been to poets and writers of every class, the author set 
I forth as the object of his paper, firstly, to give a brief 
j account of the natural history of the glow-worm, gathered 
i from various sources, as well as from his own observation; 
I secondly, to mention the opinion of different authors con- 
I cerning the nature and source of the so-called phosphorescent 
light; and lastly, to record a few observations which be 
had himself made or verified after others on the anatomical 
structure of the glow-worm, and of such chemical and 
physiological experiments as appeared to offer a rational 
explanation of the striking phenomenon of insect illumina- 
tion. It is to this last division of Dr. Fripp's paper that the 
greater portion of our report will be devoted.— 1. The light- 
I emitting insects of Europe form three families, Lampyris, 
I Phosphaeaio, Luciola, The glow-worm belongs to the first. 
Lampyris noctiluca is the species abundant in England, 
I Belgium, and the ISTorth of France; but there are several 
; others, especially in America. The main characteristic 
feature of the family is the expansion of the prothorax over 
the head, wbick is quite concealed, and invaginated within 
the buccal integument as in a pouch— an oblong oval 
i flittened body, covered with a soft cbitinskin; the male 
I small and winged, displaying foursmall luminous points, two 
on eich of the two last segments. The females lay eggs at the 
end of July, the larviB are hatched in a few weeks, and, livmg 
throuijh thd winter, develop into adults in the sprin;^, as a 
! predaceous insect, existing on minute ra'>llusea, In June 
j they assume the nymph state for a week; the female form 
I preserve* that of the larva, being ap-erous, and when mature 
j become* entirely herbivorous, this change being accompanied 
by a corresp )nding variation in the structure of the alitnen- 
i tary, muscular, and nervous svstems. — II. The author then 
read a longdescripcion, by Professor Kolliker, of the anatomy 
j and physiology of the illuminating organs, showing that they 
had all essentially the same structure, consisting of a capsule, 
' parenchyme of cells, tracheae (or air passages); and nerves; 
that the shining was dependent on the volition of the insect ; 
that the duration of irritability of the organs is, under 
favourable circumstances, considerable; and that he (Pro- 
fessor Kolliker) concluded that the illuminating organs were 
a nerve apparatus, and found their nearest analogy in the 
electrical organs of other animals. Observations by 
Matteucci and R )bert3 were then described, who considered 
the phosphorescence as resembling the phenomenon of com- 
bustion, though no sensible heat was evolved; by Scboetyla, 
who believed that it was actually due to phosphorous; by 
■ Thornton Herapath, who, unable to detect phosphorus, 
] thought the light due to a compound of carbon and hydrogen 
j secrer.ed in a special gland; by Carus, by Macartney, and by 
I Dr. Phipson, who considered that the luminosity could be 
directly traced to the instinct of the insect, through the 
correlative forces, electricity and nervous force; and Dr. 
Fripp then read an extract from Dr. Carpenter's Puysiology 
to show that these instinctive manifestations partook more 
of the nature of the so-called reflex actions dependent upon 
external stimali than of really voluntary movements. — 
111. The author then proceeded to describe more in de- 
tail his own observations and opinions. lie first of all 
enlarged upon the great difference between the male 
and female Lampyris in the alimentary canal, the 
male possessing a very strong gizzard, and stomach 
with rough muscular coats, with a long intestine 
folded on itself, besides a large mass of glands and gland 
cells at the point of junction of the two; while the female 
had no gizzird, a smooth stomach, straight intestine, fewer 
glands, and a large oviduct, llis special attention, however, 
had been given to the investigation of the light organ, and 
of the peculiar greasy substance surrounding it, noticed 
under various names by several observers. In the larva, 
the light organ appeared as a capsula inclosing cells with 
indistinct nuclei, just like a granule or simple nerve cell. A 
further development showed an aggregation of small cells, 
