128 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
stratum of mould. From the peculiar position of the 
sphores within the abdomen of the bees, and from the 
growth of a fungus from them unlike any of our common 
forms of Mucedines, I think it probable that the death of 
the bees was occasioned by the presence of a_ parasitic 
fungus. 
On the Liability of Shells to Injury from the Growth of « 
Fungus. By the Rev. H. H. Hieerns. 
Ir has often been observed that shells kept for a consider- 
able time in cabinets are apt to lose much of their original 
freshness and beauty of appearance. This kind of injury 
chiefly affects such specimens as have a bright, enamelled 
surface, which at length becomes dull and less pleasant to 
the touch. Several suggestions have been made with refer- 
ence to the probable cause of the change, which has often 
been attributed to the efflorescence of saline matter absorbed 
by the shell. But, so far as I have observed, the specimens 
most lable to injury from saline incrustation belong to 
genera im which the shells are without enamel, as Littorina, 
Turritella, &c., and many collectors are in the habit of 
steeping their specimens in fresh water for some days before 
placing them in their cabinets—a process which is said to be 
an effectual preservative from injury by saline efflorescence. 
Mr. Denison, of Woolton, attributed the loss of lustre in 
enamelled shells to the ravages of a minute insect, but had 
not been able to detect the depredator. ‘ Many of the 
shells in my own cabinet suffered such serious injury during 
last winter that I was led to investigate the cause, which, 
indeed, became obvious enough by the use of a microscope. 
An ordinary lens showed the enamel of the shell to be beset 
with small bristly pomts, and when a portion of the surface 
was scraped off and submitted toa higher magnifying power, 
the forms of at least two species of Fungi became ap- 
parent, one resembling an ordinary Mucor with a globose 
sporangium, the other and much more common form, exhi- 
bited both simple and moniliform filaments, with an abun- 
dance of minute spores, seemingly quite free. After having 
been carefully washed, the surface of the shell was found to 
be as if it were engraved in some places with stellular 
marks, in others with striz forming irregular ‘reticulations, 
caused no doubt in each instance by the spreading mycelium 
of the fungus. It is scarcely necessary to add, that attacks 
of this nature need not be apprehended where shells are 
kept in a perfectly dry or well-ventilated place. A slight 
