Radiata. 3781 



as if in pain. On closer inspection I found that its unwelcome attendant was a Coleo- 

 pterous larva, nearly an inch in length, which was firmly attached to the worm by its 

 powerful jaws, at about two inches from the extremity of its tail, where it had nearly 

 eaten through the worm. On examination, the insect closely resembled the figure of 

 the larva of either Steropus madidus or Omaseus melanarius, as given by Mr. West- 

 wood in his ' Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,' (i. pi. 2, fig. 4). 

 The circumstance of this larva attacking a large worm may not be uncommon, but it 

 was new to me ; aud the only allusion I find to such a propensity among the larvae of 

 beetles, is made by Swamrnerdam ; who, speaking of the larva of Staphylinus, says it 

 can very quickly kill earth-worms with its powerful teeth, and afterwards suck them." 

 (Hill's edit. p. 125).— R. H. Meade; Bradford, Yorkshire, November 8, 1852. 



Note on the Perforation of a Cistern by Anobium striatum. — At a meeting of the 

 Linnean Society on November 18, 1852, " Mr. Adam White, F.L.S., exhibited, on 

 the part of J. H. Gilbert, Esq., Ph.D., of Harpenden, near St. Albans, a portion of a 

 wooden cistern lined with lead, and perforated with numerous holes by the Anobium 

 striatum, in relation to which he entered into a detailed account of the circumstances 

 in which it had occurred. In this case the cistern, which belonged to Mr. Cnrtis, a 

 brewer of Harpenden, was made from an old fermenting tub, which had become much 

 worm-eaten on the outside. In 1838 it was lined with thin lead (of 5 fbs. to the square 

 foot) ; but in little more than three years it began to leak, when some small holes were 

 discovered in the lead and were soldered over. In 1842, however, the leakage had in- 

 creased to such an extent that the leaden lining was removed, and a thicker one (of 

 18 fbs. to the square foot) was substituted. Five or six years afterwards, however, the 

 leakage again commenced ; and in 1850 it had proceeded to such an extent that the 

 cistern was entirely removed to make room for one of iron. On taking out the lining 

 it was clearly ascertained that the perforations from which the leakage arose were the 

 work of an insect, which, after boring through the wood, had made its way also through 

 the leaden lining. A specimen sent by Dr. Gilbert to the British Museum was deter- 

 mined by Mr. White to be the Anobium striatum ; and similar instances of injury to 

 wooden cisterns lined with lead were referred to, as detailed in Mr. Westwood's 

 * Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,' in the 'Zoologist,' and in the 

 ' Proceedings of the Entomological Society.' — From the ' Proceedings of the Linnean 

 Society,' No. 47, p. 153. 



List of the Echinodermata hitherto met with in the Moray Firth.* 

 By the Rev. George Gordon. 



The late Laird of Brodie solaced the decline of life by the interest 

 he took in collecting and transmitting to those more highly versed in 

 such matters, whatever in the animal or vegetable kingdom appeared 

 to him either rare or curious in the northern locality in which he re- 



*In continuation of the 'Fauna of Moray,' see Zool. 421, 502, 551, 3454, 3480, 3678. 



