REVIEW, 165 



brooded moths (Sphinx ConvolvuU, Acherontia Atropos, &c ), which 

 sometimes appear abnormally I'rom the pupa before the winter hyber- 

 nation, or which by "forcing" have been artiiicially so developed. It 

 has been stated, I beUeve, in most such cases in which an anatomical 

 examination has been made, that the ovaries, <tc., were found in an 

 abortive or rudimentary condition. This goes to show that a long 

 period of quiescence is necessary to perfect these delicate and highly 

 specialised organs, and by a parity of reasoning it may perhaps be 

 assumed that those pupae which remain longest in that stage will 

 [ceteris paribus) produce the most highly developed and vitalised 

 images.'" — Pp. vi, vii. 



Pickles. — " Mr. Douglas, who was unable to be present at the meet- 

 ing, had forwarded to Mr. Jenner Weir a letter he had received from Mr. 

 R. A. Ogilvie, enclosing specimens of an insect found in great quantities 

 in a jar of pickles (piccalilly). They confined their attacks to the 

 pieces of cauliflower in the jar, which they appeared to relish, 

 notwithstanding the vinegar, mustard, pepper, etc., in the pickles. 

 The species had been submitted to Prof. Westwood, who replied that 

 ' the flies were the common Drosophila cellaris, with their curious 

 two-horned pupae ; and they frequent cellars and cupboards, delighting 

 in stale beer, wine, &c.' He supposed that ' the cauliflowers were 

 more to their taste than the other things in the jar, being more 

 succulent and flabby.' In answer to a question put by Mr. Ogilvie, 

 he said that the eggs were laid in the pickle-jar, and not in the 

 vegetables before they were pickled." — P. xv. 



Dermestes ravages. — "Mr. W. L. Distant exhibited a specimen of 

 the ravages of Dermestes vulpinus (Fab.) in a cargo of dried hides 

 from China. On the arrival of the hides in this country they were 

 found to be infested and gnawed into holes by swarms of the insect 

 in their diflerent stages, causing a damage of from fifteen to twenty 

 per cent, on the value of the cargo. It is not unusual to see this 

 well-known insect amongst these articles, but quite unprecedented to 

 find it in such numbers and causing such an amount of damage. In 

 fact, its appearance had quite paralysed the importation of the hides, 

 and gave further proof ot the value of Economic Entomology in the 

 arts and manufactures. Mr. M'Lachlan exhibited a portion of a 

 wooden case containing hides from Shanghai, which was riddled with 

 borings of the larvae of this beetle." — P. xxii. 



At the Annual Meeting in January last a salisfiictory 

 report was received from the Council, and the President, 

 Prof. We.st\vood, read bis Address, which gave a general 

 resume of the entomological work accoujplished in the past 

 year. The tbllowing officers and council were elected for 

 1878: — President, H. \V\ Bates; Treasurer, J. Jenner Weir; 

 Secretaries, R. Meldola and W. L. Distant; Librarian, 

 F. Grut; other members of Council, G. C. Champion, 

 J. W. Douglas, Rev. A. E. Eaton, E. A. Fitch, G. Lewis, 

 E. Saunders, F. Smith, and Prol". J. O. VVeslwood. 



