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REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
at some length, and some of the missing secondary rocks remarked 
upon. The writer concluded by recommending patient and diligent 
work in the Lickey quartzite and drift-beds, as fields likely to benefit 
local geological students. The paper was illustrated by diagrams and 
specimens.—March 7th. Mr. J. Madison showed specimens of Rliaetic 
shale containing Avicula and Gryphsea ; Mr. A. T. Evans, pebbles 
from the Drift, one of Caradoc sandstone containing cup corals and 
various shells. Mr. H. Insley showed, under the microscope, sections 
of a Lancashire coal ball, showing woody cylinder and bark of Lygeno- 
dendron, and medullary rays, Ac., in Amy elan ascis ; Mr. J. Madison, 
Chelifer muscorum ; Mr. J. A. Grew, Pulex vespertilionis. —March 14th. 
Mr. J. Madison exhibited specimens of Succinm oblong a , Vertigo 
angustior, and V. moulinsiana. Mr. C. F. Beale then read a paper on 
the “ Natural History of a Trilobite.” The writer described the 
position occupied by Trilobites in the Animal Kingdom, and remarked 
that they were once supposed to be represented in modern seas by 
Limulus polypliemus, but that conjecture was now a theory of the past. 
The bibliography of the subject was traced from their earliest mention 
to the present time, and though the literature of the subject had 
grown voluminous of late years, still some species have been found 
that have not yet been described. The three divisions of a Trilobite, 
the head, thorax, and pygidium, and their component parts, were 
described. Their geological range was from the base of the Cambrians 
to the Carboniferous Limestone ; their most abundant period being 
the Silurian age. The alleged predatory habits of these creatures 
were held to be without foundation, their food being found in the mud 
in which they were afterwards entombed. The paper was largely 
illustrated by specimens, diagrams, and plates. 
LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
— Section D, Zoology and Botany. Chairman, F. T. Mott, F.R.G.S. 
Monthly meeting, Wednesday, March 16 ; attendance thirteen (five 
ladies). Mr. John Palmer, Waterloo Street, was elected a member. 
The following objects were exhibited, viz., by Mr. E. F. Cooper, F.L.S., 
a number of large, coloured, and very excellent German plates of 
grasses and other agricultural plants ; by Mr. Grundy, a small tray of 
marine shells ; by Mr. H. E. Quilter, a shell of Nautilus Pompilius , cut 
through and showing very perfectly the chambers and the syphon- 
channel ; by Dr. Finch, an extraordinary example of the creeping 
root-stock of the nettle, Urtica dioica , about six feet long, very much 
branched, and in some parts three-quarters of an inch thick ; also, a 
specimen of the rook, with the lower mandible broken, and the 
upper one grown abnormally to three inches in length, curved and 
hooked. The chairman introduced a discussion on the relations 
between univalve and bivalve shells, the question in dispute being 
whether the operculum of univalves is really a second valve or an 
organ which has no homologue in the bivalve. Gray argues that it is 
a second valve, because its structure is the same, with the same spiral 
character, and with the spiral turned the contrary way to the other 
valve ; but the fact that it is secreted by the foot, and not by the 
mantle, is opposed to this theory, and the most recent writers seem to 
consider that it is not a true valve. The discussion was continued by 
Mr. Quilter, Dr. Tomkins, Dr. Cooper, and others. The chairman 
then read a short paper on “ The Voices of Animals,” showing that 
voice was only possible in the air-breathing vertebrates, and was in 
fact only developed to any important extent in the two classes of birds 
and mammals. 
