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colossal dimensions that the largest form hitherto known sinks in comparison with it into utter insignificance. In one specimen the Hydranth was 9 in. across. Whilst the Hydrocaulus was 7 ft. 4 in. high. A short time afterwards, during another dredging at a depth of 2,900 fathoms, another specimen was brought, of equal proportions. The length of the tentacles was about 4 in., and they were of a transparent pink colour.

SPHINX CONVOLVULI.-I have captured several fine specimens of Sphinx convolvuli this season at Ore, near Hastings. They were all taken at one bush of honeysuckle. The greatest numbers I captured in one evening were seven and five; at another time I took two at one stroke of my net. Having more than I require, I shall have some to offer in exchange as soon as they are off my settingboards.-William Low Sarjeant.

ASTINOMUS EDILIS IN CARDIFF.-On the 29th of November I had the good fortune to take a fine male of this beetle upon a lady's dress in a tramcar.-T. L. Howe, Cardiff.

BOTANY.

RAPHIDES OF ASPARAGUS.- Mr. Glasspoole's histories of our cultivated vegetables are so valuable as to make us wish that he would increase their interest by some account of their internal structure. Thus, in his last paper, he might have told us that the asparagus abounds in raphides; and that they form beautiful microscopic objects, whether examined in the fresh plant or in cooked fragments of it from the table. The raphides are so beautiful and easily examined as to afford a pleasant microscopic amusement after dinner. And full instructions, with many illustrative engravings, are given about Raphides, Sphæraphides, and Crystal Prisms, in SCIENCE-GOSSIP for May, 1873.

CLADIUM MARISCUS.-One of the finest of our Cyperaceae is the Fen Sedge. It is in several respects a remarkable plant, and one not easily overlooked. Can any correspondent kindly inform me as to its distribution in the southern counties ?F. H. Arnold.

EUONYMUS (SPINDLE-TREE) IN FLOWER. - To the surprise of nurserymen and others in Brighton, this shrub (both the narrow and the broad varieties) was in two or three situations in flower, one in great profusion, at the beginning of August. As an ornamental shrub it has been cultivated here for many years, and thousands upon thousands may at all times be seen. On the 11th of October I found it in fruit; the capsule, the size of a small pea, was perfectly green, but hard; the arillus, lapping the seed, was orange-coloured: the season was, no doubt, too far advanced for the seeds to ripen, as

they might have done in other parts of England where the climate is warmer and milder. I hope cultivators and others will give any information in their power, both as to the flowering and the ripen ing of the fruit; and whether the fruit has the ornamental appearance of our common spindle-tree, Euonymus Europæus.—T. B. W., Brighton.

MALVA BOREALIS.-In last month's number of SCIENCE-GOSSIP is a notice of the discovery of Malva borealis on the Sussex coast, and I hear it was found between Boxhill and St. Leonard's. As I am particularly interested in the flora of the district which includes that portion of the coast, I should be very much obliged if you could ascertain from your correspondent C. H. O., the exact locality in which it was found; and still more so if you could procure for me even a small specimen to add to my herbarium of East Sussex plants.-J. W. Roper.

Coco, Cocoa, OR CACAO: WHICH IS WHICH?I had occasion lately to have some dealings with a firm of English manufacturers of coir (fibre) matting. They described it, however, in all their invoices and other printed documents as Cocoa matting." In correspondence I took the oppor. tunity of suggesting that "Coir matting" would be a better designation-less objectionable in every way— than "Cocoa." Their defence was well founded, so long as the same confusion of terms-which should properly be restricted to very different substances, from very different sources-is used in our most important works of reference. "Coir" is the fibre of the husk of the "Coco-nut," the fruit of the Cocos nucifera, a palm-tree of the natural order Palmacea. The term "Cocoa" has no proper meaning or application to this tree or any of its products. On the other hand, "Cocoa" is obviously a popular English corruption of the South American word "Cacao," than which it is certainly softer or more euphonious. The name Cacao" is applied by the South American Indians both to the bean and to the produce of the bean, of the Theobroma cacao, a tree of the natural order Byttriacea. To this tree, or its produce, the words coir" and Coco" have no proper reference. But, in "Chambers's Encyclopædia” (1st edition, vol. iii. 1862), Theobroma cacao and its products are described under the heading Cocoa, Cacao, or Coco"; Cocos nucifera and its products under that of the "Cocoa-nut or Coconut"; and the husk-fibre of the latter as "Coir, or Cocoa-nut fibre." Now it seems hopeless to prevail on Englishmen to give up the use of the term "Cocoa" in favour of "Cacao." But the absurdity of using the word "Cocoa" in reference to matting made of the fibre of the nut of Cocos nucifera might easily be avoided if only manufacturers would stick to the synonymous and appropriate term “Coir.”— W. Lauder Lindsay.

