11 



this Society, in which he had stated that a species received tVom Natal 

 [S. crudelis) had been bred from a cocoon resembling that of Limacodes, 

 found on a tree of the genus Mimosa. The letter referred the President to 

 a paper by Benj. D. Walsh in the 'Proceedings of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History ' (vol. ix., p. 300, 1864), in whicli he relates that he had 

 bred a dipteron from a cocoon of Limacodes hyalinus. This dipteron, vs^hich 

 he had communicated to Baron Osten-Sacken, proved to be the common 

 North-American Systropus [8. macer, Loew), and was a remarkable instance 

 of community of habit among insects of the same genus in far distant 

 regions. 



The President had also been informed by M. Ernest Olivier, of Moulin, 

 who had recently visited Pompeii, that he had observed large numbers of 

 Bomhylii flying in company with a bee of which he had forwarded a speci- 

 men, but this proved to be an AnthojyJwra (probably A. nigrocincta), and 

 not an Andrena, like those described in his paper in the last part of the 

 ' Transactions' (" Notse Dipterologicse," No. Ij. 



Mr, M'Lachlan exhibited a case of a Lepidopterous larva sent by Dr. Kirk 

 from Zanzibar, who had found it on a species of Mimosa. He considered 

 it to be allied, probably, to Psyche and Oiketicus, and was remarkable on 

 account of its form, which bore a striking resemblance to that of a flattened 

 Helix. It appeared to be constructed of a substance resembling iiapier 

 maclie, with a smooth whitish external coating. 



Mr. C. 0. Waterhouse exhibited varieties of British Lepidoptera, viz., 

 Chrysophanus 2M<xas, Polyommatus Adonis, P. Alexis and Agrotis ex- 

 clamationis. 



Dr. F. Buchanan White forwarded to the Society the following account 

 of a case of " Pruritus from an Unusual Cause," by Dr. Tilbury Fox, 

 extracted from the ' Medical Examiner' of Silst December, 1876 :— 



" At the end of July, 1876, a gentleman resident in the Eastei-n Counties 

 noticed on the eyelid of his infant a small red speck, which on examination 

 with a hand-microscope proved to be a living parasite, partially imbedded 

 in the skin. Several days subsequently his wife was greatly annoyed by 

 pruritus, and her neck and chest were found studded here and there with 

 these little red specks, which at first sight were thought to be " petechise," 

 but turned out to be insects. They could be readily extracted with a pin. 

 In the attempt to discover the source whence the parasites came, a pet pug 

 dog was examined, and then collections of these parasites on the nose and 

 between the eyes — where, in fact, the hair was least thick — were discovered. 

 During August the little red visitors caused excessive annoyance to the 

 servants and everyone in the house, defying all remedial measures, though 

 some members of the household were very much less affected than others. 

 Remove them as you would, the next day a fresh supply appeared, and the 



