in reality have retained the genuine mane of the tapir. Afterwards, to render still more fantastic a being which was already intermediate between a quadruped and a bird, they converted this crest into the likeness of the dorsal fin of a fish.

The division of the toes of the tapir caused, with the Greeks, the same error as with the Chinese in the fabrication of their mé; and accordingly they substituted for them those of a lion. As to the tail, it was almost certain that they would attempt to supply that appendage: and, whilst some merely gave to the animal one conformable with its feet; others, desiring to make the figure wholly imaginary, bestowed upon it a spiral scroll, and ornamented it with the leaves of the Acánthus. (Annales des Sciences Naturelles.)

WEST INDIES.

Insects which infest the Sugar Cane (Saccharum officinarum L.). The Rev. Lansdown Guilding, B.A. F.L.S. F.G.S., &c., has been honoured by the Society of Arts with the gold Ceres medal, for his memoir on this subject, of which the following is the essence:

The Calandra palmàrum (fig. 94. the female creeping: fig. 95. a, the male; b, the larva; c, the pupa; and d, the case

or follicle: all of the natural size) "is principally injurious to the plants lately stuck in the ground, to which the female is allured by the juices which are exuded. These they sometimes attack so vigorously, that a fresh planting becomes necessary. They do not seem to deposit their eggs in fullgrown canes, when palms are abundant in the neighbour

hood."

Calandra sacchari (fig. 96.) " confines itself principally to such canes as have been slightly injured; though it sometimes attacks the more vigorous plants, which it excavates to the

a, Calandra sacchari. b, a variety. c, pupa. d, follicle or case. e, larva.

very ground, voiding its excrements in scarcely discoloured grains, which fill up the passage.

"But by far the most destructive and common enemy is the smaller grub of the borer moth, Diatræ'a sacchari Guilding, (from diatreo,) to bore [which belongs to that family of Lepidoptera called by Leach Pyrálidæ, and is elaborately described and illustrated in the memoir from which this account is transcribed.] The sugar-cane, so valuable to man in all its parts, is never exempt from this dreadful pest. Fortunately, in the seasonable climate of St. Vincent, from our improved cultivation, the animal is not very formidable; but in some other of our colonies, which, from the absence of mountains, or other causes, are subject to dry seasons, they have been known to blast the hopes of the year, to destroy whole acres of canes, and ruin the unfortunate planter. The Society of Arts has long offered rewards for the expulsion of the borers; but, I think, will do well in future to omit the premium offered for their destruction, inasmuch as it is to be feared no remedy can be applied on extensive tracts of land, which would not at the same time destroy the plant we would protect, or which would not prove too extensive for general adoption. The object of the planter should be, to prevent the insects from depositing eggs in the plants, rather than to kill those which have already begun their operations.

"Those animals which the Creator has thought fit to form, and preserve for ages, man will not be permitted to exterminate; we may, however, with propriety, strive, by all means in our power, to lessen the numbers of those creatures which injure or destroy our property. From long-continued experiments, I have at last discovered that they may be almost entirely expelled from any quarter in which the canes are carefully stripped of the dry and useless leaves, under which, as they become loose, the female borer deposits her eggs.

"These animals, when they assail us in moderate numbers, act only as a stimulus, wisely sent to rouse the inattentive planter to cleaner and more careful modes of husbandry. When they swarm so as to deprive him of his crops, the loss must in future be attributed either to his obstinacy or his negligence.

"It is well known that the sheathing leaves of the cane hold for a long period the water which has been collected in them during rains; from which, in dry weather, the plant may doubtless derive nourishment. In the drier islands, the planter will probably object to the only plan which seems capable of lessening the number of his foes, under the idea that he will expose the plants too much to the merciless rays of the sun. I do not by any means recommend that a single living leaf should be taken off; and a very slight examination will convince him that those which have begun to wither are incapable of holding water for the refreshment of the cane.

"The borers are observed to be much more fatal to plant than to ratoon canes, which should, of course, be oftener visited by the parties of negroes whose business it is to collect the trash. A single cane will sometimes nourish several of the borer worms, which perforate every joint; when the pithy centre, becoming discoloured and sour, not only yields nothing at the mill, but communicates a dark colour and bad quality to the sirop of the sounder plants.

"Of the other enemies of the sugar-cane, I can for the present speak but slightly. The large fire-fly (Elater noctilùcus) has been said, but perhaps only accidentally, to have been bred in it. An undetermined aphis, and the " 'jumper fly,' probably one of the Chrysomélidæ, have in some islands proved injurious, but have never been noticed here. The myriads of ants which once infested, but have now disappeared from, Grenada, committed, indeed, the most frightful ravages; but it was rather by excavating their little metropolis beneath the roots, than by attacking the body of the cane. Were these little carnivorous agents less prolific than they are, we might encourage them as useful helpmates in the destruction of the borers, which they pursue and kill in their cylindrical labyrinths." (Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xlvi. p. 153.)

Kirby and Spence, in enumerating the "benefits derived from insects," in their Introduction to Entomology, vol. i. p. 298., thus remark:-"Many larvæ that belong to the order Coleoptera are eaten in different parts of the world. The grub of the palm weevil (Calandra palmàrum) [ fig.95.b], which is the size of the thumb, has been long in request in both Indies. Ælian speaks [Hist., 1. xiv. c. 13.] of an Indian

king, who, for a dessert, instead of fruit, set before his Grecian guests a roasted worm taken from a plant, probably the larva of this insect, which he says the Indians esteem very delicious: a character that was confirmed by some of the Greeks who tasted it. Madam Merian, in her Insects of Surinam, has figured one of these larvæ, and says that the natives of Surinam roast and eat them as something very exquisite. A friend of mine, who has resided a good deal in the West Indies, where the palm grub is called grugru, informs me that the late Sir John La Forey, who was somewhat of an epicure, was extremely fond of it when properly cooked."

In Kirby and Spence's tables of the comparative magnitudes of insects (in their vol. iii. p. 33. to 37.), mention is made of a new species of Calandra, preserved in MacLeay's museum, which is 3 in. in length and 1 in. in breadth. — J. D.

Facts and Observations in Natural History.-Sir, A gentleman having put into my hands a quarto copy of White's Natural History of Selborne, with a request that I would, in the course of my reading it, write on the margin of its leaves any facts or observations which might have come in my way relative to similar subjects, most of the following notes were written accordingly. Those which relate to White's remarks have the particular page of White's book in which they were first written affixed to them. I am, Sir, yours, &c.—William Sells, Surgeon, M.R.C.S. Kingston, Surrey, January 1. 1832. [The principal part of these notes relate to animals of Jamaica. A note on wild ducks will be found under North America, p. 452, and the remainder under Collectanea, in our next Number. J. D.]

Bats. (White's Selborne, p. 93.) Bats of the ordinary size are very numerous in Jamaica; they are found in mills and old houses, especially such as are little occupied: they do great mischief in gardens, where they eat the green peas, opening the pod over each pea, and removing it very dexterously.

[The above mention of bats feeding on vegetables induces here the introduction of two extracts, which seem to contest that point, at least as far as the vampire bat of India and that of South America are concerned. Bishop Heber says:"The vampire bat of India is a very harmless creature, of habits entirely different from the formidable idea entertained of it in England. It only eats fruit and vegetables, and indeed its teeth are not indicative of carnivorous habits; and from blood it turns away when offered to it. During the daytime it is, of course, inert; but at night it is lively, affectionate, and playful, knows its keeper, but has no objection to the approach and touch of others." (Bishop Heber.) These remarks, how

on the vampire of India do not correspond with Waterton's