Mr. W. Kemp on the Vitality of Seeds. 89 



The c? is distinguished (from the ^ of R. auratus) by the 

 head being shorter, the eyes evidently more prominent, the 7'os- 

 trum distinctly longer and thinner, the anteimse inserted nearer 

 the middle of the rostrum, and the thorax shorter and having a 

 minute rudimcntal spine on both sides. The scutellum in both 

 sexes is distinctly smallei*, and has the margin less elevated. 



The ? has the rostrum distinctly longer and thinner (than the 

 ? of J?, auratus), the thorax shorter and more rounded at the 

 sides, the eyes more prominent, and the sculpture in both sexes 

 is deeper and coarser. 



c? ? in the cabinet of the British Museum and in that of 

 Mr. Stephens and Mr. Curtis : ? in my own collection. 



In the Linngean cabinet there is one example only of this 

 species, pinned through the name, and which is undoubtedly the 

 true Cwc. Bacchus of Linnseus. The c? ? in the cabinet of Mr. 

 Stephens he obtained with many others in the Marshamian col- 

 lection. 



Mr. Curtis had his ( (? ? ) from the British cabinet of the late 

 Mr. Francillon. 



The ? in my own possession was taken by Mr. Benjamin 

 Standish near Cracking Hill, Birch Wood, on the 24th of Sep- 

 tember 1843, off the oak underwood. Mr. Douglas, who was 

 there on the same day, saw the insect alive. 



At the first glance this species has certainly a great resemblance 

 to No. 16, R. auratus, but the specific characters which separate 

 the two are distinct and unequivocal : the blending of these two 

 species in our cabinets must be attributable to the want of a 

 proper examination. 



XI. — An account of some Seeds buried in a Sand-pit which 

 germinated. By Mr. William Kemp of Galashiels, in a Letter 

 to Charles Darwin, Esq. 



Having received early last spring some seeds, which were found 

 at the bottom of a sand-pit upwards of twenty-five feet in depth, 

 I most carefully examined into all the circumstances of their dis- 

 covery. They were first seen by a respectable workman of the 

 name of Thomas Welsh, who was excavating the finer sand at the 

 bottom of the pit, in a part which was rather undermined ; and 

 fortunately Mr. John Bell of Melrose, the proprietor of the place, 

 was looking on at the instant that they were disinterred. He 

 kindly sent by Welsh some of the seeds to me, and I immediately 

 returned with him, and in company with Mr. Bell carefully ex- 

 amined the layer in which they had been imbedded. The seeds were 

 apparently of only two kinds ; I sent specimens of them (through 



