22 
GLEANINGS-REPOKTS. 
The Wealden Formation. —Professor Linares has lately dis¬ 
covered strata of the age of our Wealden beds (Lower Cretaceous) in 
the north of Spain. Visitors to Hastings should examine the hard, 
stony bands in the Wadhurst Clay, from which Mr. J. E. H. Peyton 
has just obtained several beautiful specimens of ferns, several of which 
are new to Britain, though previously found in the Wealden beds of 
North Germany. 
The Pyramids of Egypt.— Mr. R. A. Proctor’s latest work {The 
Great Piiramid, 324 pp., eight woodcuts, published by Chatto and 
Windus, price 6s.) gives the only satisfactory explanation with which 
we are acquainted as to the cause which led to the erection of these 
wonderful structures. He points out that each pyramid was not only 
intended to serve as a tomb for the person for whom it was erected, 
but also during the lifetime of that person it furnished an observatory 
from which the astronomers, or rather astrologers, of the period could 
study the heavenly bodies, and, as they believed, determine their 
influence upon the life and fortunes of the individual for whom they 
were concerned. Like everything that Mr. Proctor has written, this 
book is eminently readable, while its conclusions are sound and 
scientific. , 
The Optical Lantern. —The fine lantern recently presented by 
Messrs. R. and G. Tangye to the science department of the Birmingham 
School Board, was constructed by Mr. J. Place, of Bull Street, 
Birmingham. It is a bi-unial of the latest type, made of mahogany 
and rosewood, with 4in. condensers, brass telescopic fronts, and every 
improvement. The lantern is now very largely used in scientific 
lectures; but it is often difficult to obtain just the slides which 
may be required. Mr. Burton, of 50, Portland Road, Nottingham, 
has recently prepared for it some excellent transparent photo¬ 
graphs of diagrams contained in various scientific books, at a very 
moderate price. Where the diagrams are of a very simple nature, 
or where they are required in a hurry, it is best to copy the lines 
on finely ground glass by means of a hard lead pencil, and then to 
render the glass transparent by pouring over it a varnish made of one 
ounce of Canada Balsam mixed with two or three ounces of turpen¬ 
tine. Ground-glass plates of the proper size are supplied by Messrs. 
Forrest and Son, Lime Street, Liverpool, at 10s. 6d. per gross. 
BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.— 
Geological Section, November ‘28th.—Mr. T. H. Waller, B.A., B.Sc., in the 
chair. A lecture was delivered by Mr. W. Pumphrey, entitled “ The Camera in 
Switzerland,” in which he described a tour in Switzerland and North Italy. His 
remarks were illustrated by a large number of very fine photogi’aphic views, 
taken by himself en route. These were exhibited by Mr. C. Pumphrey by 
means of the oxyhydrogen lantern. December 5th— General Meeting.— 
Mr. W. B. Grove exhibited two Sphaeriaceous fungi —Diatrijpe stigma, on 
hawthorn; and Hypoxylon concentricum, on dead wood; both from Sutton. 
Mr. Pumphrey referred to the occurrence of Dreissena polymorpha on logs, 
in Newhall Street, Birmingham, on which Mr. R. M. Lloyd made some remarks 
with reference to its original habitat in the Baltic, and the mode of its introduction 
into Britain. Mr, W. H. Wilkinson then gave a series of notes on his tour in 
America, exhibiting a number of plants which he had collected, and other objects 
