Insects. 9155 
sunshine, neither sex being found far distant from their food-plant. I once, however, 
captured one resting upon a window about twenty feet from the ground.—John R. S. 
Clifford, 
Cells of Bees and Wasps.—I have been very much interested in this controversy of 
the bees aud wasps, &c., cells, whether they are produced by pressure, or whether they 
are the natural result of instinct (so called) of the insects themselves. NowI must 
say, from what I have seen of the architecture of these insects, I must defend the 
theory brought forward by Mr. Smith,—that it is the result of instinct or rather reason, 
of which the former is only a modification of the latter. I have enclosed a sketch of 
a small nest, of, probably, Vespa norvegica in my possession: from the size of the 
cells in this it will be seen that the angularity extends to the outside, and even to the 
rudimentary cells, showing at once that it is not the result of pressure, for, taking the 
outside cells as a criterion, where they still have the hexagonal form without the 
lateral pressure, it argues very strongly against the pressure theory. In this nest 
the Nos. 1 and 2 appear to have been the first constructed cells, and they are sharply 
hexangular as near their whole length as it is possible to make them, and No. 1 
slightly projects above the level of the other cells; even here it is as angular as 
when subject to the so-called pressure. Again, where the cells of these insects are 
built up of small atoms, and added bit by bit as they are—similar, indeed, to masons 
building a house with bricks—see how the so-called pressure is exerted. 1 cau under- 
stand if a mass of plastic cells be placed side by side, and equal force be applied to 
the mass, that they would be forced into hexagonal cells ; but when cells are built 
up bit by bit, and seem in an unfinished state, others completed,— and these, all of 
them, on the same almost invariable hexagon,—I think the argument is strongly in 
favour of the instinct, reason theory.— Edward Parfitt ; June 2, 1864. 
Rose Scent of Cicindela campestris—At Pembury, about the latter end of May 
this year, I caught a large specimen of Cicindela campestris which emitted a very 
strong scent of roses. The insect was kept for several days alive in a bottle, but the 
odour did not diminish.—J. Jenner Weir ; 6, Haddo Villas, Blackheath, S.E., June 
3, 1864. 
Occurrence of the Otter at Kingsbury Reservoir.—On the 20th of May a fine otter 
was surprised in some long grass near this Reservoir, and was killed by a powerful dog, 
after a severe struggle. It weighed fourteen pounds, and is now in the hands of a 
birdstuffer fur preservation. An otter has not been seen here for more than fifteen 
years, and at so short a distance from London may well be considered a rarity.— 
J, Edmund Harting ; Kingsbury, Middlesex, May 22, 1864. 
[I have learned on the most reliable authority that three other otters have been 
killed in the same locality. I shall feel much obliged to my readers if they can give 
any reasonable explanation of the manner in which the otters reach this comparatively 
- isolated water—Edward Newman]. 
Bonnet of the Whale——Temminck’s ‘ Fauna Japonica’ is the only work in which 
after diligent search any mention of the whale’s bonnet has been found. It is there 
shown in two figures—lateral and dorsal views —of Balena australis, the “ right” 
whale of the Pacific, and is represented as a white oval prominence on the upper sur- 
face of the nose of the animal. This agrees with the description given of it by the 
