East Kent NATUEAii Histoet Society. 



President. — The Reverend John Mitchinson, D.C.L., &c., Oxen.; 

 Honorary Secretary. — Geoege Gtjllitee, F.E.S., &c. 



October 3rd, 1872. 



Garnet Sand. — ColoDel Horsley exhibited spetimens of this 

 sand, which he had collected at Cape Comorin, the extreme 

 southern point of the continent of India. The characteristic colour 

 of the garnet was very fine, and so brilliant under the microscope 

 as to appear like an effect of polarized light. 



Raphides of Tamus and Epilohium. — He also displayed these 

 plant-crystals, which had been the subject of observation at the 

 meetings of May 2nd and July 18th, when they were shown 

 to be so characteristic of indigenous Dictyogens and Onagraceae 

 that these orders or groups are most easily distinguished from 

 their next allies of other orders. 



Parasites and Nettle-cells of Polyps. — These were shown in 

 Hydra vulgaris by Mr. Fullagar. The parasites were seen, under 

 the microscope, to move rapidly within narrow limits by means of 

 the vibratile cilia with which their bodies are covered like Para- 

 mecium. Slides of dried nettle-cells and threads of the polyps 

 proved how well they may be thus prepared as interesting objects 

 for the microscope. 



The Hop-dog. — Mr. Frank Wacher brought to the meeting 

 living specimens of this larva, when the hairs thereof were micro- 

 scopically examined. They proved to be very delicate and trans- 

 lucent, many somewhat plumose, others composed of parallel cells, 

 projecting in teeth directed towards the pointed and free end 

 of the hair ; thus the hairs of this caterpillar are not club-shaped 

 at the tips, as they are generally described to be in the " woolly 

 bears." It was noted as singular, in the present activity of 

 research concerning the Lepidoptera and other insects, that we 

 have not yet any sufficiently exact and extended observations on 

 the comparative characters of the hairs of caterpillars, since, in- 

 dependently of their intrinsic beauty as microscopic objects, they 

 would probably afford useful diagnostics in classification. The 

 " hop-dog" is the caterpillar of a nocturnal moth, Dasychira 

 pudibunda, belonging to the family Arctiidse. 



Evils and Benefits of Insects. — A discussion ensued on the 

 evils and benefits of insects. Among the numerous hairy cater- 



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