December 35, 1806. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



485 



' upper country ' to seek health among the slopes of the Himalayas ; 

 the Cingalese leaves the sultry eo&Bt to profit by the more bracing air 



of the coffee districts near Adams I\ak ; tin- Mexican leaves the 



CaUente (or the Tenvpl&da ox the b'na; and the Perdvian or Chilian 

 of the coast finds cool air, verdure, ami health on the lofty sides of the 

 Andes. On the whole, there are few tropical districts BO unfortunately 

 placed as to be beyond moderately easy access to some mountain sana- 

 torium. 



"Mountains exhibit wonderful proofs of the force displayed in the 

 arrangement of the surface of the earth, <;.'..|... ; \ (.dls us that many 

 of them tike the lofty peaks of the Andes, or Ailsa Craig, or Tenernre 

 — have been east forth as liquid lava from the interior of the earth by 

 the force of fire. Others, again, though deposited Originally at the 

 bottom of the sea, have been lifted as it wore on the book of other rocke, 

 so as now to form lofty ridges. There are limestone strata of marine 

 origin, labelled with shells identical with others found in low-lying beds 

 near Paris, which are now placed at a height of 10,000 feet above the 

 ocean, crowning the summit of the Diablerets among the Swiss Alps. 

 Examples of similar elevations are met with among the Himalayas, 

 in Tahiti, and elsewhere. 



"Viewed under another aspect, mountains show forth the power of 

 the Creator in a way still more marvellous. Many mountain masses 

 and level strata consist chiefly of the remains of animals that formerly 

 existed on the globe. The beautiful marbles of Derbyshire, for instance, 

 owe their variegated markings to the shells which successive genera- 

 tions of eieaf in. s built up and left behind. One feels astounded at the 

 profusion of ancient life revealed by those ' medals of creation.' Nearly 

 the whole city of Paris has been reared out of the consolidated remains 

 of microscopic Miliolffl quarried from the neighbouring tertiary beds, 

 and calculations show that every cubic inch of this stone contains not 

 fewer than 2000 millions of individuals. The most famous of the 

 pyramids are formed out of the remains of microscopic uummulites, 

 cemented into a building-stone which is found abundantly in Egypt 

 and in many other places. One of the most remarkable examples of 

 the former profusion of life is to be found in the polishing slate of 

 Bilin, iu Bohemia, which is estimated to contain the remains of 

 41,000 millions of infusory animals in every cubic inch. 



" Look at those distant hills ! We recognise the English Downs by 

 their soft, wavy outline, by the marvellous brightness of their green, by 

 their springy turf, by the white sheep-specks that dot their gently sloping 

 sides, and by the bracing air which sweeps over them with the crisp 

 freshness of the sea. They undulate in a broad belt through England, 

 from the shore of Dorset to the cliffs of Flamborough and Dover. In 

 the north of Ireland the chalk has been broken through and almost 

 fused by the volcanic tires which once formed the Giant's Causeway. 

 It extends across the continent of Europe in several directions nearly 

 from end to end, and in other quarters of the world it is largely de- 

 veloped. The vast mass is heaped upon thousands of square miles of 

 the earth's crust. Yet it is but the sepulchre of myriads of creatures 

 that formerly existed, and the visible evidence of the profusion of life 

 that issued in ancient times from the Creator's hand. Scattered 

 throughout are the hones of reptiles and fishes, with corals, sea-urchins, 

 sponges, and other marine remains. While surveying these relics we 

 realise and seem to become familiar with the curious forms of life 

 which then existed. But the tomb of chalk in which they lie is itself 

 composed partly of crushed, compressed, or metamorphosed shells, 

 partly of myriads of microscopic animalcules, whose structure and 

 markings are often as beautiful and perfect, as if they had only died 

 yesterday. Who can conceive the abundance of the life which thus 

 built up those hills '.' Yet everything tends to show that there is not an 

 atom of chalk in the world which did not once form part of a living 

 animal ! " 



other pairs of legs. Ho also exhibited a drawing of an analogous 

 Indian species, Atkinsouia Clerodcndronolla. 



Mr. Crotch exhibited sixty species of Coleopterous insects not hitherto 

 included in the British lists. Some of these had, however, been pre- 

 vi. hi \\ known, but confounded with other opeoii 



Dr. Knaggs sent tor exhibition several new species of Moths and 

 other insects; and Mr. Samuel Stevene e . hihited a pair of the very 

 remarkable Encheirue Dupontianus, the male of which has the fore 

 legs enormously elongated! 



Mr. Hewitson sent a note on the peculiar structure of the plumules 

 on the wings of tho males of certain ipecies of Pieris (P. Thestylis, 

 Autothysbe, &C.), observed by Mr. Watson, thus confirming the pro- 

 priety of their formation into a separate genu , as proposed by Mr. 

 H< fritson; He also sent for exhibition some masses of eggs found in 

 great numbers on Ling. 



Mr. lausou exhibited a specimen of ftTaorOnyehuB 4-tuberculatns, a 

 small but very interesting genus of Water Beetles new to this country, 

 captured by Mr. Harris near Burton -on -Trent. 



