14 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



been noticed and recorded in the proceedings of the Society. So far back as the ,'inl 

 of January, 1845, Dr. Farran road a paper, the result of an extensive series of 

 observations of the late Mr. William MH/ulln, enumerating a very full list of the 

 collections made by him on the west coast of Ireland. Those lists contained the 

 record of the discovery of Thia polita the original specimen being in the museum 

 of the Society. A notice of it was also made by Dr. Scouler in the " Annals of 

 Natural History" for March, 1846. Yet. in a very recent publication of the British 

 Crustacea, by Professor Bell, the entire credit of adding this interesting Mediter- 

 ranean crustacean to the Fauna of Britain is given to Dr. Melville, of the Queen's 

 College, Galway. Mr. Andrews did not impute the slightest desire or intention on 

 the part of either of those gentlemen to deprive of credit where it was due, but he 

 blamed them for the absence of reference to what had already been accomplished 

 in the natural history of this country. Mr. Andrews intended to bring forward a 

 general recapitulation of the proceedings of the Society, in which many facts of 

 interest would be noticed with regard to the late Win. M^Calla, whose zeal and in- 

 telligence had been great, and whose ardour in the pursuits of natural history had 

 not been surpassed in this country. 



Doctor Gordon begged to move a vote of thanks to Mr. Andrews for his dona- 

 tions, as one who had always been indefatigable in promoting and forwarding the 

 interests of the Society. 



This being seconded by Dr. Farran, 



Mr. James Haughton, juu., read a paper 



ON THE COLEOPTERA INFESTING GRANARIES. 



He said Mr. Chairman and gentlemen Having, for some time past, had frequent 

 opportunities of observing the habits, &c., of many of the coleoptera which infest 

 the granaries in this city, I beg to bring before you a few observations which I have 

 recorded about them, in the belief that any facts concerning even the most insig- 

 nificant insect, cannot fail to be of some interest to those to whom their habits are 

 not generally known. In the summer season many of our corn stores are visited, in 

 vast numbers, by the weevil tribe, which commences depredations on a scale which, 

 1 think, classes them amongst the most destructive of all insects. To give an idea 

 of the mischief they are capable of committing, I may mention, that previous to the 

 repeal of the corn laws, when the duty upon grain was very high, wheat, which had 

 remained in band for a length of time, frequently became so infested with them, 

 that it might actually be seen shifting its place on the lofts from the move- 

 ments of the living mass contained in the heap, and, in some instances, the 

 portion left, not being worth the duty, had to be thrown out ; also, an instance 

 of a loft of wheat, containing 1,000 barrels, having, in a few months, become 

 deficient upwards of fifty barrels, in addition to a depreciation in the value of 

 the remainder of about ten per cent. almost all of which loss was caused by 

 the common corn weevil (Calandra granaria). From the foregoing statements, 

 it is obvious that it is of great importance to find out some way by which 

 these mischievous insects can be destroyed without injury to the grain. The 

 wheat to which I have last alluded was Egyptian, which, from its excessive 

 dryness, is peculiarly suited to the multiplication of the species. A curious 

 fact connected with them is, their propensity for gathering into masses in one 

 place. The amount of heat they genei-ate when thus collected is quite 

 surprising, and is even more observable when the wheat in which they are 

 stored is in sacks, instead of being thrown loosely on a loft. On applying 

 the ear to the outside of a sack in which there are many weevils, one can 

 quite distinctly hear the buzzing and crackling noise caused by the incessant boring 

 going on inside. When the grain is stored in bulk on a loft, and removed from its 

 contact with the wall-, the weevils creep out in immense numbers, and are then 

 easily swept up and destroyed. I myself have seen many malt shovelsfull taken 

 away in a single day. I have brought with me some of the weevils, of which it 

 will be easily perceived there are several kinds, and also some wheat bored by them, 

 which will give a good idea of the ravages they commit, as, in many instances, 

 nothing is left of the grain but the outside shell or bran. Most workmen about 

 corn stores assert that they bite wickedly ; but, although I have constantly been on 



