44 



hood of a pool some 200 feet higher up ; the specimens 

 obtained at the higher elevation were larger and brighter 

 than those from the moss. In both localities the var. carnus, 

 St., was in the proportion of about one in twelve. Of Acro- 

 nycta menyantJiidis, View., many larvae were obtained, but 

 only some half-a-dozen moths had emerged. A. megacepJiala, 

 Fb., were darker than the usual type. As a result of his 

 observations so far he should say that melanism was by no 

 means of common occurrence around Macclesfield. He had 

 taken one perfectly black female of Phigalia pedaria, Fb., 

 and had bred an example of Ainphidas,ys betiilaj-ia, y2S. double- 

 day aria, Mill.; each of these was the only specimen of the 

 species he had seen in the district. Most of the Apaniea 

 didyma, Esp., he had seen were of the unicolorous grey- 

 brown form, only one was black, but there were several of 

 the ophzogra?jinia-Y\ke form. 



Mr. A. E. Hall exhibited a specimen of Argynnis adippe, 

 L., referable to var. cleodoxa, Och. ; a pale female of 

 Hepialus hiumili, L. ; and a striking variety of Triphana 

 comes, Hb., having the usually dark markings, especially the 

 two transverse zigzsig lines, of an intense black. 



Mr. H. Moore exhibited a specimen of Epinephele ianira, 

 L., with a considerable increase of the fulvous area similar 

 to the South European form ; also an Orthopteron from 

 South Africa of the genus Petasia ; and a quantity of the 

 black or Spanish moss {Tillandsia usneoides). The latter 

 belonged to the order Bromeliaceae, from St. Augustine, 

 Florida, U.S.A. It was an epiphyte, and when stripped of 

 its cuticle was often called vegetable horsehair. No doubt 

 it could be propagated in an orchid house with sufficient 

 heat and humidity. 



Mr. Frohawk exhibited a long series of undersides of 

 Epinephele hyperantJms, L., showing the extremes of varia- 

 tion, with all intermediate gradations from the var. arete, 

 Mull., to the finest form of the var. lanceolata, of which seven 

 specimens were shown. The variation of the ground-colour 

 was also very great. The majority of the specimens were 

 bred from New Forest parents. 



Mr. Step exhibited a specimen of the squat lobster (Gala- 

 thea squamifera) from Portscatho, which lived under stones 

 and was very pugnacious ; a photograph of the large spider 

 crab {Maia squinado), which was remarkable for covering its 

 carapace with all kinds of marine plants and animals, such 

 as sponges, corallines, anemones, zoophytes, seaweed, Ser- 

 pulas, acorns, &c., as a means of protection ; also a sketch of 



