I.VCIDENTS IN ENTOMOJLOGY, 277 



biy adapted to his instrument. Take as an example, the following mes- 

 sage, which was actually conveyed : 



Y ou r gr atif y 



i n g intelli gen ce 



isath and, allsa fe. 



Y ou r s, W. Loc ker. 



If two individuals wish to hold a secret correspondence, so that even 

 the operator may not understand it, they may agree that these characters 

 shall have a different signification, or make some other combinations of 

 points and lines. 



Wheatstone's telegraph is so constructed, that an index is made to 

 point to the letter intended to be written or marked, and if there be no 

 one present to make a record of it, or if the attendant is not attentive, 

 the message is lost. Not so with Morse's ; that records even when no 

 one is present to observe its motions. 



INCIDENTS IN ENTOMOLOGY. . 

 Extract of a Letter to a member of the editing Committee. 



Were I still with you I should learn much by comparing notes of 

 observations of the doings of insects, of which I have always been in- 

 clined to take notice, though not with the scientific eyes of aLinnocan — 

 and on Sunday week last, (the 23d ult.), 1 had an opportunity of watch- 

 ing the process, which seems to have astonished Huber so much — the 

 female ants divesting themselves of their wings. There was no small 

 commotion about the nest to which I suppose they belonged : they set- 

 tled in considerable numbers about the tops of the tall grass, and delibe- 

 rately proceeded with the dismemberment. This sight is probably fa- 

 miliar with the writer of Ant-iana •, but I confess it was new to me, tho' 

 I have often watched ants with great interest ; and I am the more par- 

 ticular in mentioning the day, because, so far as my experience has ex- 

 tended, insects are great observers of times and seasons, and I should 

 look with confidence for a repetition of the phenomenon at the same pe- 

 riod of the year. 



And while I am on this Linnsean subject, I should like to draw 

 your attention to a curious appearance on the web of a large species ' 

 of garden spider. It is one of those with perpendicular concentric 

 Avebs, and rests in the centre with its head downwards. With its legs 



