﻿plant-eating larvae the ejected excrement falls to the ground, 

 but not so with the larvae of the Tortoise Beetles ; at the end 

 of the tail it has a sort of forked appendage which Kirby 

 calls a fcBcifiirk. On this they place the excrementitious 

 matter, which is then turned over the body, sometimes lying 

 flat on the back ; at others it forms an acute, sometimes 

 a blunt, angle with the body, or it may be unbent and in 

 the same direction with it, it soon becomes dry, and is 

 r.tpidly pushed forward by fresh excrement. In this way a 

 kind of shield is formed, which completely covers the body, 

 and so disguises its appearance that it requires a very 

 practised eye to recognize it. As soon as this covering 

 becomes too heavy and unwieldy, the creature throws it off, 

 and another is soon formed in its place. There are amongst 

 the exotic family of Cassididae very many remarkable and 

 curious forms of elytra, as also a great variety of metallic 

 colouring; such as Mesomphalia illustris, M. f estiva and 

 dissecta, Baionia bidens, Ahiriims marginatiis and thoracicus, 

 Coptocycla annularis and balyi, Dolichotonia cznea, Selene 

 venosa, S. spinifex, and many others." 



Mr. Jenner Weir exhibited a bloom of Narcissus cycla- 

 ininins produced by a bulb collected in Spain, and remarked 

 that it was interesting because this species had been described 

 by Parkinson in his '^ Paradisus terrestris^' in 1629, since 

 which time it had been almost lost sight of, until Mr. Tait 

 rediscovered it in Portugal, from which country Mr. Weir 

 had also received it and bloomed it. 



Mr, T, R. Billups stated that an unusually large number of 

 the Hawfinch (Coccothraitstes vulgaris, Pallas) had been 

 recorded as occurring in the Forest of Dean. 



Mr. Tutt remarked that after collecting for some years in 

 tiie vicinity of London, he had come to the conclusion that 

 there were as many forms of melanism to be obtained there 

 as in any other part of the country ; he had taken Mamestra 

 abjecta, Hb,, at Greenwich, several of which were perfectly 

 black ; Agrotis nigricans, L., were very much darker than 

 those obtained on the coast ; Miana strigilis, Clerck, P.olia 

 X .^M, L., and Acronycta aceris, L., were additional examples 

 that he could call to mind at the moment. He believed also 



