PSTOCTE. 
Mr. G. Dimmock stated that, in seven 
hours, collecting near Mt. Wachusett (in 
Princeton, Mass.), 26 Aug. 1882, he had 
taken 96 larvae of lepidoptera belonging to 
44 species; among these were 18 larvae (9 
species) of geometridae. In one hour's col- 
lecting, near Waverly, Mass., 30 Aug. 1882. 
he had taken 19 specimens (g species) of 
lepidopterous larvae. In both cases many 
specimens had been rejected as undesirable. 
Dr. H. A. Hagen called attention to Prof. 
J. D. Whitney’s new work, entitled ‘*The 
climatic changes of later geological times”... 
Cambridge (Memoirs Mus. comp. zool., v. 
7, no. 2, part, 3) 1882, as showing how, after 
much had been written concerning the influ- 
ence of the great glacial sheet, that was sup- 
posed to have once covered North America, 
upon the distribution of insects, that, in the 
opinion of Prof. Whitney, the glacial sheet 
itself had never existed to the extent that 
had been supposed. 
18 Dec. 1882.—88th meeting. Mr. W: H. 
Ashmead, of Jacksonville, Fla.; Prof. R: E. 
Call, of David City, Neb.; Mr. S: E. Cas- 
sino, of Boston, Mass.; and Mr. C: Fish, of 
Brunswick, Me. were elected 
bers. 
Dr. H. A. Hagen said that he had long 
thought that the thorax of insects is divided 
into more parts than had been generally 
supposed, that is, that each of its three seg- 
ments was divisible into three smaller parts- 
Entomologists would object to this view of 
the structure of the thorax on account of 
development. In Balfour’s Comparative em- 
bryology we find that author regards ances- 
tral forms as better indicated in the larvae, 
especially if the larval life is long, than in 
the egg. This removes objections. Dr. 
Hagen had corresponded with Dr. Fritz 
Miller, who would now, perhaps, extend 
this subdivision of the segments to those of 
the abdomen. In answer to a question if 
the ganglionic arrangement of the nervous 
system was not an objecton to these views, 
active mem- 
417 
Dr. Hagen said that, on the contrary, there 
were really three pair of ganglia in each seg- 
ment. 
Mr. G: Dimmock exhibited dwarfs of 
Colias philodice (extreme possible expanse of 
wing, 37 mm.), Papilio polyxenes (same mea- 
surement, 65 mm.), and Pyramezs huntera 
(same measurement. 50 mm.). The dwarf of 
Papilio polyxenes was produced by keeping 
the larva anc pupa in a dry room. It 
emerged from pupa 27 March 1871. The 
Colias philodice was said by Dr. Hagen to be 
the form described by Fitch as C. santas; it 
was taken in Springfield, Mass. 
Mr. Wyllis A. Silliman remarked that a 
species of white ant (Callotermes flavicollis? ) 
collected at Banyuls-sur-mer, Pyrénées-Orien- 
tales, France. is infested with the same 
organisms that Prof. Joseph Leidy has re- 
cently described (Proc. Acad. SCl., 
Philad., 18So, 8, p- 425-447. pl. 
51-52) from the intestine of Termes flavipes 
of this country. Altho in doubt as to the 
position of these forms in the scale of life, 
Mr. Silliman thought that several of them 
nat. 
SEP. 2, ‘V- 
are only stages of one species, and that the 
“Vibrio termitis” of Leidy is the 
spermatozoon of Pyrsonympha agilis. In 
fact, the ‘‘pharyngeal sac” (Leidy) of the 
latter species is always filled with ‘*Vibrios,” 
which are seen to escape, under pressure, 
so-called 
from an anterior orifice. P. agzlis has no 
stomach, but the protoplasm of the posterior 
part of the body carries on an intracellular 
digestion. 
Mr.* G. Dimmock briefly described the 
general appearance of a very large species of 
gregarina which he had found abundantly in 
the intestine of Scolopendra  morsitans, 
during March, April, and May, 1882, about 
Banyuls-sur-mer, Pyrénées-Orientales, in 
France. The full-grown parasites were from 
six to eight millimetres in length, and hada 
peculiarly formed cross-piece at the larger 
end; the smaller end tapered gradually toa 
point as it does in many species of gregaria. 
