366 Miscellanies. 



plates illustrative of his second part, and which have greatly inter- 

 ested and surprised us by the richness of the Entomological Fauna 

 they exhibit. These figures represent the Crustacea, Myriopoda, 

 Arachnida, and Aptera, examined by the author ; and it would ap- 

 pear that all the species found in amber are now extinct, and that but 

 a small number of the genera at present exist. Many new genera 

 have therefore been formed, and also one entirely new family. Of 

 the latter, the species Archaza paradoxa, figured in plate 2d, at once 

 arrests the attention by its singular structure and form. The 3d part 

 is also in preparation, and will include the Hemiptera, Orthoptera, 

 and Lepidoptera; the 4th will contain the Neuroptera, and Hymen- 

 optera ; the 5th, the very numerous division of the Diptera : and 

 the 6th and last will contain the equally rich section of the Coleop- 

 tera. — lb. 



38. Notice regarding the Stone used in constructing the Temples 

 at P<Estum — When at Pgestura, on the 3d of June, 1838, I observed 

 a fact regarding the travertine of which the splendid Grecian temples 

 there are constructed, which you may perhaps think worth inserting 

 in your Journal, and thus lead future travellers to inquire into the 

 cause of the phenomenon. We remarked, that the color of the three 

 temples was very different, although they are all built of the same 

 materials, (travertine or fresh-water limestone, containing imbedded 

 fresh-water shells ;) two of them being of a grey color, and the other, 

 that usually known as the " Temple of Neptune," of a rich yellowish 

 brown. On closer examination, I found that this diflference in the 

 color was caused by the two former being covered with a grey crus- 

 taceous lichen, from which the latter was perfectly free. I was for 

 some time unable to account for this, when it struck me, that it might 

 be caused by the stone containing some matter inimical to vegetation ; 

 and on applying a freshly broken piece to the tongue, I perceived a 

 distinctly saline taste. I brought away specimens of the stone from 

 the different temples, which I gave for examination to my friend Mr. 

 Kemp, who informs me, that after reducing portions of it to powder 

 and boiling it in distilled water, he found, in a portion taken from one 

 of the smaller temples, no saline matter in solution ; but in tliat from 

 the largest, or the " Temple of Neptune," a considerable quantity of 

 muriate of lime. This fact accounts at once for the absence of veg- 

 etation on that building. It would be interesting to ascertain whence 

 this salt was derived, -and I regret much that we had not time to ex- 

 amine the spot where are said to be the ancient quarries, about two 

 miles inland from the ruins, an inspection of which might clear up 

 this point. — Letter from W.C. Trevelyan, Esq. — Ih. 



