142 



The President said that the whole subject touched upon by Mr. Hunter 

 was wonderfully interesting. He (Mr. Hunter) certainly appeared to be one 

 of those privileged persons who could handle bees with impunity. The story 

 ran that if a black queen were crossed with a Ligurian di'one then all the 

 workers which were hatched from the eggs of that queen would have the 

 Ligurian marks, but the drones would have all the characters of the black 

 bee — perhaps Mr. Hunter could tell them if this were the case. 



Mr. Hunter said that when an English queen had been crossed by a 

 Ligurian drone it had been thought that this distinction could be made out, 

 but the Ligurian drones were often so imperfectly marked that the dis- 

 tinction was sometimes doubtful. The drone was thought to partake of 

 the character of the mother, but he believed the fact had never been satis- 

 factorily proved. 



In answer to an enquiry. Mr. Hunter said that the queen never left her 

 home except to mate, and then she always flew quite away, sometimes as 

 much as four miles. 



A member enquired why it was that the drones were so numerous if the 

 queens were so few in number ? 



Mr Hunter said it was no doubt in order that the chances of the queen 

 meeting with a drone might be increased. 



The President said he had been asked to announce that a paper was 

 wanted for the next meeting. In this practice he thought he saw another 

 part of this curious deception which had been practised upon him. In other 

 societies a great deal of trouble had to be taken to secure papers for the 

 meetings, but here it seemed they had only to intimate that a paper was 

 wanted in order to get what they desired. 



The President announced the engagements for the ensuing month, and 

 the meeting terminated with the usual conversazione, at which the following 

 objects were exhibited : — 



Section of seed of Hemlock Mr. P. W. Andrew. 



Adiantum cuneatum ... ... ... ... ... Mr. W. J. Brown. 



Anguinaria spatulata ... ... ... ... Mr. C. G. Dunning. 



Tongues of Sand Wasp and parasitic Bee, showing") 



all the organs of the mouth without distortion > Mr. F. Enock. 



or loss of colour ... ... ... ... ) 



Various Insect Dissections ... ... ... ... Mr. F. Fitch. 



Chcetoceros armatum from Ormsby... ... ... Mr. H. G. Glasspoole. 



Swan's feather, polarized ... ... Mr. W. Goodwin. 



Ovaries of Queen Bee ... ... ... ... Mr. John Hunter. 



Section of Upper Jaw of Mole, showing trans- ) 



,...,!. Mr. J. J. Hunter, 



verse sections ot teeth ... ... ... ) 



Glyciphagus plumiger, showing plumous hairs,' 



which attain a greater development in this 



species than in any other acarus. Only one 



specimen has been previously found in England' 



Section of brain of Blatta orientalis, showing") 



,.,.,,.«. r., mb ( Mr. E. T. Newton. 



distribution ot nerve fibres, cells, &c. ... ) 



Mr. A. D. Michael. 



