197 



the eyes and the antennae — for if the antennae were set wider apart tha 

 eyes must of course be wider also ; or, on the other hand, if the approxima- 

 tion of the eyes was altered the position of the antennae must be varied 

 accordingly. 



Mr. Nelson inquired what was represented by a red spot shown on the 

 top of the head of the bee in the diagram ? 



Mr. Cheshire said it was one of three simple eyes, or ocelli. 

 Dr. Matthews asked if Mr. Cheshire could give them any reason for the 

 high temperature which had been observed to exist in bee hives ? 



Mr. Cheshire said this was rather a question for the chemist than the 



naturalist, but it appeared to be due to the constant oxydation of sugar ; 



the honey collected consisted mainly of cane sugar, which was gradually 



converted into grape sugar, in the process of which a large amount of 



oxydation went on. The behaviour of the bees was peculiar under different 



conditions of temperature — at 40° they were quiet, but if it fell below that 



they kept moving, and at 0° their movements were much more active, and 



they kept moving their wings as if in this way to keep up the temperature. 



Mr. E. M. Nelson read a paper " On the Pygidium of the Flea/' in the 



course of which he stated that he had taken up this object from a " brass 



and glass " point of view, because he found it was referred to in the 



" Micrographic Dictionary " eight or nine times as a test object, whereas he 



found that the so-called hairs were spines, which formed nothing that 



could be called any sort of test for a high power objective. If, however, 



they would take some of the hairs which were found on the proboscis of a 



blow-fly, tbey would find that one of the finest things they could see was the 



ultimate end of one of these hairs. In answer to the question, what was 



the Pygidium ? ho was inclined to regard it as an auditory apparatus. 



There were some round holes which he thought were probably the ends of 



eustachian tubes, and the filaments or hairs would no doubt be of use in 



catching and communicating sonorous vibrations. 



Mr. Michael said he had seen Mr. Nelson's method of exhibiting these 

 objects, and could therefore vouch for the accuracy of his descriptions. 

 With regard to the suggestion that the Pygidium might be an auditory 

 apparatus, though it might seem to be a somewhat unusual position for 

 such an organ, yet the position of the flea's head ^hen feeding was such 

 that any organ situated there for the purpose of hearing would be dis- 

 advantageous^ placed for the purpose. 



The thanks of the meeting were unanimously voted to Mr. Cheshire and 

 Mr. Nelson for their communications. 



Announcements of meetings for the ensuing month were then made, and 

 the proceedings terminated with the usual conversazione, when the follow- 

 ing objects were exhibited : — 



Water mite, Atax apsilophora ... ... Mr. F. W. Andrew. 



Lophojjus crystallinaj ... ... ... Mr. C. Gr. Dunning. 



Aquatic worm ... ... ... ... Mr. H. E. Freeman. 



Larva of Chironomus jprasinus ... ... Mr. A. Hammond. 



Fly, with parasite attached ... ... Col. O'llara. 



