14 



pletely known, nor a perfect acquaintance had with its 

 productions ; for he had to-day found the Painted Cup ( Cas- 

 lilleia coccinea) growing profusely in a neighboring mead- 

 ow, wlien he did not suspect its existence in the town. This 

 is a beautiful plant, making a notable feature in the land- 

 scape wherever it flourishes. 



Dr. R. H. Wheatland of Salem, mentioned that he had 

 been tolerably successful in securing specimens to-day, hav- 

 ing found four species of fishes, four of frogs, three of tur- 

 tles, and one of snakes ; and he proceeded to offer remarks 

 upon their structure, growth, and habits. The animals ©f 

 our own region are not less interesting than the rarest for- 

 eign species, though every country and climate has its pecu- 

 liar grade and style of animal life. He proceeded to illus- 

 trate the correspondence between animals and the situations 

 they are formed to inhabit, by some specimens of the cu- 

 rious " Blind Pish," so often heard of, from the Mammoth 

 Cave of Kentucky, and also a fresh water crab (^Astacus 

 fluviatilis^ from the same locality. These specimens were 

 brought from thence by Mr. B.C. Putnam of Wenham. 



The Chair gave some descriptive observations on a speci- 

 men of the " seventeen-year-locust " handed in by Mr. Felt. 

 These are said to do but little harm singly, but the immense 

 multitudes in which they often appear, commit great devas- 

 tation wherever their track happens to be. In the timely 

 destruction of such pests, lies the usefulness, too little ad- 

 mitted, of such birds as crows and robins. The cultivator 

 can see that these attack his fruit, and he therefore judges 

 them his enemies, but he does not see, and rarely stops to 

 inquire, what incalculably greater good they do in their vig- 

 ilant pursuit of these insect destroyers, more than repaymg 

 the loss of a few handfuls of berries in a season. 



