MISCELLANEA. 57 
there by the water. They were nearly all Coleopterous insects, 
and mostly of species that frequent moors; several species of 
Aphodius, some Curculios, many Coceinellide, Galerucide, Chryso- 
melide, Halticide, §c. The beach was literally blackened by their 
corpses, and, had they only been living, such a find would have 
formed a red letter day of the wet, stormy, unproductive season 
of 1860. 
Lone Benton, 4th April, 1861. 
LX.— Miscellaneous Notices and Observations. 
AXylophaga dorsalis. —The occurrence of Xylophaga dorsalis has 
already been repeatedly recorded in our ‘“‘ Transactions,” but it may 
not be uninteresting to mention its occurrence a little nearer to 
the mouth of the Tyne, especially as it has in this instance attain- 
ed unusual magnitude. In the mid-winter of 1857, I picked up, 
in Marsden bay, a long piece of Scotch fir, which was thoroughly 
perforated by large borings of a Xylophaga, and feebler excava- 
tions of Limnoria terebrans. The shells of the larger examples of 
Xylophaga were unfortunately not preserved, but numerous small 
specimens are still embedded in some of the smaller perforations. 
These agree perfectly with the description of the X. dorsalis and 
it is therefore probable the larger perforations were excavated by 
individuals of the same species. Some of the borings attain a 
length of 53 inches, with a maximum diameter of one inch, which is 
considerably larger than the greatest measurement given in the 
British Mollusca. I ascertained that a cargo of Scotch fir props 
had been wrecked in the bay three years previously. As the prop 
found was probably one of these, a rough approximation may be 
made of the short space of time required for the growth of this 
timber-ravaging mollusca. Allowinga few months to elapse before 
the submerged prop was attacked by the spawn of Xylophaga, 
and the same time for the abrasion and casting on shore we have 
about 24 years for the completion of the growth of this voracious 
Xylophagan.—Richard Howse, South Shields, April 9, 1861. 
