THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
63 
sisting of Members resident in town, to 
devise a plan for procuring space suited 
to tlie growing wants and prosperity of 
tbe Society ; and then, if the Members 
would each give their two or three 
guineas (in addition to what the surplus 
funds may admit of), we should no longer 
have to complain of such a drawback, to 
say the least of it, as that of the wretched 
“ meeting-room ” of the Entomological 
Society of London. 
I am. Sir, 
Yours faithfully, 
John Garland, 
Dorchester, F.L.S. 
November 3, 1858. 
THE UNWELCOME GUEST. 
To the Editor of the ‘Intelligencer,' 
Sir, — On looking over the pages of the 
‘Intelligencer,’ one thing is apparent to 
me, — namely, that much is to be learnt 
from it of the public career of many of 
my friends and acquaintances. You 
carefully enutnei-ate such spots as are 
likely to be frequented by us, mentioning 
by name such as we are knowm to be at, 
or at which we have taken up our tem- 
porary abode, but you don’t appear to 
have many correspondents who furnish 
you with particulars concerning our pri- 
vate lives; so it appears to me that any 
information on that head would be a 
novelty, and highly acceptable to your 
readers. 
Ah, sir! you know little of our mis- 
fortunes! — little'do you think how sad, 
how keen, are some of our afflictions. In 
my last communication, I mentioned a 
particular friend of mine, the gentle and 
inoffensive Mrs. Muscorum. Poor thing ! 
she called on me the other day, the tears 
standing in her eyes, to relate a most sad 
and pitiable case. Her intimate friend, 
she said, Mrs. Scrimshiranus, had just 
lost the greater part of her family. One 
day, when some of her household were 
busily engaged feeding her young ones, 
whilst others were abroad collecting food 
for that purpose, a stranger entered the 
dwelling of Mrs. Scrimshiranus, — great 
consternation was caused by the for- 
midable appearance of the “ unwelcome 
guest;” her head, horns, legs and body 
were black ; her chest red ; and there 
were three silvery stripes across her body 
behind ; and the creature had an enor- 
mous long sting. She had no wings, so 
that Mrs. Scrimshiranus was quite cer- 
tain she was not in any way connected 
with even her most distant relatives ; the 
intruder, however, exhibited no signs of 
hostility ; she looked quietly about the 
premises, and at last even expressed a, 
desire to see the young family. She 
fondled, caressed, and showed other signs 
of attachment towards them ; she was 
therefore allowed to remain and roam 
about the dwelling. After a few days’ 
stay amongst them, her curiosity being 
apparently gratified, she took her de- 
parture, not having molested any one. 
A week or two passed, and the “ un- 
welcome guest” was forgotten. One 
morning a slight noise was heard, as if 
some of the young bees were attempting 
to escape from their beds ; two or three 
of the household ran to their assistance, 
helping to cut off the silken end of their 
covering; they had no sooner done so 
than — terrible to relate — a strange and 
dreadful creature put out its head ! It 
was black and hairy, had two long horns 
and dreadful eyes, notched on the inside, 
which gave it a horrible aspect ; on its 
crawling further out it was seen to have 
wings, and a blood-red patch on its back ; 
on quite emerging they at once saw it 
had silver bands on its body, like the 
“ unwelcome guest.” All was now con- 
fusion ; the treacherous guest had, un- 
observed, deposited eggs in the beds, and 
as soon as the young bees were asleep, 
the monsters were born which had de- 
voured them. Great as the consternation 
