250 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 0. 
of short- grass, in which there was a considerable 
heat. I did not think more of them until a few days 
afterwards, when, passing the heap, I observed soed-pods 
forming on them; I then removed them, cut a small 
portion of the lower end off each spike, and placed them 
in wet sand, under glass, for about four weeks, when I 
considered the seed to have been ripened. I then took 
them out of the sand, and laid them carefully aside to 
dry for a few days. I afterwards removed the seed-pods 
from the stems, and kept them till the middle of April 
last, when I sowed the seeds on a hotbed under glass, 
and have now the satisfaction of seeing upwards of 
sixty line, healthy, young plants, the produce of my 
friend’s noble flowers, which so deservedly carried off 
the first prize at the exhibition alluded to.” 
The June Meeting of the Entomological Society was 
well attended, although the unpropitious w’eather of the 
preceding six weeks had had a very visible effect upon 
the extent of the captures of rare insects, of which 
much fewer novolties and rarities were exhibited than 
is ordinary at this season. W. W. Saunders, Esq., 
F.L.S., Vice President, was in the chair. 
Amongst the donations, a fine collection of insects 
of all orders, from Burmab, presented by Mrs. Hamilton, 
was especially noticeable. It contained many rare, and 
several new, species, including a new Goliath beetle, 
allied to Naryouis ; the female only had been received, 
but, from analogy with Naryouis opalus, the male will 
most probably have a pair of long porrected horns on 
the head. An especial vote of thanks was unanimously 
passed in acknowledgment of this and several donations 
of a similar character from the samo lady, by whom, 
also, a number of beautiful drawings of the transforma¬ 
tions of various Indian Lepidoptera were exhibited. 
Mr. Samuol Stevens exhibited a moth, belonging to 
the genus Leucanea, affixed to a blade of grass by a 
fungus which had grown from its body. This fact was 
of some interest in connection with the growth of the 
fungus in the bodies of living silkworms, by which so 
many are destroyed; the disease being known by the 
name of Muscardlne, and consisting of a white fungoid 
powder bursting forth all over the surface of the body. 
Mr. Stevens also exhibited a fly, which had been im¬ 
paled upon the sharp point of a reed by the wind. 
Insects impaled on thorns had often been observed, and 
their position in such situations bad been attributed to 
the Butcher bird; but several recent observations 
rendered it certain that in some instances they were 
impaled by the force of the wind. Mr. S. Stevens also 
exhibited a specimen of the Maple prominent moth, 
Notodonta cucullina, bred from the larva taken at Halton, 
Bucks; and stated that he had been successful in 
obtaining a brood of caterpillars from the eggs deposited 
by the female of the very rare Notodonta eannelita, 
which he had exhibited alive at the last meeting, from 
Sherwood Forest. 
Mr. I. Smith exhibited some rare Hymenoptera, sent 
from Perthshire by Mr. Weaver; amongst them were 
specimens of Osmia panctina, obtained from a nest 
found beneath a stone; an apparently new species of ■ 
Andrena ; and a vareity of Andrena clerckella, identical i 
with specimens from Nova Scotia, in the British 
Museum collection, which he had considered as a j 
distinct species. 
Mr. Jansen exhibited two boxes of Coleopterous insects, ' 
also received from Mr. Foxeroft, including the following | 
rare beetles— Slater lytliropterus, of Germar ( E . san- ! 
yuineus, of English authors, but not of Linnaeus), E. \ 
impressus, of Fabricuis, but not of Marsham; Pogons- 
clterus fasciculatus, Dictyopteryx aurora, Sericosomus 
Irunneus and fugax, &c.; also a specimen of the larva 
of Polia tincta, with two fungoid excrescences, emitted 
from the head of tho insect whilst alive, which were 
said to be as green as grass when they first appeared. 
Mr. Douglas exhibited specimens of Elachista cerueella, 
lately reared from the larva state; and Mr. Boyd, 
specimens of Elachista treitschhiella, reared from the 
Cornus sanguineus, within the leaves of which the young 
caterpillars burrow whilst very young, afterwards form¬ 
ing small, flat, oval, movablo cases of bits of tho leaves, 
within which they pass the winter still in the larva j 
state. 
Mr. Westwood communicated a prospectus of an 
Entomological excursion proposed to be made in the 
north of Scotland, by Mr. Elmslie, who requested 
subscribers for his collections. He also read a paper 
containing descriptions of various new species of 
Goliath beetles; and exhibited some eocoons of a 
species of Silk Moth, recently imported in considerable 
numbers into Malta from India, whore it is said to 
thrive extremely well. The silk has the disagreeable 
advantage of being so strong that it will scarcely wear 
out; which will, of course, not render it a favourite 
either with the manufacturers or the ladies. The 
specimens were communicated by Dr. Templeton, who 
stated that considerable difficulty was experienced in 
unwinding the silk from the cocoons, so that a more 
expeditious mode of unwinding the threads was a de¬ 
sideratum. Tho Chairman stated, however, that he 
had recently been in communication with a gentleman, 
resident near Genova, who had requested from him 
samples of the different kinds of Indian silk, such as 
had been sent by the East India Company to the Great 
Exhibition of 1851, as he had succeeded in unwinding 
all the kinds of silk of which he had been able to form 
cocoons. This discovery would, therefore, be of great 
value when applied to the silk in question, which would, 
doubtless, be thus rendered extensively useful. 
WALL FRUIT-TREES IN JULY. 
Tuts month may bo considered the most important 
in the whole year to trained fruit-trees; those who I 
neglect them now, will be talking about bad setting, 
blights, &c., next April and Mn.y. I am quite aware, 
that such severe visitations of untoward weather as we ! 
have experienced for a spring or two may baffle, in some ; 
degree, the best of practice; but unless Englishmen are [ 
content to give up the fruit question, to confess a want 
