animal in miniature. The larvae or grubs of this inseet discharge from their bodies, upon the branches and leaves of plants, a kind of frothy matter (called by the country people cuckoo-spit), in the midst of which they constantly reside, probably for shelter against the rapacity of such stronger insects as would otherwise prey upon them. Nature has also afforded this kind of defence to these insects, as their naked and soft bodies might otherwise be very easily injured; perhaps, also, the moisture of this froth may serve to screen them from the sultry beams of the sun. On removing the froth, the grub is discovered underneath; but it will not remain long uncovered. It soon emits a fresh froth, that again hides it from the eye of observation. It is in the midst of this froth that the larva goes through its metamorphoses; first into a crysalis, and then into a winged insect. This may be observed by any person who iз careful enough to watch when the froth begins to subside a little. At this time, he must put the insect under a glass, together with its leaf. The froth evaporating away to a white film, fixes the creature to the leaf; soon after this, the fly may be seen, first putting out its head, and afterwards by degrees its body. As soon as the fore part is out, a small protuberance will be perceived on each side, which, every moment growing larger, will soon appear to be the wings of the fly, unfolding by degrees. In about a quarter of an hour, the whole change is completed; the fly is liberated, its wings are extended over its body, and the fine silver-like case of the larva, with all its legs and other apparatus, will be left behind. The perfect insect is of a brown colour, and has on the upper wings two lateral whitish spots. It is very common in meadows, &c., and is so agile, that when attempted to be caught, it will sometimes spring to the distance of two or three yards. The species of insect I have just described, I have now sent, together with the cast skin, and also other species, and various dissections of the rostrum, showing the instruments for piercing and sucking the juices of the plants, from

which it derives its sustenance; you will also observe the manner in which the rostrum is attached to the head of the insect, resembling, in appearance, the trunk of the elephant; in short, these little creatures will be found, on examination, to be very singular and curious in every part.

I also send you the lacquey-moth phalena nuestria; this insect is instructed, by an instinct given to it, to deposit its eggs, not only in a place of safety, and where there is a sufficient quantity of food to support and nourish the larvæ immediately on their breaking the shell, but also to cement them, with great symmetry, round the smaller branches of trees, with a strong glue, which connects and binds them together; and this connection is further strengthened by the moth filling up all the intervening spaces between the eggs with a very tenacious substance, which, by the action of the air, soon becomes as hard as stone, and thus are they protected from injury by the weather, or any other cause. Several of these eggs I send to show you the manner in which they lie embedded in this glutinous substance. Others I have cut into various sec tions, and placed them on slips of card. The insides of the shells appear as fine in colour as if coated with mother of pearl; and in some of the other eggs, which are cut open, may be seen the young caterpillars coiled up. It is not easy to describe the beauty of these objects when viewed under the opaque speculum; the regularity with which they are placed, the delicacy of their texture, and the beautiful and ever varying colours which they present to the eye, give the spectator a high degree of rational delight.

Lastly, I send for your inspection a very singular insect, the notoxus monoceros; the peculiarities of its figure are very remarkable; the head is of a dark colour, and appears to be hid or buried under the thorax, which projects forwards, like a horn; and the whole insect is curiously covered with hair. I imagine it to be very scarce, having

seldom met with it; the specimen I now send I found on a flower in the garden.

In my next letter, I will endeavour to point out other objects, equally curious with those which accompany this paper.

To T. GILL, Esq.

I remain, dear sir,

Your obliged friend,

THOMAS CARPENTER.

Remarks and Additions. By the EDITOR.

In plate I. fig 1 is a magnified view of one of the beautiful antennæ of a midge-fly; it is composed of a series of balls, with necks connecting them together, and the balls are surrounded with fringes of hairs. Fig. 2 represents two of the balls, with their necks and hairs, magnified still more.

Fig. 3 is a back view, and fig. 4 a side view, of one of the capsules of a fern, exhibited on a highly magnified scale; and in which the spring which causes the capsule to open and discharge its seeds is seen. Fig. 5 are magnified views of two of these seeds.

