294 Miscellaneous. 



proximal extremities of the joints of the legs, which are pink-co- 

 loured. Two joints of the mandibles somewhat long and rather 

 powerful : the pincers are weak, slender, and almost linear. The 

 palpi are larger than the mandibles, five -jointed, slender, and the 

 first or proximal joint is about one-sixth the length of the second ; 

 the second rather longer than the third aiad clavate ; the fourth and 

 fifth equal, which last is ovate and slender. The rostrum is hardly 

 so long as the first joint of the mandibles, and is almost linear, ha- 

 ving a very slight dilatation about the middle. It is concealed alto- 

 gether on each side by the mandibles and palpi, and very slightly 

 superiorly by the mandibles alone. The first segment of the body is 

 much larger than any of the following, and is very much dilated an- 

 teriorly, for the attachment of the organs just described ; posteriorly 

 it is also dilated, and gives attachment on either side to the oviferous 

 legs, and dorsally to the occeliferous tubercle, which is erect and 

 truncated. The oviferous legs are very strong, and have the two 

 middle joints robust and short; the distal joints are hispid. The 

 ambulatory legs are long and slender ; the two tarsal joints of equal 

 length, claw strong. Span of the legs 6 inches. 



The above-described Nymphon is very similar in its characters to 

 Nymphon Johnstoni. The forms, however, of the mandibles, palpi and 

 oviferous legs are very different and sufficiently strong to justify the 

 formation of a new species. 



Taken in the sea at Embleton. — From the Proceedings of the Ber- 

 wickshire Naturalist's Club, vol. ii. No. xii. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE ORANGE-TREES IN THE AZORES. 



So complete have been the ravages of the Coccus of the orange- 

 trees, that one of the Azores, the island of Fayal, lost its entire pro- 

 duce from this cause alone. The usual exportation of fruit from Fayal 

 has been 12,000 chests annually, but in 1843 not a single chest 

 was exported. This injury has already extended to St. Michael's, and 

 is still continuing ; and the inhabitants of the whole of that group 

 of volcanic islands, depending almost entirely on the produce of their 

 orange-groves, and despairing of retrieving their prospects, are fast 

 turning their attention to the cultivation of other objects of com- 

 merce. This amount of injury to a whole population by a diminutive 

 and apparently contemptible insect has been the result of but three 

 years. The effects of this insect on a single article of luxury may 

 fairly be adduced to show that entomological inquiries are deserving 

 of full attention. The orange trade between this country and the 

 Azores gives employment to upwards of 200 sail of vessels ; and, as 

 I am credibly informed, the orange trade alone returns to the re- 

 venue of this country an import duty of more than £50,000 per year. 

 M'Culloch, in his ' Dictionary of Commerce ' (1844), has shown that 

 the amount of duty paid by the orange and lemon trade, on an 

 average of three years, ending with and including the year 1842, was 

 £70,833 per year. The number of boxes of fruit, imported for home 

 consumption, on which this duty was levied, amounted to 334,070, 



