452 The American Naturalist. [May, 
which he showed that they are sensitive to the ultra-violet 
Light was found to act on decapitated earth-worms, though 
the differences were not so marked ; the same held good for 
newts, when their eyes were covered over, and Graber hence 
concludes that the general surface of the skin is sensitive to 
light. ■ Forel has made some observations on ants, the eyes 
of which were carefully covered by opaque varnish, so that 
they were rendered temporarily blind. 
From experiments made with Platyarthrus, which have no 
eyes, the author found that they made their way into the 
shaded portion of a partly covered nest, and he remarks that 
it is "easy to imagine that in unpigmented animals, whose 
skins are more or less semitransparent, the light might act 
directly on the nervous system, even though it could not 
produce anything which could be called vision." 
Sir John's experiments lead him to differ from M. Forel, 
%vho believes that bees have a certain sense of direction. The 
power of recognizing friends is discussed at some length, but 
the explanation of the fact still remains obscure. The most 
aged insect on record is a queen o{ Formica f us ca, which lived 
for fifteen years ; what is much more extraordinary is that 
she continued to lay fertile eggs ; fertilization took place in 
1874, at the latest, and there has been no male in the nest 
since then, so that the spermatozoa of 1874 must have re- 
tained their life and energy for thirteen years. 
The seeds of Melampyrmn pratense are, as Liindstrom has 
recently pointed out, closely similar to the pupae of ants, and 
he has suggested that this may be an advantage to the plant 
by deceiving the ants, and thus inducing them to carry off 
and so disseminate the seeds. The author's own observations 
show that Formica fusca appears to take no notice of these 
seeds, but that, under certain circumstances, they are carried 
off by Lasius niger. 
The observations of Mr. and Mrs. Peckham, on the special 
senses of Wasps, is referred to as containing conclusions 
which concur closely with those of Sir J. Lubbock. 
A connected account of the author's observations is given 
in a recent work, " On the Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence 
of Animals, with Special Reference to Insects,"' which will be 
found useful as a handbook of the subject with which it deals. 
— Jour. Royal Micr. Soc, 1889, p. 49. 
Basal Spot on Palps of Butterflies.'— Herr. E. Reut- 
er states that in all the species of butterflies (between two 
» 8vo, London i888, 292 pp., 118 Figs. 
■^ ZooL Anzeig. xi., (1888) pp. 500-3. 