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GEOLOGY.

SEDIMENTARY BASALT (DOLERYTE).—In the co. Antrim, between Portrush and the Giant's Causeway, there is a series of thin-bedded dolerytes under the great massive sheets. These beds have all the appearance as if they were originally sedimentary rocks. I however do not believe that they are now in their normal condition, but that originally they were basic tuffs or tuffose rocks; that is, they were either ejected as tuff, and afterwards sorted and arranged by water, or they were made up of the detritus of disintegrated doleryte, and were arranged by water in their present bedded condition; while subsequently they were invaded and altered by the same metamorphic action as that which metamorphosed the Lias rocks at Portrush. It seems impossible these rocks can be normal dolerytes, as no outburst of igneous rocks, no matter how fluid, could form such widespread, thin, and even sheets; neither is it likely that their present bedded appearance is due to a system of horizontal jointing. Furthermore, we know that metamorphism has changed felsitic tuffs and tuffose rocks into a rock undistinguishable from felstone; therefore it is probable that the same action is capable of changing basic tuffs into rocks undistinguishable from doleryte. If this is the case, we have a doleryte (not normal however) that originally was a sedimentary rock.-G. H. Kinahan.

FOSSILS NEAR WATFORD (p. 263).-The chalk-pit in Berry Wood, Aldenham, about which " W. H. G.” inquires, is still accessible, but I fear the geologist who visited it in expectation of finding it " abounding in well-preserved fossils of various kinds" would be disappointed. The fossils referred to are preserved in the cavities of flints, and are mostly microscopic; and their abundance is merely due to these hollow flints being more frequently met with here than in other places where the chalk is exposed in the neighbourhood of Watford. The heaps of chalk from the new tunnel will be found better worth searching for fossils.-J. H., Hon. Sec. Watford History Nat. Society.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

WHITE WOODCOCKS.-Was the bird mentioned by Mr. Wolstenholme a pure white or a yellowish white (pale-fawn colour)? -as yellowish white woodcock and snipe are not so very rare in Ireland, a good collection being in the museum of the Royal Dublin Society.

THE SIXTH CENTURY IRISH CHURCHES AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.-To me it always seemed likely that the early Irish churches were copied from the Ark of the Covenant, on which account I have made inquiries from different persons learned

in our old Irish annals, if they could give me information on the subject, but always unsuccessfully. I would therefore be greatly obliged to "C. A. O." if he would put me in the way of getting authentic information about this early immigration of Jews to Ireland. There are records of various immigrations to Ireland given by the different English writers on Ireland and the Irish; but unfortunately most, if not all of these, are imaginary, and will not bear investigation. On this account any statement of the kind should be carefully examined into. I hope there are good proofs of a Jewish immigration, as it would be most interesting to know the origin of these handle-like projections from some of the churches.-The Writer of " Sketches in the West of Ireland."

"CRABS OUT OF WATER."-I notice that in last month's GOSSIP there is a paragraph on "Crabs out of Water." A curious instance of how long crabs can live out of water came under my notice a short time ago. A fisherman having to remove his but, which stood about a hundred yards from highwater mark, discovered hidden beneath the flooring and the beach a crab (Carcinus mœnas) in what appeared to be a very healthy state, for it made off at a most rapid pace to an adjoining building. On inquiring I found that none of the fishermen had been out crab-fishing for three weeks. It would, therefore, seem as though this crab had either lived beneath this hut for so long, or that it must have found its way there after having been thrown up by a storm. I ought to state that under the hut there was a quantity of damp seaweed, &c., which might have supplied it with the necessary quantity of moisture for its gills.-C. P. O.

