THE society's NOTE-BOOKS. 2G3 



Ferret-Tick. — Some years ago, six or seven ticks which had 

 been taken from a ferret were brought to me. I was much out of 

 health at the time, and do not know if ihey were preserved. Of 

 what species is the ferret-tick ? It agrees very nearly with the 

 dog-tick ; so nearly, that one feels compelled to ask, " Do the two 

 belong to the same species ? " Can it be that ferrets and dogs, 

 carnivorous animals, having much in common in their habits, both 

 become hosts to the same species of tick ? And what are the 

 sexual characteristics ? I am inclined to think the one under con- 

 sideration is a male. How is the union of the sexes effected ? 

 What are the eggs like ? They are described as being " laid in 

 large numbers, quite round, and of a reddish-brown colour, 

 smooth and very bright, having the appearance of small glass 

 beads ; mean diameter of egg, i-34th of an inch. They hatched 

 out in a very few days." — Science Gossip, June, 1874, p. 121. 

 Now, the little things, freed from their shells, and, as we may 

 suppose, very hungry, having fed on nothing to speak of as yet, 

 naturally run hither and thither seeking food. The further history 

 of these ticks will be found in Vol. III. of this Journal, p. 2>Z^ 

 and on Plate VI. drawings of the rostrum, etc., are given. It will 

 be well to compare the figure of the rostrum of dog-tick, given in 

 Vol. III., PL VL, Fig. 4, with that from ferret-tick, accompanying 

 these notes (PI. XXIII., Fig. i). How closely they agree in 

 robustness and in the small number of their dentations ! 



A figure of the rostrum of mature hare-tick is appended (see 

 Fig. 2, same plate), for comparison with that of the immature 

 condition, as shown in PI. VI. , Vol. III. 



TuFFEN West. 



Tongue of Drone Fly (PL XXIII. , lower portion) is a very 

 common object of the Microscope; I will, however, take the 

 opportunity of its presence to say a few words on the mouth- 

 organs of this insect, as compared with that of the Blow- 

 Fly ; pointing out the differences between them, which in 

 the main characterise the families to which they respectively 

 belong, viz., the Syrphid.e and the Muscid^e. Of these differ- 

 ences the most important is that which relates to the maxillae, 

 their development in the former insect, and their suppression, or 

 at least their concealment, in the latter. In both the maxillary 

 palpi are very clearly distinguishable, but while in the former they 

 are connected with a pair of setiform maxillae, in the latter they 

 arise direct from the integument of the second joint of the pro- 

 boscis, without the intervention of anything which may be fairly 

 called a limb in any sense of the term (see lower half PL XXIII., 



