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SCIENCE 



[Vol. XX. No. 506 



then be named. Let Jonesia then be found to be the same genus 

 as Smithia. Then the name Jonesia "lapses into synonymy" 

 and cannot be thereafter applied to any other genus in botany. 

 That is all that is m^ant by the saying " once a synonym, always a 

 synonym." In other words, if Jonesia is not good for what it 

 originally meant, it is good for nothing; it is to be deleted abso- 

 lutely, and cannot come into re-existenoe by transfer to any other 

 genus. 



Exactly the same principle holds for all specific names within 

 their respective genera. Example: Let there be a iJosa S'm'Ww. 

 Let some one then name a Rosa Jonesi. Let R Jonesi be con- 

 sidered to be the same species as J{. Smithi. Then there can never 

 be a R. Jonesi ; that is to say, no other species of Rosa can be 

 specified as Jonesi. But, of course, if anyone discovers, after this 

 reduction of Jonesi to a synonym of Smithi, that what had been 

 called R. Jonesi is a good species, then Jonesi revives as the name 

 of that species; and the fact that it had been (erroneously) re- 

 garded as a synonym of Smithi is no bar to its use in its original 

 sense. 



So the expression, "once a synonym, always a synonym," is 

 seen to hold perfectly good in its proper acceptation The fact 

 that a certain name has ever been wrongly regarded as a synonym 

 does not make it a synonym; for it ceases to be such the moment 

 the mistake is detected and corrected, and therefore is not amen- 

 able to the rule at all. 



I think that, on this reconsideration of the subject, Mr. Town- 

 send may be himself the first to affirm the validity of the now 

 famous maxim, and I am sure that, if he does so, he will find it 

 works well. Elliott Codes. 



Smithsonian Institution, Washington, Oct. 10. 



Crayfish Attacked by Leeches. 



While walking on the beach at Lake Chautauqua one day, re- 

 cently, I observed a crayfish about four inches in length lying just 

 at the edge of the water, where it had apparently been thrown up 

 by the waves. 



On picking it up, I found that it had moulted but a short time 

 previously, and that its new shell was still quite soft. As I lifted 

 the animal, I was surprised to see five large leeches, the smallest 

 of which in its semi-contracted position extended nearly three 

 inches, hanging from the body, and upon a closer investigation 

 observed that all five were attached to a single portion — the left 

 chela. The part which had been attacked by the leeches was the 

 area of attachment of the adductor muscle; and, if the work had 

 not been interrupted by my examination, it would have resulted 

 in the complete crippling of the pinching apparatus of that side. 

 Other and seemingly less protected portions of the body were un- 

 injured. 



It would be interesting to ascertain whether the point of attack 

 in this case was accidental or determined by intelligence, but the 

 appearance was that the leeches, appreciating that their prey was 

 just at this time incapable of protecting itself, had deliberately 

 attacked the animal in such a way as to prevent it from protect- 

 ing itself in case its shell should sufficiently harden before they 

 had succeeded in killing it. The right chela had one slight perfo- 

 ration in it, in the same location, and it is possible that a leech 

 had begun there also, but dropped off unnoticed when the crayfish 

 was raised from the ground. I should be glad to learn of any 

 other observations on the way in which leeches attack their prey. 



H. T. Fersau). 



state College, Centre County, Pa., Sept. 27. 



A Wasp Study. 

 Near my summer home we have large numbers of the small 

 solitary wasp {Eunienes smithii). The mother- wasp digs a pas- 

 sage and cell, usually in the open sandy pathway: our path- 

 ways show hundreds of these wasp-holes, about one-half an inch 

 in diameter, while the work is going on and before the cells are 

 closed. The egg having been laid, the mother-wasp provides a 

 caterpillar or two, which she leaves in the nest in a state of coma 

 or paralysis; this coma lasts until the young wasp is hatched, 

 when it finds fresh living food ready for it. 



About the time when the Eumenidas are busy with home-build- 

 ing and egg-laying, we usually have on our wild cherry-trees and 

 young poplars large numbers of the nests of small caterpillars. 

