346 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



INSECTS. 



Habits of the Mason Wasp. — Mr. Romanes, in his 'Animal Intelli- 

 gence,' states that the Mason Wasp builds its nest of clay aud attaches it 

 to the branch of a tree. I have watched three successive generations of 

 these wasps. All the nests (attached to a stone or brick wall) were made 

 of fine gravel or sand, taken from a path near the nest. The Wasp always 

 returned to the same spot for the material of her nest, even when she might 

 have saved herself some labour by choosing a nearer spot from which to 

 convey it. The original nest, built in 1880, is as strong as ever, and 

 needed very little repairing this year. There are several other nests, 

 colonies from the first one, and all are built of fine gravel or sand. — 

 C. Witchell (Stroud |. 



SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



Linnean Society of London. 



June 21, 1883.— Prof. P. M. Duncan, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the 

 chair. 



The following gentlemen were balloted for and elected Fellows of the 

 Society : — Messrs. Edmund J. Baillie, John Borland, Kenneth M'Kean, 

 Edward C. Milan, and Henry A. A. Nicholls. 



A paper " On the hard parts of the Fungidae," part 2, Laphoserina, 

 was read by Prof. Duncan. 



A communication was read from Mr. H. Gr. Doran, " On the Malleus of 

 Rhytina slelUri," based on a specimen obtained in the voyage of the ' Vega,' 

 and exhibited in the Swedish Department of the International Fisheries 

 Exhibition, under the cbarge of Prof. Smitt, of Stockholm. The author 

 concludes that this auditory ossicle in the extinct Northern Sea Cow 

 (Rhytina) is larger than in the Manatee (Manattu), and therefore it is the 

 largest and bulkiest malleus to be found in the whole section of the animal 

 kingdom where such a bone exists. In the character of its body it resembles 

 that of the Manatee, rather than that of the Dugong (H. alicore), while 

 in the manubrium it differs in Rhytina from the other Sirenia, and is 

 fur more generalized. 



" On the Testis of Limulis" formed a communication from Mr. W. B. S. 

 Benham. He describes the structures in question, noting the apparent 

 isolation of many of the spermatic sacs, and the probability that they 

 are not diverticula of the spermatic duct, but secondarily acquire connection 

 therewith, the two structures being independently developed. He remarks 

 that in no crustacean do the ducts of the generative glands form a net- 

 work, whereas in the King Crab, as in the Scorpion and other Arachuids, 

 they do. 



