with four Cobras. Very soon one of the snakes seized a sparrow, and while in the act of swallowing the bird, a second snake, instead of attacking the sparrows that were hopping about the cage in all directions, seized the first by the head, and compelled him to disgorge the bird. Notwithstanding the struggles and twistings of the first snake to extricate himself from the jaws of the second, he was held fast by his antagonist, who speedily began to devour him. The first snake, while in the other's jaws, seemed by his wriggling and twisting, rather to be assisting himself down the throat of the second than endeavouring to get free. He was rapidly disappearing, but was rescued as soon as observed: about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes would have been quite sufficient for the second to have accomplished the feat of swallowing his companion in captivity. Two keepers laid hold of the snakes, and gradually drew the one out of the jaws of the other, which also assisted to disgorge his prey. When liberated, the snake that had been swallowed appeared a little mystified and astonished at the process he had undergone, but soon recovered his usual vigour, and was ready and willing in his turn to make a meal off either of his companions. When the sparrows are first put into the cage, the Cobras are generally a good deal excited and very fierce, striking at their own species rather than taking the sparrows: the snakes that are struck at avoiding the bite by continually bobbing their heads out of each other's way, and evidently being afraid of each other. Sometimes two snakes will at the same time seize upon a third, the one taking hold of his head, and the other of the middle of his body, both endeavouring to swallow the same snake, and obstinately retaining their hold; the twistings and struggles of the three snakes closely knotted together being a highly curious spectacle. The sparrows seldom show any signs of fear of the Cobras, unless they are struck at and missed, when they become more shy of their deadly enemies. It appears singular that the Cobras should exhibit more inclination to devour one of their own species, than to make a meal of the sparrows: it is probable that in a wild state, when they have seized a bird, a frog, or any other living creature, they get out of each other's way to devour it, so that then there is but little chance of their devouring one of their own species. In confinement, this disposition to swallow each other was seldom manifested, except when the Cobras were roused by living food being put into their cage, and then, as soon as one of them had seized a bird, the others generally attacked the captor; and although there was not much difference in the size of the snakes, it was most frequently the larger ones that attacked the smaller. The Cobra will in most cases swallow a bird head foremost, the wings being in the way of his taking it in any other manner; but a frog they will swallow in any position: this is done by repeatedly gulping down the prey, and not by drawing it in by the slow process habitual to the Boa constrictor, neither does the Cobra enfold the object in its embrace. They often go without food for several weeks, and sometimes for months together; but it is better for them to eat once in a week or a fortnight. While in a healthy state the Cobras generally lie together in a heap, with their heads mostly hidden under their folds, and out of each other's way: sometimes they will recline on the branches of the trees that are placed in the cases for that purpose. When they are in a declining state, and near their death, they will mostly lie apart from the others. They shed or slough their skins every few weeks when healthy as the skin gets old the snakes look darker, and are less active, they likewise see but imperfectly, for the skin completely covers the eyes. When they are shedding their skin they are continually on the move, rubbing it off between the folds of their body, or against the branches of a tree. It greatly assists them at times to immerse them in warm water, as it eases the skin off sooner. It is

very likely that in a state of nature the snakes shed their skin more easily, by creeping through the closest shrubs, and as it were combing the skin off; the slough or skin of the common British snake is often found amongst the thick shrubs in woods and other places. I should state that the Cobras which are handled in the way I have mentioned above have had their poisonous fangs extracted; but other snakes that have not been deprived of these fangs are generally separated or shifted by means of a stout hooked wire.-W. H. Thomas; 15, Hanover Street, Walworth, October 4, 1852.

[Since the above was written, a man named Gurland, a keeper at the Zoological Society's Gardens, has been killed by the bite of one of the Cobras, with which he was foolishly playing, while in a state of intoxication.-Ed. Zool.]

Occurrence of Regalecus Glesne at Cromarty.-On the 17th of September a specimen of this very rare fish was cast ashore near Millar's Stone, in the Bay of Cromarty. It measured 11 feet 10 inches in length, 1 foot 3 inches in depth, and 4 inches in thickness. The head was considerably bruised, and the point of the tail destroyed, which latter accident has befallen all the three well-authenticated specimens yet discovered on the shores of Britain; so that the exact figure and dimensions of the caudal extremity are yet to be ascertained. The fullest, if not the only English description of the Regalecus Glesne (which has not yet received an English name), is to be found in 'An Account of the Rare Fish caught off Cullercoats,' published (but it says not by whom) in 1849. It is rather remarkable that two of the well-authenticated instances in which this fish has been found in Britain, have occurred in the waters of the Moray Firth,— one having been cast ashore at Crovie near Macduff, in 1844 (Zool. 3460). It will be satisfactory to the readers of the 'Zoologist' to know that the Regalecus found at Cromarty has not been lost, as many a rarity is, in the mephitic heap at the fisherman's door; but has been secured and preserved by Mr. Dunbar, for a place in his Museum at Inverness, where naturalists, when they journey so far North, will no doubt examine it, and other objects in that collection, with much interest and profit. - G. Gordon; Birnie, by Elgin, October 15, 1852.

