110 



McCarthy and found to contain 85*81 per cent of calcium carbonate. 

 Kecently we have discovered specimens in bamboo joints which 

 were being cut for use as flower pots, of the material known as 

 " Tabasheer," of which specimens were shown by the Director of 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1888, before the Linnean Society. The 

 material is interesting as being a mineral deposit taken up by a plant, 

 re-formed and deposited in its interior. 



161. -NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



No. 23.— The "Termite" mentioned in Circular Note No, 22 as 

 attacking sugar cane during growth and doing considerable damage, 

 has recently been determined as Termes tenuis : Hagen. It is said to 

 be the same species which destroyed the wooden buildings in St. 

 Helena to such a degree that the Capital had practically to be rebuilt. 

 From this it may be judged what a powerful destructive creature 

 exists in our midst, and a good watch should be kept on its 

 proceedings. 



No. 24.— Cutiterebra funebris, Ausieit (new species). Under 

 this name the insect referred to in Circular Notes 14 and 17, has 

 recently been determined by Mr. E. E. Austen of the British Museum. 

 The specimen from which the description is taken was the one bred in 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens, and afterwards sent on for determinatioai 

 to the British Museum authorities, and is the only one as yet recorded. 

 The insect is a large two-winged fly, whose larvoe is locally known 

 together with that of a species of Dermatobia as the " Mosquito 

 Worm," from the idea that it is produced by the agency of a large 

 knat or mosquito. Similar skin-borers are known to attack man, 

 dogs and several rodents and marsupials. It appears possible however 

 that the fly which attacks one animal may not be that which attacks 

 another, although the larva or " worm under the skin" may present 

 a similar appearance. This is shewn by Dermatobia attacking man 

 while Cutiterebra attacks the lower animals, the form of the insect 

 when under the skin being practically indistinguishable. It is con- 

 sidered possible that the insect which attacks the dog may on fur- 

 ther examination prove to be a different genus to either of those 

 mentioned, and it therefore requires further study to prove whether 

 Dermatobia attacks the lower animals as well as man, and Cuti- 

 terebra, man as well as the lower animals. 



