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A Hybrid Fern.—In the February number of "The Midland Naturalist." (p. 52,) an account was given of a supposed hybrid fern, which had produced spores. These spores, after being sown, appeared to produce prothallia, but it has since turned out that the latter had sprung from other spores accidentally introduced, as often happens to fern-growers.— W. B. G.

Signs of Early Winter.—A flock of fieldfares, (Turdus pilaris,) the first I saw this season, numbering about twenty. few ovcr Handsworth Parish Church about nine o'clock on Tuesday morning, 28th October last.

The temperature fell during the day, and in the evening, at half-past nine o'clock, there was a heavy snow storm.—W. R. H. Handsworth Wood, 21st November, 1878.

The British Association.—The meeting at Sheffield next year will begin on August 20th, and not on the earlier day previously announced.

"The Art of Scientific Discovery” is the title of an important new book (648 pp.) by Mr. G. Gore, LL.D, F.R.S., of Birmingham, just published by Messrs. Longmans and Co,

The Sphagnaceæ, or Peat Mosses of Europe and North America, by Dr. Braithwaite. an octavo volume, illustrated with twenty-nine plates, is announced by Messrs. Hardwicke and Bogue.

Mr. Charles R. Thatcher, the well-known conchological collector, started a few months ago on an extended foreign collecting tour. He was attacked suddenly by fever, and died a few days after his arrival at Shanghai.

The Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A. F.L.S.—A portrait of this eminent fungologist. painted by Mr. Peele. at the instance of a number of Mr. Berkeley's friends, was recently presented on their behalf to the Linnean Society by Sir Joseph Hooker.

Do Leaves absorb Water?—The Rev. Geo. Henslow read a paper on this subject at the Linnean Society on the 7th November, in which he replied to the question affirmatively, and detailed the experiments he had made. He pointed out that the practical issue of what he proved is that syringing is not merely beneficial to plants in that it cleanses them and cools the air about them, but that the water is actually absorbed by the leaves.

The Royal Society Medals for the present year have been awarded as under:—The Copley Medal to M. Jean Baptiste Boussingault, for his long-continued and important researches and discoveries in Agricultural Chemistry; a Royal Medal to Mr. John Allan Brown, F.R-S., for his investigating in Magnetism and Meteorology, and for his improvements in methods of observation; a Royal Medal to Dr. Albert Günther, F.R.S., for his contribution to the Zoology and Anatomy of fishes and Reptiles; the Rumford Medal to M. Alfred Cornu, for various optics researches, and especially for his recent re-determination of the velocity of propagation of light; and the Davy Medal to MM. Louis Paul Caillotet and Raoul Pictet, for their researches, conducted independently but contemporaneously, on the condensation of the so-called permanent gases.