26 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



coudition of the atmosphere, very similar to the conditions 

 which prevail on a good night for " sugaring." No doubt all 

 living things are more or less affected for the time being by 

 electrical influences, as well as by every change of the weather. 

 Anglers are well aware of this. In Best's ' Art of Angling' there 

 is a " Prognostic of Weather," which is pithy, amusing, and has, 

 I fear, a reflex bearing upon the habits of anglers of that day, as 

 much as upon those of the familiar insect referred to. It is 

 this : — " Against rain, fleas bite more than common." I am 

 inclined to think, therefore, that the electric fluid affects all 

 living things very much as any other change of weather, and is 

 transient, except in its secondary results. 



I cannot help regretting, as I have done in a former commu- 

 nication on the subject, that a valuable source of knowledge is 

 neglected by the comparative scarcity of brethren of the net in 

 Ireland ; for in the dissimilar meteorological conditions of the 

 two islands we have a basis to go upon of considerable value in 

 determination of questions of this very kind. 



Here, in Ireland, thunderstorms very rarely occur, and when 

 they do are of slight importance compared with the violence they 

 develop in the sister country. The remarkable divergence, which 

 is frequently observable in the character of the seasons on each 

 side of the Irish Sea, is equally valuable as a diagnostic. 

 Mr. South's suggestion that entomologists should keep a rough 

 meteorological diary is a most valuable one ; for again this year 

 the dissimilarity to which I refer to has been remarkable. 



The London Meteorological Office has characterised the past 

 summer in England as remarkably dry, "Dryer," they say, "than 

 any since the year 1869 ;" while the rainfall in Ireland, throughout 

 almost the whole course of the summer, has been " excessive," 

 though towards the autumn more favourable weather has been 

 enjoyed. 



Now if next year any considerable divergence as to the 

 abundance of imagines, whose larvae were bred this summer, is 

 observed in the two countries, we may fairly found a conclusion 

 on the premises. The summary of meteorological statistics 

 issued by the London office seems to be of much importance to 

 those who are interested in this whole subject. 



I know that in England the season of 1878 was an excellent 

 one for entomologists ; but of the character of the preceding ones 



