252 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



either showed great diversity in size, colour, and markings. Diflfer- 

 ence of time was of little accoimt, for undoiibted southern insects 

 had taken two years to complete their life history, and all entomolo- 

 gists knew that insects of the same brood, in this and other families, 

 would stay one, two, three, and even five years in chrysalis. Even 

 as regarded the difference in markings among the young larvae, the 

 gi'eatest variety was noticed in larvfe taken from the same hedge-row ; 

 in fact all the points of diiference pointed to a climatic variety ; even 

 in the case of colour, the tendency with insects, like other animals, 

 was to acquire darker and duller hues as they advanced north, and 

 lighter and brighter as they went south. A stronger point than all 

 was the fact that he had succeeded in drawing up southern males with 

 a northern female. 



Taking advantage of the wonderful power possessed by the females 

 of some groups of attracting the males from long distances and in 

 great numbers, he had, by retarding, in a cold room, the time of 

 emergence, got a female out on the 20th of July. This, taken to 

 Hassock's Gate the same afternoon, about 4 o'clock, when there was 

 but little sun and wind, had attracted males of the southern insect. 

 On the principle that, among the insect tribe, the males of the same 

 species only were attracted by the female, he considered this went far 

 to prove the point that B. callunce was only a climatic variety of 

 B. quercus, and not a distinct species. Though occasionally hybrids 

 were found in nature, the rule was for members of the same species 

 only to pair. Had he been able to keep a female back a fortnight 

 later, he doubted not he might have brought up nearly a hundred 

 males of B. quercus, drawn by a sense either of smell of a very acute 

 character, the organ of which had not yet been satisfactorily pointed 

 out, or by some other sense, not yet localized or named by the natu- 

 ralist. 



The point had not been cleared up earlier simply because, relying 

 on some cf the points of difference before mentioned, no one, as far as 

 he knew, had kept back northern female's, and tried the experiment of 

 seeing whether they would attract southern males. 



August 24th. — Microscopical Meeting. Mr. M. Penley, Vice- 

 President, in the chair ; subject " Polyzoa." 



Mr, R. Glaisyer announced the receipt for the Society's cabinet of 

 12 slides from Dr. HalUfax, 12 from Mr. T. Cm-ties, of Holborn, 6 

 from Mr. Sewell, 6 from Mr. C. P. Smith, and 9 from Mr. Wonfor. 



Votes of thanks were passed to the donors. 



Dr. Hallifax, introducing the subject for the evening, said the 

 Polyzoa were a proof of what might be done by patient investigation, 

 for though at one time supposed to occupy an obscure position in the 

 animal series, being classed among the polyps, by the comparatively 

 recent researches of the last forty years they had been raised into a 

 higher class of the animal kingdom. The greater nmnber of them 

 being contained in a horny polyi)idom, this, and not the animals con- 

 tained therein, was chiefly studied, and the animal, or more important 

 part, overlooked. By close observation and attentive study during 

 tlie last forty years, Thompson, Farre, Milne Edwards, Grant, and 



