Annelidas, <Sfc\ 3050 



state, as it swarmed with Entozoa throughout every part of it. Another, which was 

 brought to Duddingston for sale, in the end of November, by one of the Fishevrow 

 fish-women, was perfectly fresh and in good condition. It was twenty-two inches and 

 a half in length : nearly its maximum size.— R. F. Logan ; Duddingston, near Edin- 

 burgh, February, 1851. 



Earthworms found Dead.— Having frequently noticed numerous earthworms lying- 

 dead upon the ground, at other times than after any considerable fall of rain, I was 

 unable to account for this destruction until J witnessed what seemed to explain the 

 matter, and which I would record in the ' Zoologist,' in the hope that other observers 

 may confirm my statement, and that the attention of entomologists may be attracted 

 to the subject, so far as it appears deserving of notice. I have beheld worms hope- 

 lessly fixed in the jaws of grubs of two different kinds. In one instance the worm 

 was descried in the act of emerging from the soil at its utmost speed with a wireworm 

 so firmly fastened to the tail by its forceps, that no wriggling through the short grass 

 could disengage them. Tn the second example, the persecutor was a much larger 

 grub, but of a similar confirmation ; namely, with a short body and a long abdomen 

 (if these terms are correct), the colour being black on the upper, and a dirty (or 

 blackish) white on the under surface. In this case the prey was proportionally larger 

 than that of the wireworm. Both these grubs possess short, but apparently very 

 strong and sharp forceps, with which, when the above observations were made, they 

 held on most tenaciously, permitting themselves unresistingly to be dragged along 

 the ground, and to be rolled over and over in the struggles of the worms, which seemed 

 most anxious to escape from the gripe of their enemies. These incidents having 

 been only casually noticed, no pains were taken to ascertain whether the injury is 

 always fatal, and in what length of time ; as also whether the attack is for the purpose 

 of obtaining food. The dead worms, which are presumed to be often killed in the 

 manner now described, do not present any conspicuous evidences of mutilation. An 

 obvious reflection arising from what has been mentioned is, that the circumstance is 

 one of the innumerable proofs of the wisdom and goodness of a beneficent Creator in 

 so ordering and maintaining a balance among his works, that the inconveniences we 

 may incur from some of his creatures is compensated by advantages derived from 

 other habits of the very same animals.— A, Hussey ; Rottingdean, January 7, 1851. 



Great Beauty of South-American Lepidoptei'a.— In common I suppose with most 

 of your readers, I have perused with great pleasure the letters which have appeared in 

 the ■ Zoologist,' from Mr. H. W. Bates, who is at present employed in making ento- 

 mological collections in South America. These letters appear to me to be distin- 

 guished by a devotion to science, and by an enthusiasm which are seldom exhibited, 

 but which rarely fail to carry the individual on to success in whose bosom they have 

 their abode. His descriptions depict the primeval forests of South America, where, in 

 not a few instances, no European foot but his own seems ever to have trod, with a 



