114 Insects. 



ago, which afforded him much amusement. It was constructed in the 

 form of a cross, each limb being T suppose about eight inches wide, 

 and a foot high, formed of parallel pieces of glass, about an inch and 

 a half, or probably a little more, distant from each other, so as to ad- 

 mit of one piece of comb, with room enough on each side for the bees 

 to work. My friend's breakfast- table was a fixture close to the win- 

 dow, and continuous with the window-sill, and upon this table the 

 glass hive was firmly fixed, and a passage was formed from outside 

 the window, through the sill, and through the substance of the table, 

 straight to the glass hive, into which it opened at the bottom, of course 

 without any opening into the room. Thus the bees made their way 

 from the open air through the little passage into the hive, having but 

 a short way to travel, as the hive was as near to the window as it 

 could conveniently be placed. The cross form gave several advan- 

 tages ; it afforded a larger space for the bees to work in, and a larger 

 field for observation, and it rendered the hive much more strong and 

 firm. A pasteboard cover of the same form was made to go over it, so 

 that the bees were always in darkness, excepting when uncovered for 

 the purpose of examining them ; and I think there were some means 

 adopted for the ventilation of the hive, but of this I am not certain. 

 Thus my friend, who was a lone bachelor, had alwaj s at his breakfast 

 table a more delightfiil, rational and instructive companion, than ei- 

 ther the newspaper or " the last new novel." As I write from recol- 

 lection of what I saw about thirty years ago, I may be in error as to 

 some of my details ; but I am sure not in any important particular. — 

 Thomm Bell; New Broad St., Jamiary 23, 1843. 



Note on Coleopterous Insects frequenting damp places. During the 

 past year I paid particular attention to the marshes, banks of streams, 

 rivers and pools in our neighbourhood, in my researches after Coleop- 

 terous insects ; and from the success I met with, I am inclined to 

 think such localities are not examined with the industry they deserve. 

 Muddy banks of large pools, mingled with half-submerged moss, 

 aquatic shrubs, decayed reeds, and other rejectamenta, from which 

 arise clumps of taller plants, will amply repay the somewhat unplea- 

 sant labour of investigation. Many a long day, in sunshine and in 

 shower, has seen me wading in those miry paradises, in the praise- 

 worthy endeavour to effect my little towards the advancement of our 

 favourite science ; and my labours were rewarded with many of those 

 insect gems whose shining coats " the richest hues adorn." 



In the early part of spring, from March till June, but chiefly during 

 the month of April, these places are the only haunts of some of our 



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