(or uaa ) bs. Ae 
‘‘T continued in the waggon all the evening, and to divert my 
mind from the past, I spent the remaining time with my flute.” 
“Tt thus has unfortunately happened that I have been pre- 
vented joining my family in their remembrances of me on this 
day : and that my birthday should be marked as one of the 
most turbulent days I have passed since landing on Africa. 
From the little dependance I can place on my own people my 
situation now begins to grow critical, and calls for the most 
resolute but prudent measures.” 
Another record of great interest to the Society is found 
under the date May 29, 1812, when Burchell was at Klaar- 
water (Griquatown) making arrangements for his journey to 
Litakun. It is contained in these words :—“ The Sphinx 
Atropos is called by Colonists the Bye-mot or Duyvel-bye, and 
is firmly believed to be poisonous.” 
This sentence appears to have been written later than the 
brief record of the day, the writing being in a darker ink 
and compressed into the narrow space between the entries for 
May 29 and 30. 
Mr. Roland Trimen’s observation of the superstitious dread 
of this species in South Africa is thus both confirmed and 
carried back to a much earlier date. (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 
1902, p. 402.) 
Professor Poutton exhibited a specimen of the large Melo- 
lonthid beetle Lepidiota bimaculata, Saunders, and directed 
attention to the two white eye-like spots on the elytra, and to 
the tapering posterior abdominal segments which suggested the 
appearance of the snout of a small mammal. The relative 
position of the eye-like spots and apparent snout was such as 
to promote the deceptive resemblance, which was also strongly 
assisted by the regular shape of the white spots, the direc- 
tion of their long axes, and the fact that they lay in the 
shadow of a low but district ridge. Similar appearances were 
to be seen in several allied species, and Professor Poulton 
suggested that there were conditions during life in which the 
anterior part of these beetles was concealed, as it might be by 
foliage or by burrowing, and that the appearance of the 
exposed posterior part then acted as a defence. Professor 
Poulton had been led to draw attention to this example, which 
