200 Miscellanies. 



than two inches in length, and emitted, particularly from between the seg- 

 ments, a brilliant light. It died before undergoing any transformation.* 



It was resolved that the Society prepare a catalogue (with specific char- 

 acters of the new species) of the Coleoptera of the United States for pub- 

 lication. 



At a meeting of the Society held in Baltimore, October 24th, conside- 

 rable progress in the preparation of the catalogue was reported. Dr. T. 

 W. Harris of Cambridge, Mass. was elected a corresponding member. 



2. Foot-Marlcs and other Artificial Impressions on Rocks : in a letter 

 from Prof. W. A. Adams to Prof. Silliman, dated Zanesville, Ohio, Aug. 

 6, 1842. — I was surprised to find in reading the 87th No. of the " Amer- 

 ican Journal of Science and Arts,"f that so many respectable authorities 

 could be found on the affirmative side of the question, whether the human 

 foot-prints found at St. Louis on the limestone rock are real impressions, 

 and not works of art. The reasoning of Dr. Owen appears to me to be 

 conclusive that they are artificial. 



I have it in my power to communicate some facts tending still farther 

 to illustrate this subject. In the spring of 1839, the high water in the 

 Muskingum River caused a breach in the embankment of the canal at 

 Zanesville. The embankment is constructed on the bank of the river, 

 and is composed of earth, gravel, and fragments of sandstone, heaped 

 upon similar rubbish placed there nearly forty years before, in erecting 

 a mill-race around the natural falls in the river, the whole resting upon a 

 sandstone rock, which constituted the bank of the stream. When this 



* I sent a description of this insect to a distinguished entomologist of Massa- 

 chusetts, and he will excuse me for here inserting his reply without leave, as his 

 observations on such subjects are justly considered valuable. — J. G, M. 



" The beautiful luminous insect mentioned in your letter, has puzzled me much. 

 The largest specimen that I have ever seen, measuring two inches and a half or 



more in length, was taken in Sutton, Mass., on the stump of a tree, by Dr. , 



who sent it to me in spirit, with an account of its splendid appearance when liv- 

 ing. Since then, I have had several specimens alive, some found crawling on the 

 grass in the evening, and others I have taken under stones. Abbot alludes to it 

 in the preface to his " Insects of Georgia," and has sent me a figure of the insect 

 with some remarks upon it. He supposes it to be mature ; and from the form and 

 structure of the mandibles, I thought it might be the female of Phengodcs plumosa. 

 All my specimens died without change, but perhaps if larva?, they were too young 

 and perished for want of their proper food. It cannot be the larva of an Elater, 

 and it differs very materially from the known larvaa of Lampyris and Telephorus, 

 two of which are mentioned in your letter. Were it not for the remarkable dif- 

 ference in the size of these luminous insects that have fallen under my own ob- 

 servation, I should think that they must be the wingless female of some species of 

 Lampyris or Phengodes. I hope that you will be able to clear up the history of 

 your insect." 



t Vol. xliii, p. 14 — Dr. Owen on human foot-prints in the limestone rock at St. 

 Louis, Missouri, q. v. 



