RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



LONSDALE BOTANICAL AND FIELD 

 NATURALIST SOCIETY. 



Organized Dec. 9, 1880. This society was 

 formed and establislied for tlie study of Bot- 

 any and other branches of Natural History. 

 The above society held its regular meet- 

 ing Januar}' 21st. when the following officers 

 were elected for the present year : 



President— Ralph Drabble. 

 Vice-President— James Moss. 

 Secretary— John Deardeii. 

 Treasurer — James Isherwood. 

 Librarian — William T. Butler. 

 Executive Committee— James Isherwood, Thomas 

 Barber, John Osborne, James Lord. 



At the close of the business meeting the 

 president exhibited fine microscopical speci- 

 mens. 



The society is in a flourishing condition, 

 having more than forty members, a well 

 stocked library, and a comfortable sum in 

 the treasury. At the next regular meeting 

 the secretary, John Dearden, will read a 

 paper on insects, injurious and beneficial. 

 Meetings held monthly. 



RHODE ISLAND ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The last regular meeting was held in their 

 new room, 54 North Main Street, the largely 

 increased membership and need of larger 

 and better accommodations having made a 

 change necessary. 



Prof. A. S. Packard spoke at some length 

 upon the ravages of the moth, Tortrix fiimi- 

 ferana among the spruce trees, on and adja- 

 cent to the coast of Maine, exhibiting per- 

 fect insects and chrysalis, and drawings of 

 the larvoe. 



At a previous meeting Mr. S. Schofield 

 read a paper and illustrated it by diagrams, 

 upon the difficulties he had experienced in 

 raising from the eggs, the larvae of Eades 

 imperialism the Imperial Custard Moth. 



THE PROVIDENCE FRANKLIN SOCIETY 



has held its regular meetings. Prof W. 

 W. Bailey occupied one evening with an 

 account of the Royal Botanical Gardens at 

 Kew, Eng., and the influence of that institu- 

 tion in making botanists throughout the 

 English colonies, and in collecting and dis- 

 tributing seeds and plants. The herbarium 

 there is the finest in the world, and the 



identity of plants is ascertained as a final 

 resort through Kew. Their museum of econ- 

 omic botany was at first the only one in the 

 world, but this example is now being fol- 

 lowed in other places, at Berlin, Ghent, 

 Paris, and Boston. At a later meeting Mr. 

 T. R. Shurrocks spoke upon the different 

 forms and appearances, and the alterations 

 of pyrite. 



AN UNUSUAL BOUQUET. 



By the kindness of Mr. S. Schofield, we 

 saw last breeding season, a bouquet about 

 fifteen inches across the top, of apple tree 

 twigs, full of fresh leaves, and on them were 

 feeding fourteen larvte of Platysamia ce- 

 cropia in fine healthy condition. A bunch 

 like this placed in a pint of water, replen- 

 ished daily, will keep fresh three days ; it 

 may be kept standing anywhere, and the 

 larvae, though perfectly free, will not at- 

 tempt to crawl away so long as fresh leaves 

 are plenty. Mr. S. experimented with many- 

 sorts of leaves. None kept fresh so long 

 and seemed to please as well as the apple. 



He observes also that when first hatched 

 the larva is one-quarter of an inch long, 

 and nearly black. In about eight days it 

 sheds its skin and appears in a brown coat 

 (although one retained its black). About 

 ten days later occurs a second moult, or 

 casting of the skin ; it then appears of a 

 beautiful green color, with numerous short 

 nodular protuberances, four of them near 

 the head, of a bright coral color, the others 

 yellowish, greenish or bluish, and each sur- 

 mounted with a star of short black hairs. 

 At the next moult, of which there are four, 

 the coral fades to an orange, and after each 

 moult the larva eats up the old skin. When 

 about ready for a change of dress, it feeds 

 less for three or four days, and lies quiet. 

 Suddenly the skin cracks at the head and 

 comes off in a moment, and is nearly trans- 

 parent. After the final feeding the larva, 

 selecting a twig to its fancy, proceeds to 

 spin the well-known brown silky cocoon. 



Who says it is unhealthy to sleep in 

 feathers? Look at the spring chicken, and 

 see how tough he is. — Exchange. 



How to find a chip of the old block — 

 Axe the block. 



