OBSERVATIONS, 



99 



with Clausilia rugosa, var. duhia, Jeff., 

 in latitude 54 deg. 11 min. north, that is 

 betwixt Kipon and Masham, I have no 

 doubt if that locality were well searched 

 shells might be found in great abundance. 

 — J. Blackbuen, Leeds, Oct, 22, 1866, 



Scarcity of Butterflies in 1866. — The 

 summer of 1865 was peculiarly favourable 

 for the production of lepidopterous insects, 

 but the past one seems to have been just 

 the opposite, for in the neighbourhood of 

 Plymouth some of our common butterflies 

 have appeared only in small numbers. I 

 may mention the Lesser Tortoiseshell, Va- 

 nessa urticce, as one of those that have not 

 been as abundant as usual, and I think the 

 Meadow Brown, Hipparchia Janira, also, 

 Avhilst the less common 'Rhi^e,t,Hi2jparcliia 

 Hyperanthus has been scarce indeed, and 

 that gay production of the autumnal sea- 

 son the Clouded Yellow, Colias Eclusa, I 

 have not seen at all. This insect occasion- 

 ally appears here in considerable numbers, 

 but more frequently in no very great abun- 

 dance, though rarely is it that none are 

 seen. In 1865, it and the Painted Lady, 

 Cynthia Cardui, were two of the common 

 butterflies of the season, and flitted about 

 until the end of October. The graceful 

 Humming Bird Hawk Moth, Macroglossa 

 stellatarum, was that summer constantly 

 hovering above Blue Salvias, and other 

 nectar-secreting flowers in our garden, but 

 throughout thi§ it has been so scarce, that 

 I have not seen a dozen specimens. One 

 butterfly, the lovely Azure Blue, Polyom- 

 matus argiolus, appeared in August last, 

 in numbers unusual for the second brood, 

 which seems generally to be less numerous 

 than the April one, and in some j^ears not 

 to be produced at all. — T, E. Aechee 

 Briggs, 10, Torrington Place, Plymouth, 

 October 12th, 1866. 



Cidaris papillata in the Stomach of a 

 Cod. — I have lately seen two fine speci- 

 mens of the " Piper Urchin" Cidaris 

 papillata which was taken from the sto- 



mach of a cod a few weeks ago, at the deep 

 sea fishing, about twenty-five miles !N".E, 

 of Unst. Although both specimens were 

 of course much injured, the great length of 

 the spines, some of 'which measured two 

 inches and a quarter from root to tip, left 

 no doubt as to their species. One can 

 scarcely imagine a more uninviting morsel 

 than a piper urchin, yet neither of these 

 had apparently caused any trouble, for 

 when first discovered in the stomach of the 

 cod, half of the large spines which still 

 remained attached to the shell were 

 doubled forward towards the mouth of the 

 fish. This species seems to be rare even in 

 Shetland, at least it is seldom brought 

 ashore, for although the Yell and North 

 Marine men occasionally bring them up on 

 their hooks along with numerous varieties 

 of corals and sponges, yet, notwithstanding 

 the certainty of a handsome reward if they 

 would only preserve them, they unhesi- 

 tatingly threw them overboard for fear of 

 destroying the " luck" of the boat. I have 

 now and then managed to procure speci- 

 mens, but these have soon become spoilt 

 by the dropping ofi" of the spines. Per- 

 haps some reader of the Naturalist will 

 kindly suggest a means of preventing this 

 in future. — Henry L. Saxby, Baltasound, 

 Shetland, October 9th, 1866. 



Geranium striatum, L. wild in Cornwall, 

 — During the month of July I had the 

 good fortune to find this plant in no less 

 than three distinct localities in Cornwall ; 

 twice at Penzance, and once in a hedge -row 

 between Wadebridge and St. Teath, in 

 North Cornwall. As regards the Penzance 

 localities, in one of them it certainly could 

 not be else than wild, being far away from 

 both houses and gardens. This is likewise 

 the case with the Wadebridge specimens. 

 I do not myself see the slightest reason for 

 excluding it from our Flora ;^ although I 

 have observed that some authors entirely 

 omit it, and others just mention it casually, 

 as having been found as an escape from a 

 garden, &c. Hooker and Arnott observe, 



