232 TEAR-BOOK OF FACTS. 



without the occurrence of a single male specimen, thereby confirming 

 the observations previously made by M. Leon Dufour and others, 

 and proving that no active male exists in this tribe of insects. 



FERTILE WORKING BEES. 



Mr. Tegetmsir has exhibited to the Entomological Society a 

 portion of a bar-hive, containing Fertile Workers of the Common 

 Honey-Bee, which had been produced by placing combs containing 

 eggs and larvss of workers only, in a hive which had been some time 

 without a queen, and, consequently, contained no bread. No at- 

 tempt had been made by the bees to produce a new queen from the 

 workers' eggs ; but when the latter were reared, the bees produced 

 from them deposited eggs in the drone-cells only, from which drones 

 were produced, and exhibited alive to the meeting. Mr. Tegetmeir 

 observed, that Huber supposed these fertile workers were produced 

 by the larvae partaking of some of the food designed for the produc- 

 tion of a queen, which had been deposited in the cells adjacent to the 

 royal one. This supposition was, however, disproved in the present 

 instance, as the hive contained no royal cell. 



BOTANY. 



COLOURING MATTER OF LEAVES. 



M. Fremy has published an important investigation on the Green 

 Colouring Matter of Leaves : this he has found to consist of a blue 

 and yellow principle, which he has succeeded in isolating. 



The colouring matter is contained in the green oil which is ex- 

 tracted by alcohol from leaves. This oil may provisionally be termed 

 chlorophyll, but it contains several other substances which render 

 the separation of the colouring matter difficult. The blue aud yellow 

 colouring principle have a different affinity for hydrate of alumina. 

 When a strong alcoholic solution of chlorophyll was digested with 

 hydrate of alumina, no alteration took plafife ; but by adding a small 

 quantity of water, a dark-green, almost blue precipitate was ob- 

 tained, and the alcohol solution was of a yellow colour. When a 

 considerable quantity of water was added, the precipitate had a 

 colour like that of the ordinary colouring matter. Although this 

 experiment effected some separation of the two colouring matters, 

 the separation could not be carried further by its means. 



Fremy next tried the action of different neutral solvents on the 

 combination of alumina with the green colouring matter, lie found 

 that sonic, such as bisulphide of carbon, dissolved in preference the 



combination of yellow colouring matter and alumina ; others, such 

 as ether, alcohol, turpentine, dissolved out the green matter. By 

 employing successively these different solvents, after the use of bi- 

 sulphide of carbon, he succeeded in obtaining lakes of different 



shades, but was not able to carry the separation further. 



The usual reducing agents, which change other colours, do not 

 affect chlorophyll. But by the action of bases this body is converted 



