340 Mr A. E. Shipley, On Lethrus cephalotes, dc. [Feb. 25, 
the Burmans have no recollection of its previous occurrence: this 
is possibly due to the fact that it has confined its ravages to the 
hills, and has not descended to the plains. The native name of 
the insect is Wetpo. 
The genus Chaetocnema belongs to the family Halticidae. 
This family includes a number of very minute beetles, and it 
is very homogeneous, the differences between the various species 
being very slight. A common feature of the group is the adapta- 
tion of the posterior pair of legs for leaping, a feature which, 
together with their minute size, has given rise to the common 
name Flea-beetle. One of the commonest English species is 
the Turnip-fly or Flea-beetle—Haltica nemorum. Much of the 
damage caused by these beetles is due to the larvae boring 
through the mesophyll of the leaves of the plant attacked, or 
else devouring all the soft tissue, leaving only the fibro-vascular 
bundles uneaten. 
Amongst the methods which have been successfully used in 
various parts of the world in dealing with the injurious members 
of the Halticidae the following may be mentioned :—() sprinkling 
the affected plants with any kind of finely divided matter, in- 
noxious to the plant, such as powdered lime, soot, road dust, 
ashes, sulphur, etc. This probably impedes the movements of the 
beetles by clogging their legs, and they always avoid plants which 
have been so treated; (11) sprinkling the plants with a solution 
of whale-oil soap, in the proportion of 2 lbs. of soap to 16 galls. 
of water, or with an extract of wormwood made by pouring a 
pailful of boilmg water over a handful of wormwood. ‘The latter 
bitter extract renders the plant distasteful to the beetles. 
As a rule the members of the Halticidae avoid damp places, 
and I understand the rice in the Taungyas is grown by the dry 
method of cultivation, which may account to some extent for the 
presence of the Chaetocnema basalis. 
Pror. CAYLEY, VICE-PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. 
(3) On. the Skeleton of Rhytina gigas lately acquired for the 
Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy; with some ac- 
count of the history and extinction of the anmal. By J. W. CLARK, 
M.A., President. 
THE author began by pointing out that while the living 
Sirenians all inhabit tropical or sub-tropical regions, the gigantic 
animal before them had been discovered by the German naturalist, 
George William Steller, on the island afterwards called Bering’s 
Island. 
This island lies off the coast of Kamtschatka, between the 50th 
