313 



Mr. Wonfor remarked on the fact that this fungus was only- 

 found in woods in England and France, where the Hastings sand 

 cropped out. This would lead to the inference that there was 

 something peculiar in the chemical conditions of the soil, &c., 

 favorable to its development. 



Mr. Dennant exhibited a bottle of ooze obtained in the Porcu- 

 pine expedition, in lat. 47° 35' N. long. 16° 15' W., at 2435 fathoms. 

 Mr. Hennah exhibited two live sea mice, Aphrodita liystrix, 

 recently dredged up off Brighton. 



Dr. Halifax exhibited very beautiful micro-photographs, taken 

 by himself, the most striking being stomach of fowl, teeth of 

 medicinal leech, sections of proboscis of blow-fly to show rasping 

 teeth within central disk, poison -bag, with poison exuding, of 

 spiders, &c. 



Mr. Wonfor exhibited cluster cups in dog violet, nettle, eggs 

 and coccoons of Emperor moth, Saturnia Carpini, and forty-three 

 males, attracted by one female, in two days at Polegate and 

 Tilgate, and read a paper on the power possessed by some females 

 of drawing from long distance, and in great numbers, the males 

 of the same species, in which he detailed experiments tried by 

 himself and others with various insects, to find out, if possible, by 

 what sense they were attracted. Sight was out of the question, 

 for they had come up when the female was in a box in the pocket, 

 or shut up in a leather bag. It would seem that scent was more 

 likely, for they always came up against the wind, while it was 

 noticed that if they got far to windward they did not return, but 

 flew away. 



Mr. Hennah announced that Mr. Peake had found a Pygidium 

 in the lace wing fly, Chrysopa peola. This he believed to be an 

 original discovery. 



June 9. — Mr. Sewell, Vice-President, in the chair. 



A paper, " On Diptera and their Wings," by Mr. Peake, was 

 read, in the absence of that gentleman, by the Hon. Sec, Mr. 

 Wonfor. 



While wings are common to the whole order of Insecta, the 

 Diptera consists entirely of two-winged flies, having instead of a 

 second or hinder pair little thread-like bodies, terminated by 

 knobs, and called Halteres, originally thought to be balancers, 

 now considered by some olfactory organs and by others organs of 

 hearing. Prom many points of resemblance he deemed them 

 analogous to the hind wings of other insects, and that at pre- 

 sent their special use had not been ascertained. Besides the 

 Halteres, they had winglets (alulce), which were thought to be 

 only appendages to the fore wings. Among the Diptera three 

 classes of flies were found distinguished by the form of their 

 bodies and the shape of their wings, first, the slender flies, 

 such as the gnats, having long bodies, narrow wings and long 

 legs, but without winglets ; secondly, those whose bodies though 

 slender, were more weighty, as the Asilida;, having larger bodies, 

 shorter legs, and very minute winglets ; lastly, those like the 



