( 2:J5 ) 

 SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



Linnean Society of London. 

 May 7th.— Mr. C. B. Clarke, F.R.S., President, in the chair. 

 Mr. A. F. Crossman was elected a Fellow, and Professor Alphonse 

 Milne-Edwards, Prof. Douglas H. Campbell, and Prof. C. 0. Whitman, 

 Foreign Members of the Society. 



In view of the approaching Anniversary Meeting, the appointment of 

 Auditors was proceeded with, when Messrs. W. Percy Sladen and A. Smith 

 Woodward were elected on behalf of the Council, and Messrs. James Groves 

 and F. J. Hanbury on behalf of the Fellows. 



Mr. George Murray exhibited and made some remarks upon an engraved 

 portrait of Charles Darwin, presented to the Society by Dr. F. Forsch- 

 heimer, of Cincinnati, to whom, on the motion of the President, a vote of 

 thanks was unanimously accorded. 



Mr. F. Enoch exhibited a series of lantern-slides illustrative of the 

 metamorphosis and habits of the Tiger Beetle, Cicindela campestris. He 

 described the peculiar position of the mandibles of the larva as adapted to 

 its mode of capturing prey; the formation of the burrow; the spinous 

 processes on the 8th segment of the abdomen used for supporting itself in 

 the burrow ; the mode of ejecting small stones or other obstacles met with 

 in the course of work ; and lastly, the changes incidental to the pupal 

 state, and the adaptation of the burrow to the altered requirements of its 

 inmate. 



Mr. Enoch also exhibited living specimens of two minute aquatic 

 Hymenoptera, viz. Caraphractus ductus, Haliday (Polyncma natam, Lub- 

 bock), which uses its wings in swimming. The other, Prestwichia aquatica, 

 Lubbock, using its legs for propelling itself in the water, the wings being kept 

 closed. This insect has not been recorded since its first capture in 1862. 



Mr. H. M. Bernard exhibited preparations under the microscope of 

 hermaphrodite glands of Apus, showing what he assumed to be the 

 formation of sperm in the ovaries of four different species or varieties, and 

 the condition of the eggs, which in two cases were being resorbed. These, 

 he suggested, may have been parthenogenetic females in process of losing 

 the female and assuming the male functions ; possibly to ensure the presence 

 of males in times of emergency, when "resting eggs" were required in 

 order to tide over periods of drought. 



Dr. H. A. Cummins, on behalf of Prof. M. M. Hartog, exhibited some 

 hybrids of Saraca grown in the Botanic Gardens of Queen's College, Cork, 

 from the collection of the late Wm. Crawford, of Lakelands. 



Messrs. H. and J. Groves exhibited specimens of Ranunculus tripartitus, 

 DC, recently discovered by Mr. R. A. Phillips in a small lake near Balti- 



