REPORTS OF SOCIETIES 
189 
Local readers will probably be much interested in a series of 
articles, entitled “ A Review of Lighthouse Work and Economy in the 
United Kingdom during the past Fifty Years,” which Mr. J. Kenward, 
well known and highly honoured in Birmingham scientific circles, is 
contributing to the columns of “ Nature,” the first of which appeared 
on June 2. 
The preservation of Alpine plants has entered into a new phase. 
In spite of the strenuous efforts of M. Correvon, and the society which 
he founded, many of the beautiful Alpine flowers, especially the edel¬ 
weiss and the Alpine rose, are in danger of becoming extinct. The 
government of Valais and the Monte Rosa section of the Alpine Club 
have caused gardens to be laid out and inclosures to be made for the 
cultivation and protection of these plants. The station on the Tete 
du Mouton, near Vissoye, in the Einsicht Valley (Valais), situated at 
the height of 2,300 metres, cultivates not only plants belonging to the 
Alps, but some from the Pyrenees, the Himalayas, and the Caucasus. 
iu'porls of Societies. 
BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL 
SOCIETY. —Geological Section, May 17. Mr. T. H. Waller, B.A., 
B.Sc., chairman. The secretary reported the receipt of the annual 
volume of “Proceedings of the Palaeontological Society ” in exchange. 
Mr. Bagnall (on behalf of Mrs. Coker Beck, President of Chiltern 
Natural History Society) exhibited Hypnum Kneiffii (Wimpstone 
Fields), Gerastium tetrandum, Taraxacum erythrospermum, Trifolium sub- 
terraneum, dx., from Bournemouth. A paper of considerable interest 
was read by Mr. W. P. Marshall, M.I.C.E., on “ The recent Riviera 
Earthquake, with particulars from eye-witnesses.” At the close of 
the paper an interesting discussion was opened by Mr. Evans, a 
visitor introduced by Mr. Walliker, who was present at Mentone 
during the earthquake and subsequently. Mr. Evans complimented 
Mr. Marshall upon the faithfulness of his description of the earth¬ 
quake phenomena, and gave a graphic and dramatic account of his 
experience of the earthquake and its effects. A cordial vote of 
thanks was given to Messrs. Marshall and Evans. —Microscopical 
Section, June 7. The president (Prof. W. Hillhouse, M.A.) in the 
chair. A letter was read from Prof. P. H. Gosse, F.R.S., in which he 
said the following species of Rotifera (all, till then, undescribed) were 
sent him, within the last year or two, by Mr. T. Bolton, F.R.M.S., 
from Birmingham : —Philodina tuberculata , Copens labiatus, Furcularia 
micropus, llattulus helininthodes, Pterodina reflexa, Asplanchna eupoda, 
Distyla eupoda, Pedetes Saltator, Furcularia Boltoni, Mastigocerca 
Lophoessa, Diaschiza cupha, Notholca polygona, Diglena polygona, Anurcea 
polygona. The last three are not yet published. Mr. Horace Pearce, 
F.L.S., F.G.S., exhibited rock from Place Fell, Ulleswater, specimens 
of granite from Shap Fell, rocks from near the summit of Scafell Pike, 
and volcanic rock from the summit of the Great Gable, Cumberland. 
Mr. J. Udall exhibited a selection of banded slates, breccias, and 