ON THE TADPOLES OF NEWTS, &c.-Your correspondent "G. S.," in the November number of SCIENCE-GOSSIP, says that he has never reared the tadpoles of newts. As I have done so, I write these remarks for the benefit of "G. S.," and any one else who chooses to read them. I one day set out, armed with a pickle-bottle and net, to a pond where I had seen some (as 1 thought) frog tadpoles just hatching out from the spawn; but these afterwards turned out to be the tadpoles of the Triton aquaticus, the common smooth newt, or åskěl, as it is called in Shropshire. They were slippery little animals, and eluded my grasp as if they were oiled; however I procured some at last, and secured them in the bottle. When I got home I put them into my aquarium, where, by swimming about in a very lively manner, they soon attracted the notice of puss, who managed somehow or other to catch one or two and gobble them up. In less than a week there appeared two small tubercles, one on each side of the neck (or, at least, where the neck ought to be, for it was hard to say where the head ended). These grew very soon into a pair of front legs, which were followed, about a fortnight afterwards, by the appearance of the back legs. Up to this time the tadpoles possessed external gills, consisting of three branchial processes on each side of the head. These were visible to the beginning of September, and were gradually absorbed into the animal, but were not dropped off. The Rev. J. G. Wood says that the newt always wraps its spawn in the leaf of some water-plant. Now, this is certainly not always the case, as I have frequently found the spawn in the ground under water, partly covered with clay, but peeping out here and there from its covering. I have reared both frogs and toads, also, from the spawn; and I think that the following are

the points of difference between the spawn and tadpoles of the Frog, Toad, and Newt. Spawn:-The spawn of the frog is disposed in irregular masses generally under water. The spawn of the toad is disposed in regular strings under water. The spawn of the newt is disposed in small lumps, sometimes separately, and is generally covered with earth (or leaves?). Tadpoles:-The tadpole of the newt has gills, and a tail during part of its life, and develops its hind legs first. The tadpole of the toad resembles the former, but never possesses gills. The tadpole of the newt has a tail permanently, gills during part of its life, and develops its front legs first.-H. E. F.

WARTY NEWTS.-I have made newts and diving water-spiders subjects of special observation among other inmates of the aquarium. In May, 1873, I obtained a number of warty newts from a pond near Northampton, and decided to try the practicabilty of keeping newts through the winter with great suc cess. After the stock, owing to some being given away and others escaping (none died), had been reduced to three in October, I placed these in a large bell-glass with two inches of water covering a bottom of sand. A large island of stones, surmounted by a sod of grass, occupied the centre. The newts continued taking very rare baths till the middle of November, and eating occasionally a lively worm. As there was a fire in the room, I suppose they delayed their hybernation. From November till the end of February they lay apparently torpid under the stones, taking no food, and moving languidly if touched. They then gradually became more lively, and were often found lying under water, and occasionally took food. A very slight growth of the dorsal crest was now to be noticed. The newts were all males; and the depth of water was increased to about six inches, leaving still a small island in the centre. These three newts again passed the winter of 1874 in a similar manner, in London; but one died this spring, and another escaped, owing to a heavy shower of rain causing the aquarium to overflow. The one still retained, who now goes by the name of "Billy," shows an attachment, which I should not have expected in such a low order of the animal kingdom. This winter he is spending, with other newts, in a small garden, and I hope will present himself again in the spring. The colony are hybernating under the doorstep. During his aquarium life be always came to the surface to take a worm from my fingers, and, when hungry, would ask for food by swimming up from the bottom. I have often taken him out, and he has made a meal of three worms while walking about my study table in a most fearless manner. I would just add before closing, that the Rev. S. A. Brenan may be quite sure that his newt's tail was eaten off by the sticklebacks-Experto crede, and that a newt in fair health will seldom, during its aquatic life, refuse a lively worm.-F. H. Wood.

FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE NEW FOREST.-I shall feel greatly obliged to any one who will inform me if there is a book published on the fauna and flora of the New Forest or South Hants; and, if so, the title, date, and price; also, whether there is a natural history society or field club at Ringwood, Christchurch, or Bournemouth.-E. D. M.

PUPA OF PRIVET-MOTH.-In your November number for 1874 there is a query regarding the pupa of the Privet Hawkmoth remaining in the same state-still alive-for the whole year: and not

having seen any answer, I extract the following from CC "Westwood":- The young caterpillars, when first hatched, have the tails remarkably long, the bodies very rugose; but they become smooth at the final moulting. By the end of August or middle of September they are full-grown, and become of a dirty-red colour, when they descend into the earth and change into a dark brown chrysalis. The moth appears the following June or July. Sometimes, however, the insect will remain two or even three years in the chrysalis state, and then become winged as perfectly as if it had appeared at the ordinary period.”—C. M. C.

VERONICA.-By the bye, would any of your readers tell me what is the connection (if any) between the botanical name of the Speedwell and the Saint Veronica who figures in the 66 Stations of the Cross"?

