354 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
of bone which—on submission to Oxford—were confirmed as (1) a piece
of elephant bone and (2) a piece of tusk. It was not possible to state which
species of Elephas. This signified that the deposits were Paleolithic, and
he thought that it would be worth keeping an eye on these pits for other
remains of a like nature.
Mr. R. A. Tyssen-Gee then gave a lecture on "The Weather". He
commenced by describing various physical characters of air, its heating on
compression and cooling on expansion and its ability to hold water vapour.
He then went on to describe the causes of rainfall and also spoke of the
signs of approaching rain. The subjects of depressions and warm and cold
fronts were illustrated by lantern-slides of various types of clouds and
barograph charts of unusual weather recordings. During the discussion
which followed the paper, a number of members put questions to the
lecturer, and the meeting was brought to a close by a vote of thanks to
Mr. Tyssen-Gee for his interesting lecture.
Members then took tea in one of the rooms of the College.
Annual General Meeting (982nd Meeting)
SATURDAY, 26 MARCH, 1955
This meeting was held at the West Ham College of Technology and
was attended by 33 members and friends. The chair was taken by the
President, Professor C. T. Ingold.
The following three persons were elected to membership of the Club: —
Mr. Keith M. Clayton, of 9, Hazelbank Road, London, S.E.6.
Mr. Frederick C. Clements, of 151, Wensleydale Avenue, Ilford.
Mr. Alwyne C. Wheeler, of Department of Zoology, British Museum
(Nat. Hist.), London, S.W.I.
Mr. Wheeler showed two specimens preserved in spirit of the Pipe Fish
Syngnathus rostellatus from Felixstowe. This capture constituted the
second record of the species from British waters, although Mr. Wheeler
considered that other captures had been wrongly attributed to another
species.
Mr. Bartrop showed a good-sized specimen of the Giant Puffball
(Lycoperdon giganteum). The specimen had been recently collected and
was shedding its millions of spores.
The President gave some further comments on the species and said that
in the young state it was edible.
The business of the Annual General Meeting was then proceeded with.
The minutes of the last Annual General Meeting were read and confirmed.
The President stated that the report of the Council for 1954 would appear
in the next issue of The. Essex. Naturalist.
The Honorary Treasurer then read his annual report, which showed that
there was a small excess of income over expenditure. Although The Essex
Naturalist for the year was an unusually large number and therefore cost
more than usual, the balance had been redressed by a good sale of back
numbers, including the sale of a complete set. The report was accepted
by the meeting without dissent.
The President then read the list of nominations for election to the Council
as detailed in the report of the February meeting, and the nominees were
elected nem. con.