HARDWICKE'S S C IE N CE-GOSS IP. 



passed down his gullet. " Now we have you," said 

 we, as we singled him out from the rest, and 

 watched him return to his former station ; but we 

 counted our chickens before they were hatched ! 

 Momentarily we expected to see him become un- 

 easy, and succumb to the effects of the dose ; but 

 no, there he remained for three mortal hours with- 

 out a sign of discomfort, and at last flew off with 

 his friends, as if his meal had digested to his satis- 

 faction ! 



We were thus disappointed of our prey, and I 

 very much doubt if the poison had any ultimate 

 efTect on him, for the birds never left their imme- 

 diate haunts ; and had he died, his body must have 

 been picked up within the fort, and it would cer- 

 tainly have been known. "Aegala." 



THE THYSANURAD^.' 



(Second Aeticle.) 



TTAVING in my former paper briefly alluded to 

 -'-'- the Lepismadce as represented in this country, 

 I now, in continuation of the subject, venture to 

 make a few remarks upon the Foduradce, consisting 

 of Smynthurus, Podura, and Lipura.- i 



-Fig. 1. Smynthurus 7ngp.r, x 40, upper side. 



Fig. 2. Lower side of ditto, x 40. 



In Smynthurus the body is more or less globular; 

 in Podura it is linear ; and all the members of both 

 these divisions are furnished with a forked abdo- 

 minal appendage called "jthe springer." In Lipura 

 the springer is absent, and the body is linear, and 



very like that of some of the members of the 

 division Podura. 



Their principal common characteristic is the 

 possession of a ventral tube, the ofiice of which is 

 at present only partially known. Its most obvious 

 function is that of a sucker, enabling the possessor 

 to obtain by its means a more secure foot-hold than 

 its bifld toes alone would get. It also is a lubri- 

 cating organ. And, altogether, its importance is so 

 great, that I believe Sir Jolm Lubbock will deal 

 with it in a special manner in his classification of 

 the order. 



It is not so easy to give a comprehensive view of 

 the Foduradce as of the Lepismadce, because the 

 insects are more numerous. 



As some of them have been alluded to by me 

 in previous papers {Monthly Micro. Journal, 1869, 

 " The Scale-bearing Podura;," and Science-Gossip, 

 1867, "Podurse"), I shall, for the sake of brevity, 

 refer to those papers, rather than recapitulate any- 

 thing which was correctly said then. Where my 

 opinions have undergone some change, I shall 

 endeavour to find room for a word or two. 



Smynthuridce. — These, of which there are three 

 genera, founded chiefly on the jointing of their 

 antennae, — Smynthurus, Papirius, and Dycyrtoma, 

 are very abundant little creatures, though very 

 little known. Some of them are found on the 

 surface of weedy ponds ; but their most favourite 

 localities are grassy meadows and peat-bogs. Some, 

 too, haunt kitchen-gardens ; and I once saw, when 

 a friend was potting out some geraniums, that the 

 empty flowerpots were made a promenade of by 

 thousands of a tiny black species, which looked as 

 if some chimney-pot in the neighbourhood had 

 favoured the locality with an abundant shower of 

 smuts. It was only on close examination that the 

 real character of the deposit was apparent. They 

 were so nimble when approached with a view to 

 capture them, that I only got a few. I give figures 

 of one of them in two positions, and am sorry that 

 space compels me to force that illustration to do 

 duty for all the Smynthuridfe, of which there are 

 about a dozen species, chiefly discovered by Sir 

 John Lubbock. All of them have large heads, 

 more or less globular bodies, and prodigious forked 

 springers. Viewed sidewise, they have always 

 called to my mind the pictures of that extinct bird 

 the Dodo. They are of various colours, and 

 their antennae are long and composed of numerous 

 joints. As I said above, the genera are founded 

 upon the manner of the jointing, &c., of these 

 limbs. They are all scaleless, and the develop- 

 ment of the ventral tube is very extraordinary. 

 Sometimes two filaments of surprising length are 

 projected from this organ, wriggled round the 

 shoulders and back, and as suddenly retracted into 

 their former position. The Smynthuridae are said 

 to breathe by means of tracheae, and the spiracles 



