FIG. 1.--LARVA OF MAY FLY. (Magnified 12 times.)
Geoffroy, because of the two large eyes, and without paying attention to the ocelli, named this larva the "feather-tailed binocle." C. Dumeril, in 1876, found it again in pools that formed after rains, and named the creature (which is of a bluish color passing to red) the "pisciform binocle." Since then, this larva has been found in the Seine at Point-du-Jour, Bas-Meudon, and between Epone and Mantes. Latreille, in 1832, decided it to be a crustacean, and named it Prosopistoma foliaceum. In September, 1868, the animal was found at Toulouse by Dr. E. Joly in the nearly dry Garonne. Finally, in 1880, Mr. Vayssiere met with it in abundance in the Rhone, near Avignon.
The abnormal existence of a six-legged crustacean occupied the attention of naturalists considerably. In 1869, Messrs. N. and E. Joly demonstrated that the famous "feather-tailed binocle" was the larva of an insect. They found in its mouth the buccal pieces of the Neuroptera, and, under the carapax, five pairs of branchial tufts attached to the segments that are invisible outwardly. Inside the animal were found tracheæ, the digestic tube of an insect, and malpighian canals. Finally, in June, 1880, Mr. Vayssière was enabled to establish the fact definitely that the insect belonged among the Ephemerids. Two of the larvae that he raised in water became, from yellowish, gradually brown. Then they crawled up a stone partially out of water, the carapax gradually split, and the adults readily issued therefrom--the head first, then the legs, and finally the abdomen. At the same time, the wings, which were in three folds in the direction of their length, spread out in their definite form (Fig. 2). The insects finally flew away to alight at a distance from the water. The wings of the insect, which are of an iron gray, are covered with a down of fine hairs. The posterior ones soon disappear.
FIG. 2.--MAY-FLY (adult magnified 14 times).
Perhaps the subimago in this genus of Ephemerids, as in certain others, is the permanent aerial state of the female.--La Nature.
Connecticut is rapidly advancing in the cultivation of oysters. About 90,000 acres are now planted, and thirty steamers and many sailing vessels are engaged in the trade.