Fig. 6 is a magnified view of one of the singular scales taken from the feelers of a small hunting-spider. It is covered all over with a kind of rough granulations.

Fig. 7 is a highly magnified view of a portion of one of the hairs of a field mouse, as viewed in Mr. William Tulley's achromatic microscope, with the assistance of a greyed glass, to cut off the aberrations of the light. Its very curious markings are well displayed.

Fig 8 exhibits two of the eggs of the insect which infests the rat, adhering to a part of one of its hairs, as shown on a tolerably large scale.

Fig. 9 is a magnified view of part of one of the wing-cases of a cicada. It is very curiously marked, appearing as so many intersecting paths, surrounding patches of green, each of which has a mount within it, and a brown spot in the centre of the mount.

Figs. 10, and 11 are highly magnified views of the internal and external parts of one of the three instruments inclosed in the proboscis of a cimex. They are, however, so long, that it is quite impossible to introduce them on a sufficiently magnified scale, in the limit of the plate.

Fig. 12 is a magnified view of the head of a cicada, the upper part of which has two projections in the form of ears. Its two compound eyes, one on each side; and its two stemmata or single eyes, in the front of its head, are distinctly seen.

Fig. 13 is an external view, and fig. 14, a section of several eggs, of the lacquey moth, represented on a large scale. On viewing the Contractile Power of the Blood in

Curdling.

In our last volume, page 337, we mentioned this singular appearance of the globules of the blood in curdling, as resembling heaps of similar coins, sliding one beneath another, when the heaps are thrown down; and as was kindly exhibited to us by Mr. Lister. Since then, we have found that an excellent mode of viewing this appearance is, by placing a small drop of fresh blood upon a slip of glass, and instantly covering it with a very thin slice of talc. The globules of blood will thus be enabled to assume this interesting situation without the obstruction caused by the pressure of another slip of glass upon them, as described in our former communications upon this subject. this subject. A high degree of magnifying power, is however, necessary to be employed, such as that afforded by a single lens, of the sixtieth of an inch focus, for instance.

On viewing Decomposed Glass, as a Transparent and Opaque Microscopic Object.

Our readers must no doubt have frequently seen windowglass, partly decomposed by the action of ammonia, in the windows of stables, and become covered with a pearly coat. This coat is capable of being scraped off with a knife, in the form of scales or thin lamina, and has a beautiful ap

pearance under the microscope, both as a transparent, and as an opaque object. As a transparent object, the lamina appear coloured yellow, orange, red, purple, and sometimes blue, owing to the refraction of the light passing through them. On wetting them, all the colours disappear, but are again restored, when the glass becomes dry. Sometimes pieces of broken black quart bottles may be found which have undergone this partial decomposition, and their colours are even more splendid than those of the window glass.

(To be continued.)

II.-Recollections of his Father, the late Mr. THOMAS GILL. By the EDITOR.

MR. GILL was the eldest son of a Lancashire watch and clock tool manufacturer, who removed with his wife and family from the neighbourhood of Prescot, the original seat of this manufacture in England, to Birmingham, where, however, he soon died, leaving his widow and six young children to lament his loss.

The Lancashire watch and clock tool manufacture was originally established in this country by a colony of Swiss Huguonots, who fled here to avoid a religious persecution, and brought with them the knowledge they possessed in many valuable arts and manufactures; and, indeed, it is to them that this country is also indebted for the introduction of some of its most important branches in the silk, woollen, and other trades; and there certainly were no persons so well calculated to afford instruction in the very difficult art of working steel in perfection. In fact, at this present time, the Swiss workmen possess superior methods of treating iron and steel, known only to themselves; and we daily see instances of their great skill, in the construction of their watches, musical seals and boxes, and other exquisite mechanical performances.

Educated in the knowledge acquired by the Lancashire watch and clock tool makers, Mr. Gill was thus enabled