or stingless Brazilian honey bees) licked eagerly the juice dropping from pieces of flesh which had been suspended in order to be dried in the open air. Nothing else as far as I know has ever been published on the carnivorous habits of bees; I hope, therefore you will soon publish your very interesting observations."

We have also received the following letter from Mr. Darwin, dated Down, Beckenham, Kent, Nov. 23d. "I never heard of bees being in any way carnivorous, and the fact is to me incredible. Is it possible that the bees opened the bodies of the Plusia to suck the nectar contained in their stomachs? Such a degree of reason would require repeated confirmation and would be very wonderful. I hope that you or some one will attend to the subject."

We have also received the following note from Prof. Gray in reference to the subject: "It has long been familiar, and must several times have been recorded, that moths or butterflies and other insects are caught by getting their tongue, proboscis or legs into the chink between adjacent wings of the anthers in Physianthus or Arauja albens, and Asclepias, etc. The anther-wings are very rigid, the groove between them narrows gradually upwards, so that when a leg or proboscis is engaged, an upward pull only fixes it more securely, and the unhappy insects seem rarely to pull backward or downward, which is the only way to get disengaged. As to the rest of your account I know nothing; and should say that the observations need, if not repeated confirmation,' at least some confirmation by an entomological observer.”

It appears from the fact that the single worker bee received had a pollen-mass attached to one of its fore legs, that it visited the plant originally for the sake of its nectar. For what purpose

did it attack, kill the moths and, as is claimed, "devour" them? We publish the observations of Mr. Thompson and the comments upon them, with the hope that the subject will receive attention

next summer.

Since this note has been put in type, Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Agricultural College of Michigan, well known as an apiarian of experience, informs us that within the hive, honey bee workers in killing the drones tear them in pieces with their mandibles rather than sting them, and that he has seen them thus kill a humble bee that had entered the hive; it thus appears, what we judge will be quite new to entomologists, that the honey bee uses its mandibles, at least on some occasions, as weapons of attack, quite as much as the sting; this would also corroborate the exactness of Mr. Thompson's observations.-A. S. Packard, Fr.

PROF. HEER ON SEQUOIA.-At the recent meeting of the Helvetic Society of Natural Sciences, Professor Heer read a paper in the Botanical section, on the palaeontological history of Sequoia. This genus is now represented by only two distinct species, forming the celebrated forests of big trees in California, and known to

botanists as S. sempervirens and S. gigantea. Prof. Heer finds that the genus attained its greatest development during the Tertiary epoch, though it was before largely represented in the Cretaceous. Between the two types above named, palæontological collections have furnished as many as 24 fossil species; of which number 14 belong to the Tertiary, and 10 to the Cretaceous. The lower chalk alone furnishes 5, two of which, strange to say, are closely similar to the surviving species (if not identical). Sequoia has not, as yet, been found in Jurastic formations, though these are rich in Coniferæ.

BOTANICAL NOTES.-The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club for October, contains notes on the flora of the Lake Superior Copper region, by A. Hollick, and descriptions of the new fungi, by F. Baron Thueman.- -In the Botanical Gazette for November, C. H. Peck describes new species of fungi; T. Meehan remarks on Viscidity as a seed-distributor; while Dr. Gray notices Vaccinium macrocarpon, var. intermedium of the Columbia river.—To the California Horticulturist for November, Mr. B. B. Redding contributes a note on the valuable edible qualities of the camass root, which is extensively used as an article of food by the Indians of the western Territories and the Pacific slope.-In Trimen's Journal of Botany for November, Mr. S. H. Vines describes the alternation of generations in the Thallophytes. The recent deaths of Mr. John Miers in the 72d year of his age, and of Fenzel, the Austrian botanist, are announced.

