HARDWICKE'S SCI E N CE-G OS SI P. 



161 



article is taken up with an interesting and elaborate 

 account of the production of sponges, commencing 

 from the zygosis of the sponge-animal, and tracing 

 the gradual development of the spiculaj. Dr. J. E. 

 Gray, E.E.S., in the same number, has an article on 

 the classification of sponges, in which he makes 

 some alteration in the paper on the same subject 

 published in the "Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," May, 1SG7. , 



Noxious and Beneficial Insects.— A good 

 example is set by the trans-Atlantic authorities to 

 other states. Mr. Charles Y. Riley, State ento- 

 mologist, has just published his " Third Annual 

 Report on the Noxious, Beneficial, and other Insects 

 of the State of Missouri." The subject is exhaust- 

 ively treated, and the illustrations numerous. The 

 larvs, chrysalids, and pupfc of all the insects 

 which affect the agriculturist are carefully deline- 

 ated, and their habits, structure, &c. plainly de- 

 scribed; so that tlie American agriculturists possess 

 an advantage over those of other countries in 

 knowing which are their enemies and which 

 tlieir friends. The Report of the Entomological 

 Society of Ontario for 1S71 has also just appeared, 

 including reports on some of the noxious and bene- 

 ficial insects of the province, illustrated by upwards 

 of a hundred woodcuts. The insects affecting the 

 apple, the wheat crops, and the cabbage, are de- 

 scribed by the Rev. C. J. S. Bethunc, president of 

 the society ; those affecting the grape, the currant, 

 and gooseberry, have been undertaken by Mr. W. 

 Saunders, vice-president ; whilst Mr. E. B. Reed 

 has given an account of the insects in connection 

 with the plum, potatoes, cucumber, melon, &c. 

 The Report, therefore, is of a most valuable 

 character, and the work well done. 



The PiioTOZOA, &c. — Dr. T. C. Hilgard has 

 recently stated before the New Orleans Academy of 

 Sciences, that he recognized no such classes as 

 Protozoa or Frofop/ii/f a. He remarks that "all the 

 so-called Infusoria, all the Protozoa, Protophyta, 

 and fresh-water Algse, so-called, are severally and 

 collectively, in all known cases, the immature, but 

 even thus self-multiplyinggerms of higher (or adult) 

 forms of plants and animals, otherwise well known 

 for themselves.-" 



Lauva oe the Eox-Moxn {Bomhjx ruLi).— 

 The occurrence of this species in the larval state 

 on the Sea Buckthorn is a little singular. It would 

 be curious to note whether they would eat the 

 leaves if they were at all moist with salt-water. 

 These larvffi seem usually to prefer bramble or 

 blackthorn, but they are occasionally found feeding 

 upon clover and heather. Many entomologists 

 have recorded it as their experience that the larva 

 of rubi cannot be brought through the winter 

 without some difficulty, most individuals dying off 



in confinement during November. I hope Mr, 

 Garfit will be more fortunate with his brood. As 

 he asks for information, I beg to quote Mr. New- 

 man's suggestion for carrying them through. He 

 decidedly discards the "coddling" plan of treat- 

 ment which some have great faith in, and advises 

 thus : — " Obtain a tea-chest, or some other large use- 

 less wooden box without a lid ; fill the bottom with 

 heathy turf cut from a common, put the larvis with 

 their food on the turf, and cover the box with wire 

 gauze. Thus prepared, leave the whole in your 

 garden, exposed to wind and rain, and the moths 

 will emerge in due time." No doubt, it will be 

 advisable to protect this receptacle from very heavy 

 rains. I suspect, saving in very cold weather, these 

 larva; are seldom entirely inactive ; and they should 

 be supplied with green food now and then, which 

 they will nibble a little. Another mode might be 

 tried ; namely, that of dividing them off into par- 

 ties of about a score in each, these being placed in 

 flowerpots, with a little dry moss at the bottom, 

 the top being tied over with gauze. In any case, 

 efforts must be made to obtain for the survivors 

 (which may be but few) as early a supply of leaves 

 or expanding buds as possible, directly the influences 

 of the spring are showing themselves upon vegeta- 

 tion.—/. B. S. C. 



Salmon Spawning.— It is astonishing to see in 

 what enormous quantities, and to what great dis- 

 tances, the salmon ascend the Siberian rivers. 

 Dozens of small streams which we passed in the 

 interior of Kamschatka, seventy miles from the sea- 

 coast, were so choked up with thousands of dead, 

 dying, and decayed fish, that we could not use the 

 water for any purpose whatever. Even in little 

 mountain brooks, so narrow that a child could step 

 across them, we saw salmon eighteen or twenty 

 inches in length, still working their way laboriously 

 up stream, in water which was not deep enough to 

 cover their bodies. We frequently waded in and 

 threw them out by the dozen with our bare hands. 

 — Tent Life in Siberia. 



Young Caterpillars in Coneinement.— The 

 jam-pot will be found very serviceable for these, 

 amongst the Micro-Lepidoptera. It has long been 

 used by the rearers of the Tiueina, as leaves kept 

 therein do not dt-y up speedily. The top is covered 

 with a piece of plate-glass in that case ; but, in 

 using it for young caterpillars of the Bombyces and 

 Geometrse, I have tied it over with gauze or muslin. 

 Small twigs of shrubs, or stalks of herbaceous 

 plants, may be kept fresh in such a receptacle for 

 some days. One drawback, however, is this, that 

 what answers very well iu so far as the food is 

 concerned, does not always suit the young larvae. 

 Whsn the weather is cold, and they happen to 

 place themselves on the sides of the pot, they are 

 liable to become cramped, and are afterwards 



