Dinhur Castle, its Gardens and Gardeners. 



413 



Kirby and Spence state that, when in Jlower, the footstalks of 

 the blossom are occasionally eaten through by the Z^ermestes 

 (Byturus) tonientosus, which they once saw prove fatal to a 

 Avhole crop. They also add, " that bees frequently anticipate 

 us, and, by sucking the fruit with their proboscises, spoil it for 

 the table." A more nauseous annoyance is, however, sometimes 

 produced by some of the winged bugs (chiefly species of Capsus), 

 which protrude their rostrums into the fruit, leaving behind a 

 taste very much like the smell of the bed-bug. 



The following are the systematic details of the species in 

 question : — 



Order, Coleoptera (or beetles). 



Section, Pentamera (with 5-jointed tarsi). 



Family, Nitidulidae. 



Genus, Byturus Latreille (ZJermestes Fabr.) 



Species, Byturus toraentosus Fabr. 



Variety, ZJermestes fumatus Fabr. 



Synonyme, 61lpha testacea ? Linnceus. 



Length, about one sixth of an inch ; /^^ 

 body oval, densely clothed with lu- 

 teous, yellowish, brownish, or greyish 

 pubescence; the forehead depressed 

 and punctured; the eyes large and 



black ; the thorax punctured, as well The larva magnified, g The cocoon of 



^ ^i ^ earth, opened at one end. h. The pupa, 



as the elvtra ; the legs, antennae, seen on the under side, magnified. /.The 



, ^% iifvi 1 perfect insect (the lines show the natu- 



and mouth pale bumsh, or ochre- rai length), magnified. 



coloured ; the body beneath dark brown, with the extremity 



lighter-coloured. 



Hammersmith, Sept. 15. 1842. 



The Raspberry Beetle. 



Art. VI. Dinhur Castle, its Gardens, and its Gardeners. By Peter 



Mackenzie. 



(Continued from \i. 110.) 



When the night arrived on which Colin Forbes was to take his turn in 

 imparting useful information to his comrades, he told them that what he in- 

 tended to communicate might be thought by some to have little coimexion 

 with gardening, but he hoped, before he was done, he would be able to show 

 that the subject was worthy of a gardener's consideration. 



Hydrodynamics formed the science to which he intended to direct their 

 attention for a short time ; and he glanced in their order at the four principal 

 parts into which it is divided, viz. Hydrostatics, which explain the laws of 

 the equilibrium of such fluids as water; and Hydraulics, which explain the 

 laws of their motion ; Aerostatics, which treat of the laws of the equilibrium 

 of such fluids as air ; and Pneumatics, which treat of their motion. " Before 

 I proceed any further," said Colin, " t will inform you of the circumstance 

 which first turned my attention to the subject. In the first year of my ap- 

 prenticeship, whilst we were enlarging the pleasure-ground, part of the opera- 



3d Ser.— 1843. VHI. e e 



