3856 Notices of New Books. 



ing, gave out the red light most brilliantly as they flew round near the 

 ceiling, the spectators being beneath them ; one of these, being alarm- 

 ed by my efforts to capture it, gave out the thoracic light also very 

 brightly ; and the mingling of the green and red light in the evolu- 

 tions of flight produced an effect indescribably beautiful. 



" That the thoracic light is subject to the will of the insect is indu- 

 bitable ; but whether the same can be predicated of the abdominal 

 light I am not assured. During flight it is every second intermitted, 

 as far as the observer can detect; but its appearance or disappearance 

 may depend upon whether the dorsal or ventral surface is presented 

 to the eye. This is when, soon after dark, the insect is sweeping in 

 rapid, headlong, irregular curves over the fields or along the edges of 

 the forest, when the appearance resembles that of a stick with the 

 end on fire (but not in flame) carried or whirled along by one running 

 swiftly, quenched suddenly after a course of a dozen yards, to appear 

 again at a similar distance. When slowly flying over the grass, the 

 progress of one may often be traced by the red glare on the ground 

 beneath ; a space of about a yard square being brightly illuminated, 

 when no light at all reaches the spectator's eye from the body of the 

 insect."— p. 106. 



The Venus Lizard. — " One day in February, having ascended the 

 ridge with a companion, my attention was arrested by a lizard about a 

 foot long, and of a lively green colour, on the trunk of a small tree, 

 head downward, intently watching our motions as we stood near. My 

 young friend suggested the possibility of capturing it by slipping a 

 noose over its head, while its attention was engaged by whistling. I 

 laughingly proceeded to try the spell, and having made a noose of 

 small twine, which I tied to the end of a switch, I gently walked to- 

 wards him, whistling a lively tune. To my astonishment, he allowed 

 me to slip the noose over his head, merely glancing his bright eye at 

 the string as it passed. I jerked the switch, the music ceased, and 

 the green-coated forester was sprawling in the air, dangling, greatly to 

 his annoyance, at the end of my string. He w r as very savage, biting 

 at everything near ; presently his colour began to change from green 

 to blackish, till it was of an uniform bluish black, with darker bands 

 on the body, and a brownish black on the tail; the only trace of green 

 was just around the eyes. I carefully secured without injuring him, 

 and brought him home in the collecting-basket, into which I had no 

 sooner put him, than he fiercely seized a piece of linen in his teeth, 

 and would not let it go for several hours. I transferred him to a wired 

 cage, linen and all, and at length he suddenly let go his hold, and 



