THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 833 
themselves from the jelly, and always incommoded by the 
slippery glass above and below them, except when they 
indulged in a lively dance in the surrounding drop of water. 
Their gait in this movement having reminded me of the 
common blood-worm (larva of Chironomus plumosus, an 
insect nearly allied to the gnats), [ obtained one of the latter 
from a water-trough, which abounded in its mud _hiding- 
places, and observed that the new larve were very similar to 
it. This gave me a hint for the more comfortable establish- 
ment of the little Westmeath strangers. I placed them in a 
wine-glass half full of stagnant water: in less than half an 
hour numbers of the little larve had rolled themselves in 
mud-cases. Meanwhile, the green particles” (previously 
described by Mrs. Ward as existing in the jelly, which 
appears to have been of two kinds) “remained unaltered. 
As may be supposed, they were inspected daily with great 
curiosity. On thé 2nd September the uniform green spots 
were evidently seen to be exchanged for something moving : 
they proved to be the caddis-worm, larva of the caddis- 
fly. * * * The jelly, then, was no other than the eggs 
of insects; and its appearance corresponded with some 
descriptions given by Westwood (Intoduction to ‘ Modern 
Classification of Insects,’ vol. ii. pp. 62, 516). He speaks of 
the eggs of one of the Chironomus family as deposited on the 
Jeaves of aquatic plants, and covered with a mass of gluten; 
and he says of the caddis-flies (Phryganeide) that they 
deposit their eggs in a double gelatinous mass, which is of a 
green colour. * * * And now,” adds Mrs. Ward, “ after 
all, how did the jelly get upon the deck of the ‘ Dulcinea’? 
No doubt Chironomus and Phryganea deposited them there ; 
but why so recklessly over sail-coat, coil of rope and deck 
instead of in the lake close at hand? That 1 do not attempt 
to explain.” Mrs. Ward’s description tallies so exactly with 
the statement in the ‘Entomologist, that there seems no 
room to doubt that the jelly on the deck of the yacht, and 
the glutinous globules on the railway platform at Bath, are 
identical. If, as represented, they /e// on the platform, they 
must either have been dropped by the parent insect in the 
air or have been carried thither by the wind. But, did anyone 
see them fall? Was not their supposed fall rather a conclu- 
sion, drawn from the circumstance of their lying on the 
