( clxvi ) 



by the bending down of the abdomen which forced the air 

 from the air-chamber into each bubble. A consideration of 

 the exact method by which the bubbles are formed was not 

 without importance in relation to the question of what part, 

 if any. the secretion of the wax-glands takes in giving to the 

 liquid secretion from the amis its capacity for forming bubbles. 

 Dr. Sale explains that the wax is acted upon by an enzyme 

 in the alimentary secretion, and the acid thus produced forms, 

 with the alkali present, a substance which gives to the liquid 

 the properties of a soap-solution. Although he had himself 

 at first suspected that the wax might in some way impart 

 to the liquid its tendency to form lasting bubbles, he was 

 on the whole inclined to doubt whether that did actually 

 take place. 



As further points of interest in connection with the frog- 

 hoppers, he stated (1) that the median triangular lobe which 

 in the nymph fits in between the lateral folds of the 3rd 

 abdominal segment and helps to close up the air-chamber in 

 front, persists in the imago of many of the species, where it 

 is no longer functional, and takes the form of a median ridge 

 continued behind into a short, pointed process; and (2) that 

 when examining some nymphs alive under the microscope, 

 he found pulsatile organs, of the kind described in Nepidae 

 and some other water-bugs, present in the tibiae of all the 

 legs, and the movement of the blood corpuscles in the legs 

 very distinctly visible. Organs of the same kind had quite 

 recently been discovered by Richardson in the Aphididae, 

 and probably occurred generally in the Rhynchota and pos- 

 sibly also in other insects. He thought it might be of interest 

 also to mention that the froth produced by the frog-hopper 

 was in the days of Queen Elizabeth known as " Woodseare/' 

 and he would like to find out whether that name has survived 

 anywhere in the British Islandsup to the present time. Bacon, 

 in referring to the froth, said of it : "' The experience is that 

 the froth which they call Woodsare (being like a kind of 

 spittle is found but upon certain herbs, and those hot ones; 

 as lavender, sage, hyssope, &e. Of the cause of this enquire 

 Further, for it seemeth to lie a secret." In a work published 

 in I'itil it is referred to thus; "That spumeous froth or dew 



