172 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



and year ; pass a pin throngh one corner, and then, dipping 

 the card in the water, nnder the insect recently killed, it 

 may be lifted fVoui the water on the card, in the best possible 

 position for preservation. By the application of blotting- 

 paper to the edges of the card all snperfluous moisture may 

 be removed, and the insect in drying will adhere to the card. 

 The insect will thus be preserved, in company with such par- 

 ticulars of its history as have been learned froni this very 

 simple proceeding. The multiplicity of forms and coloui-s 

 produced by the same gall will at first be a source of some 

 little astonishment and bewilderment, but by degrees the 

 inquirer will find that these have different parts to play in the 

 great drama of life. First there is the real Cynips, the 

 founder of the somewhat heterogeneous colony ; then the 

 parasites, often of several species, who have it in charge to 

 keep the gall insects in check ; and lastly, we have those 

 inquilines, who, doubtless imagining the gall to be a domicile 

 erected for their own particular benefit, have taken possession, 

 and appropriated it entirely to their own domestic arrange- 

 ments : these inquilines, or tenants-at-will of other peoples' 

 houses, are of all classes of insects — Lepidoplera, Diptera, 

 Coleoplera, Orthoptera, tiemiptera and Neuroptera ; the ori- 

 ginal proprietress and her parasites being Hymenopterous. 

 All the members of this ha))py family must be preserved and 

 examined at leisure ; and the amusement and instruction to 

 be derived from the investigation will be found almost 

 infinite. 



I think I cannot conclude this desultory note more suit- 

 ably than with an extract from the Prospectus of the pro- 

 posed work on galls, by Mr. Armistead, of Virginia House, 

 Leeds: — "Having been an observer of galls and similar 

 excrescences for twenty years or more, and having collected 

 most of the British species, and some American ones during 

 a visit to that country, I am preparing a volume to contain 

 the result of these observations. This work will include 

 drawings and descriptions, with some attempt at classifica- 

 tion. A coloured drawing of each will be given where prac- 

 ticable, and a description of every known gall as far as my 

 own observation extends, including those described by 

 others, not omitting some similar excrescences known as 

 pseudo- or semi-galls, whose production may be variously 



