(38 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb, 



states that their legs are without spurs or spines. I find this 

 spur on the second and posterior pair of legs in the male well 

 developed, and smaller in the female ; the tarsi are five jointed, 

 with a rudimentary or psuedo joint. The body is divided into 

 eleven dorsal, and seven ventral segments. 



The internal anatomy of these insects is typical of the class, 

 only there are fewer convolutions of the intestinal canal, respira- 

 tion is effected in the same manner as in the class insecta, by 

 means of trachea, having an outlet by spiracles placed two on each 

 segment. This dissection was made on a female ; the eggs are 

 attached by a thin membrance to the back of the insect, under 

 the dorsal vessel or heart. I examined the ovaries and saw 

 clusters of eggs in every stage of developement, from the simple 

 cell with a nucleus, to the more advanced oval shape, with the 

 germinal spot clearly visible, they taper from the size of a pin's 

 head to appearance under the microscope to that of a three cent 

 piece, in this state they are all attached by the end. I opened 

 one of the eggs laid by the insect and saw the germinal spot more 

 advanced. 



I obtained this specimen on the morning of the 12th of Sep- 

 tember when she commenced laying, at noon on the 13th she had 

 deposited twenty-eight perfectly formed eggs ; but on looking at 

 her a few hours afterward she was dead, the eggs look like a 

 miniature French bean, they have a depression on the inner side 

 like the eye spot in that seed, and have a capsule fastened by a 

 hinge like ligament on one side, to aid the young spectrum in 

 making a more easy entrance into the world. 



The largest egg belonging to any known insect, is the egg of 

 Phasma dilatatum, one of this family it is figured in the 

 fourth volume of the Linnean transactions ; it measures five lines 

 in length and three lines in breadth or from a quarter to half an 

 inch approaching the size of some of the humming birds eggs. 



In this family are also some of the largest known insects ; they 

 are natives of South America, Australia and the more southern 

 latitudes. 



The Phasma gigas measures about seven inches long by about 

 seven-eighths of an inch broad. The P. titan of Macleay, a 

 winged species, measures eight and one-half inches long, and three- 

 fourths of an inch broad, longitudinal expansion of its wings, seven 

 and one-half inches, transverse expansion, two and three-fourth 

 inches. P. dilatatum is another giant in the insect world. 



