85 
a sealed letter indorsed with the fictitious signature or motto adopted by its author, 
and inclosing the name and address of the writer. 
The Prize Essays shall be the property of, and will be published by, the Society. 
Exhibitions, &c. 
Mr. Bond exhibited specimens of a gall found on a willow tree near Cambridge ; 
the tree was fifty feet high, aud almost every twig appeared to possess its gall, which 
took the form of a premature terminal development of leaves in whorls, so as to 
resemble a flower-head. He had observed the galls only the day before the Meeting ; 
the leafy excrescences were then dry and withered, and he was unable to state what 
was their colour when fresh. 
Mr. W. W. Saunders remarked upon the similarity between this and the Swiss 
gall which he had exhibited at the Meeting of November, 1864 (ante, p.48), in 
which, however, the leaf-like processes were not spread out, but were adpressed to 
the stem. 
Mr. Bond also exhibited varieties of Colias Edusa and Vanessa Urtice, both 
_ captured in Norfolk or Suffolk; each was remarkable from havivg the wings, par- 
ticularly the hind wings, conspicuously blotched or suffused with dark patches. 
Mr. T. W. Wood (who was present as a visitor) exhibited a variety of the male of 
Apatura Iris, captured in Kent; it was remarkable for the absence of the usual white 
markings on both the upper and under sides of the wings. He also exhibited a moth 
from Bahia, belonging to the family Arctiide, and supposed to be new to Science. 
Prof. Westwood, referring to the exhibition at the previous Meeting of Major 
Cox’s Acari, said that he had at the time called attention to the position during copu- 
lation of the small male, which anchored itself by means of its mouth upon the breast 
of the female; he had since found that De Geer had observed the same fact, and had 
figured it, but had misrepresented the position; the male appeared to continue in situ 
for a considerable time, in fact for several days. Major Cox’s dogs must have been 
very recently worried by the ticks, as many of the specimens taken home by the Pro- 
fessor for examination were found to be full of blood. He had taken numerous eggs 
off a portion of the kennel, and one female was discovered full of eggs; there were 
also on the wood the shells of eggs which had hatched, the first skins of the larve, and 
various stages of the insect; in the first and second stages they were dull yellow and 
had only six legs; in the third stage they appeared to begin to suck, and though not 
larger than a well-sized pin’s head, were distended with blood; in the fourth stage 
they had eight legs, the sexual distinctions became visible and sexual intercourse was 
carried on. The Cimex found on the wood had proved on examination to be a well- 
known insect. 
The President mentioned that he had also taken home a pair of the Ixodes in 
copula, and had gummed the female down, in which position she had remained for a 
fortnight, at the end of which she was found in the act of walking away. He remarked 
upon the great vitality of female insects after impregnation and before the deposition 
of eggs. 
The President read the following :— 
A Note on Generic Names having nearly the same Sound. 
“It frequently happens that Iam called upon to defend the principle that no 
generic name ought to be changed simply because it has a near resemblance to 
