•i22 On Sterility in ihe Cherry 
and in its vindication proA'es it to be a cannibal or insect-eater, and 
therefore conceived it probable that it fed on the real destroyer, which 
is a Chafer, Melolontlm ruficoanis, a considerable number of which, 
were found to infest the corn fields, in company with the Zabrvs, 
the latter of which, Mr. Stephens thinks, instead of being depreda- 
tors, actually prevented the Chafer from becoming more numerous, 
and consequently more destructive. Another interesting insect in this 
family is the Ancliomenus prminer,vAi\ch., like the Bombardier, com- 
bats its enemies with both smoke and noise. 
Family VI. — BembiidiciT. — Contains 10 genera. The genus 
Bemhidium, may be found in humid places, as the banks of rivers, 
and ponds. 
Familv VII. — ElaphridfE. — Contains 3 genera. The Blethiza 
muhipunctata, or Many-Spotted Blethiza, may be met with in mo- 
rasses. 
. (^To be Continued.') 
Article III. — On the Causes of Sterility in some species of 
Cherry. Communicated by Professor Rennie. 
M. DuTROCHET, presented to the Academie des Sciences, of Paris, 
Reflections on the cause which occasions barrenness in certain species 
of Cherry. "These species," says M. Dutrochet, "are true hy- 
brids, which issue from the Common Cherrj', (Prunus cerasus,) and 
the Black-heart Cherry, or Mazard, (Prunus Avium,) and in all hy- 
brids there is in general a tendency to sterility. This is not less true 
in the vegetable kingdom than in the animal kingdom, although the 
fact is not so generally known." M. Dutrochet has been occupied in 
searching into the immediate causes of this sterility in Cherry trees, 
the fruit of which is subject to fall off, and has discovered, that, for the 
most part, the flowers of these ti'ees have stamina unprovided with 
pollen, — that their antheree form a compact and clammy mass, which 
doies not pulverize into a fertilizing dust, as is the case in productive 
species. — Annates des Sciences Naturelles. 
J. R. 
