1 886.] NEW-YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 31 



discover that it could live on air " bottled for private use," or 

 upon that separated from liquids during days of complete im- 

 mersion therein. In the course of dissecting a dozen, perhaps, of 

 the larvae, I found that, although apparently dead, they were 

 not so in fact. They were cleverly performing the part of feign- 

 ing death, or were indulging in a siesta, following a hearty meal 

 of hickory-nut stolen from the tyrant, man. Exposure to the 

 air for a short time revivified them. 



Desiring to bleach a larva without destroying any of its softer 

 parts, I placed one in a six-inch test-tube, filled to within one- 

 half inch of its capacity, with peroxide of hydrogen, and here 

 follows the result, as copied from memoranda made by me at the 

 time : Put larva in test-tube at 7 p. m., Jan. 7th. Took it out 

 at 5 p. M., Jan. 8th. Cut off a part of the side of the larva and 

 mounted the piece cut off. At 7, the same evening, the creature 

 was very lively. Placed it on a slide and looked at it through 

 the microscope. The creature continued very lively the whole 

 evening, although the moisture from the wounded part dried, 

 and fastened the larva firmly to the slide. Jan. 9th, 7:45 a. m., 

 the creature was still alive, although the posterior end near the 

 wound continued to be hard and dry. On Jan. loth, at 2 p. m., 

 I placed another larva of the nut-weevil in the same test-tube 

 with the same peroxide of hydrogen. Like the former one, it 

 immediately sank to the bottom, where it remained until Jan. 

 14th, at 7 p. M., when I removed it to a glass cup and laid it on 

 its side. Into this cup I poured about twenty drops of water. 

 On Jan. 15th, at 8.30 a. m., I found the creature expanding and 

 contracting itself. Thinking that this motion might be an opti- 

 cal delusion on my part, I showed it to two members of my family. 

 Both saw the movement distinctly, and further, when I touched 

 the creature with a needle, saw it raise its head in an unmistak- 

 ably living manner. On Jan. i6th this larva was living and active. 

 One specimen I mounted in Deane's mixture, taking it for that 

 purpose directly from the test-tube where it had been immersed 

 in the peroxide of hydrogen, thus giving it no chance to recover 

 from its swoon by exposure to the air, if, like its fellows, it had 

 swooned under the effects of immersion. For aught I know to 

 the contrary, it may be alive on the slide at this moment. 



