nators. We need but watch the persistent action of those busy jaws to be very sure that its abductors and adductors are in perfection; whilst to twist about its spinnaret and weave the tapestry of its chamber, supinators and pronators must be in full play, as well as the ceaseless constrictor muscles, opening and closing the spiracles, and giving such varied movements to the segments of the abdomen. Would the dorsal vessel pulsate without that arrangement of muscular fibre, by which the systole and diastole is maintained? and would the peristaltic motion, so necessary to digestion, go on without that exquisite network of innumerable muscular threads, which twine along, and across, and around every internal organ? No; all this mystery of life goes on planned, directed, and sustained beneath the tegument of this microscopic worm.

Now what is the little larva about? I have placed it under the microscope; he has at length entered the leaf, and eaten more than the length and breadth of its body. I turned it out of its case at two P.M. It wandered restlessly until four P.M., then fixed and opened its circular door, slowly going forward, until on my return at ten P.M. it had advanced into perfect shelter. The next morning a large blotch was eaten, but I was in time to sit beside the elm branch and watch the making of the tent.

It had fixed near the edge of the leaf, and was carefully eating out the parenchyma of each serrature, leaving the edges untouched, as it thereby saved a seam in the tent, yet emptying each tooth to make it light and less brittle. When all was clear, the larva measured a gentle curve a little larger than its body, and began to draw the cuticle together on the opposite side to the serratures-tacking it loosely at first, and biting the membrane between the fibres, sewing it more neatly then, and careful not to cut the supporting braces formed by the nerves of the leaf. Then it rubbed the interior of the case with its head, as if to smooth it, and presently began to darken it with a web of fine silk, rendering further operations invisible, only I perceived that one end was left open for the ejection of its excrement, and that the fibres were cut mysteriously away, when the tent by powerful muscular action was raised from the leaf, and the Coleophora marched off to refresh itself in a new excavation.

Yet that was another point on which to rest and ponder. What was it eating, and how much did it eat?

What store of delicate and varied food lies in the cells of any leaf; sugar and starch and chlorophyll, oils and gums and raphides; ay, and in some plants, like the common nettle, beautiful crystals suspended from the cell wall, or floating about; sweetmeats and candies for the little gourmand-no

wonder it eats so much; in twelve hours it ate the weight of its own body; as if a man should in the same time demolish thirty four-pound loaves of bread!

But lest some matter-of-fact reader should consider this formation of a case at the edge of a leaf as a mere routine of instinct, let us see how Reaumur tested the resources of one of the same limosipennella.

He did as I have done, turned one out to make a new case, but when the excavation was complete he cut off the teeth of the leaf. The two membranes flew apart, and the little larva seemed to be surprised and troubled; after a little hesitation apparently it saw the remedy, turned itself about, and threw a few threads from side to side, pulled them close and joined the rent. Then, as if considering that a like misfortune might happen. again, before proceeding in the work of mining necessary for a full-sized case, it darkened the interior of the mine with a regular silken tube, which it left to continue and mine in a curve directly down the leaf and across the fibres. Now and then it returned to the tube, and lengthened and strengthened that; yet with strange forethought the case was not woven throughout-not at all; one side was merely tacked together and spaces left by which the larva could put out its head and cut the leaf between the fibres which now supported the case (fig. 8). Yet somehow perceiving that from the cutting away of the edge the natural curve was destroyed, the larva actually changed the aperture from one end to the opposite, in order to obtain the proper and convenient shape. At last, after two days' hard work, the tent was finished, and the thoughtful, patient little architect went on its way towards the development and perfection of its being.

The Coleophora Vitella, whose case is figured (2), may be found as early as April, having begun its case from the leaf of Vaccinium vitis idea (cranberry) in the autumn, and up to the end of the month the case is being continually enlarged with pieces of the mined leaf, giving it a wrinkled appearance, and being paler near the mouth as fresh bits are added, and the case becomes pistol-shaped. The moth comes out at the end

of June, and is abundant near Manchester.

Coleophora laricella (Fig. 4 A).-Very small is this pretty little tentmaker, feeding on the tenderest shoots of the larch in early spring time. It was hatched in the autumn, and mining a slender leaf it cut it off and hoisted it as a tent for its shelter and defence, remaining asleep in it all the winter, and with the first warmth of April, and with the cuckoo's note, awakening to feed on the under side of the fresh green leaves. The mine is very transparent, and the proceedings of the caterpillar easily observed. The moth is all one colour, a light brown

with silky grey under-wings. This is widely distributed at Guildford, Manchester, York, Scotland.

Coleophora juncicolella.-Lying on the heathy heights of Dover, watching the blue bright channel sea dancing the fleet of little fishing boats, and heaving the great ships to and fro, nestling for shelter in the tufts of Erica and Calluna, I idly wondered what those withered tips might be that topped the living stem. From the wide expanse of ocean and troubled thoughts within, the tent of the little Heath Coleophora turned eye and mind to ponder on the cunning work of this small architect. Who teaches it to pluck the little leaves, and count them seven or nine, nor more nor less, and weave them into this pretty case (fig. 5)? Some are withered and reddishbrown or yellow, and the lower ones are green, so making a parti-coloured tent, from which by and by a small grey-winged moth shall rise, and flit into the heath-bells for honey-drops and repose.

