THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



117 



necessary to watch them for days, or perhaps 

 weeks, the aid of a second person would be 

 necessary. He began, say at nine in the morn- 

 ing, and, without ever taking his eyes from the 

 microscope under which the animals were con- 



1 fined, by four in the afternoon he would begin 

 to get fagged. So he got the assistance of 

 Dr. Drysdale, of Liverpool, and by having a 

 common bed, and a bell over it that could be 

 rung from the microscope, they managed to 

 relieve each other and thus e^ect a continuous 

 observation. He then described at length the 

 various transformations of two particular 

 kinds of monads which they had observed. 

 fPhese little animals were simple oval bodies 

 with four whips at one end ; they darted 

 about with astonishing rapidity, but some 

 times one would begin to divide, and in a very 

 short time (about a minute) the division 

 would be complete and there would be two 

 animals instead of on-. Another phase in 

 their development was that two would come 

 in contact and like two drops of quicksilver 

 would fuze into one mass. This would in a 

 short time assume an oval lorm and remain 

 rrujet, then suddenly, as if cut with an in- 

 visible knife, it would split in two. and im- 

 mense quantities of little egg specks would 



I issue forth, from which other perfect animals 



! were developed. When he fu st made these 

 liscoveries he communicated with Professor 

 Huxley, and he had made calculations which 

 showed that if we took a single monad and 

 placed it under favourable conditions, in three 



■ hours it would give rise to more progeny than 

 there are at present people on the globe. 

 Although the perfect animals may be killed 

 by boiling, yet he had found that in the egg 

 state some would develop after being subjected 

 :n a heat of 300 degrees Far. Me believed 

 ;hat in every case life was only produced by 

 ae-existing life. He had no fear of spon- 

 taneous generation, as he hoped no member of 

 hat audience had. nor indeed of any truth, 

 'O matter whence it came or whither it may 

 ead. 



The lecture, of which the above is an 



abstract, was delivered by the Rev. \V. H. 

 Dallinger, of Liverpool, at Huddersfield 

 and was the first of a coure of six Gilchrist 

 Science Lectures. About 800 people were 

 present. 



LEPIDOPTERA IN 

 FEBRUARY. 



The useful papers we are now publishing, 

 by Mr. C. S. Gregson, render it unnecessary 

 for us to write at great length with reference 

 to such of the species occurring each month 

 as are named in them. Some of our readers 

 have thought we were not pursuing a wise 

 course in taking our list from Mr. Merrin 's 

 catalogue, but we are of opinion that most 

 useful results will follow, as in the case of 

 C. Chamemilla -, where the notes sent us by 

 various observers have quite settled the 

 question of its non-occurrence at the end of 

 the year. As yet the list is a very short one, 

 only eleven species being given. Those 

 emerging this month are : — 



Ekiogastkr Lankstris. — The Small 

 Eggar : This is an abundant insect where- 

 ever it occurs, and is very generally dis- 

 tributed throughout the country, though not 



i common in Scotland. It is more generally 

 obtained in the larva state, which are very 

 conspicuous in hedges, as they are gregarious 

 to the last, and spin a large web where they 

 feed. The imago may sometimes be obtained 



J on tree trunks, or palings near hedges. 



Amphidasis Prodromaria. — The Oak 

 Beauty : We are doubtful whether this 

 species really emerges before March, and 

 will defer what we have to say about it till 



| that month. If any of our readers take it 



j during this month we shall be glad to know. 



| Nyssia Hispidaria. — The Small Brindled 

 Beauty : This rather scarce insect emerges 

 during February, and continues out during 

 March, and both sexes may be found on 

 the trunks of oak trees in those places where 

 it occurs. It is widely spread, being recorded 

 from both Hampshire and Yorkshire. 



