Mr. H. W. Bates dn the Longicorns of the Amazon Valley. 43 



found in its bulb differ from rapbides ; and endless confusion 

 will continue unless we restrict this term, as proposed in the 

 * Annals ' for September last. The distinctive characters also of 

 the larger crystal prisms, which sometimes, as in Yucca, occur 

 in the same leaf with regular raphides, should not be over- 

 looked. 



Dioscoreacecs. — In the fleshy root of Dioscorea Batatas (the 

 only part of this plant which I have yet examined) raphides are 

 very abundant. We have before seen how truly Tamus com- 

 munis is a raphidiferous plant. It is a very good example of the 

 constancy of this character, as I have found from many observa- 

 tions, under widely different circumstances, of the stem, leaves, 

 perianth, stamens, and berry. Recently I have examined its 

 yam-like root and young subterranean stem-shoots, and found 

 them all equally rich in raphides. So large and distinct are they 

 in the root, and contrast so remarkably with the starch-granules 

 of which it is chiefly made up, that a more beautiful microscopic 

 object of the kind could not easily be found. 



Bromeliacece. — Raphides plentiful in the fruit and crown- 

 leaves of the pine-apple {Ananassa sativa). 



Musacece. — In the outer part of the rind of the Banana-fruit 

 {Musa paradisiacal) raphides are numerous, but not so in the 

 pulp. 



Edenbridge, Dec. 2, 1863. 



[To be continued.] 



VI. — Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley. 

 CoLEOPTERA : LoNGicoRNEs. By H. W. Bates, Esq. 



[Continued from vol. xii. p. 381 .] 



Genus Baryssinus, nov. gen. 



Body oblong, convex. Antennae stout, furnished sparingly 

 with setae beneath. Thorax somewhat short and broad, widening 

 from the front to the tips of the lateral spines, which are very 

 thick, and placed near to the hind angles. Elytra furnished with 

 centro-basal tubercles, surmounted each by a pencil of hairs; the 

 rest of their surface naked ; apices scarcely perceptibly truncated. 

 Apical abdominal segments in the male short and obtuse, in the 

 female slightly prolonged, so as to form a short sheath for the 

 ovipositor, the dorsal plate being flattened and obtuse, the ven- 

 tral bluntly truncated. Mesosternum depressed, not tubercu- 

 lated. Legs stout ; thighs clavate ; basal joint of the tarsi short, 

 not surpassing in length the second and third taken together. 



This genus, which comprises a few small species resembling 



