KEPOETS OF SOCIETIES. 
47 
are theu dropped over the pasture. If then they are washed into water, they 
jiive exit to a ciliatea embryo, which moves rapidly through the water. At this 
jioint there was formerly a doubt as to the precise mode iu which the develop¬ 
ment was continued, but this has now been cleared up by the researches of Mr. 
P. Thomas, of Oxford, who has proved that the embryos bore their way into 
the tissues of a certain hivaH, Liniiiceus truncatidus ; they will not, })robably, 
enter any other species. This small mollusc is abundant in pools, ditches, and 
running streams, and, being amphibious, is also met with upon the surface of 
land not far from water, especially after floods. In the body of this “inter¬ 
mediate host ” the eml)ryo undergoes various complicated changes, finally 
assuming the form of a Cercar a, which escapes from the mollusc and becomes 
encj sted on various objects, such as blades of grass. Eaten with the grass by 
the sheep, it undergoes further changes, and at last assumes the form of the 
matui'e fluke, which gains access to the liver of the sheep. When an animal is 
seriously infected with these i)arasites, there apjiears to be no cure; the only 
remedy is to kill them in some of the intermediate stages 1 y killing the 
molluscs which they inhabit. This can lie done liy the use of salt, which is also 
otherwise beneficial to the sheep. iMr. Sharpus’s slides are deposited in the 
Society’s cabinet, and can be inspected by anyone who desires to see them. 
Ml'. Hughes then read a note upon the “ Poisoning of some Actiuitti.” The 
species involuntarily made the subject of experiment was Buiwdes (jenunarea, 
the gem pimplet, obtained near Ilfracombe, and kept in a small aquarium. 
These ivere supplied daily with fresh sea-water, fetched in a vasculummade of 
silvered copper. Portions of the silver being rubbed off and the copper exposed, 
a galvanic action appears to have been set up and sulphate of copper produced. 
This being unwittingly given to the anemones, they were poisoned and nearly 
died. The remedy w'as to wash them carefully with fresh water, removing the 
decaying tissues with a camel-hair pencil. 'When they had recovered from this, 
they were afterwards nearly poisoned with fresh water, which was 
given them by mistake, and then all but frozen to death in the cold 
weather of last year. Nevertheless, they ivere exhibited to the meet¬ 
ing in a healthy and well expanded state, four months after their capture. 
January '2:3rd.— Geological Section. —The following exhibits were made ;— 
Mr. S. Wilkins, for Jlr. Mace—a large pebble, extremely hard and heavy, and 
quite spherical in shape, found near Stechford ; Mr. Vs. H. Wilkinson—a 
specimen of Lo(loice<t Seychellaruin, a, curious double nut, commonly known as 
double cocoa nut, which grows only on two of the Seychelle Islands ; Mr. S. 
Walliker—a humming bird and a leaf insect. Mantis, from the East Indies; Mr. 
•J. liagnall —two mosses, (TymiiONtonintii squarrosuin, Kingsbury, new to Warwick- 
sliire, and Orthotiicuin .'ia.vafile, Hampton-in-Arden, new to North Warwick¬ 
shire; Mr. W. J. Hari'ison—belemnites from Upper Lias of East Leicestershire, 
fossil wood from Sheppey, and striated coal shale from Acocks Green. A paper 
was read by Mr. A. H. Atkins, B.Hc., entitled “ A Note on some Glacial 
Markings in the lied Marl.” The uppermost beds of the lied Marl, the highest 
flivision of the Trias formation, are often found considerably altered by glacial 
action, the clay being as a rule stiffer and of greater value commercially than 
the unaltere*d sti'ata below. The section described occurs at Bordesley Green, 
near Small Heath, and there this tenacious upper clay is separated from the 
Red Marl itself Ijy a hard band of greenish grey rock. The beds above the band 
are much contorted and broken, while underneath lies the ordinary parallel 
stratiflca,tion of the Trias, The surface of the rocky layer, where the clay has 
been removed, is also very smooth and polished. These facts indicate glacial 
action, which must have occurred at the time when a great ice sheet covered 
the Midland Counties. 
BIRMINGHAM MICROSCOPISTS’ AND NATURALISTS’ UNION.— Annual 
SoiiiEE.—November 2nd and 3rd.—An exhibition of pond life by various 
members; LoplxopuH crystnllinus, shown by Mr. Baxter 1'olvox glohator, Mr. 
Unnn ; Mr. C. P. Neville, Nitelln transluct'iis; Mr. Delicate, freshwater shrimp, 
showing circulation of blood; i\Ir. J. W. Neville, KKJ slides of insects, mounted 
