SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 327 



brother and I have worked the district for the last 20 years, and never 

 met with it until last year, when it was common, although it had 

 occurred in the neighbouring valley, and one could hardly work a small 

 piece of ground almost daily for years, without meeting it, if it had 

 occurred. At rest it has a most remarkable resemblance to the excre- 

 ment of grouse— the male particularly so. It folds its wings round 

 the body, clasps a stone with its legs, and raises its body to an angle 

 of about SO'^. Its markings, colour, shape, and mode of attachment, 

 make the imitation almost perfect. 



The particular piece of ground where this species occurred consists 

 of boggy heath, with dwarf fir, birch, oak, mountain-ash, etc., and is 

 remarkably rich in insect and bird life. -It has produced a large number 

 of melanic forms, among others of Larentia cacdata, L. multhtruiaria, 

 Amphi(la.v/s betularia, Phii/alta pedaria, etc. Among other species that 

 occur in greater or less abundance, are Hepiahts velleda, Leiocampa 

 dictaeoides, Pharetra men)jaiithidis, Agrotis af/athina, Celaena Jiaworthii, 

 OrtJiosia suspecta, Noctua ijlareosa, N. dahlii, Hadena glauca, Venusia 

 cambrica, Acidalia fumata, Scodiona belniaria, Macaria liturata, 

 Larentia olirata, L. salicata, Scoparia nhnella (conspicualis), S. truncl- 

 colella, Penthina sauciana, Peronea caledoniana, Amphisa gerningana, 

 Graplwlitha geminana, Paedixca occidtana, LXchrorhampha herbosana, 

 etc. — J. A. BuTTERFiELD, B.Sc, 35, Wrottesley Road, Plumstead, S.E. 



Hybernation of Vanessa io. — On December 30th, 1896, 1 met with 

 Vanessa io, hybernating in a pile of wood. I took it indoors for the 

 night ; in the morning it was quite lively, and, when the window was 

 opened, it flew quite vigorously. The weather was mild. — Ibid. 



Influence of temperature on the HATcmNG of eggs. — In March 

 last, I divided a batch of eggs of Trichiura crataegi into two parts ; one 

 batch I kept in my vest pocket in a small glass tube, and these 

 hatched in a few days (the first on March 29th). The rest, kept at the 

 temperature of the atmosphere, commenced to hatch on April 14th. In 

 April last, I similarly divided a batch of ova of Catocala sponsa into two 

 portions, and treated likewise, carrying one portion in a small glass 

 tube in my vest pocket, and exposing the other to the ordinary 

 temperature of the atmosphere. The first hatched in five days, the 

 other about three weeks later, on May 6th. The two lots of larvfe were 

 kept separately, and the latter fed up more rapidly, so that there was 

 little difference in the time they pupated. Ova of Biston hirtaria, 

 Ennomos erosaria, Orgijia antiqua, etc., subjected in the same way to 

 a higher and uniform temperature, hatched sooner than those exposed 

 to the changes in the temperature of the atmosphere. Temperature is 

 one factor in determining the time required for the development of the 

 young larvae, but not the only one. The ova of Catocala mipta, 

 Ennomos autumnaria, etc., lie over the winter, while ova of Tripliaena 

 fimbria, deposited at the same time, produce larvae in the autumn, 

 although subjected to precisely the same conditions of temperature. 

 We meet with similar periods of rest in the life of such a plant as the 

 crocus. The young bud is formed underground in May, but the shoot 

 will not develop till the next spring. An onion, or a potato tuber, 

 will not develop its shoots in November, December or January, even 

 under the most favourable conditions, but in March it will grow 

 vigorously under apparently unfavourable conditions. Again, the 

 sexually produced spores of some algae and fungi do not develop for 



