l893-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 49 



crop. The form of the head, of the jaws, and of the insect as a whole, 

 all point to one result only: that katydids, and not grasshoppers, do the 

 injury complained of on cranberry bogs. 



Now, all these facts in insect anatomy I believe the farmer ought to 

 know, or should at least have the opportunity of knowing. It forms part 

 of that body of knowledge which is necessary to be able to decide, 

 promptly and safely, which is the true injurious insect first, and how it 

 may be killed afterward. I believe very decidedly that beside a general 

 knowledge of the transformation of insects, the farmer needs quite a 

 definite knowledge of insect anatomy and physiology, and, so far as I am 

 able to do so, I propose to put such knowledge within reach, in New 

 Jersey at least. 



How A Bee Fights. — An observer writes in the Chicago Tribune, that 

 he is satisfied that there is just as much rivalry between humming birds 

 and bees in their quest for honey as there is between members of the 

 human race in their struggle for the good things of life, and describes a 

 recent quarrel that he saw in a Portland, Me., garden, where a humming 

 bird with an angry dash expressed its disapproval of the presence of a 

 big bumble-bee in the same tree. The usually pugnacious, bee inconti- 

 nently fled, but he did not leave the tree. He dashed back and forth 

 among the branches and white blossoms, the humming bird in close pur- 

 suit. Where will you find another pair that could dodge and dare equal 

 to these? They were like flashes of light, yet the pursuer followed the 

 track of the pursued, turning when the bee turned. In short, the bird 

 and the bee controlled the movements of their bodies more quickly and 

 more accurately than he could control the movements of his eyes. The 

 chase was all over in half the time that it has taken to tell it, but the ex- 

 citement of a pack of hounds after a fox was no greater. The bee es- 

 caped, the bird giving up the whole chase and alighting on a twig. It 

 couldn't have been chasing the bee for food, and there is no possible 

 explanation of its unprovoked attack, except that it wished to have all 

 the honey itself. 



Entomological Society of London, May 6, 1892. — The secretary 

 read a letter which Lord Walsingham had received from Sir Arthur Black- 

 wood, the secretary of the post-office, in answer to the memorial, which, 

 on behalf of the society, had been submitted to the Postmaster-General, 

 asking that small parcels containing scientific specimens might be sent to 

 places abroad at the reduced rate of postage applicable to packets of 

 bona Jide ira.d& patterns and samples. The letter intimated that, so far 

 as the English post-oflSce was concerned, scientific specimens sent by- 

 sample post to places abroad would not be stopped in future. [This is 

 not new, but will probably be useful for American entomologists to know, 

 especially those who exchange with correspondents in England.] 



