152 Miscellaneous, 



the fossil remains of the animals buried in the newer tertiary strata, 

 established the fact that in Europe and Asia, during the period ante- 

 cedent to any natural evidence of the existence of man, the same 

 peculiar forms of mammalia, which he had cited as now characteristic 

 of that tract of dry land, were distributed abundantly over that great 

 natural continent, from which England had not then become sepa- 

 rated. That in South America, instead of elephants, rhinoceroses, 

 oxen, deer, bears, hyaenas, &c., there were found, in the freshwater 

 deposits of the corresponding period, fossil remains of sloths, arma- 

 dillos, ant-eaters, many of them of larger size than the existing kinds, 

 and some, as the megatherium e. ff., gigantic. That in Australia the 

 bone-caves and newer tertiary deposits had already revealed fossil re- 

 mains of both existing and extinct "marsupial" animals, some also 

 of gigantic bulk, and all allied or belonging to the present peculiar 

 genera of that continent. But that no fossil relic of any genus or 

 species of quadruped known in the rest of the world had been found 

 in Australia. Lastly, in New Zealand, the strata contemporary with 

 those from which the fossil quadrupeds above mentioned had been 

 obtained, had not been found to contain the fossil remains of any 

 species of land quadruped, but abounded in the remains of the 

 wingless birds allied to the little Apteryx, now pecuhar to New Zea- 

 land, but of larger dimensions, and some towering to the extraordinary 

 height of eleven feet. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Notice of specimens of the Wheat Midge from Nova Scotia. 

 By J. W. Dawson. 



This destructive little creature has, within the last four or five years, 

 extended its ravages to Nova Scotia. It made its appearance first in 

 the western counties, and has gradually extended its limits eastward. 

 It is now found in every part of the province, and has, in some di- 

 stricts, caused an almost total abandonment of wheat culture. The 

 specimens accompanying this notice were reared from the larva state ; 

 and as I believe this has not often been attempted with success, I shall 

 shortly state the means by which they were obtained. 



When I first became acquainted with this insect^ I procured speci- 

 mens of the full-grown larvae and placed them in a phial, with the 

 view of observing their assumption of the perfect state in spring. 

 None of them however appeared, and I subsequently learned that 

 similar experiments had been tried without success ; the belief among 

 entomologists being, that the larva descends into the ground to com- 

 plete its changes. I could not however ascertain that this belief 

 had been confirmed by actual experiment or observation. 



To satisfy myself on this point, (obviously of importance in refer- 

 ence to the means which may be devised for destroying these animals,) 

 I obtained a fresh supply of the larvoe in that motionless and appa- 

 rently torpid state in which they are found in the ripe wheat in au- 

 tumn. In the month of November, a few dozens of these larvee were 



