80 CORRESPONDENCE, 



Entomolooicai. Club. — A London correspondent wi'ites to ub as 

 follows :— " At a meeting held at the house of Dr. E. Hart Viuen, F.L.S., on 

 the 30th January, Dr.Cohbold,F.E.S., communicated a notice of an interest- 

 ing discovery made by Dr. Manson, at Amoy, China. It appears that the 

 mosquito (Culex) forms the intermediate host of the Filaria sangubds 

 hominis, or microscopic filarise living in human blood (haimatozoa.) In 

 the com-se of the evening it was stated that most of the worms found 

 in insects were imperfectly developed entozoa. Filarias from three to 

 five inches in length had frequently been noticed in dermaptera and 

 coleoptera ; especially in Forjicula, Phosplutga, and Feronia. Dr. Cobbold 

 exhibited adult human FilariEe, (F. Bancrofti,) from Australia, and also 

 a beetle, (Passalus cornutus,) known to be infested with a species of 

 Ascaris in the matm-e state (A. infecta.) Many of the entomologists of 

 the Metropolis were present at the meeting (Messrs. Pascoe, Dallas, Smith, 

 Sheppard, Grut, and Stevens.) Other well known naturalists, including 

 Drs. Mmio and Ord, took part in the discussion. Dr. Vinen (whoso fernery 

 proved a great attraction to the botanists present) remarked, in the 

 course of his obsei-vations, that notwithstanding the great age of the Club 

 it exMbited no signs of decay." 



Mosses. — A warm interest in these lovely plants has been created 

 in my mind, fi'om having had my attention recently awakened to their 

 variety and great beauty by the sight of a collection made by a local 

 botanist many years ago. I am quite amazed at their numbers and their 

 individual beaut}'. I must confess an almost entire ignorance about 

 them ; but I am really most anxious to have my ignorance displaced by 

 knowledge. Will one of the brj-ological readers of the "Midland 

 Naturalist " do me and others, who may desire the information — I am 

 sure there must be many such — a great kindness by writing a paper 

 pointing out what steps we should take, and what books consvdt, in 

 order to be able to discriminate the various English mosses. The 

 instructions, to be really useful to myself, should commence at the veiy 

 beginning. I sincerely hope some qualified botanist \^all undertake this 

 labour of love, and that room for such paper may be pro\'ided by the 

 Editors. — M. B. L., Coventry. [Our correspondent will see that his 

 desires have been anticipated, and that oiu- present nximber contains the 

 first of a series of elementary papers on the study of the mosses. — 

 Ens. M. N.] 



A Curious Case of " Reparation." — Last November I was fishing in 

 one of the pools on the border of Sutton Park, and caught a small pike 

 •weighing between two and three pounds. On getting him into the punt 

 I noticed a singular hump on the back just in front of the dorsal fin. I 

 took him home, and my doctor looldng in next morning I asked him to 

 examine into the cause. On laying bare the back bone we found that at 

 Bome time or other, but not very recently, the bone had been absolutely 

 severed, probably by a bite from another fish, and that a new formation 

 of bone had taken place, thus slightly lengthening the spine, and forming 

 a slight hump. Of course the spinal cord was not broken when the 

 injury was inflicted, or the fish could not have survived. I am aware thia 

 ii not an isolated case, as one if not two previous instances of a sunilar 

 kind have occurred, but as it is certaiuly very rare it seems worth 

 recording. The fish appeared to have been in no degree affected by the 

 hump as to liveliness or strength. I had the portion of bone showing the 

 a])uormal growth cleaned, and presented it to Mr. Montagu Browne, 

 Naturalist, Broad Street, Birmingham, who will, no doubt, bo ^\alliug to 

 show it to anyone interested.— jWm. Taylor, Edgbastou. 



Preserving Fisn. — A description of the best methods of preserving 

 fish in a natural state for the cabinet, particularly fresh-water kinds, is 

 much desired by an amateur collector. — T., Nottingham. 



