Microscopical Society. 3213 



" Acalyptus Carpini, HbsL, Gyll., Sch. 

 11 Ellescus sericea, Dahl., Dej. 

 " Sibynia sericea, Sturm, (Ins. Cat.) 



" Acalyptus rufipennis, Schon. 

 " According to Gyllenhal, it occurs plentifully in Sweden upon the flowers of Salix 

 cinerea.'' 



Mr. Saunders alluded to the great abundance of cockchafers this year, and stated 

 that he had made experiments on the relative weight of males and females. He found 

 that in twelve males the average weight was 13^ grains each, in twelve females 20^ 

 grains. 



The heaviest male weighed 17 grains, the lightest 12 grains. 



The heaviest female weighed 24^ grains, the lightest 16 grains. 



The difference between the heaviest male and female was 7i grains. 



The difference between the lightest male and female was 4 grains. 



The difference between the lightest male and heaviest female was 12£ grains, the 

 heaviest male being 1 grain heavier than the lightest female. 



The President said that these observations might possibly prove to be more than 

 curious, and to have an economic value ; for in some places on the continent, in sea- 

 sons when cockchafers were abundant, quantities had been collected and pressed for 

 the sake of the oil they afforded ; and in Transylvania they had been made into a paste 

 with which cart-wheels &c. had been greased. — /. W. D. 



Proceedings of the Microscopical Society of London. 



June 18, 1851. — Dr. Arthur Farre, President, in the chair, 



A paper by P. H. Gosse, Esq., ' On the large Actinophrys of Eichhorn, and on the 

 Structure of the Flesh in the Polygastrica,' was read. 



After citing the observations of Eichhorn, to the effect that he witnessed the cap- 

 ture of small Crustacea by the tentacles of this animal, and the digestion of them within 

 its body, which have been doubted by later naturalists, the author mentioned that he 

 had himself met with the animal on two occasions, though it appears to have been un- 

 seen since the days of its first describer. Mr. Gosse then characterized the species, to 

 which he assigned the name of Actinophrys Eichhornii. It is a whitish globe, dis- 

 tinctly visible to the naked eye, and seen, under the microscope, to be studded all over 

 its surface with long, delicate, pointed, divergent rays. These organs have the power 

 of arresting, by mere contact, animals of much higher organization, which the author 

 witnessed, and thus confirmed the testimony of its discoverer. The paper went on to 

 describe the rays as wholly retractile within the body ; and other organs, in the form 

 of clear oval bladders, also capable of being protruded and retracted, at various parts 

 of the surface ; as well as vesicles contained within the substance, and which, fre- 

 quently inclosing food, evidently perform the part (the author thinks only temporarily) 

 of stomachs. 



Mr. Gosse described the body of this animalcule as made up of an aggregation of 

 large, distinct, perfectly transparent, unnucleated cells, pressing over and against each 

 other, and thus rendered polygonal. Their walls are not membranous, but composed 

 of a semifluid viscous mucus, resembling the bubbles on the surface of soapy water. 

 This substance is endowed with contractility, which the author proved from several 

 circumstances ; and he considered that the protrusile bladders and the stomach-cells 

 are only modifications of the common cells of the flesh. Mr. Gosse drew analogies to 



