98 Sir S. S. Saunders' Z^^^^*^** **^^^^ 



of both alike. On the contrary, his own treatise afore- 

 said was only casually alluded to as summarizing the 

 Count's remarks on the abstruse topic of impracticable 

 oviposition, for which no reasons had been suggested by 

 either. There was, moreover, the less need of entering 

 into a twofold controversy upon these matters, when 

 both writers had been cooperating from first to last, and 

 had worked out their results in harmony with each 

 other; the Count's conclusions as to his appreciation 

 of Caprification having been adopted verbatim by 

 Dr. Mayer; as also the observations of the Count on 

 anomalous oviposition (p. 560) ; so that in adhering to 

 the recital of the latter there seemed to be no reason 

 to anticipate any divergence therefrom on the part of his 

 coadjutor, the homogeneous character of their intimate 

 convictions being assumed as unquestionable ; which 

 indeed the tenor of Dr. Mayer's present communication 

 amply serves to corroborate. 



Passing now to the new facts elicited, Dr. Mayer com- 

 mences by informing us that, in a certain passage of his 

 treatise referring to opening a fig having the wings of 

 the female Blastopha'ja adhering to the scales of the 

 ostiolum (Eroffnet man also eine junge Feige, deren 

 Aussenseite am Ostiolum die Fliigel der Blastophaga 

 ankleben — p. 559), he was speaking of a domestic fig 

 (eine zahme), which he conceives is clear from the 

 context. This was by no means evident — nor even pre- 

 sumable — when compared with the parallel passage in 

 Count Solms' version — to which alone my remarks 

 applied — where the latter unmistakably refers to a wild 

 fig ; for in his Chapter III. (p. 19), treating of the 

 " Insects dwelling in the fruit of the Caprifictis," he 

 narrates how the disrupted wings of the females issuing 

 from the wild winter-figs (Mamme), are found adhering to 

 the ostiolum of the wild spring-figs (die jungen Profichi) ; 

 on opening which (Eroffnet man nun die Profichi) he gives 

 also a corresponding account to that supplied by Dr. 

 Mayer of the proceedings of these wingless females in 

 traversing the florets hither and thither for the purpose 

 of oviposition ; of their frequently perishing in endea- 

 vouring to find their way in or out of the " Profico" ; of 

 their corpses being often met with in the cavity; of 

 Godeheu de Riviile's remark on "ripe figs," &c. ; all which 

 appear in serial sequence in Dr. Mayer's version (p. 559) ; 

 followed alike, in both instances, by the Count's woodcut 



