liKPORTS OR SOCIETIES 
71 
IlfpOTts of .Soriftics. 
BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.- 
Genekal Meeting, January 30th.—Mr. J. E. BaKiiall e.xhibiteci a series of 
ninety-six species of mosses, arranged in groups to represent those peculiar to 
the various habitats ; also BartriDnia ithyjjhijlla, from Dovrefield, Norway, 
with a microscopic preparation showing the inflorescence. Mr. \V. H. Wilkinson, 
exhibited Lee-chee nuts, the fruit of Neplieliinii Litchi, from China, Cactus 
triangularis, the prickly pear, also models of an orange and a lemon. Mr-. W. B. 
Grove, exhibited A(/arfc»s velutipes, Pohjporus spunteus, and Tremella foliacea 
from Sutton Park ; Peziza oiuphalodes, a curious species which occurs on char¬ 
coal heaps, covering them with a wide confluent velvety mass of a beautiful 
pink colour, from the vinery of the Crystal Palace, Sutton ; Ptuclujgaxter albus, 
which is norv considered a conidial stage of Polijporus Ptgchogaster, but was 
formerly placed among the Myxomycetes; and (on behalf of Mr. W. H. Wilkin¬ 
son), Scliizophylluni coimmme, from a gate-post at Washington, U.S.A., a species 
remarkable for its enormous range, having been found in every quarter of the 
globe from the Arctic Seas to Australia. The Rev. H. Boyden then read a paper 
on the “ Geography and Botany of the Rea,” in which he said that, with a slight 
interval at Pebble Mill Pool, he had travelled along the w-hole course of the river 
from the point where its country associations begin, at Calthorpe Park, to its 
source at Wetty Farm. He considered that the highest source was at a spring 
on the “ Shoulder-of-Mutton Hill.” Flowing from that place past the Rubery 
Asylum, it is joined by a tributary from the Frankley Hills, and thence runs 
through Northfield and Lifford to the Pebble Mill Pool, where it receives the 
tributary waters of the Bourne. He remarked upon the curious fact that most 
manuals of geogi'aphy seem to be unaware that Birmingham stands on the Rea. 
Along the banks of the river he had collected 140 species of flowering plants, the 
whole of which, as well as a number of algse, mosses, hepaticse and fungi, found 
along the valley, were exhibited at the meeting. Among them were Golchicum 
autuniuile, from a field at the Dog-pool Lane, Petasites vulgaris from several 
places, and Campanula latifolia from the railway embankment, at Northfield. 
.\nnual Meeting —February 6th.—At this meeting the Annual Report and 
Treasurer’s Accounts were read ; the latter showed that the Society was slightly 
in debt, but all outstanding liabilities were amply covered by the subscriptions 
still due to the Treasurer. In addition to this, the Society had paid off the debt 
which was incurred in connection with the removal to the Mason College. The 
following ofldcers and Committee were then elected for 1883 :—President, Mr. T. 
H. Waller; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. W. G. Blatch and K. W. Chase; Ex-Presi¬ 
dents, (Who are Vice-Presidents), Messrs. J. Levick, W. R. Hughes, W. Graham, 
and A. W. Wills; Treasurer, Mr.-C. Pumphrey; Librarian, Mr. J. E. Bagnall ; 
Curators, Messrs. R. M. Lloyd and H. Miller; Secretaries, Messrs. J. Morley and 
W. B. Grove ; Committee, Messrs. E. W. Badger, W. J. Harrison, W. P. Marshall, 
E. Tonks, S. Wilkins, and W. H. Wilkinson. The meeting was then adjourned 
to receive the retiring President’s Address at a future date. Biologicae Sec¬ 
tion —February 13th.—Mr. A. W. Wills was re-elected chairman, and Mr. J. F. 
Goode secretary for the current year. Mr. Thomas Bolton exhibited a new 
marine capito-branchiate annelid, Haplohranchus cestuarinus, figured and de¬ 
scribed in a well-illustrated paper in the “ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical 
Science ” by Mr. Alfred Gibbs Bourne, B.Sc. London. In a few remarks on this 
specimen Mr. Hughes paid a just tribute to Mr. Bolton for his indefatigable zeal 
in discovering new forms and bringing them under the notice of the society. 
Mr. J. E. Bagnall exhibited the following mosses;— Bartramia granulata, B. 
cederi, B. stricta, B. seriata, Catoscopium nigriturn; and Bicranum scoparium, 
from Hampton-in-Arden, with microscopical preparations of each species ; also, 
for Mr. R. Rogers, Campylopus fragilis, from Hampton-in-Arden (rare', in fruit; 
and a fungus, Hydnum auriscalpium, from same habitat, new as a record for 
Warwickshire. Mr. W. B. Grove exhibited and described Pilubolus ^cdipus, from 
Sutton and Piptocejjlialis Prescniana, from Edgbaston, both species ot 
