OF JOHN EDDOWES BOWMAN, ESQ. 53 
bourhood gratified his love of natural scenery, 
and afforded him many opportunities of pursuing 
his favourite studies. Habits of vigilant observa- 
tion formed a part of his character; and in the 
course of his daily walks, his eye was ever on the 
alert to detect something new or curious or beau- 
tiful in the phenomena that were casually presen- 
ted to his view. In the spring of 1820, his family 
having removed into the country for the sake of 
health, he walked over to breakfast with them 
every morning; and on one of these occasions, he 
was led to examine very minutely the branch- 
like appearance produced on the bark of the Ash 
by the larva of a small beetle. 
Textract the following interesting passage from 
his Diary.—‘‘It is the work of the larva of a small 
beetle. The parent,when about to lay her eggs, 
passes along the central line which she excavates 
between the bark and the solid wood, and as she 
goes along, deposits an egg at the commencement 
of every lateral branch. As the young weevil in- 
creases in size, it of course requires a wider space, 
which explains the widening of the lateral branches 
as they recede from the centre, till at the proper 
period it emerges from its dark labyrinth into 
open day. What a wonderful and beautiful in- 
