$7 
the earth to themselves. When, as old “Sol” throws down 
streaks of burnished gold on the winding path before us, glinting 
between the opening of the branches and foliage, and lighting up 
the brackens and trailing brambles with a golden light ! 
We have seen some strange scenes in the woods at night, some 
that we never could account for, although, in most cases, when we 
discovered the cause, it has often caused us to break into uncon 
trollable laughter. You have to banish all fear. Frequently have 
_ I spent the night alone in the woods with no companion but my ; 
_ own thoughts, when you could not see your fingers before your 
face. Just before dusk, when entomologising, after having sugared 
all our trees, we used to sit down on some mossy mound and 
enjoy the solace of our pipes till the moths began to fly, and then, 
if it was a good night, we were pretty busy for some time boxing 
_ the insects ; then came a lull, and after a little rest, other species 
_ came to our sweet compound. I don’t know what teetotallers may 
: think, but I have seen centipedes, wood-lice, earwigs, beetles, 
spiders, and slugs all attracted to the mixture. I have seen them 
with their eye$ shining like little globes of fire, fall off the trees 
helplessly drunk. It is a curious sight to see the amount of 
_ insects which will come from all parts of the compass on a favour- 
able night to enjoy the sweets-of rum and treacle. I have seen 
toads sitting at the foot of the trees which had been daubed 
withthe compound, gobbling up the moths as they fell off intoxi- 
cated. You should see the insects crowding over each other, 
. hustling and bustling, like a crowd on boxing night at the theatre. 
Once, in America Wood, my colleague and I had a narrow escape 
from being gored by a bull, who was attracted by the light of our 
entomological lamps. He made a charge at us, crashing through 
the underwood, and we had just time to cut off the light and 
Binake tracks to the higher ground, or possibly this paper would 
‘fever have been written. I won’t say how many tumbles we had 
in the darkness, nor what a sorry plight we were in after the chase, 
as we could not see where we were going. Many amusing incidents 
occurred ; and now, after a lapse of many years, the scenes rise 
vividly before me. 
