naturalists’ calendar. 
333 
fact might probably be ascertained from divestingthe flower of the honey by per¬ 
forating the nectarine with a needle, for the nectarious juice would then exude, 
and the flower be less injured than by excision or cutting off. It would thus be 
discovered whether there were any pollen in the antherae, or any moisture on the 
stigma. This experiment ought to be performed immediately on the corolla 
opening, at which period the nectary begins to secrete its honey. It appears 
probable that the pollen of flowers is the finer parts of the honey, which, evapo¬ 
rating by the heat of the sun, is reduced to the state of farina.*—E. G. Ballard. 
Molluscous Animals. —In hedges and other shady situations, the Helix 
hortensis, or garden snail, (fig. 6) is common. It is rather smaller than the Helix 
nemoralis, page 4, but much resembles it both in shape and colour, and although 
it feeds on similar provisions it is not so destructive. In stagnant waters and 
slowly running ditches may be found the Planorbis carinatus, (fig. 7) Limneus 
elongatus (10) and Limneus fragilis (11). The first of these is a horn coloured 
shell, transparent, and nearly flat on both sides; it is hardly half an inch in 
diameter, with five volutions, the outer one growing suddenly larger. The second, 
Limneus elongatus, is of a brownish colour, and is often an inch or more long, 
regularly tapering, with seven or eight volutions or windings. The Limneus 
fragilis is of a yellowish colour, thin and transparent, nearly an inch long, and 
tapers to a very sharp point. In rivers and ponds, wherein the Nymphaeae grow, 
the Limneus Scaturipinum (9) abounds. This shell is small, scarcely half a line 
long, and extremely thin and brittle. It may be found on the under side of the 
leaves of the Nymphaea alba, and not uncommonly on the Nuphar (Nymphaea) 
lutea, the common white and yellow water lillies. The Cyclostoma productum, 
(8) is a very scarce shell. It is of a pale straw-yellow colour, and is about f of 
an inch long, and a little more than half an inch broad. These are occasionally 
to be met with on the sea coast. The river Thames furnishes an abundance of 
the Cyclas rivico’.a (12). This is the largest species of the family, sometimes 
measuring three quarters of an inch in breadth. It is covered with a dark horny 
green epidermis, under which it is dead white; the inside is bluish. 
Insects. —It has been said of our butterflies, that the natural length of their 
existence amounts to a whole year, because, occasionally, during the spring or 
winter, a specimen is met with some months after the usual time of their first 
appearance. Such instances are not in accordance with their general habits, but 
arise from accidental causes, such as the insect not having been able to meet with 
a male and propagate its kiud. This is one of the most common causes of the pro¬ 
longation of life among insects; nature supports them seemingly with the hope 
that they may yet succeed in finding one. f Solitarius. 
Cheap Cases for Preserved Insects. —Cut a sheet of milled board into a 
folio size, square it round the edges and cover it on one side, for the back, with 
neat coloured paper. The other side, on which you intend to lay the specimens, \ 
cover with a paper corresponding in colour with the ground colour of the insects 
to be preserved. Then cut some boards into slips, about half an inch wide, and 
of a thickness to correspond with the body of the insects. Cover them with 
leather, and glue them round the edge of the other board, which will form a sort 
of drawer. Having made as many of these drawers of an equal size as will be 
convenient to be put together, string them at the back with whipcord, and bind 
them with an open back similar to a book. In each of these drawers gum the 
specimens. I B. Fawcett. 
* Field Nat. Mag. + Field Nat. Mag. t Mag. Nat. Hist. 
