86 



The fourth and fifth pairs of legs are short, and attached so 

 far back that they appear to be on the upper surface. They 

 are prehensile, and the crab commonly uses them for the 

 purpose of attaching a mass of living sponge which it carries 

 about as a disguise. Another remarkable feature of this crab 

 is the position of the generative organs, the openings of the 

 vulvae being in the bases of the female's third pair of legs, 

 whilst the vasa deferentia of the male pass through the bases 

 of the fifth pair of legs and have tubular prolongations. 

 There are also peculiarities of the branchiae, and the entire 

 animal is invested by a coat of short fur. When at rest the 

 limbs are so disposed under the crab that it more closely 

 resembles a sponge or an algae-covered stone than a crus- 

 tacean. It is common in the Adriatic, but rarely taken in 

 British waters. Couch does not include it in his " Cornish 

 Fauna." It was first made known as British by Leach in 

 1824, from specimens obtained in Leadenhall Market. 



Mr. Step also exhibited photographs of bur parsley (Cau- 

 colis anthriscus), tufted vetch (Vicia cracca), wild carrot (Daucus 

 carota), scentless mayweed {Matricaria inodora), and of a nest 

 of the field vole (Microtus agrestis), with five young in it. 

 Respecting the last-mentioned he remarked that he had 

 found it in his garden at Ashtead, and the next day an 

 inspection of a portion of the adjoining meadow had resulted 

 in the finding of at least a score of nests, some of which were 

 empty. The nests were in slight hollows and domed, com- 

 posed of grass, the bed portion being very thick and soft, of 

 finely divided grass blades and moss, loosely felted. 



Mr. R. Adkin read a paper by Mr. Kirkaldy from the 

 Hawaiian Islands entitled " Random Notes on the Ento- 

 mology of the Lowlands of Oahu (Hawaiian Islands)" (see 

 page 17). 



AUGUST 24th, 1905. 



The President in the Chair. 



Mr. F. B. Carr exhibited a specimen ofTricena (A crony eta) 

 tridens ( ? ), from Clandon, and bred specimens of T. psi, 

 together with larvae of the former. 



Mr. Harrison exhibited a short series of Phorodesma 

 smaragdaria bred from larvae taken on the Essex coast. 



Mr. F. Noad Clark exhibited an example of the peculiar 

 growth in the branching of the nightshade (Solatium nigrum) , 

 known as extra-axillary, and pointed out that buds usually 



