384 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 28. 
the judgment of the late Sir J. E. Smith, who so states 
in his “English Flora,” iv. 298. 
It was not until the second edition of Ray’s “ Synopsis 
Stirpium Britannicarum” appeared, in 1G9G, that this 
Fern was announced as a native of the British do¬ 
minions, for it is there stated that Dr. Sherard had 
found it “ on the rocks on the north side of the Isle of 
Jersey.” In 1724, in the third edition of the same 
work, its discovery in England was first noticed. “ Mr. 
Bobart having found it in the north porch of the 
church at Adderbury, in Oxfordshire. Dr. Woodward 
found it also in England.” 
Although an English Fern, it is of a delicate habit, 
and only grows wild in peculiarly-sheltered, well- 
drained, yet moist situations. It grows well in a warm 
greenhouse, shaded from the sun, and kept moderately 
moist Its stature is then much increased, and the 
brightness of its evergreen verdure is intense. The 
best soil for it is a mixture of peat, limy rubbish, bricks 
j broken as small as filberts, and leaf-mould, in equal 
! proportions; the pot it grows in being filled one-fourth 
with broken crocks for drainage. It may be propagated 
by division in April, but every piece separated must 
•have a crown. It will not bear the close, damp air of 
a Wardian case. 
The August Meeting of the Entomological Society was 
held on the Gth inst., John Curtis, Esq., F.L.S., the 
President, being in the chair. In addition to the usual 
donations of books and periodicals, a valuable collection 
of Indian insects, of all orders, was presented by Major 
Hamilton, and a number of rare British ground Beetles 
(i Carabiila >), by the Rev. Hamlet Clark. 
The Secretary announced that a requisition had been 
presented to the President and Council, calling for a 
| revision and settlement of the By-laws respecting the 
i admission of Associates, a subject which for some 
1 time past has disturbed the society. 
M. Pictet, of Geneva, a distinguished entomologist 
| and paleontologist, and the author of several fine 
: monographs on the Perlidae, Ephemeridse, and Pbry- 
! ganeidee, was elected a honorary foreign member in the 
j stead of the late Dr. De Haan, of Leyden. 
The Secretary gave notice that a new part of the 
l Transactions was ready for delivery, containing, in ad¬ 
dition to the official report of the Meetings, papers by 
Mr. F. Smith, on Brazilian Ants ; by Air. Baily, on 
Australian Chrysornelidse ; by Mr. Westwood, on exotic 
| Stag Beetles; and by Mr. Desborough, a continuation 
of his researches on the Economy of the Hive Bee. 
As usual at this season of the year, the exhibitions of 
rare insects recently captured were very numerous. By 
Dr. Power, many of our rarest Coleoptera, including 
Agrilus chryseis, Antliaxia nitulula, Rhyncolus ater, 
MicrorJutgus pygmeeus and Drypta emarginata, chiefly 
from the New Forest, Hants. 
By Mr. F. Bond, Pionea margaritalis, Nascia cilialis, 
Opadia funehrana, and other rare Moths, from the feus 
of Huntingdonshire. 
By Mr. Baily, the rare CryptocepJiahis nileus, beaten 
from an Ash-tree, at Cobh am, Kent. 
By Mr. H. Doubleday, specimens of Caradrina blanda, 
and alsines, two distinct species of Noctiudee, usually 
confounded together in collections under the former 
name. 
By Mr. Weir, specimens of Pentium sauciana, reared 
from Vaccinium Myrtillus, and Anarsia Oenistce, reared 
from Genista tinctoria; also an Anthrocera JUipenduJ.ee, 
with only five red spots (instead of six) on each of the 
fore wings, coupled with a female with the ordinary 
markings. 
By Mr. Douglas, Trochilium chrysidiforme, taken near 
Dover, thus proving the indigenous character of the 
species, which had been doubted, in consequence of Mr. 
Curtis’s specimen having so long remained unique; 
also Asyclmia ceratella, from Darenth, and Butalis 
fuscoanea, from Headley. 
By Mr. Dutton, a box of rare Lepidoptera from the 
Isle of Wight and the New Forest, including the dark 
greyish variety of the female of Argynnis paphia, and 
Agiotis lunigera. 
By Mr. Foxcroft, a variety of rare insects from Perth¬ 
shire, including a dark variety of Polia occulta, which 
had been reared in some quantity from Caterpillars, 
which differed so much from the ordinary individuals 
as to have led Mr. Logan to consider them as a distinct 
species peculiar to Scotland. 
Mr. Samuel Stevens exhibited a magnificent new species 
of Butterfly, sent from Villa Nova, in Brazil, by Mr. 
Bates, belonging to the genus Agrias. Mr. Stevens also 
alluded to the extraordinary profusion in which, not¬ 
withstanding the severe winter, insects had appeared 
during the present year. A few evenings previously, on 
Mickleham Downs, the Moths were flying in swarms. 
The same remark was made by other members; and Mr. 
Westwood stated, that during the past month he had 
observed two natural substitutes for the sugaring pro¬ 
cess employed by lepidopterists. A large bed of Beans, 
in his garden, had been much infested with Aphides, 
the secretion from which, so much relished by Ants, 
had attracted Moths in great numbers at dusk. He 
had also observed that they were equally attracted by 
Gooseberries which had become cracked owing to the 
rain storms in the middle of the month of July. 
Mr. Westwood also exhibited a living Scorpion, 
which had been imported among plants from Mexico, 
by the Horticultural Society; also specimens of the 
eggs and larvae of the Dog Flea, stating, that having 
furnished a number of the latter, as well as of the 
perfect insects, alive, to Mr. Haliday, that gentleman 
had investigated their internal anatomy, with a view to 
the determination of the question, whether the genus 
Pulex constituted a distinct order (which had been 
named Aplianiptera, by Messrs. Kirby and Spence), or 
] whether it formed a portion of the order Diptera, as had i 
been supposed by some recent entomologists; he be¬ 
lieved that Mr. Haliday’s researches fully confirmed the 
former of these opinions. He also stnted, that the eggs 
were deposited singly, and loosely, and were not affixed 
