( 238 ) 

 NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



The i»i-®bo8cis of the Blow-fly. — Ever since I bave had a good 

 microscope, this has been a favourite and interesting object to 

 me, and partly in consequence of a photograph of it having 

 appeared in the third Number of this Journal, I was induced 

 to send the following query to the editors, which appeared in 

 the fifth Number, hoping that by thus calling attention to the 

 subject some one of competent knowledge and skill would 

 take it up. " Query. In what work may there be found a 

 description of the exceedingly beautiful structure of the 

 proboscis of the Fly, more especially of what are termed, in 

 the explanation of the Plate, in the third Number of this 

 Journal ' divided absorbent tubes?'" This query, unfortu- 

 nately, has not been noticed ; and consequently, in this short 

 communication, I wish to direct the attention of your readers 

 to some points of the beautiful and curious structure of this 

 organ, and trust that some one learned in these matters will 

 endeavour to explain the functions of the parts described. I 

 have an additional inducement to do this since there appears 

 to be in published works diverse views as to the functions 

 of these beautiful spirals. Whilst in the description of Plate 

 VII. of tlie Transactions of the Microscopical Society, con- 

 tained in the third Number of this Journal, they are termed 

 " divided absorbent tubes," in the ' Micrographic Dictionary,' 

 just completed, the proboscis is mentioned (article Musca, 

 p. 444) as being "kept expanded by a beautiful and elastic 

 frame-work of modified tracheae." 



Adopting provisionally the term "divided absorbent 

 tubes," each tube appears to be made up, as it were, of 

 divided turns of a spiral fibre, which, to avoid circum- 

 locution, I shall call divided spirals; and in fig. 1, I have 



Fig. 1. 



[TOoll'Ll. 



made a very careful drawing, by the camera lucida, of a 

 portion of one of these tubes, magnified about 800 diameters. 

 But the opposed ends of these divided spirals do not termi- 

 nate similarly ; for while one extremity exhibits a fine point, 

 the other is forked, dividing into two portions, each having a 



