76 THE entomologist's RECORrt. 



amiable, and altogether worthy gentlemen, who have been good enough to 

 pursue the study of entomology for the benefit of mankind." He sa3^s : — 

 " Does Fenimore Cooper wish to portray an entomologist ! He does 

 so in Dr. Obed Batt, and the crowning scene in which this personage is 

 presented is that in which he is brought forward by the Indians, seated 

 upon the Vespertilio horribilis americanus, with his butterflies and other 

 ' specimens ' disposed about his person — converting him into a sort of 

 perambulating museum ; " and then our author adds : — "Yet Fenimore 

 Cooper was considered a decent sort of man ! I am told he was a 

 churchwarden ! ! " This most amusing paper is completed by a reference 

 to " Sir Thomas," Barham's (the well-known author of the Ingoldshy 

 Legends) worthy entomologist who, seeking for nymphs, tumbles in the 

 water and is drowned. His wife, is consoled for his loss, by the atten- 

 tions of Captain McBride, and some time afterwards " Sir Thomas " is 

 fished from the depths " in a dilapidated condition," whilst " from the 

 pockets and other i-ecesses of his clothing, a number of fat eels are 

 taken." The grief of the lady was so great, that she had some of the 

 eels cooked for her supper. And this is what she says of them : — 



" Eels a many I've ate : but any 



So good ne'er tasted before ! 

 They're a fish, too, of which I'm remarkably fond ! 

 So pop Sir Thomas again in the pond — 



Poor dear ! He'll catch us some more." 



Another paper interesting to Britishers is Dr. Holland's " Notes and 

 Queries." We have not space to do more than quote one note, which 

 is as follows : — " The banana merchants in our town (Alleghany, Pa.), 

 have proved themselves possessed of curious entomological stores. I 

 have received from them a couple of living Tarantulas, and not long ago 

 a living specimen of Caligo fencer, which had emerged from a chrysalis, 

 hidden in a bunch of bananas. The insect had been transported l3y sea 

 and land, either from Honduras or from some port in the northern portion 

 of South America, a journey of several thousand miles. This reminds 

 me that in several consignments of eastern lepidoptera, I have found one 

 Danais plexippns, Linn." (? Anosia archipjms, Ed.). " One of the send- 

 ings was from Borneo, the other from Java. We shall soon hear of its 

 domestication on the mainland of Asia, and it will probably spread all 

 over China and Japan. The insects taken by the U. S. Eclipse 

 Expedition of 1889, at the Azores, numbered among them two specimens 

 of this butterfly. There were only about a dozen specimens of insects 

 taken at the Azores, by the industrious (?) naturalists of the jiarty, and 

 I judge that it must be common there. Why we have not yet beard of 

 its domiciliation on the African continent is a mystery to me. It will 

 no doubt get there before long." 



In a paper on " The Dragon-fly," by T. J. MacLaughlin, of Ottawa, 

 we notice that he quotes Duncan's description of the breathing of the 

 larvaj and nymphs, as follows : — " The larvae and nymphs, although 

 living under water, must respire, and j^et have no external organs by 

 which they can breathe. Their method of respiration is unique ; they 

 breathe with their intestines. The large intestine is covered with 

 numerous trachete, and when the animal wishes to breathe, it opens the 

 orifice of the intestine and admits a quantity of water. This, of course, 

 contains air mechanically suspended which is taken up by the tracheae 

 just mentioned." Mr. McLaughlin adds : — " In expelling the water 



I 



