Scientific Intelligence. — Zoohgij. 405 



Tozer, who observed it in several bogs in the neighbourhood 



of Truro, Cornwall. The corolla is ovate, resembling that of 



E. cinerea in colourj but is much larger, and the anthers are ^*^.^ 



neither homed nor crested. 



ZOOLOGY. 



23. New metJtod of quickly destroying the life oj Insects. By 

 M. A. RicoRD, traveller to the Royal Museum of Natural His- 

 tory at Paris, &c. — The insect is fastened to a bit of cork, and 

 placed under a bell with a little sulphuric ether, which is either 

 poured into a vessel, or upon the floor of the bell. The latter 

 must be perfectly fitted to the plane on which it rests, to pre- 

 vent the escape of the ether when it evaporates. The insect im- 

 mersed in this atmosphere dies instantly, before it has had time 

 to struggle, and thus retains all the freshness of its colouring. — 

 Bulletin Universel. 



24. On the Tyrian Purple. By M. Lesson. — Pliny has describ- 

 ed two kinds of shells, in the 4th Book of his Natural History, as 

 furnishing the celebrated purple with which the robes of the Ro- 

 man nobles was dyed. He names the one Buccinum, the other 

 Murex. There has been much disagreement respecting the 

 buccinum. On comparing Pliny's description, however, with 

 the species of moUusca which inhabit the Mediterranean, there 

 can remain no doubt that it is the Janthina Jragilis of modern 

 naturalists. This shell is pelagic, and floats on the sea in pro- 

 digious quantities. It is supported at the surface by air vesicles, 

 which Phny calls a glutinous wax ; and the moment it retires 

 under the water allows to escape a very pure and bright reddish- 

 purple colour. Each animal contains a considerable quantity of 

 it in a dorsal vessel. With alkalies, this colour readily assumes 

 a green tint, and confirms what Pliny says on this subject. What 

 is taken for a long tongue is the head of the animal, which is in 

 fact rounded, and of firm consistence. The Janthina is ex- 

 tremely common in the Mediterranean and in the Adantic, for 

 the shores of St Helena and the Island of Ascension are, at cer- 

 tain seasons, entirely covered with them. The second species 

 of purple appears to be really the Murex of the ancients, or the 

 shell named Chicoree, and not that called Purpura. Some im- 

 perfect trials that we have made with the colour of the Janthina 



cc2 



