n6 



The Museum Gazette 



Mr. R. Stewart MacDougall describes in the January issue 

 of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture a new enemy of 

 the Douglas Fir, an insect hitherto not recorded in this 

 country. It is known as Megastigmus spermotrophus, and 

 " belongs to a family of hymenopterous insects, the Chal- 

 cididcs, the larvae of which in the great majority of cases are 

 not feeders on plants, but are parasitic on other insects." 



The larva lives in the seed, where it also pupates ; exter- 

 nally there is no indication of its presence. 



QUESTIONS FOR ANSWERS. 



(1) To which century, and to what author, would you 

 assign the following lines ? A special prize will be given for 

 the best rhymed translation of them. 



Vous fiers Anglois, et barbares que vous etes, 

 Compez la tete a vos rois et la queue a vos betes ; 

 Mais nous Francois, plus polis, et aimant les loix, 

 Laissons la queue a nos betes, et la tete a nos rois. 



(2) What does the epithet calamita mean when applied to 

 the natterjack toad (Btifo calamita) ? 



(3) Is the toad in the language of the naturalist a " reptile," 

 and if not, why not ? 



(4) The smooth snake {Coronella austriaca) approaches more 

 closely to the viper than to the common snake in general 

 appearance, but is always smaller, and a double row of spots 

 down the back takes the place of the familiar zigzag line 

 running down the back of the viper. What are its real 

 relationships ? 



(5) It is on record that a Scotch seedsman, having opened a 

 new shop in Dublin, advertised in his catalogue that he had 

 mole-traps for sale ! Where lies the joke ? 



(6) Could an elephant take a bite out of an apple if the 

 apple were big enough ? No ; for he has no biting teeth. 



