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parasitic on insects or exuvie: this genus is not regarded as autonomous, but as a 
condition of the ascigerous genus Cordiceps (Entomogenous Spheriz). 
Mr. Janson exhibited a large collection of insects, principally Lepidoptera and 
Coleoptera, formed by Mr. A. E. Russell in Bengal and the Himalayas. 
The President read the following extract from ‘ The Times’ of the 28th of March, _ 
1865 :— 
“ French Honey.—A great portion of the immense quantity of honey consumed in 
France is supplied from the island of Corsica and from Brittany. Corsica produced 
so much wax in ancient times that the Romans imposed on it an annual tribute of 
100,000 Ibs. weight. Subsequently the inhabitants revolted, and they were punished 
by the tribute being raised to 200,000 Ibs. weight annually, which they were able to 
supply. Wax is to honey in Corsica as one to 15, so that the inhabitants must have 
gathered 3,000,000 kilogrammes* of honey. When Corsica became a dependency of 
the Papal Court it paid its taxes in wax, and the quantity was sufficient to supply the 
consumption not only of the churches in the city of Rome, but those in the Papal 
States. Brittany likewise supplies a great quantity of honey, but of inferior quality to 
that of Corsica. The annual value of the honey and wax produced in that province 
is estimated at 5,000,000f.” 
The President read the following note: — 
“ Last July, when passing over the snow-fields on the top of Monte Moro, at an 
elevation of about 8000 feet, I noticed here and there a sharply-defined cylindrical 
hole in the snow, such as might have been caused by pressing a wine-cork into it. 
These holes were generally about an inch in depth, and at the bottom of each was 
either a small lump that looked like peat, or more frequently an insect, invariably 
either Dipterous or Ichneumonideous. I cannot account for the lumps of peat; but 
I imagine that the insects, settling on the snow, became torpid from its low tempera- 
ture, and sank gradually (or perhaps rapidly) into it, the hole being caused by the 
melting of the snow by the radiation of heat from the insect. The solar rays on 
mountain summits are asserted to be warmer than those falling on the plains, but 
there is no doubt that the radiation from solid bodies at great elevations is very 
marked. I took Cryptus tarsoleucus apparently not long alighted, and still feebly 
moving a wing ora leg. Perhaps it is only in the finest weather that insects would 
take so lofty a flight; however, a little lower down, Bombus montanus was not 
uncommon, enjoying itself amongst the flowers of a Linaria, but surrounded on all 
sides by patches of snow. Nearly up to the same point I frequently passed a little 
black moth, Psodos trepidaria, taking its short trembling flight. Higher than either 
of these, and among some short grass in the middle of the snow, I found a Byrrhus. 
These were the last evidences of animal life observed. But as flowering plants extend 
to upwards of 10,000 or even 11,000 feet, it would be interesting to learn if insect-life 
in any form co-exists with them. A mammal, Arvicola nivalis, is found, I believe, at 
the highest point of phanerogamic vegetation.” 
In reply to enquiries, the President added that the insects in the snow were all 
dark in colour, that the holes were on the slope of the mountain on which the sun was 
shining directly, and that they were truly cylindrical, not hemispherical, or narrowed 
* Qu. kilogrammes or pounds? 
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