ZOOLOGY.1

CHANGES IN THE SHELL OF LIMNEA MEGASOMA PRODUCED BY CONFINEMENT.—In a paper by R. P. Whitfild, read at a late meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, and entitled, "Description of the animal of Lymnæa megasoma Say, with some account of the changes produced by confinement in aquaria and under unnatural conditions," Mr. Whitfield states that he succeeded in keeping alive a specimen of this species in an isolated position in an aquarium in his house at Albany. These specimens were obtained at Burlington, Vt., in the summer of 1867. Two of them speedily died, but the third one survived the change to its new abode until the following spring. In February it laid eggs supposed to have been unimpregnated. After twenty days the animals escaped from the eggs. In the spring of 1868 many of these were removed to localities in the vicinity of Albany. During February, 1869, those of this lot still remaining in the aquarium deposited their eggs, and again during the early part of the following summer.

From the winter brood, specimens were reared which deposited eggs in the early part of 1870.

The departments of Ornithology and Mammalogy are conducted by Dr. ELLIOTT COUES, U. S. A.

The first and second generations were each smaller than the parent stock, and this last, a third generation, had a shell only about four-sevenths as long as measured by the figures.

The animals of Lymnæa are perfect hermaphrodites, combining in each individual both male aud female organs, therefore it is not likely that the original ancestor of Mr. Whitfield's group was a deficient specimen. Nevertheless, besides the diminished size and spire, Mr. Whitfield found that the male organs had disappeared and the liver become considerably reduced in size. A dicecious species had, therefore, in all probability become a monœcious one on account of its removal to the aquarium.

This paper reminds us very strongly of the researches of Carl Semper upon Lymnæa, in which he shows that the supply of food and other things being equalized in a number of aquaria, that the size of the shells depends upon the temperature. A low temperature being inimical to the development of the largest size in any species.

In this case Mr. Whitfield, who is a palæontologist well known to workers in his own field, did not undertake his researches with the idea of conducting an experiment, but has, nevertheless, brought out a very similar series of modifications. Curiously enough, however, he took a species which reaches a very large size in northern waters, and introduced it to the almost tropical climate of a home aquarium.

Mr. Whitfield has certainly been very fortunate in leading the way into this field of research in experimental zoölogy with so suggestive a paper.-A. Hyatt.

INFLUENCE OF POISONS ON CRUSTACEA.-The influence of some of the principal poisons on crustacea has lately been experimented on by M. Yung. The animals treated were the crab and lobster. It was found that curare acts on these animals in the same way as on vertebrates, but with much less power; it produces difficulty of movement, which may go the length of complete paralysis. Strychnine, again, acts with extreme violence, causing strong (though temporary) tetanus. The muscular exhaustion is quicker than in vertebrates. A crab will live a long time in water charged with sulphate of strychnine, which shows that the poison is not absorbed by the branchia. Sulphate of atropine never caused death. The animal seems to eliminate this poisen after a period of debility, preceded by tremblings. Digitaline quickens (shortly), then renders slower, the heart's movements. The action of nicotine is characterized by extreme rapidity. This poison is as violent for crustacea as for vertebrates.

DIFFERENCE IN THE HABITS OF SCALOPS AQUATICUS AND SCAPANUS AMERICANUS-A valued correspondent, Mr. Elisha Slade, of Somerset, Mass., finds decided differences in the habits of the 1 For this latter name see AMERICAN NATURALIST, XIII, 1879, p. 189.

common and the hairy-tailed moles. According to his observations, the latter prefer rather dry ground, while the former is sufficiently fond of low moist soil to merit its specific name, aquaticus. Though the common mole is not aquatic in the sense a mink or muskrat is, it voluntarily enters the water and procures a part of its food in that element, such as water bugs, worms, &c. It is known in Mr. Slade's locality as the marsh or water mole, the hairy-tailed_being called the upland mole.-Elliott Coues, Washington, D. C.

THE COTTON-WORM MOTH IN RHODE ISLAND.-On the evening of the 30th of September, a specimen of Aletia argillacea flew into my study, in Providence. The moth was in a perfectly fresh condition and bore every appearance of having quite recently emerged from the chrysalis. Its appearance certainly did not bear out the theory that all the northern individuals fly northward from the cotton belt. Several years ago I captured, in August, on Coney Island, in Salem harbor, Massachusetts, several fresh specimens, which indicated that they had originated not far from, if not on, the little islet on which they were flying in the day time.-A. S. Packard, Fr.

