158 THE ZOOLOGIST* 



he had seen this form before, but that it was very rare in this country, 

 though abundant in some other parts of the palaearctic region. 



Dr. Sharp exhibited specimens of Brenthus anchorago, from Mexico, 

 showing extreme variation in size. 



Mr. Blandford commented on the difficulty of mounting minute Lepi- 

 doptera, Diptera, Neuroptera, &c, and exhibited samples of strips of material 

 which he had found most suitable for the purpose of staging minute 

 insects. His attention had been called to this method of mounting by the 

 receipt of specimens from Dr. Fric, of Prague. On examination of the 

 material he found it to be a fungus, Polyporus betulinus. Lord Walsingham 

 had expressed his satisfaction with this material, and had sent him speci- 

 mens, similarly mounted, from Zeller's collection. Mr. McLachlan thought 

 the material exhibited preferable to artichoke-pith, which had been used 

 for a similar purpose. 



Mr. Goss exhibited a species of Mantid, Pseudocreobotra ivahlbergi, Stal, 

 received from Captain Montgomery, of Mid-Ilovu, Natal. 



Mr. Frederick A. A. Skuse communicated a paper " On a Colour Variety 

 of Heteronympha merope, Fab., from New South Wales," and sent coloured 

 drawings of the typical form and the variety for exhibition. 



Mr. Oswald H. Latter read a paper, illustrated by the oxy-hydrogen 

 lantern, entitled " Further Notes on the Secretion of Potassium Hydroxide 

 by Dicranura vinula (imago) and similar Phenomena in other Lepidoptera." 

 Professor Meldola congratulated Mr. Latter on the thorough way in which 

 he had worked out his experiments, and for the first time proved the 

 secretion of free potassium hydroxide in the animal kingdom. 



Mr.Merrifield read a paper entitled " The Results of Experiments made 

 last season on Vanessa c-album and Limenitis sibylla." This was illustrated 

 by an exhibition of specimens of L. sibylla, and a long series of V. c-album, 

 to show the effect of temperature in producing variation. In connection 

 with Mr. Merrifield's paper, Mr. F. W. Frohawk exhibited a series of 

 200 specimens of V. c-album bred from one female taken in Hereford- 

 shire in April, 1894. The series consisted of 105 males and 95 females, 

 and included 41 specimens of the light form and 159 of the dark form. 

 Professor Meldola was glad to think that the subject of seasonal dimor- 

 phism, which had been first investigated systematically by Weismann, 

 was receiving so much attention in this country. He was of opiuion that 

 the results hitherto arrived at were quite in harmony with Weismaun's 

 theory of reversion to the glacial form, and all the evidence recently accumu- 

 lated by the excellent observations of Mr. Merrifield and others went to 

 confirm this view as opposed to that of the direct action of temperature as 

 a modifying influence. — H. Goss, Hon. Secretary, 