Professor Westwood described a singular specimen of Pieris Pyrrha, 

 a Brazilian Butterfly, in the collection of Mr. Hewitson, of which 

 three of the wings were coloured white and black as in the ordinary 

 males of that species, whilst the greater portion of the fourth wing was 

 gaily coloured, as in the female, which greatly resembles one of the 

 species of Heliconian Butterflies, so common in South America. He 

 took the opportunity thus afforded of expressing his dissent from the 

 views as to the nature and origin of these mimetic species propounded 

 by Mr. Bates in an elaborate memoir published in the " Transactions 

 of the Liunean Society," considering them simply as exaggerated in- 

 stances of those analogies which occur in a more or less marked degree 

 throughout nature. 



Mr. Wallace, on the other hand, entirely adopted Mr. BateB's 



opinions, considering these mimetic species not only as possessing 



(heir powers of mimicry as a defensive element in their existence, but 



; that they had attained thereto by a successive system of development 



, from the ordinary form and colour of the group to which they belonged. 



He considered that this was more necessary in the females than in 



the males, and instanced not only the common walking-leaf insect of 



India, hut also several very interesting species of Butterflies of the 



genus Diadema collected by himself, the females of which resembled 



I various species of Euploea. 



Mr. Bates also maintained the views he had laid down, and supported 

 I them by the instance of Papilio Torquatus, of which he stated that he 

 i had observed two forms of the female, each of which mimicked the 

 1 group of Papilio most dominant in the district where each of the 

 | varieties occurred. 



Dr. Sharp opposed these views, and suggested several grounds, dis- 

 ! tinct from that of defence maintained by Mr. Bates, to which the 

 [ development of these mimetic species ought to be attributed. 



Mr. McLachlan observed that the veins of the wings in the Psoeidae 

 ! were very inconstant, whence he was led to infer that all the various 

 species had descended from one antecedent type. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETING. 



The second Meeting of this Society for the season was held at Bur- 

 lington House on the 19th of November, Sir John Lubbock, F.K.S., 

 President, in the chair. 



Professor Westwood exhibited the pupa case of Thecla Betuhe, 

 reared by Mr. Dembski near Oxford, remarkable for being destitute of 

 a girth of silk round the middle of the body, which is tho distinctive 

 character of the family Lyctenidffi, to which it belongs. He also 

 exhibited several new and rare Brazilian species of Papilio, forming 

 part of the Burchellian collection lately presented to the University 

 museum of Oxford. 



Mr. .Tenner Weir exhibited portion of the nest of an exotic species 

 of Ant, the interior of which had a paper-like lining. 



Mr. Gregaou sent for exhibition a number of remarkable varieties of 

 British Butterflies — Pieris Xapi. Cardamines, Siuapis, &c, also an 

 apparently new British species of Gelechia, a genus of Mxcrolepi- 

 doptera. 



Mr. Stainton exhibited a living specimen of Stratlimopoda Guerinii, 

 the larva of which had been found by Dr. Standing) r, of Dresden, at 

 Celles les Bains, in the South of France, inhabiting the interior of 

 long pod-like galls formed by Aphides (of which they s auetimes con- 

 tained many hundreds of individuals), at the ends of the twigs of 

 Pistacia Terebinthus, some of the galls being a foot long. The Motli 

 is remarkable for the manner in which it elevates its very large hind 

 legs, which are stuck out sideways like a pair of oars ; whilst in this 

 position the Moth is able to walk a considerable distance with its two 



UNBOILED BONES FOR A VINE-BORDER. 



In the spring of last year I had a cartload of broken bones, 

 not boiled, mixed with four loads of ashes and one of line 

 earth, and left under cover together, iu order eventually to 

 mix with the inside earth of a vinery in course of formation. 

 I have found, however, that the animal matter of the bones 

 has coagulated the whole mass together; and though dry, and 

 easily friable when struck, I fear that when put into the vinery 

 some injury may arise from the animal matter evidently yet 

 remaining. Would it be better at once to mix a cartload of 

 quicklime with the whole mass, and let it lie together for two 

 months under cover, or what would you advise to be done? 

 I remember reading in the Journal some time since a com- 

 plaint from some one of her Vines moulding from unboiled 

 bones being mixed with the soil. The mixture will be required 

 in March or April. — C. W., Devaniensis. 



[We would advise not only mixing the lime with the heap, 

 but surrounding the whole with a bed of hot dung or ferment- 

 ing leaves. The heat will cause all to mingle in a rich friable 

 compost. 



Dry Feet. — The present wet weather reminds me of a 

 receipt for preventing rain water, or, that which is more in- 

 sidious still, melted snow, from penetrating through boots. 

 I read it many years ago in the " Mechanics' Magazine," and 

 have derived much satisfaction from its adoption, for it not 

 only excludes wet, but makes the soles last much longer. The 

 composition is very simple — viz., two parts by weight good 

 tallow to one part of rosin, melted together over the fire in a 

 pipkin, and stirred so as to become well mixed. The soles of 

 the boots should be gently warmed previous to applying the 

 composition, to prevent its " freezing." and to expand the 

 ' pores of the leather, as well as ratify the air which these con- 