SPROD, OR SALMON-TROUT.-The Wype, a tidal river in Lancashire, drains that part of the county which lies between the watersheds of the Ribble and Lune, and empties itself in the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. In the summer months great numbers of the salmon-trout ascend this river in order to deposit their spawn in its higher reaches, many of which are caught in their passage, and sold as salmon, being little inferior to that king of fishes; the flesh, however, is not so intense salmon in colour. Within thirty years the fish had no other name in the district than that of " sprod," and is still so desig nated by the old people. I have examined all works relating to English river-fish within my reach, but have failed to find the name of "sprod." It woula be very interesting to me if any of your many readers could give instances where, in other parts of the country the name "sprod" is applied to the salmontrout. I have an opinion that the word is of Danish or Norwegian origin, as there is evidence that this part of the county was formerly an extensive Norse colony.-James Pearson.

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.-I have been much interested in a letter under this title in the number of Nature for March 25th, p. 405, and I now send you a similar account, which may interest some of the readers of SCIENCE-GOSSIP. The occurrence to which I refer took place on the 11th of June in the present year at Swefling, near Saxmundham, in Suffolk. In order to render my account intelligible, I must briefly explain the position of the buildings which were simultaneously struck by the lightning. The Church and Rectory are distant about 150 yards from each other; while at a distance of 200 yards from either stands an old-fashioned wooden windmill supported on brick piers. About 12 o'clock on the day I have mentioned I was walking along a road in front of the Rectory with my back to the Church, from which I was distant about 80 yards, when I felt a sudden shock and what seemed a smart stroke across the calves of my legs, with a very loud and sharp report. My first impression was that the lightning had struck me, and also some iron hurdles which were close to my left hand. On turning round I saw at once that the church-tower had been struck by lightning; the weathercock had disappeared, and a jagged portion of the flagstaff alone remained, while the churchyard was filled with a grey smoke or haze. I was not hurt, though for a few seconds feeling a numbness in the calves of my legs. I therefore hastened forward, and on reaching the Rectory was much surprised to find that the lightning had entered the house. The servants de

clared that a fireball had passed through the kitchen and exploded there. I could not trace the whole course of the lightning within the Rectory, but found it had passed along the bell-wire, blackening the walls where it passed through, and had gone out below the front door, partially displacing a piece or two of stone in the stone steps. On proceeding to the Church, the course of the lightning there was easily traced. After striking the flagstaff it had passed down inside the tower to a point a little above the nave. A small window had been blocked up exactly above the ridge of the roof; through this it had made its exit, the bricks, mortar, and stones being cast very obliquely into the churchyard without injuring the roof of the nave. From this point the electric fluid had apparently passed along externally where the tower and roof of the nave meet, and had then torn off the slates in its progress to the iron water-trough, along which it then passed. At the north-east end of the nave was a buttress; and, at a lower level, along the eaves of the chancel, ran another iron water-trough, the head of the buttress partially intervening. This top of the buttress was entirely torn away, the pieces of stone being scattered around and in some cases cast to long distances. The lightning in its course then passed along this second water-trough, doing no damage except loosening the joints and blowing off the copper elbows, and passed down the upright iron tube to the earth. It did not enter the earth, however, at this point, for it ploughed a shallow horizontal furrow along the ground in the direction of some iron palisading round a tomb, and came out on a level with the upper surface of a gravel walk, where all trace of it was lost. At the same time that the Church and Rectory were struck the Windmill was struck also. The miller was looking out of a window in the opposite direction from the Church when he was struck and 'for a time lost all consciousness: he was so injured as to be unable to do any work for six weeks afterwards. The shock was severely felt all round the Church and Rectory. A man who was in the stable at the Rectory was so stunned that he had to be led home, but in a short time quite recovered and felt no further ill effects. Another man who was in his garden near the Church told me he was turned quite round. He says the rush of the stones and mortar from the churchtower was a wonderful sight, and that the dust and smoke caused by it was so dense that he thought the Church was on fire. The miller saw nothing of the lightning, nor did I see it. This I attribute to the shock we received. The most remarkable feature of this account seems to be, that the Church, Rectory, and Windmill were all struck by the same flash of lightning. Of this there could be no doubt, as there was only one discharge anywhere near. Previously to this I had not noticed that it was a thundercloud at all, and I only observed one flash afterwards, which was evidently at some distance. Bearing on this point, I have it from a very intelligent man, that at the time mentioned he was at a distance of half a mile or more, and saw a flash of lightning descend, which separated when at a distance of about 50 yards from the earth, into three streams. One stream descended straight on the Church, the other two, he should judge, went in about the directions of the Rectory and Windmill. He told me also he had often watched thunderstorms, but he had never seen so vivid a flash. The same remark was made by several persons who were at much greater distances. Another remarkable point is the number of persons who felt a shock.

