( xix ) 



Miss E. A. Ormerod, Mr. M'Lachlan, Lord Walsingham, Mr. Distant, 

 and Prof. Westwood made some remarks in connection with the above. 



Mr. Frank Cheshire, who was present as a visitor, made some observa- 

 tions on section-cutting in the probosces of honey-feeding insects, as referred 

 to by Prof. Westwood in his address. He recommended that the insect to 

 be operated upon should be kept fasting for some time and then fed upon 

 honey mixed with gelatine impregnated with some highly coloured dye ; the 

 insect should be immediately decapitated and the head rapidly cooled ; it 

 should then be embedded in gelatine and the section cut by means of the 

 microtome. The mouth-passage is then easily seen from the presence of 

 the dye. Mr. Cheshire then made some extended remarks on his various 

 observations upon the minute structure and anatomy of the honey-bee, 

 stating that many of his results differed much from the generally received 

 authoritative statements. With regard to the tongue of the honey-bee, 

 many authrities regarded it as a tube through its entire length, others as 

 a gutter or trough, while in reality it is a trough on tbe upper side at the 

 apex and a tube for the rest of its length ; the structure of the extreme 

 apex (Reaumur's " bouton "), — about which there existed so much difference 

 of opinion, — was easily made out by the use of the means Mr. Cheshire 

 recommended. 



Papers read. 



Mr. H. W. Bates read the " Supplement to the Geodephagous Coleoptera 

 of Japan, chiefly from the collection of Mr. George Lewis, made during his 

 second visit from February, 1880, to September, 1881." 118 new species 

 had been discovered by Mr. Lewis, but, with those discovered by other 

 collectors, 159 were added to those noticed in Mr. Bates's paper published 

 in the 'Transactions' for 1873, viz., 214, three of which are synonyms. 

 General and special remarks on the geographical distribution and local 

 variation of the various species are included in the paper, Mr. Bates 

 remarking that " the prevailing character of the Japanese fauna in the great 

 section of the Coleoptera to which this paper refers is Palsearctic or North 

 Temperate, but the presence of many tropical genera and species is of great 

 interest." In reply to Prof. Westwood, Mr. Bates said he had included but 

 one new species of Damaster (D. capito, Lewis), which was very distinct. 



Mr. R. Trimen communicated " Descriptions of twelve new species of 

 South-African Lepidoptera Rhopalocera." These comprised one of the 

 NyinphalidcB, six Lycanidai, two Papilionida, and three Hesperiida. 



