184 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



J. P., of Mid-Ilovu, Natal. He said he was indebted to Mr. Champion 

 for determining the species. Mr. Frederick A. A. Skuse communi- 

 cated a paper entitled " On a Colour Variety of Heteromjinpha merope, 

 Fab., from New South Wales," and sent coloured drawings of tbe 

 typical form and the variety for exhibition. Mr. Oswald H. Latter 

 read a paper entitled "Further Notes on the Secretion of Potassium 

 Hydroxide by Dicranura vinula (imago) and similar Phenomena in 

 otiier Lepidoptera." The paper was illustrated by the oxy-hydrogen 

 lantern. Professor Meldola congratulated Mr. Latter on the thorough 

 way in which he had worked out his experiments, and said that in view 

 of the small quantity of material at his disposal, the concordance in 

 the results was remarkable. He added that Mr. Latter had, for the 

 first time, proved the secretion of free potassium hydroxide in the 

 animal kingdom. Mr. Blaudford, Mr. Merrifield, Mr. Latter, and 

 Mr. Dixey continued the discussion. Mr. Merrifield read a paper 

 entitled " The Kesults of Experiments made last season on Vanessa 

 c-album and Limenitis sibyl la." This was illustrated by an exhibition 

 of specimens of L. sibylla, and a long series of V. c-album, to show the 

 effects of temperature in producing variation. Dr. Dixey said that 

 many of the forms of F. c-album exhibited reminded him of V. c-aiireum, 

 a Chinese species, which he believed to be the oldest form of the 

 genus. He thought that much of the variation shown in this series 

 of specimens was due to atavism, and was not altogether attributable 

 to the effect of temperature. Mr. Barrett said he was interested to 

 find that one of the forced forms of L. sibylla was similar to a speci- 

 men he had seen which had emerged from the pupa during a thunder- 

 storm. In connection with Mr. Merrifield's paper Mr. F. W. Frohawk 

 exhibited a series of 2U0 specimens of V. c-album bred from one female 

 taken in Herefordshire, in April, 1894. The series consisted of 105 

 males and 95 females, and included 41 specimens of the light form 

 and 159 of the dark form. Professor Meldola, in proposing a vote of 

 thanks to Mr. Merrifield, Dr. Dixey, and Mr. Frohawk, said that he 

 was glad to think that the subject of seasonal dimorphism, which had 

 been first investigated systematically by Weismann, was receiving so 

 much attention in this country. He was of opinion that the results 

 hitherto arrived at were quite in harmony with Weismann's theory of 

 reversion to the glacial form, and all the evidence recently accumulated 

 by the excellent observations of Mr. Merrifield and others went to 

 confirm this view as opposed to that of the direct action of tempera- 

 ture as a modifying infiuence. Mr. Merrifield, Mr. Barrett, and Dr. 

 Dixey took part in the discussion which ensued. — H. Goss, Hon. Sec. 



April Snl. — Professor Raphael Meldola, F.R.S., President, in the 

 chair. Mr. C. J. Gahan exhibited two examples, male and female, of 

 a rare Prioned beetle, Charica cyanca, Serville, which had been kindly 

 sent to him for examination by Mons. liene Oberthiir ; and stated that 

 Lacordaiie was mistaken with regard to the sex of the specimen which 

 he described in the ' Genera des Coleopteres.' He pointed out that 

 the elytra of the male were relatively much shorter than those of the 

 female, and that the joints of the antennae from the third to the tenth 

 were biramose. Mr. Gahan also exhibited two species of the genus 

 Decarthria, Hope, and said he believed these were the two smallest 

 species of Longicorns known. Dr. Sharp exhibited the soldiers and 



