HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



175 



with insects. Witliia its transparent substance I 

 observe a tiny beetle, apparently allied to our 

 clythra, several small gnats, the remains of a moth 

 . (rather a rare find, by the way), and a number of 

 white ants {termites) ; there must be a dozen or 

 more present, all winged, besides several detached 

 wings, quite perfect in their outline, and with the 

 neuration beautifully clear. 



It is evident that the little creatures settled upon 

 the treacherous resin at a time when it was in a 

 semi-fluid condition, and were of course retained 

 there by the viscid nature of the substance. The 

 gum, as it flowed from the body of the tree, gradu- 

 ally surrounded its victims, and at last entirely 

 inclosed them in a premature but very beautiful 

 tomb, so that Pope's question can be answered 

 more satisfactorily now than in his day : — 



*' Pretty, in amber to observe the forms 

 Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms. 

 The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare; 

 But all the wonder is— how they got there ! " 



Amber-caught insects are found in different 

 degrees of preservation. Some, which wei-e evi- 

 dently engulfed at cnce in the sticky matter, are as 

 perfect as the day they were killed. Others have 

 been consigned to a more lingering death; the resin 

 has exuded very slowly, and the victims have not 

 only died before they were surrounded by it, but 

 having been trapped in bright dry weather, their 

 bodies have become desiccated and withered ; in 

 some instances, indeed, a white mould has begun 

 to form round them, plainly discernible in the 

 pellucid amber. At least two minute fungi— 

 BrachyclacUum thomasinmn and Penicillium curtipes 

 — have been detected ; traces of other genera also 

 occur, (Berkeley's "Cryptogamic Botany.") 



As a rule, the inclosed insects are not widely 

 different from — many species are actually identical 

 with— those now in existence. At the same time 

 " the insects found in amber are not those which 

 belong to our latitudes, yet there are many forms 

 which perfectly agree with ours. This may espe- 

 cially be said of the smaller flies and gnats ; but 

 particularly in the cockroaches, many beetles, and 

 the majority of the Hymenoptera, the resemblance 

 to exotic forms is still greater." (Burmeister's 

 " Manual of Entomology," by Shuckard.) Without 

 going into minute details, it may be sufficient to 

 mention that at least one-half of the insect orders 

 have had their representatives embalmed in the 

 golden fluid ; and that most of them, as may be 

 imagined, are of species which frequent woods 

 and thickets. Amongst Coleopters are numerous 

 tomicids and weevils : the Orthopters supply 

 locusts and grasshoppers, the Dictyopters a few 

 cockroaches. In liymenopters we have ants, 

 ichneumon flies, and a bee allied to the South 

 American Trigoua ; in Lepidopters a large hawk- 



moth and several caterpillars. Of Neuropters there 

 have been captured dragon-flies and white ants 

 {Termites), a lace-fly {Ilemerobius), and an ant-lion 

 {21yrmecoleoii). Various kinds of Ilemipters (land 

 and water bugs) have been detected ; also divers 

 Homopters, a flata, and several cicadas ; while of 

 Dipters the list is well-nigh interminable. 



Other transparent resins which cmbracy) insects 

 in their deadly fold, are known in commerce as 

 copal and gum animc. Though largely employed 

 in the arts, little is knows of their history. That 

 they are of vegetable origin, as in the case of 

 amber, is certain ; though the exact species of tree 

 which produces them is scarcely yet known. In 

 all probability they are the product of two legu- 

 minous plants, Hymensea and Trachylobiura, species 

 of which are indigenous in South America, Southern 

 India, and Africa West and East. With regard 

 to the latter region. Dr. Kii-k, British Consul at 

 Zanzibar, informs us, through the Linnaean Society, 

 that "Specimens removed from the living tree show 

 that large masses, equalling the fossil in size, are 

 still produced, and are as full of insects as were 

 those of the ancient forests." Indeed, so large a 

 quantity of organic remains do these resins contain, 

 that the name of "auime" (animated) is fully jus- 

 tified. But while the Trachylobium of Eastern 

 Africa still gives forth an amber-like fluid from its 

 stem, and the same fluid exudes from the roots of 

 the American and Indian Hymenaea, the late Dr. 

 Welwitsch stated his decided opinion — also in a 

 paper read before the Linnaean Society— that the 

 copal of Western Africa is, like amber, of a fossil 

 nature, " produced by trees which in periods long 

 since past adorned the forests of that continent, but 

 which at present are either totally extinct, or exist 

 only in a dwarfed posterity. The copal is eithe 

 dug out of the loose strata of sand, marl, or clay 

 or else it is found in isolated pieces washed out and 

 brought to the surface of the soil by heavy rain- 

 falls, earthfalls, or gales." Burton also, in his work 

 on Zanzibar, speaks of gum copal as though it were ■ 

 mainly if not altogether fossil. 



Erom these statements it would appear that the 

 copal of commerce is of both recent and fossil 

 origin ; that its masses are crowded with imprisoned 

 victims; and that consequently copal and amber 

 form the most ancient insect-traps of which we have 

 record. W. W. Spicer. 



Itchen Abbas. 



Carduus tenuiflorus at Llandudno.— It is 

 very difficult to ascertain that a plant has entirely 

 disappeared from a given locality. As an illustra- 

 tion of this, I may mention that Carduus temiiflorns , 

 which Mr. Edwin Lees (p. 128) says has " entirely 

 disappeared" from Llandudno, was growing there 

 last July in some abundance. — James Britten. 



