338 Transactions. — Zoology. 



I notice Professor McCoy makes a suggestion which 

 appears to me very prohable — namely, that this fish is the 

 "sea-serpent" of newspaper accounts of observations made 

 far out at sea by captains of ships, who, although perfectly 

 trustworthy, may not be sufficiently instructed in zoology to 

 enable them to give a good description of what they have 

 seen. When we consider that one cast on the shore at Eed- 

 car in 1850 was 2'ift. long, we may fairly suppose there are 

 still larger ones in the depths of the ocean. Its great rarity 

 renders it a most unfamiliar object to sea-faring men, and it 

 does not require a very great stretch of imagination to see in 

 a huge fish of this kind, with its peculiar and mysterious- 

 looking crest elevated above the surface of the water, and its 

 long body and undulating motion, an apparition which to 

 ordinary people could be explained in no other way than Ijy 

 the supposition that it was the "veritable sea-serpent." 



I was glad that I was not prevented by apathy — the 

 Nelson epidemic — from viewing so interesting and elegant a 

 denizen of the ocean-depths. 



Akt. XL. — On the Occurrence of the Black Vine Weevil 

 (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) in Nelson. 



By E. I. KiNGSLEY. 



[Bead before the Nelson Philosophical Society, Btli November, 1S89.] 



I AM not aware whether or no the Otiorhynchus sulcatus is 

 common in New Zealand. I should not at all be surprised 

 to find that it is far more common than is generally sup- 

 posed, from the simple fact that the insect in its perfect 

 form commits its ravages when the owners of the food-plants 

 are, or ought to be, retiring for the night — i.e., after 9 or 

 10 o'clock at night. In the daytime they are invisible unless 

 the cracks and crannies of walls or the clods of earth are 

 examined, when they will be found reposing with a very 

 harmless and innocent aspect. 



From the destructive nature of this species of insect — 

 destructive in both its larva and imago states — it is most 

 desirable to make the public aware of its presence in the 

 colony, since it is said to be not indigenous, but one of the 

 imported European pests. 



On the 20th of last October Mr. Burford, who has recently 

 commenced cultivating grapes, and has at considerable 

 expense erected two glass houses, each some 80ft. long, called 



