PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 134, 7 June 1906, Page 2

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

THE "VEGETABLE CATERPILLAR." NOTES ON THE KEA AND THE SEAGULL. At the Philosophical Society last night I there was a fair attendance of members, Mr. Martin Chapman, President, in the chain. > Mr. G, "V!. Hudson, F.E.S., read a brief but valuable- paper containing some "JRecent Observations Respecting the Origin of the Vegetable Caterpillar." It had, he, said, been legardod in some quarters as a -reproach to the naturalists of this colony that they hjld'no certainly identified the larva- -attacked by the singular fungus (Spheria 1 robertsi) wliich. converts the whole body- "of the creature into a mass of woody k .fibre.' without changing ita external form. „ Tha difficulty .was obvious — larvae were], j usually "identified by rearing them, but,- once attacked by the fungus they died, and tbi?"nv?de was impossible. A specimen shown to him a few years ago by the late Mr. N. J. Tone, in which the fungus was of small size, was certainly identified by him as the Attialus virescens, a large green moth, not only from the larva itself, but from the characteristic tunnel in the tree-trunk where it was found.; but as this larva was invariably deposited in wood, it confirmed his previous impression that more than' one bpecics was_ attacked, the creature in nearly every. instance being found beneath tho soil. Curiously, however, this species had been the first suggested by New Zealand naturalists. Lately, however, a boy at Karori had found in the earth, "nearly close together, two laxvae, identical in species, one alive and healthy^ the other attacked by the spherm. He had successfully reared the living specimen, which developed into a female specimen of the Porina dinodes, which he exhibited, and which Mr. Philpotts had .already inferred to be the species in question. It was thus proved that two species at least were involved, and probably the whole of fhe family of the Porina were subject to tho parasite. — Mr. Hamilton, commenting on tho subject, said that, the Otago Museum possessed a specimen ( in^ all respects corresponding with thai' discovered by Mr. Tone. He thought the Attiajii?-'. virescens might be more commonly affected than Mr. Hudson supposed, as.yien sick ".they had a habit of coming ouVof their barrows and might easily fall -tyj.'tlle ground and become a prey to the' 'fungus. Mr. C. W. Adams read " Some Stray Notes on tho Kea and Seagull." He thought there could now be no doubt that the kea did .kill sheep. Ha did nofc believe it showed any anatomical knowledge in its methods of attack, but merely chose the spot where it had the safest place and firmest hold. It was wonderfully inquisitive and very mischievous. It was often- ignorantly called the <v kee-a." Of course tho word ijhould be pronounced "kay-a"— a.' vary ."fair" imitation of its call. Regardipg ' th» -black-backed seagull, he noted its remarkable habit of nesting and breeding far anlaud on lefty mountains. In the Lake District',' 'Otago,, he had seen largo breeding colonies at the head of the lakes, five or six thousand feet above sea-level, and mpre than, forty miles from the- sea. It "'sometimes destroyed young lambs^ but was of great value- to the agriculturist in destroying^ 1 insect larvae. By som3 strange "instinct- it knew when food was available inland,- and any one starting ploughing— even thirty or forty miles from the epa— -would in a few hours iind tho gulls following the plough in great numbers, and they would remain, devouring the grjibs, as -long as the 'work was in progress. „ Air. C. W. Adams also gave an address of considerably <lejig£h. on the growing agitation "against lhe_ -compulsory introduction of the "metric system. Its chief opponents to-day were n:en who, before they studied the subject, hud been its ■advocates. In nearly all the aits the standards were based on the inch, and these standards were still in general use in France and Germany, sometimes disguised by names .from thoj metric system, to which thty did not conform. All the world's ohaits were marked ir fathoms, and no legislation could ever alter the standard u&ed in s&undings, as any attempt at change would cause many shipwrecks. As a surveyor, he showed the eimplicity of tho present systm compared with the complexity of metrics when areaa had to be reduced from one scale to another. Every deed in the record offico would require to be reduced to tho new measures, and the public would never submit to' it. He believed that any Government attempting to enforce the proposed measure would not stand for six months. Discussion on the subject was adjourned. . , Tbo Rev. D. C. Br.tes showed a raro specimen of tho guinea pig— its fur being gray. Several of these creitures had lately been born among the guinea pigs kept by the Health Department, and they were believed to be unique. lor some time past tome gray doe mbbita had been coutiniully in association v.-.'th the guinea pigs, and it was &uppo-ed that the similarity in colour to tho rnubits- was the result cf pre-natal impressions.