THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 813 



phenomenon. — Charles Herbert Bree ; 16, Great Stanhope 

 Street, Bath, May 12, 1871. 



The mass kindly transmitted to me by Mr. Bree was 

 exactly two-fifths of an inch in its longest diameter and very 

 little less in its shortest: its shape may be described an 

 obtuse-oblong ; its surface was uneven, and its substance 

 gelatinous and sufficiently transparent for me to observe 

 that it contained several small vermiform animals. Having 

 taken the mass out of the water, and partially dried it 

 on blotting-paper, I found in the interior eleven vermiform 

 larvae, each of them rather less than a fifth of an inch 

 in length, and ea^h encased in what appeared a tube of the 

 most delicate character and composed of the finest silk : 

 this was rather to be inferred from its tenacity than from any 

 observation 1 w^as able to make, as 1 could not detect 

 anything like threads : the head of these larvae had two ocelli 

 or rather dark spots, which appeared to be so, and the next 

 segment or prothorax had two curved or sickle-shaped legs ; 

 the last segment was fiirnisbed with six small lobe-like 

 appendages, and the penultimate and antepenultimate seg- 

 ments had each a pair of long thread-like legs. I must, 

 however, use the term "legs" with caution, as I have really 

 no knowledge of their function. These little creatures seemed 

 firm, leathery and colourless, with the exception of a medio- 

 dorsal stripe of a decided red colour, which passed from one 

 extremity to the other, and tinged the whole body with pink. 

 I believe these to be of the same genus, and probably 

 species, as those which are often so abundant at the bottom 

 of stagnant ditches and ponds, communicating a red tint to 

 the surface of the mud. Reaumur, in his memoir in vol. iv., 

 has described a larva that I believe to be the same ; and it is 

 figured in pi. 4, figs. 11 and 12, and in vol. v. pi. 5 as 

 producing the little gnat now known as Chironomus plumo- 

 sus ; and although I cannot, of course, say, of a minute larva 

 now observed by me for the first time, that it is that of the 

 Chironomus in question, still I feel very confident it is either 

 that or a nearly allied species. The gelatinous mass and its 

 contained tubular cases are connected with, if not produced 

 by, the same insect. I attempt no explanation of the circum- 

 stances under which it is said to have been found. Gentlemen 

 to whom I am indebted for newspaper-cuttings and written 



