THE STORY OF LATREILLE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 46, 24 February 1890, Page 3

THE STORY OF LATREILLE.

A T.OMANCB OF EX'IOMOLCGY. (Contributed by B. Allan Wight.) J Thar- is a beetle whose narar. is Kecrotia rufbxlis. Itia a tare insect, and has never brought iteelf prominently b: fore the ger eral publio in any way, the obief intoreßt in iho beetle being the g-merio same, or rather the lessoo why it wae to called. " Wbafc is id a name 7" we say, bnt tbcie was a great df si in the:oiroumßtances tbat led to this beetle's namo. Tbe name r_oy be read, and ia by ninny read, aa significant of is habit of feeding upon, dried dead animal substance., from two Gre;k wordß whioh moan •' which lives upon dean bodieß." But the fact is that tho same worda may also be read cs "life in death," and it waa tUt. meaning that Latreille intended they should bear when he bestowed the name upon the fee. tie whose death taved his owa Jiff. The etory ia romantic and interesting. It might be oall.d •* tbe romance of entomology," ond it sorvea to show upon what a trifling circumstance (ha tbrea i of a man _ life mcy hang. Iv this osse it ha. too _ . deeper meaning. Latreille was tfce greatest of all French entomologists; the greatest cf all e-.tomologi.ta np to his Umi p~iha, r P, if we exc?pt oue or two of the graud o'c' pioneers of the science, and had to tbs little necrobi) mado its fitat observed appearbeoo npoa the Btr.g-i of en-omology ju-t when and wbere ndid s.Uncs would bave icBJ oae of its brightest lights ere it had we!) begun to shine. The groat Latreiile wss a priest al Brives-la-Gaillarde, an J in 1792 ho with several o te-a waa arrested for a politioal eff enoe, that of refusing to tako an. oab again., fc their oonßoior.ee. Fcr tbiß offence th<y we c tried and aente_oed to i ras epor tation ior life to Guiana. Whilst, awaiting thu arrival cf a vessel to conduot th.ua to their place cf 'destination those unfortunate people were ino3.ce.aLed in a prison ceiled tbe Grand Sominaire in Bordeaux, and fortunately for Latreille Several long defays ooourred to postpone their departnre, during wbiob tbo prisoner confined :n tbe same cell with the entomologist fell eick, and a physician web sent to attend bitn. Whilst tbia gentleman was eximining hia patient a beetle (tbio n.crobia) happened to come out fr.m bo tween two boards in the fljor, and L-iieiilc perceiving it pounced at onoe v. oo it, and on obaetving that it was a beetle he'b'.d nev<- seen or heard of before, uttered & loud exclamation of intense delight, at tbo a- ma time killing tbo inseot and tra.sfixing it with a pin to fc;e cork in one of tno dootor's vials, thai; he might tLe better examine it. AU tbis natur allj 1 drew the no*, too weli pleased notioe of the medical man, who demanded the meaning of snob cone no . Latreille explained that the iu.eofc wai ar. exceedingly rare ono which he was delighted to bave a. cured, ia fact th.t by bai rtver mot with before. The medioal ma-.\ then observed tbat iv oould te of no manner of use to a prisoner on tbe eve of departure ... Bueh a place as Guiana and aeked Latioiilo to givo it to him that he might pres n: ie tv a young friend wbo had a largo collec ion of insects. and studied tbeir fcabiis. Latreille readily agreed to this provided the phy.ician would faitbfuliy _ rcmisa to return aud tell him what name his fiieud recognised tho b.etle by, that be might have tbo eaiis.'ac. ti.n of knowing before his departure, J'u' tbo yonng entomologies did nob know tht beetle and searched in vtin for it t moo gst his works, _nd w«s obliged to return ior aa answer that tho beello was hitherto undes* cribed. Upon hearing thie Latreille bigged the pbysican to reiurn to bis friend and toll him he was euie tbat he mutt be an entomologist to know that the ] inseot was new to soience, and that probably j he might have heard of L s Abbe Latreille, the author of certain memoirs on certain inseots, that he was going to die in Guiana before having published his "Examen des Genres do Fabrioius " (one of Ids greatest wojka). ; The young entomologist, who was no less a person than Borea de Saint Vinoent (alterwards one of France ..foremost entomologists) saw at once the loss Latreille and his work would be to science, and, iv commiserating his sad position, made interest frith _ome influential friends to procure Latreille'. release from prison for a time, on the plea of a certificate of bad health from the physioian, becoming, together with his unole, guarantee for hiß Bafe ouetody. In the meantima Latreille. unfortunate companions in misery were shipped almost immediately afterwards, and the vessel foundered at sea and they were lost. I Latreille's pardon was ultimately prooured through (he influence of his kind friends; and he was restored to liberty to become one of the brightest ornaments of a oountry so unworthy df such a return. Afterwards in his " Histoire des Inßeots " the author relates tho .ale, and bestows on the little inseot, the killing of whioh saved his own life, tho name of necrobia rufioolig.

