HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GO S SIP. 



257 



prepared to tlie same scale, viz., five thousand times 

 the natural size. The animals represented are, — 

 musk deer, goat, llama, man, ohalHncli, lizard, frog, 

 proteus, and tench. The price of the set, iu cascj 

 is six ihalers. 



New Navicula.— The Kev. E. O'Meara exhi- 

 bited, at the monthly meeting of the Dublin Micro- 

 scopical Club, the following new Navicula : — N. 

 diciirvata, N. vertebrata, and N. Mooreana. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Zoological Parallelism. — In making a general 

 survey of the animal kingdom, it is impossible to 

 avoid being struck by the remarkable parallelism 

 which exists between the several orders and families, 

 and even genera and species, that compose the 

 respective classes into which it is divided, and which 

 reveals itself iu the representative types that abound 

 throughout its whole extent. Thus if we take the 

 mammalia as our starting-point, we shall find that 

 the carnivora are represented among the birds by 

 the raptores ; among the reptiles by the crocodiles 

 and serpents; among the insects by the predaceous 

 beetles, ichneumons, and dragon-flies; among the 

 aimulosa by the spiders, crabs, lobsters, &c.; among 

 the mollusks by the cuttle-fish and by some of the 

 gastropods and a few brachiopods ; and among the 

 radiates by the sea-urchins,'star-fish, sea-anemones, 

 &c. Confining our observation to the parallelism 

 between the mammalia and the birds on the one 

 hand, and the insects on the other, we find that the 

 carnivorous mammals are well represented among 

 the Coleoptera as follows : The Pelida3, the typical 

 carnivora, by the Cicindelidse, whose resemblance 

 is acknowledged in their vernacular name of " tiger- 

 beetles." The Cauidse — dogs, wolves, foxes — are 

 fitly represented by the Carabidse ; the weasel tribe 

 by the Staphylinidaj ; and the hysenas and vultures 

 by the Silphidai ; while the marine carnivora, the 

 seals and whales, find their representatives in the 

 Dytiscida; and Hydroida;; and the various species 

 of raptorial birds are no less fittingly typified by the 

 Libellulidaj — iclmeumou-flies, sphexes, and the pre- 

 daceous wasps and hornets ; not forgetting the ants, 

 w hich have a highly-developed carnivorous organiza- 

 tion. We need not follow out in detail the obvious 

 resemblances that may be observed between the 

 pachydermatous animals and the Lucanidte and 

 other dendrophagous insects, as well as between the 

 bovine, equine, and ovine tribes, and the gallina- 

 ceous and cursorial birds on the one hand, and part 

 of the Scarabeidaj and Chrysomelidte, and most of 

 the Orthoptera on the other ; or those not less re- 

 markable that exist between the goat, deer, and 

 antelope families, and the Cerambyx, Clytus, and 

 Leptura genera. — Prof. J. T.Bell, hi "Canadian 

 Entomologist." 



PiiospuoE-ESCENCK. — Dr. T. L. Phipson has 

 given the name of Noctilucine to the peculiar organic 

 substance which is manifested in the phosphores" 

 cence of sea-water. This, he thinks, is also the 

 cause of tlie production of light by the glow-worm, 

 and probably of all phosphorescent animals. 



Insects and Plants.— At the meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, recently held at Dubuque, Iowa, a very 

 interesting^ paper was read by Mr. C. V. Riley, of 

 St. Louis, entitled " Insects shaped by the Needs 

 of Flowers," with especial reference to the fructifi- 

 cation of the American Yuccas. Dr. Engleman, of 

 St. Louis, had this year discovered that these plants 

 must need rely on some artificial agency for fer- 

 tilization. The flowers are peculiarly constructed, 

 so that it is impossible for the pollen to reach the 

 stigma, it being glutinous and expelled from the 

 anthers before the blossoms open. Professor Riley 

 discovered that there was a small white moth that 

 did the work, and demonstrated on the blackboard 

 how wonderfully well the insect was adapted to the 

 purpose. This little moth, which lie calls Promtba 

 Yuecasella, has been unknown to entomologists, and 

 forms the type of a new genus. It is most anoma- 

 lous, from the fact that the female only has the basal 

 joint of the maxillary palpus wonderfully modified 

 into a long prehensile-spined tentacle. With this 

 tentacle she collects the pollen and thrusts it into 

 the stigmatic tube, and after having thus fertilized 

 the flower, she consigns a few eggs to the young 

 fruit, the seeds of which her larvae feed upon. He 

 stated that the Yucca was the only entomopliilous 

 plant known which absolutely depended for fer- 

 tilization on a single species of insect, and that in- 

 sect so remarkably modified for the purpose. There 

 was a beautiful adaptation of [means to an end, and 

 a mutual interdependence between the plant and 

 animal ; and Mr. Riley explained how on Darwinian 

 grounds even this perfect adaptation was doubtless 

 brought about by slow degrees. He alluded, in 

 closing, to a practical phase of the subject. The 

 plant and its fructifier are inseparable under na- 

 tural conditions, and the latter occurs throughout 

 the native home of the former. In the more northern 

 portions of the United States, and in Europe, where 

 our Yuccas have been introduced and are cultivated 

 for their showy blossoms, the insect does not exist, 

 and consequently the Yuccas never produce seed 

 there. The larva of Pronnba eats through the 

 Yucca capsule in which it fed, enters the ground, 

 and hybernates there in an oval 'silken cocoon. In 

 this stage the insect may easily be sent by mail 

 from one part of the world to another, and our 

 Transatlantic florists may, by introducing it, soon 

 have the satisfaction of seeing their American Yuc- 

 cas produce seed without any personal effort on 

 their part. 



