pudibunda, 
popularly known as the “ Hop Dog;” Mr. Hawkes, Gentaurea nigra, 
with fungus, Puccinia compositarum; Mr. lnsley, a collection of fossils 
from the Red Crag of Essex, also a number of sharks' teeth from 
Eocene formation. Under the microscope, Mr. Tylar showed poison 
bag, gland, and fang of spider, Epeira diadema; Mr. Foster, young 
spiders, just hatched, and zoea of shore crab ; Mr. J. W. Neville, 
palate of Doris Jlammea; Mr. Hawkes, seeds of Parnassia palustris; 
Mr. Bradbury, section of young vegetable marrow.—September 29th. 
Mr. Delicate, a specimen of long-eared bat, Plecotus auritus; Mr. 
Hawkes, a Lichen, Cenomyces deformis, in fruit; Mr. Deakin, Puccinia 
Menthce, on garden mint; Mr. Moore, Bulimus obscurus, Pupa secale, 
and other shells, from Swanage. Under the microscopes, Mr. Foster 
showed tongue of honey bee; Mr. J. W. Neville, a section of Yore- 
dale Limestone, with goniatites in situ. Mr. Betteridge then read a 
paper (the first of a series) on the “ Birds of the District.”—October 
6 th. Mr. Moore exhibited a collection of Caddis cases, showing 
various materials and modes of structure ; Mr. Darley, ichneumon 
Hies from cocoon of Vanessa atalanta ; Mr. Hawkes, the resting stage 
of a fungus, Claviceps purpurea, on Lolium. Under the microscopes, 
Mr. Grew showed peculiar fibre in Japanese paper by polarised light; 
Mr. Hawkes, eggs of house hy; Mr. Foster, water spider, Argyroneta 
aquatica; Mr. J. W. Neville, comb-footed ichneumon hy, Ophion 
luteum. A paper was then read by Mr. Hawkes on the “Rise and 
Progress of Systematic Botany,” which described the early knowledge 
of plants as pursued by herbalists on account of their curative 
properties. The work achieved by Gerard Tradescant and Nehemiah 
Grew was enlarged upon. The systems of Tournefort, Ray, Linnaeus, 
and Jussien were then reviewed, the basis of each being pointed out, 
with the additions made by later botanists. The paper concluded by 
describing some of the natural divisions of the vegetable world, and 
was rendered simpler by a number of diagrams.—October 13tli. Mr. 
Bradbury exhibited a specimen of Sweet Scabious, showing an abnormal 
growth consisting of a tuft of leaves springing from the centre of the 
receptacle; Mr. lnsley, bony plates of Ichthyosaurus, from the Blue 
Lias clay; Mr. J. Betteridge, the following birds: Dunlin, Tringa 
alpina; Ringed Plover, JEgialites hiaticula; Curlew Sandpiper, Tringa 
subarquata; Common Sandpiper, Tringoides hypoleucos; and Sander- 
ling, Calidris arenaria, all from Rhyl; Mr. J. A. Grew, a book, “The 
Anatomy of Plants, with an Idea of a Philosophical History of 
Plants,” by Nehemiah Grew, dated 1682, which was much admired 
for the beauty of the plates. Under the microscopes Mr. Tylar 
showed silk glands of spider and sting of wasp, with poison gland, 
duct, &c. 
