FIELD CLUBS AND SOCIETIES. 
*55 
gamma, and white ermine moths. On tree-trunks here, I found the willow 
beauty not uncommon. In a warehouse in Drury Lane, on June 27th, I 
caught a large yellow underwing, and on the 30th, a buff ermine moth. On 
August 28th, I had a small tortoiseshell butterfly given me. which had been 
caught the day before on a shop window in Holborn. At Clapham Common, 
I have taken the common blue, red admiral, and small tortoiseshell butterflies 
several times. I have never seen Folkestone given as a locality for the gray¬ 
ling, but I found it there in great profusion last August.—A. H. James, 
March 9th, 1894. 
FIELD CLUBS AND SOCIETIES. 
Lambeth Field Club.— February 19th : The long promised paper on 
“ Tin and Lead,” was read by Mr. W. B. Baskerville on this occasion; the 
paper was well illustrated with specimens ot ores, arsenicates of lead, etc. 
Some mixed minerals were exhibited on behalf of a non-member, and discus¬ 
sions were raised on the movements of the planet Venus, the coming sale of a 
great auk’s egg, at Stevens’s auction rooms, Covent Garden, and other matters. 
March 5, This meeting was the occasion of a extremely interesting lecture by an 
astronomical member, Mr. H. Wilson, on “ The Sun,” which was illustrated 
with a number of lantern views, photographs, and diagrams. After showing 
how all energy and motion on earth was directly or indirectly connected with 
the sun, the lecturer showed some diagrams illustrating the distances of the 
planets from the central luminary, the furthest, Neptune, being over thirty 
times as far from it as the earth was. Although the sun was so large some 
of the fixed stars were known to exceed it in size and brilliancy, while others 
were of inferior dimensions. The nearest star, Alpha Centauri, was twice as 
big as our sun, and the “ dogstar,” Sirius, was at least forty-two times as 
bright. Returning to our sun, the lecturer next showed some diagrammatic 
representations of its interior. The outer layer, or photosphere, of the sun was 
the portion that gave out the light, so that its radiance was only on the surface. 
Examined telescopically, this was found to have the appearance of rice grains, 
while towards the edge of the disc brighter spots known as faculae were to be 
observed. The tremendous brilliancy of the sun was due to the incandescence 
of particles of carbon, so that it was a sort of huge gas-lamp. The sun spots 
that were so much talked of were depressions in the photosphere, with a dark 
centre (umbra) and a lighter surrounding region (penumbra), and were some¬ 
times 40,000 or 50,000 miles across, and generally of very irregular form. As 
the sun rotated on its axis, the spots travelled across, and by this it was found 
that a complete axial revolution took place in about twenty five days, but that 
the equatorial regions moved rather more rapidly than the rest of the sun’s 
body. The spots were seldom seen on the equator, but were mostly confined 
to two zones, one above and the other below it. A large spot, measuring 
48,000 miles by 46,000 miles, had but a few weeks ago passed over the solar 
disc, and some sketches of the spot as seen by the lecturer were thrown on the 
screen, besides othei views of notable spots by different observers. The num¬ 
ber of spots seen, constantly varied, a maximum period occurring on an average 
every eleven years. The present year was a very favourable one for sun-spot 
observation. Whether there was any connection between sun-spot maxima 
and the weather, the harvest, or commercial depression had yet to be discovered, 
but there was no doubt that these recurring periods were always accompanied 
by terrestrial magnetic disturbances, and displays of the aurora borealis. Per¬ 
haps the most interesting portion of the lecture was the final one, which was 
devoted to the description and illustration of the solar prominences and corona. 
The former were of two kinds, “quiescent ” and “eruptive,” and consisted of 
great flames of hydrogen gas, often resembling in form terrestrial clouds ; but 