Herr Raßhmann, a baritone, of Germany, proposes to test a curious point of law in connection with the phonograph, When at Venedig lately he obligingly sang a selection from " Hamlet" to a phonograph belonging to Signor Copello, and the latter has given exhibitions of the instrument, a. wbich he reproduced Herr Rashmann's tones to large audiences, whom he charged an admission fee. The singer did not receive auy share of the profits, and he will try to have Signor Copello 's exhibitions stopped by law. The highest tribunal in Belgium has* recently deoided a question of great interest to the sporting fraternity. A suit came before it which hinged upon the question whether a horse race was a game of chance or not, and betting upoa such events illegal under the law. The Court decided that races could not be included in the category of games of chance. Although the result of the race might be influenced by chance, still the qualities of the horse and rider are, provided there be no fraud, the essential elements of success. Somebody has disinterred from the Curiosites de Parlement the following passage :— " On the 28th of April, 1400, nearly all the members of the Parliament of Paris were ill with rheums and fevers, occasioned by a pestilence in the air. In the High Chamber the coughing was so incessant on all sides that the clerk— v/ho had been Buffering from the malady since 8 o'clook in the morning— could scarcely record the proceedings." (j. There is ono department (says the Press) in wbich women nowadays are seeking pab" lioity -whiob^ few people will be found to approve; We refer to " lady parachutists " and their exploits, A Miss Val Van Tassel, we note, recently performed what is oalled " a daring aerial feat " at Newcastle, New South Wales. On reading the report ma local paper, it looks at firet sight as if the feat was not only daring, hot marked an entirely, new soientifio discovery, since it stated that the lady essayed to ascend to a given distance in a gigantic balloon filled with " hpt hair. " We presume, however, that this is a printer's error, nnd that tbe "h" in the last word is redundant. At about Beven o'clock in the evening, we are informed, Miss Van Tassel mnde her appearance on the ground amidst cheers, and everything being in readiness, the guy ropes which held the balloon were cut, and it floated gracefully into mid air, Miss Van Tassel, who was olothed in gymnastic costume,, being seated on the trapeze going with it. When the balloon had "risen to a height of 5000 ft, her brother fired a pistol as a signal to descend, Inimediately" after Miss Van Tassel prepared to jump, and fell some 60ft or 70ft before the parachute opened. She then descended gracefully and safely to the ground, landing in a paddock near the Grand Primo Hotel, at I Merewether, and about half a milo from where she made the ascent. Tho balloon, after staying iv mid- air for about twenty minutes, descended to the eartb. Misa Van Taßsel, when interviewed, we are further informed, said she did not feel the least bit frightened, and expressed her intention of going up again on a future occasion. She is Baid to be the first lady who has made an ascent in Australia. Personally we .hall not grieve if she is the last to essay the feat, Here is the report of a. conversation -between a London theatrical manager and " ope gf the ladies of the ballot :— " What do yon mean miss 1 You are tipsy 1" The girl admitted that she had been " seeing* some friends off at the station." " This is d;s« graceful— impossible |" said the manager. :. **, Whoever heard bf a vestal virgin in a state of intoxication *?-"'• It's worse than immoral —it's incorrect." " Please, sir, I'm npt a vestal virgin. I'm a prießtesS of : Bacchus." , ',' Oh I very well, then, that's a different . Sthing i but don't overs. udy the part."