916 ON REGENEBATIOX OF THE LEGS IN THE BLATTID.£. [NoV. 30, 



cuticle remains adhering to the hinder end of the abdomen for 

 more than a day after. Coloration of the new cuticle commences 

 as blotches on the dorsal surface and extends gradually to the 

 outlying parts, the extremities of the limbs becoming completely 

 coloured by the end of the third day after ecdysis. The animal 

 remains unusually still during this period and eats very little, 

 apparently not at all during the first day. 



Loss of Appendages during Ecdysis. — -Five cases were observed 

 in which normal, and apparently uninjured, tarsi were broken ofE 

 during ecdysis. This may result from a struggle to free the leg 

 during its sliding away from inside the old cuticle. As already 

 pointed out, the region where a break in the leg occurs most easily 

 is the suture between the femur and trochanter, so that these 

 occurrences of a break at a normally stronger point may perhaps be 

 accepted as an indirect argument that there is a certain degree of 

 autotomy in the usual rupture between femur and trochanter. 



Note on the Numerical Proportion of the Sexes. 



Among the whole number of adult specimens collected for the 

 purposes of the present enquiry, the actual and percentage distri- 

 bution of the sexes were : — 



As the habits of the two sexes are similar, the above is probably 

 a fairly accurate indication of their usual numerical projjortion, 

 except possibly in the case of Phyllodromia germanica. 



In a future communication I hope to give an account of the 

 structure of the reproduced leg with special reference to the four- 

 jointed tarsus, and also of certain cases in which apparently 

 reproduced tarsi were found to be in a three-jointed condition. 



