7096 Quadrupeds. 



of ova in the female is merely a question of time, as in the case of A. Atropos, the 

 females of which, notoriously devoid of eggs in the forced autumn specimens, are found 

 in June depositing ova, whence the brood is perpetuated. Others maintain that it is 

 a question not of time only, but also of place ; for taking S. Convolvuli, females of which 

 are constantly taken in the autumn months, almost invariably without eggs (in 1846 

 and 1859 the species occurred most freely : one individual took nearly fifty specimens 

 in 1859, all the females of which were destitute of ova). In this case either a female 

 is hatched in the autumn with eggs, hybernates and deposits ova in the spring, or 

 emerges in the spring from the pupa, or else specimens fly over from abroad and 

 deposit ova in this country. I would ask has ever S. Convolvuli been taken or observed 

 in the spring or early summer in this country, and if so in what condition or of what 

 sex ? Are we to look for a development of females of D. Lineata without eggs, in the 

 autumn months, if a hot summer intervenes ? A series of observations carefully made as 

 to time, place, condition, sex, and also as to the complete development of sexual organs 

 of any or all of the rarer Sphingidae, would help to resolve the question. Without giving 

 any opinion myself, I may add the truth can only thus be obtained:— from a series of 

 observations, not from a single capture. Have any of the commoner Sphingidaj, the 

 Smerinthi or others, occurred in the autumn months, and if so were they fully developed ? 

 Are any of the rarer Noctuae to be looked upon in the same light? 



" This question appears of more importance than the doubje-broodedness of some 

 Notodontidae, about which so much has been written, and I commend it to the attention 

 of entomologists."' 



Mr. Smith read an extract from Park's ' History of Hampstead,' in which it was 

 staled that in 1782 great numbers of" vermin " appeared on the hedges and trees in 

 that neighbourhood, and that men were employed to beat them off with poles and burn 

 them. These persons experienced considerable irritation on the face and other exposed 

 parts of the person, whilst those who incautiously inhaled the fumes produced by 

 burning them were much indisposed in consequence. 



Mr. Stainton considered these " vermin " were the larvae of the brown-tail moth 

 {Porthesia Chrysorrhaa), which had in former years appeared in immense numbers in 

 this country, and the hairs of which and many of its congeners were well known to 

 produce much irritation of the human skin. 



Mr. Smith also read the following papers:—" Observations on Cynips lignicola 

 and C.Radicis," and " Descriptions of new Species of Australian Hymenoptera and of 

 a Species of Formica from New Zealand.'' 



Mr. Baly read a paper intituled " Description of some New Species of Sagra ; 

 Eemarks on that Genus ; and the Characters of Cheiloxena, a New Genus belonging 

 to the same Family." — E. S. 



Eccentricities in the Habits of Foxes. By W. H. Slaney, Esq. 



As a zealous preserver of foxes in the hunt to which I belong, and 

 having, in consequence, a good deal to do with gamekeepers and 

 rabbit-catchers within an extensive district, I have many opportunities 

 of ascertaining how it happens that so many both of old and young 



