74 



The Naturalist. 



gathered a few things here, intending to almost " put the last straw on 

 the camel's back " as we returned — little thinking that we should be 

 on the hill after dark. We also collected a few lichens, including 

 GoUema nigresceiis ; the remainder are as yet unexamined. 



When we had gone through the stream, and commenced the real 

 climb, we saw the Racomitria in all their alpine glory — Racomitrimn 

 p'otenmm^ heterosticJium^ and lanuqinosiim adorning the granite 

 boulders ; while on the rocks near the stream R. ellipticum, fasciculare, 

 and aciculare, along with Blindia acuta, began to vie with each other 

 as to which should be master of the masses of rock we were compelled 

 to climb : and further up the hill, Racomitrimn sudeticimi^ Hedwigia 

 ciliaia, Ulota SutcJiirma, Sphagnum ruhe.llum, Hypnum revolvens, 

 SpJioeropJioro7i coralloides and Jungermannia capitata put in an appear- 

 ance. We now found AlcJiemAUa alpina, Saxifraga oppositifolia, 

 S. aizoides, Anfennaria dioica, Arctodapliylos Uva-ursi, Oxyria reni- 

 formis, RhyncJiospora alba, Polypodium PJiegopteris, Sphagnum contortum, 

 and Campylopus atrovirens. We had next a very awkward climb, and 

 just as my companion had rounded a precipitous corner and got out of 

 view, I heard a loud crash, and a lot of stones went down into the 

 roaring cataract below. For a moment I was in agony, as I was in a 

 very awkward situation, and I imagined that my companion had 

 rolled into the torrent below. I shouted, and shouted again, but the 

 only answer was the roar of the tumbling rill beneath. However, I 

 hastened as fast as the abutting rocks would allow me, round the 

 same corner, and felt an indescribable pleasure in seeing him in a. 

 much safer position than I was in. We here gathered Silene maritima, 

 S. acaule, Epilobium alpinum, Saxifraga stellaris^ GnapJialium supinum, 

 G. sylvaticum, Andrecea alpina, A. petrophila, Bryum filiformej B. alpi- 

 mmj Nardia scalaris, Scapania suhalpina, and Vermicularia dematium. 

 ( To he continued. ) 



THE ICHNEUMONID^. 



( Continued,) 

 By Chas. H. H. Walker. 



The IchneumonidcB is a very large family, containing about 1,190 

 species, but is inferior in point of numbers to the Chalcididce, whigh 

 possesses an additional 170 species. They — that is to say, the 

 Ichneiimonida — are exclusively parasitic on other insects, and are the 

 great agents for preventing the extreme and ultimately disastrous 

 increase of the insect creation. 