NOTES ON PHYLLOPOD CRUSTACEA.-We have received from Florida, through Mr. C. Gissler, a new Branchipus-like form which may be called Streptocephalus floridanus. While the females of this genus do not present decided diagnostic characters, the male is distinguished by the form of the claspers, whose tips, when drawn forcibly straight out, will reach to the end of the last pair of feet. The two basal filaments are as in S. texensis Pack.; of the forceps at the end of the claspers, the filaments are much shorter and smaller than in S. texensis, so much so that there is no need of confounding the two species, and besides in the Floridian species the processes are less broad and flat, and the inner of the two blades of the forceps have but one instead of two teeth. While of the same size as S. holmani, the male claspers are very much larger, and they are longer than in S. watsoni Pack., from Kansas; with the latter species it need not be confounded. It approaches S. texensis nearest in the robustness of the body, in the form and size of the caudal appendages, which are much stouter than in the other two species, and equal, in length, the three last abdominal segments. It seems to approach S. similis Baird, which inhabits St. Domingo, but that species is not described with sufficient exactness to enable us to compare it properly.

From Mr. Gissler we have also received specimens of Limnetis gouldi Baird, found by him in March and April, on Long Island. From Mr. R. P. Whitfield we have received specimens of Estheria watsoni Pack, collected by Dr. C. A. White on the Vermilion river, Colorado, in company with Lepidurus bilobatus Pack.-A. S. Packard, Fr.

THE WHITE BELLIED SWALLOW (Iridoprocne bicolor).-In the NATURALIST for November, 1879, p. 706, Mr. Allinson notes having seen swallows, at Beach Haven, N. J., which he took for the bank swallow, Coytle riparia, and that he was surprised to find in their excrement the seeds of the Bayberry. I think there can be no doubt that the species was the white-bellied swallow, Iridoprocne bicolor, which does feed in part on the waxy fruit of Myrica cerifera. Seventeen years ago I kept the I. bicolor as a pet, giving it the freedom of a room, in one corner of which I kept a bush of the bayberry, or American myrtle, changing it, as soon as the berries were picked off. I also fed it with house flies, of which it was very fond. The bayberry is a hard nut-like seed, and its cinereous or whitish covering of wax is a mere pellicle. As food for the birds, it amounts to little, unless it can have it in large quantity and very often. If, so far as known, the bicolor is exceptional among the swallows in this matter of a mixed diet, I think it is equally so in its habits, for it is far less aërial, and more terrestrial, than the other members of its tribe. Of the nearly one hundred species of swallows in the world, it seems to me that I. bicolor, which is peculiarly American, is an eminently specialized type.-S. Lockwood, Freehold, N. J.

VIBRATION OF THE TAIL IN RACERS.-In the September number of the NATURALIST, Mr. F. H. King states he has observed the fox snake (Coluber vulpinus Cope) making a buzzing noise by rapidly vibrating the tail. In the November number, Mr. C. Aldrich makes a similar statement in regard to C. obsoletus var. confinis B. & G.; I have, in a number of instances, observed the same habit in C. emoryi Cope, which is a common species with us. I have never known the noise to be made, unless his snakeship was first directly disturbed or teased. The sound is usually made by elevating from three to four inches of the tail at an angle of near 70° from the horizon, then giving it a very rapid lateral motion. When it strikes leaves or other loose objects, there is, in addition to the buzzing sound, the rattling noise of the objects struck, proving that the first sound is probably produced by the rapid vibrations of the tail in the air. As this habit has been observed in three of the six species of this genus, may it not be true of all belonging to it ?-F. Schneck, Mt. Carmel, Ill.

FORK-TAILED EUMECES FASCIATUS AND THE VARIABLENESS OF THIS SPECIES.-During the last few years the periodical literature has been quite prolific with notes on monstrosities in the animal kingdom. Prof. J. Wyman reported a specimen of the common garter snake (Eutania sirtalis) with two heads. Mr. J. W. A. Wright gives an account of a gopher snake (Pityophis sp. ?); Dr. H. C. Yarrow describes a specimen of Ophibolus

1 Mr. Lockwood's remarks bear out the advisability of recognizing for this species the genus Iridoprocne, lately proposed by us, Birds, Colorado Valley, p. 412, 1878. -E. C.