destructive to Barley and Turnips, 173 



but when, in addition thereto, the student knows that his 

 labours may possibly tend to the positive welfare of his fel- 

 lows, his ardour is redoubled; and that which before was 

 merely interesting to himself, acquires, not only in his own 

 eyes, but in those of his readers, a real value. Hence arises 

 that pure and unalloyed pleasure in the mind, which is one of 

 the rewards — indeed, the greatest and most heartfelt — with 

 which the observer of nature is repaid for his labours either of 

 body or of mind. The outdoor naturalist forgets all the toils 

 of a livelong day, in the discovery of some remarkable trait 

 of economy in the objects of his study ; or, if his attention be 

 more especially directed to the acquisition of additions to his 

 collections, by the capture of some rare insect, the discovery 

 of some new plant, or the picking up of some unpossessed 

 shell: while the indoor naturalist, after repeated and ofttimes 

 microscopic and painful examinations, will, perhaps, discover 

 some minute organ, or other peculiarity of structure, which 

 will cause that eye, which midnight toil has dimmed, to shine 

 again with more than wonted brightness. This, and the 

 knowledge that his labours are duly appreciated by his bre- 

 thren, a favour which it is the constant aim of his laudable 

 ambition to obtain, are the returns which the naturalist hopes 

 to receive in exchange for all his cares ; and no one will deny 

 that, to " the mind at rest," they are sufficient to give energy 

 in research, and a sufficing consolation for every toil. 



The insects accompanying Mr. Farmer's communication 

 consist of one of the small Tchneumonidae, one of the Cyni- 

 pidae, and specimens of a chrysalis, which he has considered 

 to be that of the latter insect. The first of these insects 

 (Jig. 16.; g, natural size ; //, magnified) is a small and slender 

 ichneumon, belonging to the aberrant section Adsciti, and the 

 subfamily Alysiides. It is of a black colour ; the wings are 

 stained dark brown ; the tips of the basal joints of the an- 

 tennae, the thighs and shanks of the fore legs, and the knees 

 of the four hind legs pitchy red; the hind part of the thorax, 

 and the basal joint of the abdomen, are rugose ; the antennae 

 are long and multiarticulate, and the abdomen is compressed 

 at the extremity ; the wings have one marginal and two sub- 

 marginal cells, the first of which is the smallest, and sepa- 

 rated from the discoidal cell by a nerve which runs to the 

 extremity of the wing. In the form of the body, direction of 

 the nerves of the wings, and the structure of the antennae, 

 this insect evidently belongs to the genus Chae N non of Curtis ; 

 but in the only mutilated specimen sent by Mr. Farmer, the 

 jaws did not seem to me to be extended laterally (a repre- 

 senting the head), as they are in that genus ; perhaps, in- 



