So THE WOMBAT. 



print ultimately assumes between red and blue is in direct 

 relation to the quantity of gold which it receives. This does 

 not always hold good, however, but under ordinary circum- 

 stances it is correct. 



The gold also gives greater permanence, as was before 

 remarked, gold being one of the most indestructible of metals, 

 and the greater the quantity of it which can be deposited on 

 .a print, the greater the chance of permanence. 



Thus, dilute and slow- working baths are better than 

 those which are strong and fast working, as the question of 

 colour being considered, a greater quantity of gold is thrown 

 down from a dilute bath in order to produce a given effect, 

 than is reduced from a very energetic bath in a more concen- 

 trated condition. This was proved years ago, and Mr. W. K. 

 Burton drew attention to it several years since. 



(To be continued. J 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ON SOME 

 VICTORIAN COCCIDS. 



By James Lidgett. 



It is not intended that this paper should appear as any- 

 thing more than a compilation of disconnected notes on the 

 habits, distribution and general characters of the species which 

 it includes ? The study of Coccids has lately been receiving a 

 good deal of attention chiefly on account of Mr. Maskell 

 having placed the family under a very clear and satisfactory 

 -classification, and I think such insects as Icerya pnvchasi, 

 Mask, or Brachyscelis munitn, Schrader, are as interesting 

 .as any known : indeed the whole family offers unlimited scope 

 for observation. 



Coccids belong to the order Homoptera, and are closely 

 allied to the Aphididse or " plant lice," so that it is often very 

 puzzling and difficult to detect the difference without very 

 careful microscopical examination. Without a microscope a 

 lepidopterist or a coleopterist may get on admirably, but a 

 Coccidist would soon fall into innumerable difficulties. When 

 fixed or stationary on the branches or leaves of plants in their 

 earlier stages even a specialist may pass them by as aphids. 

 They are cosmopolitan, and have been studied in Europe since 

 the days of Reaumur and Linnaeus, but a list of authors and 



