Antennæ corpore longiores articulis pedibusque anticis scabris. Caput postice annulo albido variegatum. Thorax utrinque spinosus rugisque transversis notatus. Scutellum albovillosum posticè rotundatum. Elytra nigro-cinerea basi scabra, seu melius tuberculis, parvis, nitidis, parum elevatis. Apex in medio spinosus. Disco maculis cretaceis variegato. Corpus infra nigro-cinereum, femoribus anticis tibiisque asperis. Plantis fuscis et spongiosis. This magnificent insect was sent me by my friend Captain Roe, from the new settlement at Swan River, in Australia.It is named in honour of M. Bois Duval, the author of the 'Voyage de Découverte de l' Astrolabe.' The above individual is justly considered one of the leading lepidopterists of Europe. I have mentioned that the Baron De Jean gives the name of Batocera to true Lamia; but six species are recorded in his last Catalogue, and all of them but one are designated as inhabiting the East Indies: the species alluded to is Lamia Rubus, Fabr., from the Island of Mauritius. The true Rubus of Fabricius, however, inhabits the East Indies, the Rubus from the Isle of France appears distinct, and is, I believe, as yet undescribed. Lamia according to my views is only found in Africa and Asia, and some of the adjacent isles; three species from the former continent have fallen under my notice, and about twenty from the latter, besides the species above described. The most magnificent of them all is Lamia Roylii from the Himalaya. According to Mr. W. W. Saunders, the perfect insect feeds on the blossoms of the pepal-tree (Ficus religiosa). In the interminable woods of Travancore, these insects abound; and from their excessive numbers and the effects they produce by perforating the trunks of large and gigantic trees, they act as useful pioneers, tending to clear the ground, and thin the exuberant vegetation which there abounds, Some of the native tribes of India in the vicinity of Travancore, and in the island of Ceylon, feed on the larvæ of Lamiade, as is the case in Africa with Lamia gigas, now denominated Omacantha by M. Serville. Col. Whithill has in his superb collection many of the larva of Lamia admirably preserved. It is a subject of regret among entomologists, that few collectors preserve insects in their earliest stages, in spirits; when we become better acquainted with them, and have it in our power to give the anatomical details of such gigantic forms as belong to the genera Prionus and Lamia, we may naturally expect that much light will be thrown on the sensorial organs of insects, which are at present very imperfectly understood. March, 1839. ART. VI.-Descriptions of the Species of the Genus Lima, from the Coralline Crag, in the Cabinet of SEARLES VALENTINE WOOD, Esq., late Curator to the Geological Society of London. SIR, 13, Bernard St., Russell Square, March 10th, 1839. During a residence of some years in the county of Suffolk, I devoted the greater part of my time to collecting the numerous fossils of the crag, and particularly those of the inferior beds described under the name of "coralline crag" in the Phil. Mag.' for August, 1835. The whole of my collection has been lately removed to the metropolis; and as a considerable number of the species which it contains are new to science, it is desirable that figures and descriptions of these should be published, as well as of those shells which have been described from inferior or imperfect specimens. I therefore forward to you the enclosed MSS., and accompanying series of the genus Lima, and if you think them of sufficient interest for publication, with illustrations, in the 'Magazine of Natural History,' I will, on a future occasion, continue the description of the new species contained in my cabinet. Yours, &c. Editor of the Magazine of Natural History. S. V. WOOD. THE genus Lima, Brug., is characterised as inequilateral and oblique, with an opening on one side, as the passage for a byssus: but there are some shells which, though they do not possess all these distinctions, retain other characters in common with the true Lime, and cannot with propriety be entirely removed from the genus. The crag yields two species, perfectly equilateral, and apparently closed bivalves, so far deviating from the generic character that I have thought it necessary to institute for them a sub-genus, which I purpose to call Limatula. The Plagiostoma of Lluyd has been long established, and many different species delineated by Sowerby and other conchologists from the external character alone; and it is but recently that a specimen has been discovered (I understand now in the possession of Mr. J. D. C. Sowerby) which shows the hinge to be the same as that of Lima. Goldfuss unites Plagiostoma to Lima, and has included all the species of the former in the latter genus, with the exception of the Plag. spinosa, which he has altogether rejected. The only difference that I have been able to observe between Plagiostoma and Lima is the opening which VOL. III.--No. 29. N. s. 2 B appears on the anterior side of some of those which belong to the secondary formations, while those of more modern deposits have the large opening for the byssus? on the posterior side. I do not know whether I am right as to the universality of this character, but it is uniform in all the species that I have examined. Goldfuss has given figures of forty-six species, (from the lias to the tertiary inclusive), and Deshayes six more, from the Paris basin. 1. Lima exilis, Nobis. Suppl. Pl. No. 3, fig. 1. Shell inequilateral, oblique, slightly convex, slender, gaping, costated, (costæ numerous, irregular, small, and distant), hinge-line oblique, ligamental area large, central pit rectangular, umbones distant, lunula smooth.