428 Miscellaneous. 



exercise, to place an egg in it with the quickness of thought ! But 

 think you that this egg is merely laid in the usurped stigma 1 It must 

 he fixed there, glued by a gummy liquor ; and I have proved that a 

 sebific gland exists for this purpose in the oviduct of the Diptera. 

 "Without this precaution the egg would be exposed to displacement 

 during the constant action of the respiration of the beetle. 



But this is not all that takes place. When the parasitic larva has 

 completed its growth, it is called upon to undergo its metamorphosis 

 to a pupa. No delay is allowed it ; it detaches itself from the 

 borrowed stigma, — its skin breaks its organic adhesions ; its whiteness 

 and transparency pass to a bright, opaque orange. It is nothing but 

 a shell, the covering of a nymph, the swathed and mysterious image 

 of the future fly. 



I have said above that the living prison of the larva was without 

 air and without issue ; how then is the exit of these pupae effected ? 

 Alas ! this unnatural delivery costs the weevil its life. After its detach- 

 ment, the larva, no doubt obeying an instinctive mission, tears the 

 upper membranous coat of the apex of the beetle's abdomen. It fixes 

 itself in this breach and there completes its transformation into a 

 pupa. The maturity of this causes slight movements in the inclosed 

 nymph, at the same time that by its titillation it provokes the expul- 

 sive efforts of the weevil. At last the pupa comes to light ; it soon 

 splits and opens at its thoracic region, and the active Hyalomyia 

 darts into the air. — Comptes Rendus, 11 Aout, 1851. 



RARE IRISH MOLLUSCA. 



To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 



Shantalla, September 18th, 1851. 

 Gentlemen, — The following rare MoUuscawere recently obtained 

 by dredging round the South Isles of Aran, Galway Bay : — 



Neccra cuspidata ; in 60 fathoms, about twelve miles to the west- 

 ward of the Great S. Isle. 



Tellina balaustina ; two specimens alive with numerous single 

 valves, in 20 fathoms. South Sound of Aran, opposite the southern 

 point of the Middle Isle. 



Anomia striata ; depth uncertain. South Sound. 

 Nassa pygmcBa ; range 10 to 60 fathoms. 



Buccinum Humphrey sianum ; a single young specimen alive, in 

 60 fathoms, along with Neasra cuspidata, Natica sordida, &c. 

 I am. Gentlemen, your obedient servant, 



Alexander G. Melville. 



On the Umbrella JBzV J (Cephalopterus omatus), " Ueramimb6,'" L. G. 

 By Alfred R. Wallace. 



Having had the opportunity of observing this singular bird in its 

 native country, a few remarks on its characters and habits may not 

 perhaps be uninteresting, at a time when a consignment from me 

 will have arrived in England. 



