5372 Insects. 



animal and vegetable tissues would give off a considerable quantity of 

 carbonic acid, and the two seeds in the process of germination must 

 also have liberated carbon. The supposition, however, that the Mol- 

 lusca which remained alive became cannibals and devoured the remains 

 of their friends will, in a great measure, do away with the difficulty as 

 regards the most abundant source of deleterious gas. Lest it should 

 be supposed that any oxygen could have been derived from the air, I 

 again repeat that the cork was quite air-tight, and this is best proved 

 by the circumstance that since the water was placed in the bottle not 

 the smallest quantity has been lost by evaporation, and, as a proof that 

 such is the case, and as evidence, moreover, of the purity of the water, 

 it may be mentioned that there is not the slightest stain upon the glass 

 at the height the water stands, — not the least sign of high-water mark 

 (so to speak) upon the sides of the bottle, and if it was emptied it 

 would be impossible to find the faintest trace which would mark the 

 height at which the water had stood. 



I shall hope to make further experiments on the subject of this com- 

 munication, to see if the same results can be again attained. Perhaps 

 some one by the sea will see what can be done with salt water. 

 I would recommend any person trying the experiment to procure the 

 water a mile or two from land, to ensure its purity, and that the Mol- 

 lusca should be of some species which inhabit the Laminarian zone, 

 say Trochus striatus, Montagui or tumidus, or some of the Rissoae; 

 the other necessary conditions to ensure any chance of success being 

 that the animals be taken in the autumn or winter, when the vital 

 energy is at a low ebb, — that the bottle be tightly corked or fastened 

 down, so as to prevent all communication wdth the external air, — that 

 it be kept in a place where the temperature is cool and equable, and 

 that it be effectually secured from all light. 



Alfred Merle Norman. 



Kitiworth, Leicestershire, 

 November 17, 1856. 



The Classification of the Deltoides and Pyralites of M. Guenee, with 

 Remarks. By C. R. Bree, Esq. 



In the eighth volume of his great work, the ' Histoire Naturelle des 

 Insectes Lepidopteres,' M. Guenee has given us a reconstruction of 

 the Linnean group Pyralis. Taking from it the small genus Nola of 



