Royal Institution. 213 



collecting and preserving specimens of the various sections of the 

 Animal Kingdom. The instructions given are most sensible, and we 

 think Mr. Davies has exercised a sound judgment in excluding all 

 descriptions of the mode of stuffing the Mammalia and Birds, as 

 this, which usually occupies a considerable space in similar manuals, 

 can scarcely be taught by any written instructions. We think, 

 however, that he should have found some means of indicating 

 this upon his title-page, — the setting-up of such specimens is un- 

 doubtedly one branch of "preparing" animals; and the country 

 naturalist who might buy this book in the hope of getting informa- 

 tion upon the subject, would feel justly aggrieved at finding no in- 

 structions in stuffing in its pages. 



In recommending the ' Practical Naturalist's Guide' to our readers, 

 we must not omit to notice one section of it, which, although occu- 

 pying only three or four pages, will render it a handy book even to 

 the experienced naturalist. We allude to the " Recipes " for arsenical 

 soaps, preservative fluids, &c., — details which are very liable to slip 

 out of the memory, whilst manuscript memoranda are frequently 

 mislaid. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



May 21, 1858.— The Duke of Northumberland, E.G., F.R.S., 

 President, in the Chair. 



"On the Phaenomena of Gemmation." By Thomas H. Huxley, 

 F.R.S., Fullerian Professor of Physiology, Royal Institution, and 

 Professor of Natural History, Government School of Mines, Jermyn 

 Street. 



The speaker commenced by stating that a learned French natu- 

 ralist, M. Duvau, proposed, many years ago, to term the middle of 

 the eighteenth century " I'e'poque des Pucerons," and that the im- 

 portance of the phaenomena which were at first brought to light by 

 the study of these remarkable insects renders the phrase " epoch of 

 Plant-lice," as applied to this period, far less whimsically inappro- 

 priate than it might at first sight seem to be. 



After a brief sketch of the mode of life of these Plant-Uce, or 

 Aphides, as they are technically termed, — of the structure of their 

 singular piercing and sucking mouths, and of their relation to 

 what are called " blights," the circumstances which have more par- 

 ticularly drawn the attention of naturalists to these insects were fully 

 detailed. 



It was between the years 1 740 and 1 750, in fact, that Bonnet, 

 acting upon the suggestions of the illustrious Reaumur, isolated an 

 Aphis immediately after its birth, and proved to demonstration, that 

 not only was it capable of spontaneously bringing forth numerous 



Ann. ^ May. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 15 



