THE mSECTARIUM AT THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 293 



which she sat steadily for about six weeks, in exactly the same manner 

 as in the two instances mentioned above. At the termination of that 

 period, as the eggs were decomposing and obviously bad, they were 

 removed; some at least were fertilized, an embryo about 11 1 inches long 

 having been extracted from one. 



With the kind aid of Mr. Zambra, of the well-known firm of Negretti 

 and Zambra, who not only had special thermometers of the most approved 

 kind constructed for this occasion, but also regularly attended himself to 

 help in the observations, a series of observations, about two hundred in 

 number, were taken at regular intervals of 48 or 72 hours, to ascertain 

 the temperature of the sitting female, as compared with that of the non- 

 incubating male, kept next door under nearly identical conditions of tem- 

 perature and moisture. The result of these shows that, whereas the tem- 

 perature of the male, whether taken on the surface or between the folds of 

 the coiled-up body, varied very much as the temperature of the air in the 

 cage, the curves falling or rising with it, that of the female, taken in the 

 same way, was much more constant, particularly of the body between the 

 folds. Not only so, but the average temperature of the female was much 

 higher, the temperature of the two sexes being respectively 86*7 F. and 

 89-75 F. between the folds, and on the surface 82-5 F. and 84-4 F., 

 giving differences of 3-05 and 1 0< 9 in favour of the female. In no case 

 did the temperature of the male, taken between the folds, exceed that of 

 the female ; and in most cases there was a marked excess in that of 

 the female, the average in one set of observations being as much as 7*6. 

 In no case was any such difference as 20-0, like that recorded by 

 Sclater, found. The highest temperature observed in the female was 92 0> 8 ; 

 the highest observed by Valenciennes was 106'7, or 14'0 higher. The 

 greatest difference between the surface of the snake and that of the air 

 in the cage observed was 9'6 F. 



No such decline in temperature from the commencement to the end of 

 incubation as was observed by Valenciennes could be made out in the 

 present case. The maxima were attained when the temperature of the 

 surrounding air was also at its highest, the range of the between-folds 

 temperature being 6 (855 to 91-5). 



49. THE INSECTARIUM AT THE ZOOLOGICAL 



Ent.M.M.xviii. 



GARDENS.* P. 15(1881). 



WITHIN the last few weeks a new house in the Zoological Society's 

 Gardens has been opened, which promises to be of great interest to the 



* Ent. Month. Mag. xviii. pp. 15, 16 (1881). 



