REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
851 
very interesting relics were next shown by Mr. and Mrs. Lomax. 
After a substantial tea at the George Hotel, Mr. W. R. Hughes, the 
President of the Section, took the chair, and an eloquent and 
interesting address was delivered by Mr. Sam: Timmins on “Dr. John¬ 
son and his connection with Lichfield.” The address lucidly sketched 
the Doctor’s career from his birth, through the years of school dis¬ 
cipline, to the date of his last visit to Lichfield in 1784, shortly before 
his death. Daring the last visit he paid for a monument to be erected 
in St. Michael’s Church, to the memory of his parents, but either it 
was never erected or the stone was lost. The address was en¬ 
thusiastically applauded by a very appreciative audience. Votes of 
thanks to the Rev. Canon Lonsdale, Mr. Sam: Timmins, Mr. and Mrs. 
Lomax, Mr. Thomas Clarke, and Mr. Bridgeman, who had con¬ 
tributed to the pleasures of the day, brought the proceedings to a close. 
Geological Section, November ‘25th.—Mr. Waller, President, in the 
chair. Exhibits: —Mr. Bolton, (1) mounted specimens of Acineta 
grandis, with pseudopodia extended; (2), parasitic growth within a 
Closterium. Mr. W. P. Marshall, fossils found in Coprolite Pit, 
near Potton, Bedfordshire. Mr. W. B. Grove, the following fungi: 
Didymium pertusum , Valsa ceratopliora , Rhinotrichuvi Thwaitesii , var. 
cinnamomeum, and Geplialosporium Acremonium, var. major, from Brad- 
nock’s Marsh ; Sphceria spermoides and Agaricus inJ'undibuUformis, from 
Sutton ; Erysiphe umbelliferarum, Fusidium album and Puccinia sonchi 
(new to Britain), from Hamstead. Mr. Waller, specimen of Obsidian 
from the Yellowstone district, collected by Mr. C. Pumphrey. The 
section shows that, before the final consolidation of the rock, spherulites 
formed, occasionally isolated, but most frequently coalesced into bands. 
Later on these shared in the crumpling of the rock in its further flow, 
and after the col solidation of the glass, a coarser and more normal 
formation of spherulites has taken place, enveloping in most cases the 
bands of the first set of spherulites, which are very transparent, and 
only show their radial structure in polarised light. Mr. W. H. Wilkinson, 
the following plants from Scotland: Geranium sylvaticum, Raplianus 
raphanistrum, Alchemilla alpiua, also a specimen of Phyllody of the 
bracts of Plantago major (Plantago defonnis), each bract developed into 
a long leaf-like expansion by which the inflorescence was nearly hidden. 
The President drew the attention of the Section to the loss which the 
Society had suffered in consequence of the death of Dr. Wright, of 
Cheltenham, corresponding member of the Society. He also informed 
the Section that the General Committee had passed a vote of con¬ 
dolence with Dr. Wright’s son. Mr. Haghes also spoke in the warmest 
terms of the many and valuable services rendered to the Society by the 
late Dr. Wright. Mr. Cullis informed the Section that a felsitic boulder 
had been discovered in making an excavation in Cherry Street, near 
the Cobden Coffee House. 
THE BIRMINGHAM MICROSCOPISTS’ AND NATURALISTS’ 
UNION.—October 20th.—Mr. J. W. Neville exhibited fossil ferns, 
from Albion; Mr. Dunn, a collection of plants, from Feckenham Bog; 
Mr. Sanderson, an artichoke gall on oak. Under the microscope, Mr. 
C. P. Neville showed a garden centipede, with it§ peculiarly arranged 
tracheal system. October 27tli.—Mr. Moore showed a case of lioverer 
flies and drone flies. Mr. Tylar, under the microscope, a section of 
carboniferous limestone, from Froghall, with foraminifera in situ; Mr. 
Moore, stomach of drone fly, with pollen grains; Mr. Insley, antheridia 
and archegonia of moss. Mr. J. Betteridge then read his second 
paper on the “ Birds of the District.” November 3rd.—Mr. Madison 
