— 196 — 



c. Antenna; simple, compressed, or slightly serrated ot the ends. 

 I. Apical vein forked. 



1. Head with crest erect Urbara, VVlk. 



2. Head without erect crest Hypoclopus, Wlsm. 



11. Apical vein not forked. 



1. Palpi roughly clothed throiii^hout Acrolophus, Poey. 



2. Palpi not rout^hly clotiied tliroughout Stoeberhinus, 15utl. 



The paper includes two plates with colored illustiations of eight 

 species, and numerous structural details, among which the genitalia of 

 the males are prominent. The adoptic^n of characters taken from the. 

 genitalia, in classification is undoubtedly a move in the right direciion. 

 These characters have proved of great assistance to me in the study of 

 the Tortrkiche as well as to others in other families of the Lepidoptera. 



A W^icked Worm. 



This has been discovered in Germany, and is playing havoc among 

 the rails. An article on the subject is going the rounds in Iron trade 

 and mining papers, and as, possibly some of our readers have discovered 

 it in their localities we quote from the Mining Scientific Press of August 

 20lh, 1887. "The existence has just been discovered of a detestable 

 microbe {sic) which feeds upon iron with as much gluttony as the Phyl- 

 loxera upon the vine. Some time ago the greatest consternation existed 

 among the engineers employed on the railway at Hagen by the accidents 

 occuring always at the same place, proving that some terrible defect must 

 exist either in the material or the construction of the rails. The German 

 Government directed an inquiry to be made, and a commission of sur- 

 veillance to be found for the purpose of maintaining constant watch on 

 the spot where the accidents had occured. It was not however, until 

 after six months had elapsed that the discovery was made. One of the 

 employees had observed that the surface of the rails appeared to be cor- 

 roded, as if by acid, to the extent of 100 yards. The rail was taken up 

 and broken, and it was perceived that it was literally hollowed out by a 

 thin gray worm, to which the qualification of 'railuvorous' was assigned, 

 and by which name it is to be classed in Natural history. The worm is 

 said to be two centimeters in length, and of the size of the prong of a 

 silver fork in circumference. It is of a light gray color, and on the head 

 carries two little glands filled with a corrosive secretion, which is ejected 

 every ten minutes upon the iron. This liquid renders the iron soft and 

 spongy, and of the color of rust, and it is then greedily devoured by the 

 insect." "There is no exaggeration," says the official report of the 



