850 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 11. 
or niay I not, in the names of such sufferers, and their name 
Legion, in all fairness, demand—that the committees of 
our large shows employ every possible means in their power 
to avoid the constant recurrence of the evils of which there 
is so much reason to complain. 
“Pray do, Sir, agitate this matter, and use your personal 
and extended editorial influence with the view of effecting 
for us a better management of these things.—W. C. G-. 
“ Wednesday. 
“ The above was written too late for yesterday’s post; and 
I open my letter to say—and I greatly rejoice to be able to 
do so — that the watery running from the nostrils of my 
returned birds has to-day almost disappeared, but in one, 
which on its arrival seemed to be the worst sufferer, there is 
still some thick discharge from one nostril.” 
To the preceding letter we ask the effective attention 
of every committee man of every poultry exhibition. 
If such effective attention he not given, then will come 
the inevitable conclusions—no valuable birds will be 
exhibited, and poultry exhibitions will then deservedly 
close. There is not a word in Dr. Gwynne’s letter but 
should find an applauding echo from Bingley Hall to 
Baker Street, for every word is a word of friendly 
warning—unexaggerating the error it condemns, aud 
uttered “ more in sorrow than in anger.” It points out, 
what, indeed, needs no enforcing—that justice to ex¬ 
hibitors, humanity to the birds, and self-interest, all 
require that as much energy should be employed in 
shortening the period of the birds imprisonment, and 
getting them, without the loss of an hour, back to their 
owners, as there was in tempting those owners to 
exhibit them. Vehicles should be pre-hired to be ready 
to convey the birds to the several railway stations the 
very afternoon that the show closes; and it would be 
no more expense to have the force requisite to do so in 
a few hours , than to employ a weaker force for a few 
days. Efficient supervisors should be provided for this 
department; and if it be not provided and organised 
against other great show’s which are approaching, the 
respective committees will be culpably negligent of all 
tbe interests confided to their care. Valid excuses 
readily suggest themselves for Mr. Catling, but none 
can be admissible for any experienced Society. 
The Meeting of the Entomological Society, on the 
evening of the 1st of August, was held in the Society’s 
new apartments in Bedford Row; and, by an arrange¬ 
ment concluded since tbe last meeting, the Council, 
Tea, and Museum Rooms, are now on the same floor as 
that for the general meeting. 
Sam. Stevens, Esq., F.R.S., was in the chair. As 
usual, at this season of the year, the exhibition of new 
and rare species of insects, captured during the past 
month, were numerous, including a large collection of 
minute beetles, beautifully mounted on card boards, by 
Vernon Wollaston, Esq., and a large collection of Perth 
shire beetles and moths, sent up by Mr. Eoxcroft for 
distribution among the subscribers to his excursion. It 
was mentioned, that amongst the beetles, Mr. Eoxcroft 
had been so fortunate as to capture a species of fire-fly 
new to these islands — namely, the Lampyvis splen- 
didula. Mr. Eoxcroft also sent up several species of 
large Fungi, inhabited by the larva} of the two rare 
kinds of beetles, Boletophagus crenatus and Thymalus 
limhatus. 
Mr. Stevens exhibited two very rare moths, Pachetria 
leucophcea and Haclena dentina, recently taken at Mickle- 
ham; aud Mr. Wilkinson, the cases of caterpillars of j 
the curious little Tinea mascubella, the caterpillars of 
w’hich have the instinct to form moveable cases, within 
which they reside, consisting of small oval bits of leaves, j 
which they cut out with their jaws, and fasten side by 
side in pairs; so that the case has the appearance of a 
miniature oyster, the caterpillar residing within, and 
thrusting out its head when it wants to eat. These in¬ 
teresting cases were found on the Beech and Hornbeam. 
Mr. Douglas exhibited several rare moths taken at 
Cheltenham, including Heliotlds marginata, Ino glolu- 
larice, &c., all of which he had found flying round the 
flowers of Silene injlata, which has proved very at¬ 
tractive to the night-flying moths. 
Mr. Bond exhibited some Parsnip leaves which had 
the appearance of having been scorched, thus resem¬ 
bling that of Potatoes infested by the blight. It was 
impossible to attribute the disease to the attacks of 
insects, as he had found only a very few minute aphides 
of Ichneumons on the plants. Mr. Westwood stated, 
that the Potatoes in his garden, at Hammersmith, had 
been struck with the disease on the Sunday before, 
although previously nothing could be stronger and 
cleaner than they were. 
Mr. Edwin Shepherd exhibited a curious variety of 
the common moth, Anticlea rubidaria, in which the two 
bands on the fore-wings are partially confluent. Mr. 
Douglas read an extract from the volume of Layard’s 
“ Nineveh,” recently published, relative to the use of 
locusts as food by the Assyrians—one of the sculptured 
stones representing a procession of servants bearing 
fruits, dates, pomegranates, grapes, &c., whilst others 
carried sticks to which locusts were attached in rows. 
Mr. Frederick Smith read a paper on the habits of 
Pompilus punctum, and other burrowing Hymenoptera. j 
He had received, from Mr. W. Thompson, a number of , 
small oval mud cells at the beginning of last November, \ 
which had been found at the top of a straw hive, as well 
as at the back of a mirror in a house in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Canterbury; having placed these in a box, ■ 
several males of Pompilus punctum were disclosed in the 
middle of the month of June, and shortly afterwards, 
the female, which proved to be the insect which had 
1 been described as a distinct species, P. petiolatus; 
1 whilst the insect described by Mr. Sliuckard as the true 
I female of P. punctum, was, evidently, only a variety of 
| the male of that species. The female of this species is 
destitute of the rows of small bristles on the fore legs, I 
which are found in most of the species of the passorial j 
species, and hence, such spineless species had been 1 
regarded by St. Fargcan as unable to form cells lor 
themselves, and were, in fact, parasites in the nests ol 
other species ; but Mr. Smith’s observation proved that 
the want of spines was owing to the difference of the 
material of which the nests are formed, this species i 
