28 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. [February 



Darwin, Wallace, Weisman, Meldola, Poulton, and others, and to the special and in- 

 creasing literature of the subject. In this connection allusion was made to Mr. Tutt's 

 " Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation," to Mr. Poulton's valuable book 

 " On the meaning and use of the Colours of Animals," and to the interesting and im- 

 portant papers and experiments of Mr. F. Merrifield on the subject of the variation 

 in Lepidoptera caused by differences of temperature. After alluding to the Inter- 

 national Zoological Congress held at Paris during the past year, and to the rules of 

 nomenclature which had been once more reviewed and revised, the President con- 

 cluded by referring to the losses by death during the year of several Fellows of the 

 Society and other Entomologists, special mention being made of Dr. J. S. Baly, 

 Mons. I'Abbe de Marseul, Mr. Owen Wilson, Mons. Lucien Buquet, Mons. Eugene 

 Desmarest, Prof. Heinrich Frey, Dr. R. C. R. Jordan, Mr. W. S. Dallas. Dr. L. 

 W. Schaufuss, Dr. Hermann Dewitz, Mons. Lewis Reiche, and Herr Peter Maassen. 

 A vote of thanks to the President and other Ofificers of the Society having been 

 passed, Lord Wolsingham, Mr. Goss, and Mr. Grut replied, and the proceedings 

 terminated. — H. Goss, Hon. Sec. 



CITY OF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 



HISTORY SOCIETY. 



January ist, 1891. — Mr. Tutt exhibited a box of Lepidoptera received from Mr_ 

 W. Reid of Pitcaple, including a fine series of dark forms of Agrotis pyrophila ; a very 

 variable selection of Triphana orbona, the fore wings of which varied from light drab 

 through red brown to almost black ; Melitaa artemis, several fine vars. ; a series of 

 Melanippe fluctuata var. ncapolisaia, Fidonia piniaria, and Abraxas grossulariata, the 

 males of which had a tendency to be very dark, while the females were comparatively 

 pale. Mr. J. A. Clark exhibited a very variable series of Dianthacia conspersa from 

 Lewis. Mr. Heasler exhibited Dromius mcridianus, D. quadrimactdatus and D. 

 qmdrmotatus, all of which he had taken during the Christmas holidays, also for 

 comparison several other species of the same genus. 



Thursday, Jamiary 15th, 1891. — Mr. J. A. Clark, President, in the chair. Exhibits . 

 Dr. Buckell. a butterfly from India, with the undersides of wings marked like a dead 

 leaf. Mr. Tutt, long series of intermediate forms of Miana sirigilis and M . fasciuncula, 

 and remarked on the impossibility of separating these specimens into two species, as 

 there were no structural differences wherewith to distinguish them. In reference to 

 the larvae, he said that he had lately seen five descriptions, all of which were totally 

 different, thus proving that the larvae w-ere very imperfectly known. Mr. Simes ex- 

 hibited a specimen of I>. g'rt///, taken at Clapton. i2th, August, 1890. Mr. Clark, a 

 pinkish. x2Lr\eiy o{ A plcct a occulta, hred. \ also Pogonocherus hispidus, Rhizotrogtis solstiti- 

 alis, NecropJwrus mortuontm, and Blaps similis. Mr. Heasler, a series of Coccinella 

 variabilis. 



The Secretary read a paper by Mr. R. Gillo of Bath, on the " Colours of Animals. ' 

 He stated that the present coloration of animals had been brought about by natural 

 selection, and the survival of the fittest, which tended to produce an effect 

 advantageous to the animal. He divided the subject into eight parts, as follows :— 