Coleophora Muripennella. (Fig. 6 A.)-Here is another surprise, picking the brown heads of Luzula in June, the seed vessels are all alive. Look closely; take a pocket lens; a little black head peeps out of a seed, and we find the larva has banqueted on the substance within, ensconced itself in the husk, and marched off to empty another seed, and so feed away until the long pupa sleep comes on, and April with its primroses and anemones brings also young Luzulas, whereon the delicately-striped brown moth will lay its eggs and finish the task of its life.

They are found, these curious cases, near London, Lewes, Worthing, York, Scarborough, Scotland, and the moth is abundant from April to June.

Coleophora Curricepennella. (Fig. 7.)-This pretty striped moth is more abundant abroad than in England, yet is found near London and Wimbledon in May and June, producing a larva which weaves a case entirely of silk, quite black, and with four projections, diminishing towards the mouth, and one row forming a right angle with another row. It eats the leaf so delicately that the parenchyma is removed, and the perfect network of fine veins is left unbroken.

Coleophora lineola. (Fig. 9.)—It is worth while having a good hunt for this tentmaker on the under side of Ballota nigra (black horehound), or Lamium purpurea (purple dead nettle), and if you see some whity-brown glassy-looking blotches in September on these leaves, look under the leaf, you will most likely find quite a little company of them perambulating a single leaf. By all means place one of these tents under the binocular; the silvery.hairs upon the dark cuticle, and the fresh bit probably added to the first part of the tent, will delight the observer. And perhaps another is still more beautiful, the tent-maker

found on Viper's buglos, with its jointed hairs and thin crystal bulbs glistening like jewels on the dark green case. This is the Coleophora Onosmella, and found on chalky districts in the south of England, at Sandown, in the Isle of Wight, plentiful; and also at Dover.

Coleophora discordella. (Fig. 10.)-On grassy banks where the Lotus corniculatus grows, here we shall find this ingenious little workman very busy. Piece after piece he adds to his tent. Some brown, some yellowish, or nearly white, and it curves over like a reversed cornucopia. This larva feeds in August, and a silvery-striped pretty moth comes forth in June, for, like most of these case-bearers, it has a long larva-life of nearly nine months, hybernating in the cold winter, and recommencing active life in the spring.

Space allowed not of more drawings, but these will suffice to arouse attention, and I will add a list of plants on which to look for various species of tent-makers. Very likely this will lead not only to much personal pleasure, but to real advance in science, for the known species doubtless fall far short of the unknown, and the roads and lanes of England have many a footmark of Divine wisdom and goodness that may be found upon the track of our tiny Coleophora.

C. cæspititiella.
C. inflata.

C. albicosta.

. C. conspicuella.
. C. solitariella.

C. viminetella.

C. ditella.

C. ochrea.

REFERENCES TO PLATE.-Fig. 1. Coleophora chalcogrammella. 1 A. Larva-tent feeding on Cerastium arvense. 2. Tent of Coleophora Vitella. 3. Larva of Coleophora. 4. Shoots of larch with larva of C. laricella. 4 A. The tent of C. laricella magnified. 5. Tent of C. juncicolella on heath. 5 A. The same magnified. 6. Tent of Coleophora Muripennella. 6 A. The same magnified. 7. Coleophora Curricepennella. 7 A. The tent of the same magnified. 8. Elm leaf with tents of Coleophora Limosipennella. 8 A. A tent just cut from the leaf. 8 B. The larva walking off with its tent. 9. The tent of Coleophora lineola. 10. The tent of Coleophora discordella.

A VISIT TO LLANDUDNO.

BY HENRY J. SLACK, F.G.S.,

Member of the Microscopical Society of London.

A GLANCE at Professor Ramsay's excellent geological map of England and Wales will show a conspicuous and irregular mass of limestone, belonging to the carboniferous series, considerably to the left of the estuary of the Dee, and to the right of the Menai Straits. This is the Great Orme's Head, a magnificent promontory, protected through the hardness of its material from being washed away by the long-continued beating of the waves, which have hollowed out a huge gap in that portion of the British coast. Properly speaking the "Head" is the termination of the mass, the rest being locally known as the "Llandudno Mountain," beneath whose shade a smartly-built watering-place has rapidly sprung up, much frequented by Liverpool families, and catching an occasional Londoner to vary the scene. The Great Orme's Head is the attractive feature to the ordinary visitor. All round its sea-beat wall a pathway has been cut, beginning a few feet above the hightide level, winding from east to west, ascending many hundred feet, and presenting at every turn a grand view of distant coasts, and wide-spread waters, studded with many a sail. Looking eastward, the eye roams beyond the Little Orme's Head, the other barrier of the little bay, catches the flat washy land of the two remarkable estuaries of the Mersey and the Dee; and rests, if the weather permits, on the shores of the West Riding of York. As the path winds, huge irregular masses of rock overhang the way; far down below seethe the white surge and foam, and presently, in a grassy slope, is seen the little church of St. Tudno, who must have been of a very ascetic way of thinking to have resorted to so wild a region, and one so remote from the society of his fellow-men. The path again ascends, and twists; Lancashire and Yorkshire are lost, and Anglesey comes more and more into view, with its outpost of Puffin's Island, in which multitudes of sea birds are said to breed. As the headland is rounded, the splendid cone of Penmaen-Mawr rises across the estuary of the Conway river; and when a southern view is obtained, the mountains of Snowdonia mingle their summits with the clouds, and close the scene. Sun-set pours its red and yellow light gloriously over these varied outlines, and those who differ from Hood in the assertion that

"A man that's fond precociously of stirring,
Must be a spoon,"

speak with equal favour of the magnificence of the sun-rise.