male of Nematus pallescens, Hartig, and the chalcid, Calypso compressus, Foerster, from Milngavie.

Mr Cameron also exhibited some male individuals of an ant (Leptothorax acervorum), which he had found on the top of Ben Lawers during the Society's excursion to that place last July, this being a strange habitat for the species, which is generally found making its nest under the bark of pine stumps. No females or workers were found, nor any indication of a nest on the mountain, where there were certainly no tree stumps, and it was suggested that they had been blown up to the situation in which they were found by a gust of wind. He at the same time mentioned having caught a hive bee on the top of Ben Lawers, and on a neighbouring mountain in Rannoch under a stone in June, two specimens of Zicrona coerulea, at an elevation of 1500 feet-this being also an agrestal species. ("Taken flying in woods in the spring,” “in moss in winter," "among heather in April, May, and October." Douglas and Scott, Brit. Hemip., I., p. 88).

Mr Robert Hill, corresponding member, exhibited a number of objects of interest from Berbice, British Guiana, including several species of fungi, specimens of a very large frog, and of the great beetle, Scarabaeus hercules, which has a proboscis of nearly three inches in length. Mr John Young made a few remarks on the specimens.

Mr Archibald Robertson showed a specimen of limestone from Odessa, containing a large number of small organisms, which Mr Young stated was of Eocene age, and corresponded with the nummulitic limestone so widely distributed over the East.

Mr T. S. Hutcheson brought forward the nest of a species of pipet from Calcutta, which was of a large size, being composed of dry grass, and substantially put together. They are found hanging from trees, with an opening in the bottom, through which the bird enters to reach the interior.

PAPERS READ.

I.-On the results of some Experiments on the Leaves of various Trees and Shrubs. By Mr JAMES NAPIER,

A few years ago, when examining some newly-developed leaves of trees, I was much impressed with the fine soft velvety feel they had compared with leaves in autumn. Thinking it probable the cause was in some difference in their composition at these two

periods of their growth, I gathered a number of leaves from different trees and shrubs upon the 1st of June, keeping them in a water bath at a heat of 212° Fah., until they ceased to lose weight, and I set down the loss by this means as moisture. I then burned off the dry solid organic matter, and obtained the ash. On the 1st of September I took leaves from the same trees, before the leaves had began to change their colour, and submitted them to the same operation; the results are given in the following table, reduced to 100 parts for comparison. And although taken from a chemical standpoint, the results may not be without interest to the Natural History Society.

It would be unwise to draw conclusions from one course of experiments under the same circumstances, but they are suggestive. One thing is evident, that, independent of the important functions which leaves play in the life of the plant, they also accumulate and remove from it a large quantity of earthy matter, that might otherwise clog up its life system. And they show the necessity, when experiments are made for determining the quantity of ash which different plants absorb and fix in their system, of paying particular attention to the age of the plant, for if, like the leaves, a young plant contains much less earthy matter than an old plant, it may lead vegetable physiologists astray in making their deductions.

II.-On a new species of Blennocampa (B. alchemillae), with remarks on the species allied thereto. By Mr PETER CAMERON.

Blennocampa alchemillae, sp. n. Antennae filiform, longer than the abdomen, the first joint globular, much longer than the 2d, the 3d and 4th nearly equal, the remaining joints a little shorter. Head a little narrower than the thorax, smooth, shining, covered with a fine grey pile. Frontal sutures distinct. Tegulae and basal edge of pronotum white; scutellum flattish on the top, very smooth and shining; cenchri small, dull white. Abdomen a very little longer than the head and thorax, the apex projecting above, narrow, the sheath of the saws largely projecting and hairy at the apex; sides of abdomen covered sparsely with a white pile. Legs: base of coxae, femora for the greater part, and the extreme apex of posterior tibiae and apical joints of tarsi black; trochanters, apex of coxae and femora, knees, tibiae and base of tarsi testaceous white. Wings clear hyaline, costa at base and base of stigma whitish testaceous, rest of costa, stigma and nervures black. Marginal nervure joined to 3d submarginal or received in the 4th submarginal cellule; 2d recurrent nervure received a very little in front of submarginal cellule; 2d submarginal cellule longer and thinner than 3d, angled where it receives the re-current nervure; 3d submarginal cellule expanded at the apex; 2d submarginal nervure straight and bent slightly downwards in the direction of the base of the wing; 2d runs nearly parallel with the 1st; 3d curved in the middle and running in the direction of the apex of the wing, i.e., in a contrary direction to the other two.

The male has the antennae a little longer than the body, covered with a short stiff pile, the joints thicker and more flattened than in the female, their general form being as in Priophorus; the anal lobes pale testaceous. Length 21-22 lines.

