1 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 



Gorges Hely, Esq., of Johnstown, Ireland, was elected a member 

 of the Society. 



Exhibitions, Memoirs, &c. 



William B. Pickering, Esq., exhibited the exuviae of the pupa of 

 Bombylius major, with the imago reared therefrom, having found the 

 pupa in sandy gravel-pits at Coombe Wood on the 28th March, the 

 fly being produced a few days afterwards. 



" Remarks on the destruction of Cocci." By Mr. A. Ingpen, 

 A.L.S., &c., (see p. 174) by whom a branch of a golden pippin apple, 

 infested in a surprising degree by these insects, was exhibited, and 

 which were at that time in the state of ova, covered by the dried 

 bodies of the parent insect. 



" Descriptions of some new exotic Dipterous Insects." By J. O. 

 Westwood, F.L.S. (Subsequently published in the Philosophical 

 Magazine.) 



" Observations upon the Turnip Fly." By Mr. James Main, A.L.S. 



" On the development of the Apodal Larvae of the Hymenoptera, 

 with reference to the segmental theory of the Annulosa." By J. O. 

 Westwood. 



Dr. Ure, F.R.S., &c., (who was present, as a visitor, at this meet- 

 ing,) at the request of the Pi'esident, gave an account of his recent 

 investigation relative to the present state of the silk manufactories 

 in this country. Referring, in the first place, to the great importance 

 of the silk manufacture as a great commercial enterprise, he gave an 

 account of the microscopic appearance of the raw material, each of 

 the threads of which was stated to be composed of two distinct cylin- 

 ders, which, in good silk, were found to be perfectly parallel and 

 quite cylindrical, the unevenness or the want of parallelism produ- 

 cing inferiority in the raw article. Each of these cylinders was men- 

 tioned to vary in diameter from 2 sVo^^ P^^^ °^ ^^ ^'^^^ (^^^ measure 

 in silk of the best quality) to ygVytb of an inch. When imported, 

 however, several distinct threads were found reeled together, which 

 was done by the grower of the silk- worms, the threads being passed 

 through several eyelets and then wound off. The imported raw silks 

 were found to be of various qualities, which depended upon the mode 

 and time of feeding as well as upon the food of the worms. These 

 compound threads are j^th part of an inch in diameter, each being 

 divisible into eight threads ; that is, into four pairs of cylinders in 

 the best silk. The East Indian ComoroUi silk was also mentioned 

 as being of coarser texture, and as not being carefully reeled ; here 

 the compound thread was found to consist of sixteen cylinders, that 

 is, eight double threads, and to be y^^^jjyth part of an inch in diameter. 

 The specific gravity of the silk wai? stated to be greater than had 



