48
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
Mr. Ross gave an account of his discovery of this plant and presented
the specimen to the Club's museum (see p. 19).
Mr. Pratt showed living larvae of the Oak Eggar Moth feeding on ivy
and gave an account of the life-history of the species; also larvae of the
Great Oak Beauty moth hibernating on oak twigs, an outstanding example
of protective resemblance.
The President exhibited specimens of the very rare plant, Scheuchzeria
palustris, from Rannoch Moor, Perthshire.
The Curator showed various Essex photographs and prints, recent
accessions to the Pictorial Survey collection.
An informative paper by Mr. W. E. Glegg on "Birds as the Food of
Fishes" was, in the author's absence, read by the Hon. Secretary (see
p. 12).
Mr. Syms showed an extensive series of lantern photographs of the eggs
of British Butterflies made by himself, by Mr. Hugh Main and by the late
Mr. A. W. Dennis (see p. 31).
The meeting adjourned at 4.30 o'clock.
THE LIBRARY
The Club's Library, at the Essex Museum, Stratford, is one of its most
valuable assets. To its 7,000 and more volumes have recently been added
a number of new books and new parts in the long series of many scientific
journals. As only one instance of its usefulness it may be recorded that a
long-established society was recently able here to consult and copy early
issues of its "Proceedings" which were lacking in its own library.
Among recent additions may be mentioned the first volumes of the
New Natural History series. Each book is the work of a recognised
authority and is copiously illustrated by photographs and pictures in mono-
chrome and in colour. The first volume, Butterflies, by E. B. Ford,
deals with all the British butterflies and has a wide appeal to specialist and
layman alike. The subject matter of British Game, by Brian Vesey
Fitzgerald, is, it is true, limited to "all those creatures which the sportsman
pursues either for sport or because he thinks that they interfere with his
sport," but the author is interested in these creatures for their own sakes and
his knowledge of game animals is unrivalled. London's Natural History.
by R. S. Fitter, deals with the evolution of the metropolis from its earliest
days, with particular reference to its effects on the animals and plants which
live within 20 miles of Charing Cross: the deer and badgers of Epping
Forest and the flora of bombed sites in the city are among the many aspects
considered.
Among the scientific journals recently received, the Proceedings and
Transactions of the South London Entomological Society for 1945-6 is
noteworthy for another of the series of monographs on the micro-
lepidoptera by L. T. Ford, illustrated by beautiful coloured plates by S. N. A.
Jacobs. The present part deals with the Psychidae, and will enable the
case-bearing larvae so often seen on rambles to be identified with ease.
The London Naturalist, 1945, contains an interesting paper by our
member, Mr. J. Ross, on the work done during many years by the members
of the Plant Gall section of the London Natural History Society on the
Cynipid flies and their galls on oak. This band of workers, of which Mr. Ross
is Chairman and Mr. H. J. Burkill, M.A., is Secretary, has been responsible
for elucidating the life histories of many insects of this group and has
established, by breeding experiments, the associated forms in several species
showing alternation of sexual and asexual generations.