ago, which afforded him much amusement. It was constructed in the form of a cross, each limb being I suppose about eight inches wide, and a foot high, formed of parallel pieces of glass, about an inch and a half, or probably a little more, distant from each other, so as to admit of one piece of comb, with room enough on each side for the bees to work. My friend's breakfast- table was a fixture close to the window, and continuous with the window-sill, and upon this table the glass hive was firmly fixed, and a passage was formed from outside the window, through the sill, and through the substance of the table, straight to the glass hive, into which it opened at the bottom, of course without any opening into the room. Thus the bees made their way from the open air through the little passage into the hive, having but a short way to travel, as the hive was as near to the window as it could conveniently be placed. The cross form gave several advantages; it afforded a larger space for the bees to work in, and a larger field for observation, and it rendered the hive much more strong and firm. A pasteboard cover of the same form was made to go over it, so that the bees were always in darkness, excepting when uncovered for the purpose of examining them; and I think there were some means adopted for the ventilation of the hive, but of this I am not certain. Thus my friend, who was a lone bachelor, had always at his breakfast table a more delightful, rational and instructive companion, than either the newspaper or "the last new novel." As I write from recollection of what I saw about thirty years ago, I may be in error as to some of my details; but I am sure not in any important particular.—Thomas Bell; New Broad St., January 23, 1843.
Note on Coleopterous Insects frequenting damp places. During the past year I paid particular attention to the marshes, banks of streams, rivers and pools in our neighbourhood, in my researches after Coleopterous insects; and from the success I met with, I am inclined to think such localities are not examined with the industry they deserve. Muddy banks of large pools, mingled with half-submerged moss, aquatic shrubs, decayed reeds, and other rejectamenta, from which arise clumps of taller plants, will amply repay the somewhat unpleasant labour of investigation. Many a long day, in sunshine and in shower, has seen me wading in those miry paradises, in the praiseworthy endeavour to effect my little tow T ards the advancement of our favourite science; and my labours were rewarded with many of those insect gems whose shining coats "the richest hues adorn."
In the early part of spring, from March till June, but chiefly during the month of April, these places are the only haunts of some of our