 This year I noticed a remarkable absence of caterpillars ; scarcely 

 a web-nest was to be seen. It did not occur to me to wonder 

 what food Madame Eumenes would provide for her babes in this- 

 famine of caterpillars, until one day I was treated to a curious 

 spectacle. I saw a slender blue-black wasp about an inch long^ 

 carrying off a large gray grasshopper. The grasshopper was fully 

 two inches long, large and heavy in proportion to its length, a 

 handsome insect of a greenish-gray, with some pale yellow touches 

 and markings. 



The wasp lay upon the caterpillar, its thorax upon the thorax 

 of the caterpillar, and its sharp-pointed black head resting exactly 

 between the large, full eyes of the captive. The small fore legs 

 of the wasp clasped the upper part of the caterpillar's thorax; the 

 wasp's tliird pair of legs lay along the thighs of the large hind- 

 legs of the grasshopper. Clasping its prize firmly with its first 

 and second pairs of legs the Eumenes flew, carrying the grass- 

 hopper. Each flight was short, not over from five to ten yards; 

 then the wasp settled, and before flying again made some little 

 progress between walking and flying, dragging the grasshopper 

 beneath it in the position just described. The course of the wasp 

 was in a direct line. It followed the path for a time, but where 

 the path curved or deflected the wasp moved directly over bushes, 

 stubble, and long grass. 



Meanwhile, the grasshopper was absolutely quiescent, and h^d 

 . I not known the wasp's penchant for living prey, I should have 

 believed it to be dead. I followed captor and prisoner for some 

 fifty yards, and then seized them both. The wasp clung t ) her 

 prey, and seemed so absorbed in that as to be heedless of capture. 

 I took the two home in my hand, holding by the body of the 

 grasshopper, put them on a plate under a goblet, and proceeded 

 to examine the case. 



The wasp was not biting or stinging the grasshopper, but merely 

 held it firmly clasped, the rigidity of the heads of both insects 

 being very noticeable. The extremity of the abdomen of the wasp 

 trembled slightly; the eyes of the grasshopper had a very peculiar, 

 dull, unseeing expression, like those of a person in a state of 

 coma; occasionally the grasshopper's large thighs quivered, und 

 constantly there was a slow expansion and contraction of the 

 abdominal rings. Finally I forcibly removed the wasp from the 

 back of the grasshopper, and placed the latter on the fioor in a 

 draught of air. In a moment or two it seemed to recover itself 

 slightly, stretched all its legs, and gave a feeble hop. I then set 

 the wasp free within a foot of the grasshopper, and seeming to 

 recognize its booty, it dashed upon it, and took the same position 

 as before. There was no biting of the head of the grasshopper. 

 I watched both closely. After this second capture the grasshop- 

 per rapidly succumbed : its first pair of legs curled up closely ; the 

 second pair folded together into a kneeling posture; the hind-legs 

 were extended, quivered no longer, and the abdominal expansion 

 and contraction were feebler and slower. 



At the end of twenty minutes I removed the wasp, carried her 

 to the other side of the house and set her free. She departed as if 

 reluctantly "enforced to go and seeming still unready," evidently 

 all her mental powers, whatever they might be, were concentrated 

 upon that grasshopper. I returned to the grasshopper, and found 

 it giving no signs of life except the abdominal motion. I then 

 sprinkled it thoroughly with ice-water. It recovered a. little, 

 moved its thighs several times, but the contraction of the first 

 and second pairs of legs, and the motionless, stiffened state of the 

 antennae, were very marked. In whatever position I put the in- 

 sect there it remained, on back or side, or propped up on its bent,, 

 "kneeling" fore-legs. The slight reviving produced by air, 

 water, and freedom from its enemy did not last. The grasshop- 

 per grew more rigid and the ring expansion less and less marked. 

 I desired to keep the creature to discover how long it remained 

 uncorrupted in this state, but a sharp gust of wind blew it from! 

 my hand into grasses where I could not recover it. 



The manner of the carrying of the grasshopper by the wasp, 

 the strength exhibited by the wasp, its absorption in its prize, the 

 peculiar resting of its head motionless upon the upper portion of 



