Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 1 (1843).djvu/60

32 cabinet. A. Atropos has been rare in this quarter for some years; I doubt not the very favourable weather this season may have caused its appearance elsewhere.—Id.

Nest of Vespa britannica? About a week ago a nest, probably of this species, was observed attached to the boughs of a tree in one of the shrubberies belonging to C. H. Leigh, Esq. (lord lieutenant of the county), near the entrance into the town. Mr. Leigh had it cut off, with part of the boughs attached, intending to send it to a friend in London. It was pear-shaped, about seven inches in diameter, and eight or nine inches in length. It was packed up before I heard of it, so that I could not procure one of the wasps. The person who informed me of the circumstance brought me a portion of the papyraceous covering of the nest, about four inches long and two wide; in some of the darker streaks there appears a deficiency of the glutinous matter with which the fibres are coated and joined together.—James Bladon; Pont-y-pool, November 29, 1842.

Note on Wasps. While I am on the subject of wasps, I may as well remark that they have been more than usually numerous this season about the town. A species about the size of the common wasp has been considerably more numerous than the latter; it has a black mark on each segment with three projecting angles, one of which is central, the lateral ones occupying the places of the distinct lateral dots on the segments of the common wasp.—Id.

Note on Sertularia. About two years ago I detached two specimens of a Sertularia from an oyster-shell; they were about If inch high, the side branches being from J to f of an inch in length. Having broken off with the Sertularia a piece of the shell to form a base for it to stand upright on, I placed it within the doors of a book-case to keep it from the dust; about two or three months afterwards I took it to a tub of rain water for the purpose of washing off the saline incrustations, and after rinsing it several times I observed the branches begin to assume a more rigid appearance, and the stem, which had previously been lax and drooping, became perfectly upright and rigid. If any part was drawn aside it immediately regained its position, and in this state it remained nearly a day before it began to droop again. I repeated this experiment a few weeks back, with the same result.—James Bladon.