3374 Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. 



beds, with their remains, be liassic or old red, should be left an open one. Caution 

 was also the more necessary, he added, from the circumstance that in that northern 

 district outliers of the lias and oolite are in several instances found resting on and ly- 

 ing to the old red sandstone ; and, from the further circumstance that some of the 

 oolitic sandstones bear very much the character of those of Spynie and Brughead. 

 Mr. M. stated, in conclusion, that many years ago he became practically acquainted 

 with a yellow quartzose sandstone, brought from the oolite of Raza, which could not 

 be distinguished from the quartzose sandstone of Brughead ; and that an outlier of 

 such a sandstone, resting conformably on those pale sandstones of Moray which con. 

 tain remains of the Bothriolepis, might be readily enough mistaken for an upper de- 

 posit of the old red sandstone, although in reality representative of a widely different 

 period in the history of the globe. 



2. Mr. Andrew Murray, W.S., read the Report of the Entomological Committee on 

 the order Coleoptera, which detailed what had been done during the past year towards 

 acquiring a knowledge of the Entomology of those parts of Scotland which had been 

 hitherto only partially or not at all examined. The Committee by themselves, or 

 others employed by them, had examined some parts of Ross-shire, some parts of 

 Sutherlandshire, and the north of Forfarshire, besides extending their investigations 

 in quarters nearer home. Among the interesting acquisitions mentioned by Mr. 

 Murray, were Saperda Carcharias from Sutherlandshire, Magdalis phlegmatica from 

 Kinross-shire, Magdalis carbonaria from Perthshire, and an undescribed Percosia 

 (proposed to be named inrlata) from the Clova Mountains. Mr. Murray also men- 

 tioned what had been done by Mr. Weaver and Dr. Nelson in the Black Forest in 

 Rannoch, and showed specimens of the fine species there found by them ; amongst 

 others — Cetonia obscura, Dej., Saperda scalaris, Astynomus aedilis, Lamia Textor, 

 Rhagium Indagator, Sericosomus brunneus, Clythra quadripunctata, <Scc. 



3. The next paper which was read was one by Mr. Murray, on the genus Cercyon, 

 in which he cleared up the confusion of the synonymy which prevails in that difficult 

 genus, and brought almost the whole of Marsham's and Stephens' numerous species 

 within the number of those recognized on the Continent. Mr. Murray had had pe- 

 culiar facilities for this, having had the whole of Mr. Little's large collection of Cer- 

 cyons, all named by Stephens, put into his hands by that gentleman for examination. 



4. Notes on the Pe-la, or insect wax of China : by Dr. MacGowan, Medical Mis- 

 sionary at Ningpo. Communicated by Dr. Coldstream. Although this singular 

 substance has been largely used in China since the thirteenth century, and has been 

 occasionally imported both into France and Britain for many years past, its natural 

 history is still very imperfectly known. Its chemical properties were investigated 

 in 1848 by Mr. B. C. Brodie, of London, who showed that, even as it is met with in 

 commerce, it is nearly in a state of chemical purity, and that it most closely resembles 

 cerin, the base of bees'-wax. The Pe-la is perfectly white, translucent, shining, not 

 unctuous to the touch, inodorous, and insipid. It melts at 100° Fahrenheit. It is 

 found adhering to the branches of certain shrubs, whence it is collected yearly in June. 

 It seems to be produced by myriads of minute insects, which either excrete or are 

 changed into, the wax. Dr. MacGowan is inclined to believe that the insect under- 

 goes what may be called aceraceous degeneration, its whole body being permeated by 

 the peculiar product, in the same manner as the Coccus Cacti is by carmine. 



A seal, cut in figure-stone, and bearing, as its device, ancient Chinese characters 

 expressive of the name of Miller, which had been forwarded from China by Dr. Mac 



