11EP0RTS OF SOCIETIES. 
81 
of foreign Helices. Under the microscope the following objects were 
shown : by Mr. Moore, antennas of Volucella plumata; Mr. Darley, larva 
of Ephemera marginata; Mr. Tylar, an electro-deposit of Silicon 
resembling a chain diatom; Mr. J. W. Neville, a palate of Fnsus 
Islandicus. Mr. Betteridge then contributed his third paper on the 
“ Birds of the District.” November 24th.— A Lecture was delivered 
by the President, Mr. C. Beale, C.E., on “ What is under us,” in which 
he described the surface beds from the place of meeting, through Deep- 
fields, to Sedgley Beacon ; from this point the Lecturer dealt with 
“ What is under us.” The Silurian rocks were described in their 
descending order : the arrangement of the beds of the upper, middle, 
and lower Ludlow and Wenlock formations, the circumstances under 
which they were deposited and the forms of life most prevalent and 
peculiar to each. The formations of Cambrian age were next 
described as rocks in which the traces of life could still be made out, 
and the Laurentian, of which only an inconsiderable portion was 
found in this country. In the Pre-Cambrian rocks the records of life 
were nearly obliterated, and the few found only of the lowest kind. 
The lecture concluded by assigning reasons for the great antiquity of 
the earth—an antiquity altogether beyond human comprehension, and 
pointing out that, notwithstanding the diligent researches made in 
geology, we are as yet only on the border-land of knowledge. The 
lecture was illustrated by a beautifully drawn section of the earth’s 
crust and some of the rarer rocks and fossils. December 1st.—Mr. 
Hawkes exhibited the following fungi: Lecythea euphorbia:, Coleozporium 
senecionis, Puccinia variabilis, Puccinia lyclinidearum , and Puccinia 
sonchi, the latter pronounced by Mr. W. B. Grove a species new to 
Great Britain. Mr. Hawkes also showed the paraphyses of this 
fungus under the microscope. Mr. Rodgers then read a paper on 
“ Other Worlds than this,” in which he described the sun and its analysis 
by the spectrum, the solar system, three stages in the life of a world— 
youth, maturity, and old age, and the arrangement of the planets in 
their stages of development judged by telescopic appearances. The 
paper also described stellar worlds, and their great distance adding to 
the difficulty of observation, the motion of the solar system in space, 
its direction, &c. The paper was illustrated by diagrams. December 
8th.—Mr. Moore exhibited a large specimen of Unio pictorum from 
Ossington Lake; Mr. Rodgers, a collection of shells from Lamlasli 
Bay. Under the microscope, Mr. Dunn showed a specimen of Hydra 
vulgaris with a branched tentacle (probably the result of an injury) ; 
Mr. Tylar, marine organisms, larval stage of starfish, echini, etc. ; 
Mr. Sanderson, Riccia Jluitans. December 15th.—Special: Geology. 
Mr. Insley showed fossils from Wenlock limestone, including Calymene 
Blumenbachii, and quartz crystals from various localities; Mr. Hawkes, 
specimens of asbestos and some of its manufactured products ; Mr. 
J. W. Neville, fossil calamites, and a transverse section of the same 
under the microscope; Mr. Moore, section of fossil coral, Gyathophyllum 
articulatum. Among other exhibits Mr. Madison showed a singular 
shell of Helix aspersa, having two complete lips; Mr. Hawkes, pods of 
cotton plant, and ornamental articles from India made of native seeds ; 
Mr. Deakin, jaw of porpoise, Phoccena communis.- 
LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
—Section D, Zoology and Botany.—Chairman, F. T. Mott, F. R.G.S.—- 
Monthly Meeting, December 17tli. Attendance 10 (3 ladies). 
Exhibits: The rather uncommon lichen Collema pulposum (?) by Mr. 
