188 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



but hardly appreciable, different total, even if we remember the 

 large numbers which are annually captured and preserved. 

 Uniformity in Nature is also increased by the large areas growing 

 the same kind of cultivated plants, instead of a various wild 

 growth. Pasture lands and meadows have little variety of flora. 

 Corn-fields, and all arable land and sheep-feeding districts, have 

 a certain sameness, and orchards in the southern counties 

 provide only a few kinds of fruit trees. The custom of having 

 hedges of hawthorn gives encouragement only to those species 

 which feed upon it. If we look into the future we must own that 

 civilisation will still lessen the area for entomological research. 

 Waste places will be enclosed ; and even now there are only a few 

 localities in this country which are in their primitive wildness. 

 Residents in towns know it is difficult to find a spot where Nature 

 is left undisturbed. Some who love Nature devoutly regret this; 

 but everything must give way before the great strides of the giant 

 progress. These remarks are only a few illustrations written 

 currente calavw to call attention to the subject, as it is extremely 

 interesting to note the effects produced by the wonderful asser- 

 tion of the vast human race. — Herbert E. Norris; St. Ives. 



The "Death Watch" and its Sound. — As there seems to 

 be a great deal of misapprehension with regard to the "Death 

 Watch" and its sound, perhaps a few words on the subject may 

 not be out of place, especially as one or two remarks in last 

 month's ' Entomologist ' are calculated to be misleading. The 

 insects that produce this sound belong to the family Anobiina of 

 the Ptinidse ; the species that are credited with producing the 

 sound are Anobium domesticum, Fourc. (striatum, 01.), and 

 Xestobium tessellation, Fab., which are quite different species, and 

 not the same, as implied in the note in Entom., vol. xvii., p. 107; 

 the former is a small insect, and is abundant in all old houses, its 

 larvee producing the small holes found in old furniture, and being 

 commonly known to furniture-dealers as "the worm "; the perfect 

 insects also have the power of boring : another species which is 

 sometimes very destructive to furniture is Ptilinus pectmicornis ; 

 the much larger Xestobium is found in old houses and churches, 

 but is also abundant in old oaks ; Anobium domesticum itself is 

 by no means confined to houses, but is sometimes common in old 

 trees, old ivy, &c. Some of the species, as Professor Westwood 

 observes, notably A. paniceum, feed on almost every substance, 



