Notice of the Capture of Deilephila Galii (Scarce Spot Elephant Moth} 

 a rare Lepidopterous Insect, belonging to the Family of the Sphingi- 

 dse, Leach. By P. J. SELBY, Esq. of Twizell House. 



ON the evening of the 1 2th of August 1 834, soon after sunset, when 

 looking after Phalaenae in the garden at Twizell House, my attention 

 was attracted by a large moth hovering, in the manner of the Humming- 

 bird Sphinx (Macroglossa stellatarum), in front of the flowers of a Mo- 

 narcha, and probing their tubes with its long extensile proboscis ; wait- 

 ing an opportunity, I succeeded in securing it, when it proved to be a 

 beautiful and newly excluded specimen of the Deilephila Galii Steph. 

 one of our rarest British insects. A second was taken in the same gar- 

 den the evening of the 14th August; and I have since learnt that an- 

 other, now in the possession of Dr Johnston, was secured about the same 

 time in the neighbourhood of Berwick. This is the first authenticated 

 instance of the occurrence of this beautiful sphinx in the north of Eng- 

 land, and in the south four or five examples only of its capture are re- 

 corded. 



Notice of the Brown Amethyst. By JAMES MITCHELL, Esq. R.N. 



I HAVE found that rare and beautiful gem the brown amethyst, in a 

 ravine near Cheviot, Northumberland, called by the people around the 

 Diamond Quarry, from the numerous specimens of rock-crystal, and 

 other specimens of crystallized quartz, found there. A specimen of the 

 brown amethyst, cut and set, I now submit to the inspection of the So- 

 ciety. Previously to my finding this mineral, it was not known to exist 

 in Northumberland, for the locality is not mentioned by Professor Jame- 

 son in his splendid and hitherto unrivalled work on mineralogy. This 

 ravine, which is formed by the washing away and consequent decay of 

 the porphyry rocks by a small river, exhibits blocks of various sizes of 

 quartz-rocks amongst the clay of its banks. Many of them on being bro- 

 ken discover drusy cavities, the walls of which are filled with most beau- 

 tiful crystals of quartz of various colours, tinged by iron, some yellow, 

 others blue, and some jet black, while others are the fine rock-crystal, 

 having no colouring matter. Some of the crystals I have found covered 

 with a red ochry crust of iron-ore, which could not be scraped off by the 

 knife. The brown amethyst I discovered in single perfect crystals 

 amongst the yellow detritus of the decayed porphyry ; and I have no 

 doubt that they had come from some drusy cavity in the quartz-rocks. 



