Entomological Club.—A London correspondent writes to us as follows:—"At a meeting held at the house of Dr. E. Hart Vinen, F.L.S., on the 30th January. Dr. Cobbold F.R.S., communicated a notice of an interesting discovery made by Dr. Manson, at Amoy, China, It appears that the mosquito (Culex} forms the intermediate host of the Filaria sanguinis hominis, or microscopic filarie living in human blood (hæmatozoa.) In the course of the evening it was stated that most of the worms found in insects were imperfectly developed entozoa. Filariæ from three to five inches in length had frequently been noticed in dermaptera and coleoptera; especially in Forficula, Phosphaga, and Feronia. Dr. Cobbold exhibited adult human Filariæ, (F. Bancrofti,) from Australia, and also a beetle, (Passalus cornutus,) known to be infested with a species of Ascaris in the mature state (A. infecta.) Many of the entomologists of the Metropolis were present at the meeting (Messrs. Pascoe, Dallas, Smith, Sheppard, Grut, and Stevens.) Other well known naturalists, including Drs. Murie and Ord, took part in the discussion, Dr. Vinen (whose fernery proved a great attraction to the botanists present} remarked, in the course of his observations, that notwithstanding the great age of the Club it exhibited no signs of decay.”
Mosses.—A warn interest in these lovely plants has been created in my mind, from having had my attention recently awakened to their variety and great beauty by the sight of a collection made by a local botanist many years ago. I am quite amazed at their numbers and their individual beauty. I must confess an almost entire ignorance about them; but I am really most anxious to have my ignorance displaced by knowledge. Will one of the bryological readers of the "Midland Naturalist" do me and others, who may desire the information—I am sure there must lie many such—a great Kindness by writing a paper pointing out what steps we should take. and what books consult, in order to be able to discriminate the various English mosses. The instructions, to be really useful to myself, should commence at the very beginning. I sincerely hope some qualified botanist will undertake this labour of love, and that reom for such paper inay be provided by the Editors—M. B. L., Coventry. [Our correspondent will see that big desires have been anticipated, and that our present number contains the first of a series of elementary papers on the study of the mosses.—Eds. M. N.]
A Curious Case of "Reparation."—Last November I was fishing in one of the pools on the border of Sutton Park, and caught a small pike weighing between two and three pounds. On getting it into the punt I noticed a singular lump on the back just in front of the dorsal fin, took him home, and my doctor looking in next morning I asked him to enquire into the cause. On laying bare the back hone we found that at some time or other, but not very recently, the bone had been absolutely severed, probably by a bite from another fish, and that a new formation of bone had taken place, thus slightly lengthening the spine, and forming a slight hump. Of course the spinal cord was not broken when the injury was inflicted, or the fish could not have survived. I am aware this is not an isolated case, as one if not two previous instances of a similar kind have occurred, but as it is certainly very rare it seems worth recording, The fish appeared to have been in no degree affected by the bump as to liveliness or strength. I had the portion of bone showing the abnormal growth cleaned, and presented it to Mr. Montagu Browne, Naturalist, Broad Street, Birmingham, who will, no doubt, be willing to show it to anyone interested.-Wm. Taylor, Edgbaston.
Preserving Fish.—A description of the best methods of preserving fish in a natural state for the cabinet, particularly fresh-water kinds, is much desired by an amateur collector.—T., Nottingham.
