pre wipe, Re al 
ea ria Ee — gee ee en ye R Bere 
peels Fae ey ee a oe BT ae im ae eee 
i 5 : F pas Tie > : by o ean 
Mae fee ee 
ea : ‘= F = 
Sir Philip Egerton on the Tail of Diplopterus, 53 
usually longer, but sometimes a little shorter than the third : the 
mouth is yellow with a black tip: the nectaries are black, and 
nearly one-fourth of the length of the body : the legs are black ; 
the fore-thighs from the base to the middle, the other thighs at 
the base, and the shanks excepting their tips, are yellow: the 
wing-ribs are yellow ; the wing-brands are pale brown ; the veins 
are brown. 
lst var. The abdomen is dark yellowish green; there is a 
row of short black bands along its back and a row of black spots 
on each side: the mouth is black, but yellow towards the base : 
the legs are black ; the thighs are pale yellow at the base; the 
shanks excepting their tips are dark yellow. 
. The front is slightly convex: the feelers are seated on short 
stalks ; the first joint is longer and more slender than the base 
which supports it ; the second is shorter and much narrower than 
the first ; the third is a little more slender than the second; the 
fourth is much shorter than the third; the fifth is shorter than 
the fourth; the sixth is about half the length of the fifth ; the 
seventh is nearly as long as the third: the nectaries are spindle- 
_ shaped : the tip of the abdomen is compressed, and rather more 
than half the length of the nectaries: the fore-legs are much 
shorter than the hind-legs, whose shanks are slightly curved: the 
length of the furcations of the third vein is variable. 
Variation in the wing-veins. The lower branch of the first fork 
of the third vein is wanting. | 
[To be continued. ] 
IX.— Observations on Mr. M‘Coy’s description of the Tail of 
Diplopterus*. By Sir Puiire pe Matpas Grey Eerrton, 
_ Bart. 
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 
GENTLEMEN, 
I venrurRep to trespass on your columns in September last, to 
direct attention to what I considered an unfairness on the part 
of Mr. M‘Coy towards my absent friend Professor Agassiz. In 
his reply to my observations Mr. M‘Coy distinctly acknowledges 
the priority of Agassiz’s observations, and allows that the know- 
ledge of them “added considerably to the certainty which he 
felt of the correctness of the view he had put forward.” The 
courtesy usually observed between investigators in a common 
field would have required this avowal to have been made in the 
first instance. Though tardy it is nevertheless complete. I re- 
* Ann, and Mag. of Nat. Hist. Nov. 1848, p. 303. 
