244 [^'ovemb 
took the insect "in August," but it should be " in June." Mr. McLachlau won 
appear to think that it must have come from a distance, but there is plenty 
water about Highgate — the seven large ponds communicating with each other, 1 
instance, besides other pools, with reeds, rushes, &c., growing in them. — H. Pryi 
Dipterous larvce voided by the human suhject. — The enclosed larva was sent 
me from Gloucester to be named ; can yon assist me ? It was taken from betwe 
the bed-sheets of an old imbecile patient who was very dirty in his habits. Durii 
life it was of a faint cream-colour, with a black spot on the head. It was ve 
active. — G. J. Heaeder, Joint Counties Asylum, Carmarthen, Aug. 27th, 1868. 
[This larva is evidently Dipterous, and Professor Westwood, to whom ^ 
submitted it, says it is that of an Anthoynyia (Muscidce), and was no doubt voidi 
from the intestines of the patient. Similar instances ai'e recorded in his " Inti 
duction," vol. ii., p. 571, and a table of the numerous records of Like occurrenc 
may be found in a paper by the Eev. F. W. Hope, in the Transactions of the Ent 
mological Society of London, ser. 1, vol. ii., pp. 266-268, in which the fanciful ter 
" Myasis " is used to denote the supposed disease occasioned by Dipterous larv 
in man. Their presence is no doubt due to depraved and vicious appetite. Th( 
live naturally in animal excrement, decayed vegetable matters, &c. — Eds. J 
On the Natural History of Acronycta alni. — On Monday evening, July 20tli, 
was looking over some standard roses growing upon a bank on one side of the dri 
in front of this house, when I noticed upon a leaf what appeared to be a rece 
deposit of the same nature as that, which proved so injurious to Tobit's eyesigi 
A nearer inspection, however, resolved it into a nondescript Lepidopterous lar^ 
half doubled round upon itself, and resting upon a slight silken pad. I w 
endeavour to describe it. Its length was about 10 lines : head small, dark brow 
somewhat deeply notched above : body rather slender, of uniform thickness : colo 
dark dirty brown, gradually paler towards the belly, except the last three segmeni 
which were white, with the ground colour faintly showing through : upon ea 
segment were conspicuous black warts, small but conspicuously raised, bcarii 
short slender brown bristles of the ordinary type, except those on the post-capit 
Begment, which were slightly clubbed. Legs sixteen. Whole body very glosfl 
appearing as if varnished. | 
I confess that I was quite at fault, and unable to " put a name on " tl 
creature (as they say in the Isle of Man), even after consulting every availab 
book ; and I must regret that I did not at the moment indite a more minute de 
cription of this — the early stage, which seems to be little known, of a famoi 
caterpillar, for before morning it had efiFected a wondrous transformation iudeei 
and appeared as a full-blown and unmistakeable larva of A. alni. 
Its sombre garb doffed, and in due course devoured, after the manner of ii 
kind, my capture presented itself to my delighted eyes in black velvet suit, broad] 
slashed with gold, and bristling with those pecidiar tags which are the distil 
guishing badge of A. alni in embryo. For food, it at once selected the leaves of th 
lime from the many submitted to its choice rejecting entirely those of the rose, upo 
which it was found, and of the Spanish chestnut, which was the nearest tree wheno 
