Miscellany 135 



40 feet above the level of the sea. Amongst the plants so collected were 

 Ipomasa maritima, Capparis Sandwicensis, Tribulus cistoides, Boerha via diffusa 

 Scasvola sericea, Lepidium Owhaiense," &c. The same writer says, "I lately 

 had the misfortune to lose my only Sabal umbraculifera, raised from seeds 

 received from the late Sir W. J. Hooker, about six years ago, by the ravages 

 of our sugar-cane borer, the larva of a kind of weevil ; and, since, that pest has 

 destroyed several Pritchardias, and begun to attack other palms. I cut them 

 out when their presence can be detected outside. Of course I have removed 

 every stump of sugar cane from my garden. Our Vaccinium reticulatum pro- 

 duces a very palatable fruit ; it grows at an elevation of 47,000 feet, so that it 

 would probably stand the climate of the south-west coast of England or Ireland. 

 Antigonon leptopus is a great favourite in our gardens here, and when fully in 

 flower, with its graceful festoons of pink or crimson spikes, may well be com- 

 pared for beauty with the Bougainvillea. I have another species in my garden 

 with white flowers." — J. R. yackson, Kew. 



Pill-rolling' Beetles.— M. Piochard de la Brulerie, in making a report 

 to tlie Entomological Society of France of the resuUs of the Society's Entomo- 

 logical excursion in Spain in 1866, gives the following information concerning 

 the habits of the pill-rollers (the Ateuchus of the Egyptians). He thus speaks 

 of Ateuchus cicatricosus, a species common in the Mediterranean district : — 

 "I saw it roll its balls. The female alone charges herself with this duty, 

 and, like the other species of this genus, walks backward, employing its hinder 

 legs to support her precious burden. The male superintends the work with 

 a visible interest, but without taking any active part in it. When an obstacle 

 is encountered, and the ball, which contains his progeny, falls into an inequality 

 in the soil, it is well worth seeing how he is agitated, turns round and round, 

 pushes the female with his head, and excites her, I was about to say with his 

 voice, but rather by making the noise which is produced by the nibbing of his 

 elytra on his abdomen resound in a despairing tone. If the observer takes the 

 female and puts her on the ground at some distance, the male redoubles his 

 despairing cry. The female hears him, appears undecided, consults the four 

 cardinal points, and at last sets off with the greatest rapidity, stumbling in her 

 haste to repossess herself of her ball, the object of her maternal solicitude. You 

 accuse the male of being a lazy fellow, playing the part of the fly on the coach. 

 Fly, possibly enough ! But fly indispensable, for if you take him, the female 

 stops and remains with her head bent upon the sand with the most pitiable air 

 imaginable. She continues to clasp her ball with her hind legs, but nothing 

 will make her budge ; and, if her companion be not restored to her, I believe 

 that she would remain on the spot till she died." — Ami. Soc. Entom. France, 1866. 



Black Siberian "Wolf shot in Thibet.— (Trip to Thibet, Kylas, 

 Source of the Sutlej, and the Mansurwur and Rakhas Lakes, by Captain H. U. 

 Smith, Indian Army.) From the Lake Mansurwur, which we found to be 

 about 15 miles from Dachin, we marched about 50 miles to the east and north ; 

 the first two marches were on the high road to Lhassa. We then turned to the 

 north and kept under a large range of hills nmning north and south. After 

 shooting a snow-antelope and gazelle, we turned to the left and went up the 

 valley of the Kylas range, where I was lucky enough to shoot a black wolf, the 

 first ever shot in that part of the world. Although this may appear irrespective 

 of what I am writing to you about, I think it as well to mention that this 



