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REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
trees, and so resemble small twigs ; and in order tliat the resemblance 
may be the more striking, they are often covered with tiny warts 
which look like buds or knots upon the surface. The larva of that 
familiar and much-dreaded insect, the death’s-head hawk-moth, feeds 
as a rule on the foliage of the potato, and its very varied colouring, as 
Sir John Lubbock has pointed out, so beautifully harmonises with the 
brown of the earth, the yellow and green of the leaves, and the faint 
purplish blue of the lurid flowers, that it can only be distinguished 
when the eye happens accidentally to focus itself exactly upon the 
spot occupied by the unobtrusive caterpillar. Other larvie which fre¬ 
quent pine trees have their bodies covered with tufts of green hairs 
that serve to imitate the peculiar pine foliage. One queer little cater¬ 
pillar, which lives upon the hoarv foliage of the sea-bucktliorn, has a 
grey-green body, just like the buckthorn leaves, relieved by a very con¬ 
spicuous red spot, which really represents in size and colour one of the 
berries that grow around it. Finally, the larva of the elephant hawk- 
moth, which grows to a very large size, has a pair of huge spots that 
seem like great eyes ; and direct experiment establishes the fact that 
small birds mistake it for a young snake, and stand in terrible awe of 
it accordingly, though it is in reality a perfectly harmless insect, and 
also, as I am credibly informed (for I cannot speak upon the point 
from personal experience), a very tasty and well-flavoured insect, and 
“ quite good to eat ” too, says an eminent authority. One of these big 
snake-like caterpillars once frightened Mr. Bates himself on the banks 
of the Amazon .—From “ Strictly Incog." in the “ Cornhill Magazine ” for 
February. _ 
Imports of .Societies. 
BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL 
SOCIETY. —Geological Section, February 15th. Mr. T. H. Waller, 
B.A., B.Sc., chairman ; thirty-five present. Mr. T. H. Waller was 
re-elected chairman, Mr. J. Udall was re-elected secretary of the 
section. The chairman announced the receipt of the “ Proceedings 
of the Royal Physical Society, 1885-6,” with a request that the 
Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society should 
make a regular exchange of its “ Transactions ” with the above 
society. A very interesting series of views in Switzerland 
(taken during a holiday ramble by Mr. C. J. Watson) was shown, 
with the aid of the oxyhydrogen lantern, by Mr. C. Pumplirey. 
Mr. C. J. Watson added much to the interest of the members 
by his description of each view, as it was projected on the screen. 
Professor Hillhouse, president of the society, promised a paper 
on the “ Distribution of Plants in Geological Time,” for the meeting on 
March 15tli. —Microscopical Meeting, March 1st. Prof. W. Hillhouse, 
M.A., the president, occupied the chair. This being the first meeting 
of the section under the new arrangement, he gave an introductory 
address explaining the work of the section. Mr. W. II. Wilkinson 
was elected secretary of the section. Two specimens of the glass 
coral sponges of Japan, Hyalonema , were exhibited by Mr. H. G. 
Young. Mr. W. P. Marshall, M.I.C.E., then gave his paper on the 
“ Measurement of the Magnifying Power of Microscope Objectives.” and 
exhibited his new 1-25 inch water immersion objective. He illustrated 
the paper by diagrams, and showed a series of diatoms as test objects 
under microscopes, thus affording a good opportunity of appreciating 
