272 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



hindrances, — for it steadied the food by means of the first 

 pair, which are simihir to those in other larvae, — yet from the 

 force with which it hit Orgyia fascelina, and the delicacy with 

 which it used them in spinning, it is clear that the muscular 

 development is considerable. It is difficult to understand 

 how, in moulting, the connection is transferred from the old 

 pairs, so recently in use, to the new ones, which are packed 

 away under the old skin. It. is hardly likely that there 

 should be two sets of muscles, which are brought alternately 

 intq play at the different raoultings. This almost refutes 

 itself, as it suggests a waste in the economy of Nature. 



It has been said that there is something similar in the case 

 of a crustacean which renews its claws after an injury. But 

 I can see no parallel, for the crab or lobster has no new claw 

 ready to take the place of the one that has been wrenched 

 off; the muscles are simply off duty till, by a slow process, a 

 new claw, very small at first, grows in the place of the lost 

 one. Now Fagi has the two sets of legs at one and the same 

 time ; true that one set is not visible till the moulting begins, 

 but then, with scarcely any interval, the active force is trans- 

 ferred from the old to the new, the new pair being considerably 

 longer and stouter than the old. 



Of course with the claspers they are simply drawn out of 

 the skin, and the muscular action is in no way interrupted or 

 suspended, whilst with the long pairs the actual jointed legs 

 themselves are cast aside, and in some mysterious manner 

 the muscles transfer their service to the new. 



H. M. GoLDiNG Bird. 



45, Elgin Crescent, Kensington, 

 October 1;3, 1876. 



Capture of Lepidoptera at Sallow-hloom. 

 By John T. Carrington. 



The afternoon of June 17th, last year, was like many more 

 afternoons in the Highlands of Scotland, — it was wet; but, 

 in despite of the rain, I started, accompanied by two friends, 

 from Camghouran for a walk of about twelve miles, over the 

 moor of Rannoch, to a solitary shepherd's cottage, rejoicing in 

 the Gaelic name of Croachan Dhu, meaning in English " at 

 the black burn." This district is probably the loneliest, 