A friend of mine suggests that this was caused by the "return shock." Being highly electrified by the induction of the cloud overhead, we were discharged to the nearest good conductor-in my case, to the iron railings. One more point to which I would call attention is the extraordinary direction in which the stones, &c., were cast from the tower. None of them could have made a greater angle with the face of the tower than from 10° to 15°; they were cast in the direction the lightning was passing, or very nearly parallel with the face of the tower. As I know nothing of the theory of electricity, I cannot give explanations, but I have taken considerable pains to get at the facts.-E. N. Bloomfield.

CRICKETS. I have lately been studying the Acheta domestica; and with reference to the sound made by this insect, although I am unable to show how this is produced, I know that it is not made by rubbing the legs against the elytra, or against each other, as some assert, as I have watched the insect closely when it has been "chirping," and have been unable to detect the slightest movement in any part of its body. That the legs did not move in any way I am certain. If there was any motion of the elytra, it was so very slight that I could not perceive it. On the wings there is a formation very much resembling a ladder, running from the base of the wing to the apex. Some observers, I believe, hold that the sound is produced by rubbing this ladder-like portion of the wing against the under side of the elytron. This, however, I think could not be. Firstly, because the wing being longer than the elytron, is folded in such a way as to leave only a part of the ladder (as it were) in contact with the elytron, part being folded under. If (as everything in nature is formed for a special purpose of its own) this ladder had been intended to produce the "song of the cricket," it is natural to suppose that it would be placed in a manner the most advantageous for the performance of that purpose, whereas part being folded under, and not in contact with the elytron, that part would be useless, which is not natural. Further, the construction of the ladder is such that it would only be able to produce sound by being drawn against the elytron vertically. This is impossible, as, if the wings can be moved at all when closed, and covered by the elytra, this cannot move any way but laterally. Clearly then, I think, this particular formation cannot be for such a purpose. Secondly, the structure of the wing is so slight and gauzy, that I do not consider that it could possibly bear the friction. Thus I arrive at the conclusion that the sound of the Achetas is not produced by external means. And in support of this view I would refer any one interested in the subject to the formation of the tongue, which is water-lined as it were (like bank-notes). lines, I imagine, being parallel ridges, and thus. eminently calculated, in my opinion, to give a thrilling and vibrating tone to any sound issuing from the mouth of the insect. I shall be glad to correspond with any of "ours" on this subject, and between us we may, perhaps, arrive at some conclusion satisfactory to ourselves at least.-F. E. Fletcher.

These

BANDED BEAUTY.-In answer to "W. E. S.'s" query, which appeared in your September number, regarding the Banded Beauty (Nyssia zonaria), I find in Westwood's British Moths" that "the larva feeds on Achillea millefolia, and other herbaceous plants. The perfect insect is found in Fet

ruary, March, and April, and again in June and July, in various situations on the banks of the Mersey, especially near the Black Rock, where it occasionally appears in great numbers, and where it was first discovered in 1829. The chrysalides are buried two or three inches in depth below the surface of the sand, as I am informed by Mr. Gregson, of Liverpool.—C. M. C.

PARASITES IN CATERPILLARS.-Is it known that other flies beside the Ichneumon deposit their eggs in the bodies of caterpillars, as I have had an instance of such an occurrence this summer? In the autumn of last year I had some caterpillars brought me of the Painted Lady butterfly; one of them I soon observed to be full of larvæ, which I supposed to be that of an ichneumon, and from what I could see of them through the skin of the caterpillar they appeared to be of rather a large size. Having witnessed the development of four different species of ichneumon, I anticipated seeing a fifth. In time I observed they had gone into the chrysalis state within the body of the caterpillar; they were of a reddish-brown colour, and very similar in shape to the chrysalis of the large common house-fly. They remained in this state until the end of June in this year, when there issued from them eight flies, but they were not the common housefly. Their colour at first sight was very dark, owing to their being covered with long hairs of a deep purple colour; the body below and between those long hairs was covered with a beautiful silvergrey tint; the margin of their eyes and front of the head was covered with the same, which gives the eye the appearance of being set in silver; the legs are also covered with the same silvery tint; the wings are somewhat iridescent; they are not in the least like the Ichneumon. On referring to Westwood on Insects, I find, at page 570, vol. ii., in speaking of the species Anthornia, he refers to page 569, fig. 132, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which answers exactly to these produced from the caterpillar; but those, he says, undergo their transformation in rotten vegetable matter, or in manure, excrementa, &c. Perhaps some of the numerous readers of SCIENCE-GOSSIP have seen something of the same sort take place. I have by me the flies, chrysalis, and skin of the caterpillar.-J. Fullagar, Canterbury.

