208 THE entomologist's record. 



sniTouncIing both ; Mr. Bate said he had bred a similar specimen tliis 

 year. Mr. Clark : several specimens of Selenia Innarid, forming part 

 of a brood which had been gradually emerging since Christmas last. 

 Capt. Thompson : cocoons of Plmia festucae, sent by Mr. Arkle from 

 Chester, witli an accompanying letter to the effect that he had taken 

 them on the 13th of June spun up in leaves of sedge ; the leaves were 

 bent downwards at an obtuse angle by the contraction of the silk of 

 which the cocoons were made ; this bending did not take jilace with 

 the yellow iris on which they were occasionaUi/ found, but on which 

 the larva readily feeds. Mr. Prout : a bred specimen of Melanippe 

 sociata of a yellowish tinge ; this specimen had lain over in pupa 

 throughout the winter, the remainder of the brood having emerged in 

 the previous autumn. Mr. Bate : a specimen of Polyoinmatus virgaureae, 

 which was given to him by the son of the Rev. S. Fellowes of Pulham 

 St. Mary Magdalene, Norfolk, at which place he believes it was taken 

 about ten years ago. Mr. Francis Buckell of Romsey, Hampshire, who 

 was present as a visitor, exhibited drawings, made by himself, of the 

 microscopic appearance (under a magnifying power of about 3U0 

 diameters) tf the Pollen-gkains of many species of plants. He said 

 that he was not aware of any record of observations on this subject. 

 He had already examined and sketched the pollen-grains of nearly 700 

 species of plants, and found that there was considerable diversity as 

 regards their shape, size, colour and density. The usual colour was 

 yellow, but some were purplish-black and others of a beautiful red, 

 whilst those of the grasses were transparent like glass. The prevalent 

 shape was some form of oval, and the species composing each Natural 

 Order presented broadly (with a few singular exceptions) a general 

 similarity as regards their pollen. Thus in the Compositae the grains 

 were round or oval, and furnished with a large number of projections ; 

 the UmheUiferae had smooth narrow spindle-shaped grains ; those of 

 OiKKjraceae were mostly veiy large and triangular, and often with 

 marked ])rojections at the angles ; the jiollen of the Boragineae was 

 somewhat like a short dumb-bell, and one of the genei'a in this order, 

 Mi/osotis, presented grains of excessive minuteness, although curiously 

 the species with the smallest flower (M. versicolor) had the largest 

 pollen of any in the genus. In the Geraniaceae the grains of the 

 species with the smallest flowers were quite as large as of those with 

 the largest. A very curious shape characterised the pollen of Liiananthcs 

 douglasii, each grain being somewhat like a two-legged stool. The 

 grains of some species of the genus Sahna presented tlie most beautiful 

 and elaborate surface-markings. Mr. Buckell suggested that the 

 explanation of the varied forms of the pollen-grains would have to be 

 sought, partly in the stigmatic exigencies of the flowers and partly in 

 the structure of the organs of the different insects engaged in fertilising 

 the ovules by carrying the pollen from one flower to another ; doiibtless 

 a process of evolution with regard to the grains might be discovered by 

 careful investigation of the various orders, genera and species. 

 Amongst the drawings exhibited was one showing the results of an 

 examination of the pollen from the leg of a humble-bee ; there were 

 grains from five or six diffei'ent species, and it was evident that this 

 humble-bee, at all events, had not limited its visits to a single species 

 of flower, as is alleged to be the case with the honey-l^ee. 



