302 SELECTED NOTES FROM 



tion of Koch's work, but have never heard of one being made. 



C. F. George. 



Notes and criticisms from one who has not a competent know- 

 ledge of the subject are useless and unimportant. I know nothing 

 about " Mites," and therefore shall not attempt to say anything 

 about Mr. Bostock's valuable and interesting slides. I can only 

 thank him for the circulation of such a carefully prepared set, so 

 instructive and suggestive, It is not often we get any obtained by 

 so much travel and trouble. The whole subject of the various 

 lodgers in ants' nests deserves investigation by some competent 

 naturalist. It is one on which Darwin might have written nobly. 

 Sir John Lubbock speaks of certain beetles which live in ants' 

 nests, and suggests, if I remember right, that they may be objects 

 of worship ! I could wish Mr. Bostock had said something more 

 about the structure of Acari, and I should like to know how he pre- 

 served them before mounting. Are they put when caught at once 

 into turpentine or acetic acid ? I have been looking at what 

 Nicholson says about Mites. Does he not confuse Mites with 

 Ticks ? Are not mites near akin to spiders — creatures with eight 

 legs? Are not ticks insects '^'x'Ca six legs (like the sheep tick) — 

 degenerate flies, in fact, which have lost their wings ? 



R. S. Pattrick. 



I am grateful for the privilege of examining these notes, and 

 have found them of great assistance in gaining a little knowledge 

 about these creatures. I should like to know more definitely than 

 I have been able to gather from the notes the functions of the 

 Acari in the nests, and also how such objects are caught and pre- 

 served, as I can hardly imagine them so plentiful as to be found 

 upon every ant that may be caiight. W. S. Ingram. 



I am glad to find the accompanying slides have proved of 

 interest to some of our members, and also that they have borne 

 their travels so satisfactorily. Before starting them again, I take 

 the opportunity to reply to the Rev. R. S. Pattrick's query as to 

 how they are preserved {i.e., the acari) before mounting. My 

 general plan when practicable is to place them in a saucer of water, 

 then kill them in boiling water, from which they are transferred to 

 slightly dilute acetic acid. This keeps them in fair condition for 

 subsequent treatment for some time. 



