THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



No. IV. 



FEBRUARY, MDCCCXLl. 



Price 6d. 



Art. IV. — Analytical Notice of the ' Transactions of the Entomolo- 

 gical Society of London,^ Vol. II. ixirt 4; with b plates. Lon- 

 don : Longman. 



(Continued). 



XL VI. On, the Use of the Antennae of Insects. By George Newport, 

 Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and V.P. of the Entomolo- 

 gical Society of London. 



The author commences his essay by remarking that the idea we 

 mnst naturally form of the great importance of antennce, from their 

 form and situation, is not borne out by experiment ; for one of them 

 may be removed without much apparent injury to the insect : yet are 

 they ever regarded with solicitude by their possessors. What then is 

 their use ? Are they the organs of smell, touch, or hearing .'' On this 

 point anatomists are not agreed ; and the only mode of settling the 

 question is by actual experiment on their uses and strticture. The 

 organ of smell in vertebrate animals is situated in the face, and con- 

 sists of two or more apertures, of delicate structure interiorly, and fur- 

 nished with minute blood-vessels, anastomosing in small glands, which 

 secrete mucus over the surface, the olfactory nerves ramifying beneath : 

 acuteness of smell in man, quadrupeds, birds and fishes, is often found 

 co-existent with great development of this organ. How are the an- 

 tennae of insects fitted to exercise the faculty of smell ? In no instance 

 are they lubricated, " and in only one or two cases are they perforat- 

 ed." Latreille observed that Silphse and other beetles perceive decay- 

 ing substances at a distance ; and remarking that in insects possessing 

 this faculty, the antennae were much developed, he concluded that 

 these organs were the seat of smell : Huber seems to believe the 

 antennae to be organs both of touch and smell: and Mr. Samouelle, 

 founding his opinion on the often-quoted observations of the late Mr. 

 Marsham, considered them organs of smell. 



In July, 1829, Mr. Newport found that the antennae of Ichneumon 

 Atropos were perforated with minute holes, and that this is the gene- 



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