Notices of New Books. 4063 



Proceedings of Societies : — Zoological — Botanical of Edinburgh. 



Miscellaneous : — On the Movements of the Blood in the Pulmo- 

 nary Arachnida; by Emile Blanchard. Extracted from the c Comptes 

 Rendus,' June 20, 1853, p. 1079. The Tibetan Badger of Hodgson; 

 by J. E. Gray, Ph.D. Note on the Germination of the Spores in the 

 Uredines ; by L. R. Tulasne. Extracted from the ' Comptes Rendus/ 

 June 20, 1853, p. 1093. 





' On the Duration of Life in the Queen, Drone, and Worker of 

 the Honey Bee? By J. G. Desborough, Esq. London : Long- 

 mans. 1853. Price Is. 



This is the Prize Essay of the Entomological Society of London 

 for 1852, and also appears in the 'Transactions' of that Society. The 

 author's facts appear to have been carefully observed and fairly re- 

 corded, and his essay is replete with information on many other points 

 of bee history, besides the duration of life. 



From a multitude of observations, the author is induced to believe 

 the life of a queen bee to extend to three or four years ; and those of 

 a drone and a worker to vary from two to eight months : the life of a 

 drone he regards as permissive only, the workers killing it whenever 

 instinct so directs : the summer months, July and August, give more 

 work, and consequently more wear and tear to the worker, than any 

 others, consequently their life is then the shortest ; while in winter, 

 from an absence of exhausting causes, their life is proportionably 

 longer. The essay is well worth reading. 



' Shells and their Inhabitants. The Genera of Recent Mollusca 

 arranged according to their Organization.'' By Henry and 

 Arthur Adams. Parts III., IV., and V. ; June, August, and 

 September, 1853. London : Van Voorst. Price 2s. 6d. each 

 Part. 



This work continues to deserve all that we have previously said in 

 its praise. 



Part III. contains the Pteropodous genus Cymodocea, and the fol- 

 lowing genera of Gasteropoda: — Murex, Typhis, Trophon, Fusus, 