— Length, 14 inch, breadth 14 inch, depth one valve. Localities: Coralline crag, Ramsholt. Red crag, Walton, Essex. The lines of growth are very distinct, and carried over the ribs, producing a slight imbrication, giving the whole exterior the characteristic roughness of the file: ribs sharp and elevated on the anterior slope, but growing indistinct towards the posterior side; beyond the slope it is free from striæ, the opening for the byssus is on the posterior side near the hinge, but it gapes also slightly on the other side near the front; the lines of the central pit diverge from the umbo at an angle of 90°, pit projecting inwards, a slight depression is visible internally, produced by the ribs, and it has one large, oval, muscular impression near the posterior side. This is identical with a recent species in the possession of Mr. G. B. Sowerby, without name or locality. 2. Lima oblonga, Nobis. Pl. 3. fig. 2. Shell oblong, inequilateral, oblique, depressed, gaping on both sides, costated, costa slightly waved, projecting beyond the edge, ligamental area large, hinge-line oblique, umbones distant. Length 1 inch, breadth f, depth. Locality: Coralline crag, Ramsholt. Shell depressed, gaping on both sides, the anterior opening large and somewhat triangular, with an internal margin, striæ numerous, becoming raised into costa as they approach the anterior slope, beyond which it is smooth, lines of stria slightly visible internally, and one large, lateral, sub-oval, muscular impression. A recent species, Lima tenera, figured and described by Turton in the Zool. Journal,' vol. ii. p. 363, tab. 13, f. 2, much resembles this in general appearance, and may hereaf ter prove to be a variety of the same, but a specimen of it, the same valve and the same size as my fossil, kindly lent me by Mr. G. B. Sowerby for comparison, presented the following differences. Posterior opening, wider and shorter, consequently the slope not so great nor the opening so long as in the recent shell, which is also more oblique, rather deeper, and the ligamental area not so large as in the fossil, and the striæ are finer and more regular in the recent shell, nor does our shell deserve the name of tenera or fragilis, (the name given to it by Dr. Fleming), as it is thick and strong. I presume it is rare in the crag, not having found the opposite valve. 3. Lima fragilis, Auct. Pl. 3, fig. 3. Pecten fragilis; Montague, 'Test. Brit.' p. 63, Supplement. Red crag, Walton, Essex. The copious description given by Col. Montague leaves nothing to be added. Our shell appears rather thicker and firmer, with a very slight difference in the striæ. By no means rare at Sutton; rather more so in the red crag, owing probably to its fragility. 4. Lima plicatula, Nobis. Pl. 3, fig. 4. Shell inequilateral, oblique, convex, ovato-orbicular, anterior truncated, costated, costa 14-16, ligamental area small, oblique, lunula transversely crenulated. Length of an inch. Locality: Coralline crag, Sutton. of A small shell and rare; my specimens not more than an inch in length. The ribs are elevated, and as broad as the spaces between them, which are strongly imbricated; the ribs showing slight indentations; (a) is an enlarged figure with a portion more highly magnified. One ear on the posterior side is large and projecting while the other is scarcely visible; it differs from Lima plicata of Deshayes, inasmuch as it is smaller and more orbicular. The central ligamental area is very small and oblique, sloping towards the posterior side, which is not given in the figure. Sub-genus LIMatula. 1. L. Limatula ovata, Nobis. Pl. 3, fig. 5. Shell equilateral, ovate, convex, equivalved, closed? bivalve; ligamental area large; umbones distant, costated, costa 6-8, edge crenulated.— Length of an inch, breadth, depth of single valve Locality: Coralline crag, Sutton. This shell is very abundant at the above locality. Although the coralline crag is generally considered to have been a deep water deposit, it must have been subject to some degree of agitation, as we find separated those bivalves whose attachment depends solely upon the ligament, and only under very favourable circumstances are their valves ever united. I have found some hundred single valves of this species, but never a double specimen. The smaller figures are of the natural size, letter a is a magnified representation. There are about seven angular central ribs, beyond which are very faint traces of stria, in well-preserved specimens the ribs are visible internally, giving about half-a-dozen rough crenulations in front. Ligamental area large, the lines of the central pit diverging from the umbo at an angle of about 80°, muscular impression sub-central and ovate. The shell figured by Brocchi, tab. 14 f. 14. is larger and longer. The young of the following species is much more cylindrical and not so largely costated. 2. L. Limatula subauriculata, Nobis. Pl. 3, fig. 6. Pecten subauriculata; Montague, 'Test. Brit.' Supplement, p. 63, t. 29, f. 2. Lengthan inch, breadth of an inch, depth of an inch. Locality: Coralline crag, Sutton and Ramsholt. (a) is a magnified portion. This corresponds with Montague's description in every respect, but I have not seen the shell. The central coste are angulated, dwindling into strie on the sides, visible internally, crenulating the margin in front. The two opake strie mentioned by Montague are not shown in the figure, but they are distinctly visible in two of my specimens. Montague's shell was only one quarter of an inch in length, breadth half its length. ART. VII.-Notice of the discovery of the Nests and Eggs of the common Crossbill, near Farnham, Surrey. By H. L. LONG, Esq. With additional Remarks by Mr. YARRELL. It is now five or six years since I began to observe the crossbills; they were at first but few, and rarely seen, now they are in considerable numbers, and visible every day. If they |