Mollusks. — Insects. 3515 



Note on a Whelk. — A whelk taken at the same time as the shanny has been kept 

 in the same glass of sea-water. At first it was bare, but after a month or two it became 

 coated with a green velvety deposit, from which, in course of time, numerous fila- 

 ments of sea-weed have sprouted. These have grown rapidly, and many of them are 

 now full two inches long. I do not know the species (though probably common), but 

 intend to preserve some for identification. The mollusk is still living ; at first it was 

 perpetually climbing up the glass, but now only does so at long and uncertain inter- 

 vals. — George Guyon ; Venlnor, Isle of Wight, June 18, 1852. 





A Night in the Forest. By Nicholas Cooke, Esq. 



" Man cannot stand beneath a loftier dome 

 Than this cerulean canopy of light, 

 The Eternal's vast, immeasurable home, 

 Lovely by day, and wonderful by night; 

 Than this enamelled floor so greenly bright 

 A richer pavement man hath never trod, 

 He cannot gaze upon a holier sight, 

 Than fleeting cloud, fresh wave and fruitful sod, 

 Leaves of that boundless book writ by the hand of God ! " 



On the edge of Delamere Forest is a park belonging to Lord Dela- 

 mere, which is one of the few spots in this neighbourhood that is not 

 tabooed. In it there is a lovely sheet of water, called Petty Pool, 

 which is bordered on one side by a glorious wood, rising to a consi- 

 derable height by a steep slope above the lake, and composed of alder, 

 beech, birch, and oak timber, backed by a forest of noble pines ; 

 and in the distance are seen some of the Derbyshire hills, altogether 

 forming a most beautiful picture. It is a charming locality for a na- 

 turalist, as here are found many rarities, not only entomological, but 

 ornithological and botanical too. To this wood my friend, Mr. Noah 

 Greening, and myself repaired one afternoon in the early part of the 

 delightful month just past, with a female Notodonta trepida, which I 

 had bred from an egg found on a tree in this wood during the previ- 

 ous spring ; hoping, by staying out all night, and by her means, to 

 capture some males of this rare species. We took our fishiug-tackle 

 with us and fished for two or three hours, but with my usual luck in 

 that line, for the fishes would not be caught. I never met with the 

 angler yet, who, more than two or three times in his life, knew fish to 

 bite freely ; and I have sat by the water-side many a time from 3 a.m. 

 to 7 p.m., without having more than a glorious nibble. We did, how- 

 ever, this time catch two bream, of about a pound weight each. 



Before dark I was fortunate enough to find a fine pair of N. trepida 



