202 



THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



1 



And wandering on through blooming fields, 

 Beceives the tribute each flower yields. 



Thus love rules all, it is the heart, 

 Whence all our springs of life impart— 

 The never-failing fountain head, 

 From which all other springs are fed. 



The universe eontaihs no place 

 That has been left without its grace, 

 And beauties o'er the picture laid 

 In countless tints of life and shade. 



I'll never Nature bid farewell, 

 Thou ever in my brain shall dwell, 

 Till mind shall overgrow its clay, 

 And lift its garments to decay. 



Since my return to Wakefield in 1881, I 

 have frequently had the pleasure of his 

 company, and though in failing health, his 

 desire seemed ever onward in hopes of 

 making his collection of birds as complete 

 as possible. But as time brings all things 

 to an end, there comes the closing scene to 

 James Varley. I believe I would be the 

 last amongst his many friends who visited 

 him at Woasley. With what a fervent 

 shake of the band he welcomed my visit, it 

 can never be forgotten ; and the hour spent 

 in talking over his ideas in regard to his 

 collection. He seemed quite happy and 

 resigned to the belief that he should never 

 again see Almondbury, Twelve o'clock soon 

 came (the appointed time for visitors to 

 leave, when I bid him good-bye, soon to 

 follow him to his last resting place. 



G«ORGE Parkin, 



BEITISH MOTHS. 



By John E. Robson. 



The Genus HEPIALUS. 

 The present genus is one of the best 

 marked in all the British fauna. The larvae, 

 pupae, and imagines are all easily recognised ; 

 and whether on the wing or in the cabinet, 

 the insects are readily distinguished from 

 all others. Even in the egg state they have 

 certain peculiarities of their own that are 



not combined in the ova of any other genus. ! 

 They are always very small in size compared 1 

 with that of the insect. When first deposited \ 

 they are quite colourless, but turn black in ! 

 a very few hours. They are not covered j 

 with any viscid or gummy substance, 

 causing them to adhere readily to anything [ 

 with which they may come in contact, but ■ 

 being quite dry they fall readily to the very | 

 bottom of the grass or herbage, their mi- ; 

 nuteness, too, helping them in their down- j 

 ward course. As the larvae live below the 

 surface of the earth, feeding on roots or 

 underground stems, this is an evident advan- i 

 tage to the larvae when they first emerge, j 

 for however well they may be adapted for \ 

 travelling in their underground burrows, they 

 move awkwardly on the surface, and could j 

 not easily climb about the stems and grass j 

 blades. It is difficult to speak with certainty ! 

 of the habits of larvae whose entire life is 

 passed underground, and some of them, if ^ 

 not all, have the greatest possible antipathy 

 to light, and will scarcely bear examination ; j 

 yet the lives of some of them have been i 

 carefully investigated and are fully known, i 

 All of them pass more than one year in the | 

 larva state, but, so far as is known, they all 

 emerge the second year. They are all of i 

 pale colours and have horny plates on the • 

 second segment. Those that I have seen 

 appear small in proportion to the size of 

 the insect ; but this is more apparent than 

 real, for the bodies of the imagines are but i 

 slender, and it is the great expanse of wing 1 

 that makes them look so large. But my ■ 

 own personal experience of their earlier 

 stages is but scanty, and much of what is to i 

 follow is given on the authority of various \ 

 observers. The pupa is very long in pro- i 

 portion to its width, and the covers to the i 

 wing cases appear remarkably short. The 

 abdomen is considerably extended and each \ 

 joint fringed with a ring of short stiff points | 

 pointing backwards, which, no doubt, assist \ 

 them in forcing themselves to the surface I 



