Oeological Society. 79 



orcUurds, and greenhouses, but within I lie lust few years have boi'ii 

 coniiiarutivi'ly ucf^lectrd by eutoinologi.sts ; ami bctoro the ajipearance 

 (tf the jjreseut work almost the only recent information relating to 

 the British species was to bo found in papers by Mr. J. W. Douglas 

 and Mr. K. Newsleud in successive volumes of the ' Knlomologi^t's 

 Monthly ^Magazine.' In the exhaustive and beautifully illustrated 

 volumes before us Mr. Nowstead deals with eighty-eight British 

 species and four varieties. Many of these arc doubtless introduced, 

 for Coccida) are very liable to be carried from one country to 

 another with ])lants, to which the gravid apterous females firmly 

 attach themselves, covering their eggs with their own dead bodies, 

 whereas tlie males arc very delicately formed and fragile winged 

 insects. 



Outside Europe the Coccid;c have been more especially studied in 

 North America, Ceylon, and New Zealand; and very recently 

 ^Irs. Maria E. Fernald, A.^I., has published a Catalogue of tlu; 

 Coccidaj of the "World, as liuUttin no. 8 of the Hatch Exi)eriment 

 Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, in which she 

 enumerates 1514 species. There can be no question but that the 

 existing number of species is very much larger — how much larger it 

 would be futile even to hazard a guess at present. 



i[r. Xewstead's first volume includes a good deal of introductory 

 matter, under such headings as life-history and metamorphoses ; 

 natural products; migration, distribution, acclimatization, ifcc; natural 

 enemies ; collecting and preserving, methods of prevention and 

 remedies; insecticides, &c. ; and the monograph of the subfamily 

 Diaspina;. The second volume contains the monographs of tho 

 subfamilies Conchaspina?, Lecaniina?, Hemicocciuic, Daclyl<)i)iina?, 

 Coccina?, Ortheziimo, and Monoj)lilebiua>, four other sul)families 

 (the Tachardiinte, Idiococcinui, lirachyscelina), and Margarodiuae) 

 being at present unrepresented in the IBritish Isles. 



ilany Coccid^o exude a largo amountof waxy matter, often taking 

 the form of regular lamina', as may be seen very conspicuously on 

 the last two plates of Mr. Newstead's book. 



All Coccidtc are not injurious, and several foreign species yield 

 valuable products, such as cochineal, wax, and lac; while others 

 yield honey-dew, and some species are domesticated by ants. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 

 GEOLOGICAL sociiyrv. 

 Ai)ril L'Tth, lUOl.— J. E. Marr, Sc.D., F.R.S., 

 Fresident, in the Chair. 



The following communication was read : — 



• On a New Species of /'Jnscorpius from the Upper Carboniferous 

 Rocks of Lancashire.' Ry Walter Raldwin, Esq., F.G.S., and William 

 Henry Sufclifle, Esq., F.C.S. 



The specimen described was found in an ironstone-nodule occurring 