Variety of the Common Sole. I have this morning seen an example of the common sole, of which the under side was piebald, that is, the head and a small portion of the body were white, as usual, the remainder resembling the upper side, and being similarly covered with scales. The line of separation was perfectly distinct, and very irregular. Mr. Yarrell says, "I possess a specimen (of the common sole) that is of the usual dark colour, with rough ciliated scales on both sides:" (British Fishes,' ii. 258). -Arthur Hussey; Rottingdean, August 10, 1852.

Capture of Catocala Fraxini at Burton-on-Trent.—I have this day had brought to me, alive and in very fair condition, a specimen of Catocala Fraxini. It was caught by a man behind a shutter, in one of the large ale-stores of this town.-Edwin Brown; Burton-on-Trent, October 2, 1852.

Proceedings of the Entomological Society.

October 4, 1852.-J. O. WESTWOOD, Esq., President, in the chair.

Since the last meeting the Society has removed from No. 17, Old Bond Street, to more eligible apartments at No. 12, Bedford Row; but the painting of the meetingroom not being completed, the Zoological Society kindly permitted this meeting to be held at their house in Hanover Square, for which favour the meeting passed a vote of thanks.

Mr. Wallace was present as a visitor. He has lost the whole of the valuable collections of Natural History, made by him during several years' residence in South America, by the burning at sea of the ship in which he was bringing them to this country, and he narrowly escaped death in an open boat, from which, after long privation and suspense, and while yet in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean, he and others were taken up by a vessel bound to London.

The following donations were announced, and thanks ordered to be given to the donors:-' 6 The Zoologist' and the Phytologist' for October; by the Editor. 'The Literary Gazette' for September; by the Publishers. 'Revue et Magasin de Zoologie,' 1852, Nos. 6 and 7; by M. Guérin-Méneville. 'The Athenæum' for August and September; by the Editor. Hewitson's' Exotic Butterflies,' part 4: by W. W Saunders, Esq. Dr. C. G. Nees ab Esenbeck's 'Hymenopterorum Ichneumonibus affiuium Monographiæ,' vol. ii.; by Mr. Baly. 'Mémoires de la Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève,' tome xiii., 1re partie: Genève, 1852; by the Society. Eight specimens of Haltica pubescens, taken in August, at Holme, near Peterborough; by the captor, the Rev. Hamlet Clark. Also, the following books, by Miss Eliza Bromfield, in addition to her former donation:

J. C. Pickersgill, Esq., 36, Gordon Square, was elected a Member; and C. W. Quin, Esq., 25, Clarence Street, Islington, and Mr. R. Shield, Dublin, were elected Subscribers to the Society.

Mr. C. R. Bree sent for identification a larva of Anthrenus Museorum, found alive in his cabinet. He complained of the difficulty experienced by persons in the country in identifying the insects they found; and suggested that for the benefit of a very numerous class, who were not exactly students, but who nevertheless wished to be better acquainted with the insects around them, it would be very desirable that monographs of our native insects should be published in annual volumes, with a figure of each species; a work he thought it possible might be accomplished.

Mr. Bond exhibited some larvæ of Anticlea Berberata, feeding upon the leaves of berberry, from Cambridgeshire. He observed that like these now exhibited, the colour was usually brown, but sometimes it was luteous, in specimens of the same age.

Mr. Weir exhibited specimens of Coleophora deauratella, taken among clover near Tunbridge Wells; and one of the rare Elachista trapeziella from the same locality. Mr. Edwin Shepherd exhibited a box of Lepidoptera taken by Mr. Bouchard near

Dover, in July. The following were the most remarkable species: - Plusia Orichalcea, Spælotis Cataleuca, Odontia dentalis, Emmelesia bifasciata, Stigmonota Leplastriana, Semasia rufillana, Depressaria nanatella, Gelechia bifractella, G. neuropterella, Ypsolophus Durdhamellus and Adela volella: also a Vanessa Antiopa, and pale varieties of Satyrus Janira and S. Semele, taken in the same locality in September.

Mr. S. Stevens exhibited a Vanessa Antiopa, taken on the 24th of September at Hampstead.

Mr. Bond mentioned that he saw a Vanessa Antiopa flying in Cambridgeshire last month.

Mr. Hunter brought a number of Mononychus Pseudacori for distribution: he took them feeding on the seeds of Iris fœtidissima, in the Isle of Wight.

Mr. Hunter mentioned that Mr. Winchester, one of Her Majesty's gardeners at Cowes, had discovered a new method of using sugar as a bait for Noctuæ, by dipping pieces of coarse cloth in the solution, and spreading or hanging them on bushes, &c.; this was found especially convenient in places on the coast where there were no trees on which to place the mixture, and there was a great saving of sugar, for one preparation of the cloth would be effectual for a week, if the pieces were removed every night. Mr. Winchester had tried putrid soap-suds, after the manner mentioned at the June meeting of this Society, with some effect, but they did not seem more attractive than sugar.