The species of Blennocampa with the tegulae and pronotum white are divisible into three groups, arranged according to the neuration of the posterior wings; in one group there is a middle cellule in both sexes; it belongs, therefore, to the section Monophadnus of Hartig, e.g., B. bipunctata; in the 2d, there is a middle cellule in the female, but none in the male (and this circumstance renders impossible the raising of Monophadnus to generic rank, as has been done by some authors, for if so, the sexes would be separated into different divisions), e.g., B. lineolata,

albipennis, etc.; in the 3d case in both sexes there is no middle cellule, so that this division belongs to Blennocampa proper, and to it the species here described belongs.

It comes near to B. uncta, Klug, a species not known to me, but described by Thomson (Hymen. Scand., i. 219) as having the antennae "longis, abdomine fere longioribus" in both sexes, and by Hartig, (Blatt. u. Holzwespen, p. 269) as having the same organ in the male "etwas Kürzerals der Hinterleib") but differs in having the antennae much longer than the abdomen in both sexes (in the male they are nearly as long as the body); from B. pubescens, Zaddach, it is also distinguished by the length of the antennae (and it may be also mentioned that pubescens belongs to the 2d group described above) by the position of the marginal nervure, which in Zaddach's species is received near the middle of the 3d submarginal cellule; from B. albipennis, Zaddach, it is at once distinguished by that species having the 3d antennal joint double the length of the 4th (to say nothing of the length and the different neuration in posterior wing); lineolata is also easily separated by the same peculiarity.

ness.

B. alchemillae has been taken in the Glasgow districts and in Rannoch, and I found some specimens in Stephens' collection in the British Museum under the name of B. uncta. I have likewise bred it from a green spiny larva (which did not differ from that of B. lineolata) found on Alchemilla vulgaris in Cadder WilderThis larva was full fed when I got it; it cast off the skin, with the spines, and became of a pale green colour, without any spines or other projections, immediately after I brought it home, and before a detailed description of it could be taken. There can, however, be no reasonable doubt that it is the same larva as that described by Reaumur (Mem. Tom. v., pp. 94, 95, pl. 12, fig. 13, 14), and by De Geer (Mem., p. 969, No. 9, pl. 35, fig. 19-23); but these authors had not been able to rear the fly, nor am I aware of any one else having done so.

Mr J. E. Fletcher of Worcester has sent me a Blennocampa, which appears to be B. subserrata, Thomson, Opus. Ent., 285, 22; Hymen. Scand., i., 220, 25. It is very like the above species, but the legs are quite black at the base, the pronotum has scarcely any white, the antennae are not much longer than the abdomen, the 3rd joint being distinctly longer than 4th, and the submarginal cellules are much broader, but otherwise the

neuration agrees closely enough. Thomson quotes lineolata doubtfully as a synonym, but this is certainly not the case, for subserrata has no middle cellule in posterior wings, the marginal nervure is joined to the submarginal; the pronotum is differently coloured; the head is narrower and smaller; the antennae are, if anything, longer, and have a longer pubescence; the joints are more distinctly separated, and project at the apices underneath; the marginal nervure is joined to 3d submarginal; the 1st submarginal cellule is nearly square (in lineolata it is nearly a parallelogram); the 2d is broader and very little shorter, considerably angled where it receives the recurrent nervure (near the middle of the cellule), while in lineolata it is received near the base, and is scarcely angled; the apex of abdomen is more rounded; the sheath of saw is longer and more projecting, and the cerci are distinctly visible; the base of the tarsi are more broadly banded with white; finally, the wings are clearer, and altogether it is a more slender and longer insect.

In some observations on the spinose larvae of the oak-feeding Blennocampae (Ann. Soc. Ent. France (5), i., pp. 380-386), Giraud says that B. lineolata is in all probability only a synonym of B. bipunctata. Such, however, is not the fact; the latter species is larger; the antennae are shorter and thicker; the 3d joint is longer in proportion to the length of the 4th; the 3d submarginal cell is shorter, and the 3d submarginal nervure does not slope so much; while there are the punctures behind the eyes, and both sexes have a middle cellule in posterior wings. The male of bipunctata has the antennae shorter, thicker, and more compressed than in lineolata, and the femora are reddish, lined with black. The British species of Blennocampa with the tegulae and pronotum more or less white may then be diagnosed as follows:

A. Posterior wings with a middle cellule in both sexes, and a deep puncture behind the eye. bipunctata, Klug.

B. Posterior wings with a middle cellule in the female, none in male; no puncture behind the eye. lineolata, Klug.

C. Posterior wings without middle cellule in both sexes. 3d and 4th joints of antennae almost equal; edge of pronotum broadly white, base of legs white, abdomen as long as body in male; in female longer than abdomen. alchemillae, n. sp.

3d joint of antennae distinctly longer than 4th; edge of pronotum scarcely white, legs black at base, antennae shorter than abdomen. subserrata, Thoms.