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quickly become iuteiesting. the w-onderful contrivance .ot nature allow- 

 ing tliem to cany tlieir lungs outside, that they may lireatlie in the 

 water or in the air, will soon attract your attention, as will also the 

 transitions that take place, such as the development of the tadpole into 

 the full formed frog. This branch will also allow much scope and 

 great facilities for original research, information regarding its menibei-s 

 is very si)arse, and a description of their life will always be valuable. 



The class Pisces is one that has been studied and a very complete 

 list published, but much yet remains to be done, and more workers 

 are to be desired. The study, unfortunately, has many obstacles to 

 impede its progress. Inliabiting, as they do, an element that cannot 

 be explored, their habits are obscure, while their peculiar structure and 

 tlelicacy of coloring make them difficult to preserve. For thi.s reason 

 our information regarding their life and habits is very scanty. We 

 want members to trace their range and nuvnbers and habits of life. 

 A very practical ])oint well worthy of your attention is the influence 

 of sawdust in our rivers. Does it affect them or does it not ? 



In passing from the Yertebrata to the Anthropoda, we enter a most 

 extensive and varied field, where orders surpass in numbers whole classes 

 of the former sub-kingdoms. In addition to the study of individuals, the 

 general characteristics are sul)jects well worthy of being brought before 

 our meetings. The higher animals are so constituted that life is main- 

 tained in a single course, but in the lower, the organs are so rudimen- 

 tary that the animal makes entire changes to accommodate itself to 

 external influences. This is witnessed in the development of the 

 beetle from the grub, the fly from the maggot, or the butterfly from 

 the caterpillar. 



The highest class, Insecla, furnishes a continuous series of attrac- 

 tions. The descriptions of the Hymenoptera read like a fairy tale. 

 The peculiar habits of life of the bees and wasps are known to many 

 of you. The ants, with tlieir soldiers and toiler's, their aphidian cows 

 carefully tended and even reared from eggs, for the sake of the honey 

 they supply, the evident language they possess, all combine to place 

 them amongst the most marvellous objects of nature and should cause 

 them to receive your attention. They may be found in vast numbers 

 ever-ywhei-e, but how few stop to watch them I The ichneumons, which 