Mr. Douglas exhibited specimens of Elachista testaceella, bred from larvæ found on Sison Amomum at Lewisham, observing that the larva, its food, and metamorphoses had been figured and described by De Geer about a century ago; and it was the discovery of this by Mr. Stainton that had led to its present detection. He also exhibited Roeslerstammia pygmæana, bred from larvæ mining in the leaves of Solanum Dulcamara, and a living larva in situ.

Mr. Shepherd said he had found the same kind of larvæ in the leaves of Atropa Belladonna.

Mr. Douglas read a paper "On the Identification of the Species of Micro-Lepidoptera whose Larvæ mine in Leaves, described and figured in the Mémoires' of De Geer and Reaumur," illustrated by living examples in the leaves of various plants. He also read, from Chambers' Edinburgh Journal,' the following account of the habits and manner of capturing the "Groo-groo" worm of the West Indies, now stated to be the larva of a Prionus, but mentioned by the Rev. F. W. Hope, in his paper on "Insects used as the Food of Man" (Trans. Ent. Soc. iii. 234), under the name of Calandra Palmarum.

Among the variety of curious insects which are common to tropical climates, the groogroo worms of the West Indies may be considered particularly interesting. From the peculiar manner in which they are produced, and from the circumstance of their constituting a choice article of food for man, they become entitled to some attention.

"The groogroo worm-so called because it is found in a species of palm vulgarly called the groogroo—is the larva of a large-sized beetle, the Prionus, which is peculiar to the warm latitudes of America. With the exception of a slight similarity about the region of the head, the worm bears no resemblance to the parent beetle. When full-grown, it is about 3 inches in length, having the body large and turgid, and increasing in circumference from the head towards the opposite extremity. The head is of a corneous, opaque substance. It has neither eyes nor the rudiments of the

antennæ which distinguish the beetle tribe. It is, however, provided with the mandibles and other oral apparatus of the mandibulate group of insects, and it is only in this feature that any connexion with the beetle can be traced. The trunk is precisely that of a worm; it consists of many closely-knitted segments, which are possessed of an extraordinary contractile power. It bears no mark which would indicate a future metamorphosis into a beetle. There is no sign of a future division into thorax and abdomen. There are no rudiments of wings or feet, as the under surface of the body presents exactly the same appearances as the upper. At the posterior extremity of the worm, however, there is a small horny termination, something like the hinder part of the leech. The organs are exceedingly simple, the digestive being the most developed. Albumen is the substance which composes its body, and its blood is of a greenish tint. With a motion similar to that of the earthworm, it perforates with extraordinary rapidity into the substance of the tree in which it is found.

"When the moon is at her full, the gatherer of worms enters a neighbouring wood, and selects a young palmiste tree. This is a tree of the palm order, exceedingly stately and graceful, growing sometimes to the extraordinary height of eighty feet. From the roots upwards, it has not a single branch or shrubby excrescence, but grows beautifully smooth and straight, tapering towards the top. At its top, an abundance of the richest and most beautiful leaves spread out in graceful symmetry, and bend down on all sides, forming a figure like an umbrella; while the young leaf, still firm and compact in its foliar envelope, is seen stauding erect in the centre of this foliage, like a lightning-conductor.

"When a promising palmiste is found, the gatherer makes an incision into it with a cutlass or a hatchet. This incision is generally in the figure of a half-moon, with the base of the semicircle downwards, and the wound increasing in depth in that direction, so as to expose effectually the flesh of the tree. When this is done, the gatherer marks the locality, and leaves the tree, which he does not revisit for a considerable time. When the moon is in her wane, he returns and examines his palmiste. If the young leaf, together with the others, begins to show a yellow tinge at its extremity, and if, on application of his ear to the trunk, a hollow, rumbling noise is heard within, he concludes that the worms have attacked the vital parts, and the tree is immediately cut down; but if these symptoms are absent, the tree is left standing until they appear. The gatherer, however, must now visit the tree frequently, because the transition of the insects is so rapid, that almost immediately after the appearance of the yellow tinge the whole would disappear. When the tree is felled, a square portion of the bark is cut out longitudinally from the original incision upwards, and its fibrous texture laid open. Myriads of worms are then seen voraciously devouring their way through the substance. In capturing them some degree of dexterity is necessary, both to protect one's self from the mandibles of the insects, which inflict a painful bite, and also to save time, by preventing them from burrowing out of sight. When the worms are taken, they are placed into a close vessel, where they continue to retain their activity and vigour.

"The number that can be procured from a single tree, depends altogether upon the season in which it is wounded. If the moon is at her full, they are generally numerous and good-many thousands being found in an ordinary young tree of 25 feet in height. If a few succeed in eluding the gatherer, they do so only to become a prey of as voracious animals, for the wild hogs, or quencos, of the forest relish much