XXVI 



named by Count Castelnau, Westwoodia Howittii. Also two smaller speci- 

 mens which had been supposed to be females of the last-named species, but 

 were, more probably, females of an insect of which the male was unknown. 



The Secretary exhibited a collection of fine species of Lepidoptera, 

 forwarded by Mr. W. D. Gooch, from Natal, for determination. 



The Rev. 0. Pickard Cambridge sent a note on the curious spider's nest 

 exhibited at the last meeting. It was unknown to him, and had it not been 

 for a remark in Mr. Ward's letter implying that the nest he found belonged 

 to a symmetrical (geometrical) web, he should have conjectured that it was 

 the work of an Agelena. If, however, the nest was appurtenant to a sym- 

 metrical web it must belong to a spider of the family Epeirides. He did 

 not think the sand in the nest was at all designed as ballast, but as a 

 protection against the heat of the sun (sand being a non-conductor) and also 

 against parasites. Mr. Smith remarked that the mud-coating of the nest of 

 Agelena brunnea did not preserve that species from parasites, as he had 

 often bred a species of Pezomachus from the nests, and he believed, in those 

 instances, the spider's eggs had been attacked before the mud-coating was 

 added. 



Mr. Champion exhibited some rare species of British Coleoptera, viz. : — 

 Apion Ryei, taken by Mr. Lilley in Shetland ; Abdera triguttata, from 

 Aviemore, Inverness-shire ; Lymexylon navale, taken by Messrs. Sidebotham 

 and Chappell at Dunham Park, Manchester ; Athous subfuscus, taken by 

 the Rev. T. Blackburn in Shetland ; and Apion sanguineum and Silvanus 

 similis from Esher. 



December 7, 1874. 

 Sir Sidney Smith Saunders, C.M.G., President, in the chair. 



Donations to the Library. 

 The following donations were announced, and thanks voted to the 

 donors: — 'Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences,' vol. ii., 

 no. 1 ; presented by the Society. ' Monthly Reports of the Department of 

 Agriculture,' for the year 1873 ; by the Department. ' A Handbook of the 

 Coleoptera, or Beetles, of Great Britain and Ireland,' 9 vols. ; by the 

 Author, Herbert E. Cox, M.E.S. 'Le Phylloxera de la vigne, son 

 organisation, ses mceurs, choix des precedes de destruction avec gravures 

 et cartes;' by the Author, Dr. M. Girard. 'Descriptions and Natural 

 History of two Insects which brave the dangers of Sarracenia variolaris,' 

 by Chas. V. Riley, M.A., Ph.D. ; by the Author. ' A Monographic Revision 

 and Synopsis of the Trichoptera of the European Fauna,' by Robert 



