ellow fluid when handled, and is therefore called
the Oil-beetle (_Meloee proscarabaeus_). The early stages of this beetle
have much affinity with those of the _Stylops_. The beetle lays a number
of yellow eggs in a hole in the earth; these produce little active
six-footed larvae, resembling lice, which crawl to the summit of
dandelion and other flowers in the sunshine, and await the visit of a
bee. On the arrival of one, the active grub immediately clings to its
body, and is carried to the nest, not, however, to introduce itself
parasitically into the body of the bee-grub, but to feed on the
provision which the parent bee has stored up for its own young. Thus it
becomes very fat, and grows to a size much larger than that of the
full-grown bee-grub, having early dropped its six long clinging legs,
which, having performed their proper function in catching hold of a bee,
are no longer needed. It changes to a perfect beetle in autumn, lies in
the bee's nest all the winter, and emerges in the spring.

The large jelly-like Medusae which in summer are seen floating around our
coasts, driving themselves along by alternate contractions and
expansions of their umbrella, are frequently infested by little
creatures of widely different organisation, Crustaceans belonging to the
genera _Hyperia and Metoecus_. On the beautiful _Chrysaora_ of the
southern coast I have seen the _Metoecus medusarum_, a little shrimp
about half-an-inch in length, with enormous lustrous green eyes, which
takes up his residence in the cavities of the sub-umbrella,--dwelling in
them as in so many spacious and commodious apartments, of which he takes
possession, evidently without asking leave of the landlord, or paying
him even the compliment of a peppercorn rent. Here he snugly ensconces
himself, and feels so much at home, that he is not afraid to leave his
dwelling now and then, to take a swim in the free water, returning to
his chamber after his exercise; and here he rears his numerous family,
which, in the form of tiny white specks, very much unlike their parents
in shape, stud the membranes of the jelly-fish.

But, what is stranger still, Mr M'Cready has recently discovered in the
harbour of Charleston in North America, a _Medusa_ which is parasitic
upon another _Medusa_. _Cunina octonaria_ does not swim freely in the
water, but inhabits the cavity of the bell of _Turritopsis nutricula_.
"Not only does the latter furnish a shelter and dwelling-place for