THE ENTOMOLOGIST'S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
86 
districts are immeasurably the most pro- 
lific; hence, the second tiling appealed 
to should he a geological map of Eng- 
land and Wales. The Surrey hills, about 
Reigate and Mickleham, are composed 
entirely of chalk, and are exceedingly 
rich in these minute attendants upon the 
ants: it was there that the scarce Sta- 
phylinus lalebricola, Grav., was captured 
by Mr. Janson; and the portion of them 
which branches eastward, forming the 
higher regions of Kent, and terminating 
in the cliffs of Dover, would probably be 
found equally productive. Beyond 
Bromley, also, and near Farnborough, 
there is an exhaustless field for action ; 
and it was in a high valley, near the 
latter, in the parish of Down, that Mr. 
Wollaston detected nine specimens of the 
Claviger testaceus and one of the Ho- 
mceusa acuminata (then new as British, 
though he has since taken a series of it 
in the same spot) beneath a single stone 
overtopping a colony of the Formica 
fusca. 
The Bedfordshire range, again, is 
nearly unexplored ; and, although within 
a two hours’ ride ,of the mighty Babylon, 
we believe that few, if any, of our Lon- 
don adventurers have ever wandered over 
it. The chalky slopes, indeed, about 
Dunstable, — Dunstable, the most quiet, 
stupid, retrograde, melancholy, unvisited 
of towns, known only to us, now-a-days, 
as the metropolis of straw bonnets, of 
which it is the “ generic area of diffu- 
sion,” — are innumerable, and rise to a 
considerable height ; nevertheless, being 
well nigh cleared of the flints which are 
scattered so profusely over most of the 
kindred spots on the surface of our downs 
and wolds, and which form the “ sheet- 
anchor,’’ as it were, of the Coleopterist’s 
hope, there is less to be expected from 
them, d priori, than from the more fa- 
voured localities above alluded to. 
Perhaps the most promising district of 
all, however, is that around Pangbourne, 
in Berkshire, which may be reached in 
an hour and a half by the Great \V est- 
ern, and where everything combines to 
render it the beau ideal of a chalky Para- 
dise. The rare Niliduta marginata, of 
ant-infesting tendency, we have ourselves 
taken there ; and there can be but little 
doubt that a diligent research (greater 
than ours) would bring many treasures to 
light. It has the advantage, moreover, 
of being a first-rate collecting-ground for 
other kinds of game likewise ; so that the 
Coleopterist, if he be unsucce-sful amongst 
the ants, cau fill his bottles for certain 
by betaking himself to the net. The rich 
and swampy meadows on the banks of 
the Thames, at the immediate base of the 
hills, teem with life; whilst the extensive 
woods which clothe the slopes (in which 
spring-guns and man-traps are but sel- 
dom, if ever, sei) give an additional 
charm to this blessed entomological pre- 
serve. 
As to the other soil in which the Myr- 
rnecophili may be said more peculiarly to 
flourish, namely, sand, we will merely re- 
commend our readers to peruse Mr. Jan- 
sen’s remarks, feeling assured that the 
glorious array of species (including, inter 
alias, the singular little Haterius sesqui- 
cornis) which he has marshalled forth, 
from beneath our very noses, at Hamp- 
stead, will satisfy the most stubborn 
amongst us (and who, alas! is so hard to 
be convinced as Bull?) that we need not 
rush to the Land’s End for a plentiful 
supply of game. lL would seem, indeed, 
to be practically supposed that the fur- 
ther we travel for our specimens the more 
we shall obtain. This, however, is a 
false conclusion, based upon wrong pre- 
mises, and is contrary to experience ; and 
the holders of such a doctrine would do 
well to look to their evidence. Facta 
docent. 
Junior Entomological Society. — 
The preliminary meeting of the Junior 
Entomological Society of London will 
