4614 Entomological Society. 



of a blind but unerring instinct, like a machine or automaton worked 

 by steam or by clock-work ; it exhibits that being in a new and 

 unlooked-for character, — the character of a calmly reasoning architect, 

 who, in the first instance, selects his materials according to the site of 

 his building, and who, secondly, not finding at hand the material best 

 suited to his purpose, substitutes another totally and widely different 

 as far as all external appearances are concerned, still perfectly adapted 

 to his requirings. It is held to be a triumph of intellect when a man 

 thus substitutes one article for another and incurs no loss by the 

 change, but here we have a much-despised insect constantly doing 

 this, always reasoning on, and shaping its course by adventitious cir- 

 cumstances. Is it not a fresh proof of the perfect wisdom of that 

 Power which has created and which upholds the Universe ! 



The third subject, which has attracted attention at some of our meet- 

 ings, I am compelled to strip of its miraculous character : I allude to 

 the so-called "jumping" of seeds. The seeds to which our friend 

 Mr. Westwood alluded, in the interesting communication made at the 

 meeting of October 2nd, were the cocci or compartments of the well- 

 known tricoccous fruit of a Euphorbiaceous plant, the botanical name 

 of which, if indeed such name exist, is not ascertained; but the gene- 

 ral character of such vegetable productions is familiar to many of 

 you : they may be said to possess three surfaces ; one highly convex, 

 almost hemispherical ; the two others flatter, but still slightly convex : 

 in the species under consideration these cocci were about a third of 

 an inch in length, and each of them contained an obese maggot, be- 

 lieved by Mr. Westwood and Mr. Stainton to be Lepidopterous, a 

 conclusion which I am quite willing to believe correct, since I have 

 long since observed the Coleopterous larvae confine their ravages to 

 farinaceous seeds, while Lepidopterous larvae are not unfrequently 

 found devouring the interior of oleaginous seeds, of which fact I might 

 cite many apposite examples : this larva is contained within the 

 coccus. Many of the cocci moved from the first ; others were quiescent 

 at first, and could only be induced to move by the application of 

 warmth ; many did not move at all : the motion was slight and of a 

 rocking character, such as a man in a cask, a child in a cradle, or 

 people in a boat, would produce ; and which, repeated, sometimes 

 amounted to a slow progressive movement, so that in some instances 

 the cocci were eventually worked off the table by the movements of 

 the contained larvae : the motion was of course more observable when 

 the coccus rested on its more convex than on its less convex surface; 

 but it did not even then entirely cease. Dr. Hooker, who has most 



