60 BLUEFIELDS. 



a sliilling each. The animal of Cassis cannot be 

 extracted in the ordinary way, owing to the narrow- 

 ness of the aperture ; the shell must therefore be 

 buried in the earth for a few weeks, after which the 

 flesh may be shaken out, carrying with it the long 

 horny operculum. 



In Helmet-shells buried for this purpose I found a 

 hrachelytrous beetle which enjoys a very wide geo- 

 graphical range. It is Staphylinus [Creophilus^ vil- 

 losics, which is so abundant in Newfoundland, as to 

 be quite a pest, crawling about and devouring the 

 drying codfish ; it is there called the fish-fly. In 

 Canada, and in Alabama (U. S.), I have also met 

 with it, but rarely ; and now I trace it to Jamaica. 

 The hrachelytra, however, are very scarce here, as 

 are the carrion-eating beetles generally ; their place 

 is probably supplied by the Aura vulture. I only 

 on one other occasion met with this fetid and dis- 

 gusting beetle. 



LUNAR RAINBOW. 



Jan. 22d. — This evening I had the pleasure of 

 seeing, for the first time, that rare meteor, a lunar 

 rainbow. The arch was large and perfect ; the 

 southern limb was distinctly coloured, the northern 

 just perceptibly ; the middle portion was destitute of 

 colour, displaying only white light. 



THE LEAF OF LIFE. 



About a hundred yards from Bluefields-gate there 

 grows by the roadside a considerable bed of Verea 



