18T6.] 



AND HOB TIG UL TUB 1ST. 



216 



QUERIES. 



Insects, BOTH Night and Day Flyers.-As there 

 has been some curiosity to know in the supposed 

 necessity many flowers have for cross-fertilization 

 by insect agency how it is done in early spring, be- 

 fore winged insects are common, the writer of 

 this made notes of the earliest seen. The first 

 night flyer caught was on the 10th of May — He- 

 liophila Harveyi. These were in great abundance 

 up to near midnight, and perhaps longer. A 

 few days after the same insect was caught abund- 

 antly at mid-day, sucking honey from flowers, in 

 company with the bees. Mentioning the matter 

 to Mr. Wm. Saunders, the distinguished editor of 

 the Canadian Entomologist, produced the follow- 

 ing note : — 



" We have very much yet to learn regarding 

 the voluntary activity of insects. It has long 

 been observed that many night flying species 

 which usually rest during the day will, if dis- 

 turbed by man or other enemies, fly about with 

 considerable activity, even in the middle of the 

 day. The common mosquito is a day flying in- 

 sect, but is also very active during most of the 

 hours of the night. While sugaring recently 

 with the view of capturing moths, I have found 

 my bait almost every night being fed on by 

 swarms of mosquitoes actively buzzing about in 

 the darkness at least as late as midnight, and I 

 presume longer. Several species of ants, too, 



which are active during the day, are very abund- 

 ant and lively at sugar during the same hours. 

 One of the species of Plusia — simplex is, I know, 

 a day flyer, another species closely resembling it, 

 precationis, I believe usually flies at dusk. . It 

 would be well to record all observations of this 

 kind. We have all been too ready in times past 

 to accept as established facts many things which 

 have never been satisfactorily proven." 



Fertilization of Lilies. — In regard to some 

 observations on lilies, made to the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences by Mr. Meehan, 

 Mr. Parkman writes : 



" The facts which you notice about the fertili- 

 zation of lilies by the pollen of L. auratum is 

 equally established in regard to fertilization by 

 several other species. In hybridizing L. umbel- 

 latum by L. lancifolium, the only efiect produced 

 was to render the resulting flower a complete 

 mule, being in some instances without stamens 

 and with imperfect pistils. The corolla showed 

 no decided effect from th*e influence of the for- 

 eign pollen." 



Grass from Geneseo, III. — If you please, the 

 name of this grass? Twelve or fifteen inches 

 high; spreads rapidly from seed; stools wide. 

 None of us saw it until three years ago. 



[Alopecurus aristulatus, the "water foxtail 

 grass." It is a lake-region grass, and has 

 been found in Northern Illinois before. — Editor 

 G. M.] 



JTERATURE, ^RAVELS & pERSONAL floTES. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Laws for Nurserymen. — A nurseryman of 

 Germantown, Philadelphia, took pear and other 

 trees, and having marked them found them in a 

 garden owned by a notorious character who had 

 already been several times in prison. The evi- 

 dence that he had stolen them was so conclusive 

 that the nurseryman did not hesitate to puU the 

 trees up and take them home. The case was 

 heard before a magistrate, who committed the 

 thief to answer at the criminal court for larceny. 

 The trees were pear trees, and had been bought 

 to sell again, and were bedded in temporarily to 



being re-sold ; and with this view the magistrate 

 held the trees to be merchandize, and hence that 

 the man had committed larceny. The case came 

 up before His Honor, Judge Tliayer, of the Crimi- 

 nal Court, who charged the jury that if there was 

 ever so small a quantity of earth over the roots 

 of the pear tree, so that the tree might possibly 

 strike out new roots and grow, the man had not 

 committed larceny, and the jury under ihe 

 charge of the learned judge discharged the pris- 

 oner. 



The question then arose as to what should 

 be done with the prisoner. It was found that 

 there were four ways of catching such rogues. 