PRAYING MANTIS (Mantis religiosa).-Information derived from the "Naturalists' Library," subject, Entomology, vol. i. pp. 227-234-The characteristic features of the family Mantidæ are as follows:-"The head is long, triangular, and vertical, furnished with large eyes (sometimes having a triangular prolongation in front), and three distinct stemmata; antennæ long, filiform, and slender, composed of numerous joints, sometimes pectinated in the males; terminal joint of the palpi ending in a point; ligula quadṛufid; tegmina thin and reticufated, usually covering the wings, legs unequal, the anterior pair elongated, thickened, and armed with teeth; tarsi five-jointed." In this tribe is included a variety of very singular forms, familiarly known as walking leaves, from the colour, shape, and general appearance of the insects, which have been made familiar to all by the pen of the author and the pencil of the artist. The Mantidæ are carnivorous, and prey upon weaker individuals of their own class, being enabled to seize their prey by the great length of their fore legs, which being situated near the head, and the thorax being very long,

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admits of their extension forwards for a considerable distance, and the thigh being thick, grooved on its inner edge, and armed with a double row of strong spines, upon which the tibia, which is likewise spinous on its interior edge, closes like the blade of a pocket-knife upon its handle, and so secures the smallest object that may be within, whilst in the combats which take place between those creatures, it is a formidable weapon, one blow from which will effectually decapitate an adversary. These raptorial legs, of which the tarsus is short and weak, often equal, and in some instances surpass, the entire length of the body, and being usually borne extended before the insect, and frequently raised, and as it were clasped together, have invested those insects with an ideal power of divining the course of future events, and consequently in many places they are regarded with a kind of religious veneration. In the south of France M. religiosa has the character of pointing out the way to lost children and travellers. The Hottentots venerate another species, and any person upon whom it alights is supposed to be a special favourite of Heaven, and the recipient of a peculiar degree of sanctity; and these fancies have suggested to systematic authors such names as, "oratoria,' religiosa," "precaria," "pater-noster," &c., titles not very appropriate when we consider the fierce and gluttonous character of these creatures, which are continually capturing and devouring all the suitable insects which come in their way, closing one armed joint upon another, so as to transfix and secure the victim; whilst their pugnacious disposition leads them to indulge in frequent contests with each other, their manoeuvres during which are described as resembling those of hussars fighting with sabres, and when the battle is decided, the victor devours his late antagonist. This love of war, which surely must command our sympathy, causes them to be kept by the Chinese, who delight in the exhibition of their warlike proclivities. Europe contains only a few of the smaller species of the Mantidæ, one of which is found as far north as Frankfort-on-the-Maine, the tropical and temperate regions of the globe being their habitat. The eggs of these insects are very numerous, are of an elongated form and yellow colour, and are disposed in two rows, being inclosed in a soft substance which hardens by exposure to the air. The egg-case is attached to the stalk of a plant. As a generic designation, the term Mantis is now limited to such members of the family as have the antennæ simple, head without an angular projection in front, eyes hemispherical, anterior legs long and falciform, the others slender and without spines. Many of them are of considerable size, and with a very few exceptions, extra-European. Mantis religiosa is about two inches in length, of a light green colour, inclining to brown in some places, and occasionally almost entirely of the latter hue; thorax elongate, particularly in the female, and smooth on the surface; tegmina as long as the abdomen, green and unspotted, each of them with a strong longitudinal nervure, at some distance from the anterior border; under-wings of an elongate triangular shape, green anteriorly, and of a firmer texture than behind, where the colour is pale white; the abdomen and legs are also green; the anal spines, as well on those on the anterior legs, deep chestnut. On the inner side of the coxæ of the fore-legs there is a yellow spot bordered with black,-a peculiarity which, according to Latreille, serves to distinguish this species from one nearly allied, which is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. This species appears

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