5642 Entomological Society. 



other anomalous and supposed tetramerous beetles, are in truth pentamerous insects 

 disguised by the soldering together of two of the adjacent joints of the tarsi. 



Mr. Waterhouse said that in some Coleoptera he had frequently observed bristles, 

 such as Mr. Westvvood had spoken of, in the middle of an articulation, more espe- 

 cially of the claw-joint in Homalota ; and that therefore the presence of a bristle must 

 not be taken as a certain indication of the existence of a joint. 



Mr. Wollaston said that the bristles alluded to by Mr. Waterhouse, which oc- 

 curred in the middle of the articulations, were very different from those at the joints. 

 A moderate magnifying power would at once show the difference. 



Effects of the Sting of a Scorpion. 



Mr. Westwood communicated an extract from a letter of a correspondent in India 

 relative to the effects of a sting of a scorpion. It is described as very severe, resem- 

 bling the pain of a dozen wasp-stings concentrated in the same spot. The finger 

 began to swell, and the whole arm pained excessively, with a feeling of sickness. 

 Ipecacuanha powder was applied, in the form of a paste, to the sting, and brandy 

 and water taken liberally. A native doctor, on being sent for, after rubbing the arm, 

 at length suggested a native remedy, namely, a small pan of live charcoal, upon which 

 were occasionally, as they melted, thrown pieces of wax, the smoke from which was 

 allowed to arise over the wound, and which allayed the pain to such a degree that in 

 about an hour and a half the patient was able to smoke. The stung finger was still 

 insensible to the touch and very much swollen, the arm cold as ice, although it had 

 been rubbed for two hours, whilst the sound hand and arm were hot. More brandy 

 and water, with cigars, were tried. The patient fell into a long sleep, and awoke next 

 morning with but slight remains of the pain of the sting. 



Mr. Stainton called attention to a paper by F. Bashford, Esq., read before the 

 Meeting of the Society of Arts, on the 4th ult., on certain experiments made with a 

 view to improve the present silk yieldings of India. 



Mr. Douglas read the following : — • 



Cicada hcematodes. 



"In the December number of the ' Entomologische Zeitung' is a note by Dr. 

 Hagen, supplementary to his former papers in that journal on the singing Cicadae. 

 As the following has especial reference to English entomologists, I have translated it, 

 with the hope that it may fall under the notice of some one who will render the de- 

 sired service: — 



"'Concerning the types of C. haematodes, Herr Baron von Osten-Sacken wrote 

 to me on the 27th May, as follows, — 



""* Three examples stand under this name in Lin lie's collection. The one bearing 

 the ticket, and the second, agreeing with the first, are both, to my view, not C. mon- 

 tana. Both of them are unspread, and have on the fore margin of the upper wings 

 a brown cross vein, which is wanting in the examples of C. montana to be seen near 

 them. Otherwise it seems to me the size is much the same, but the abdomen, as in 

 C. montana, with reddish margined rings; the base of the upper wings yellowish. 

 The third example is different from both of the others. All the veins are broadly 

 brown, which gives the wings a variegated appearance; the abdomen on both sides 



