arger much less so; the former with the
fingers nearly meeting throughout their length, those of the latter only
at the tips; the second, third, and fourth pairs of legs are long,
somewhat compressed, the third joint tuberculated on the under side, the
third pair the longest; the fifth pair is reduced to a mere rudiment, in
the form of a minute tubercle inserted in a little notch at the base of
the first joint of the fourth pair, and scarcely discernible by the
naked eye.

_Observations._--The relation of this genus to the Pinnotheridae is
tolerably obvious, in the smallness of the antennae, the direction and
arrangement of the eyes, and particularly in the form of the oral
aperture, and of the external footjaws. I shall not, however, enter upon
the consideration of these relations, as I am about shortly to offer to
the Society a review and monograph of the whole of this family. The most
remarkable peculiarity in the genus is the apparent absence of the fifth
pair of legs, which can only be discovered to exist at all by
examination with the help of a lens. In this respect I doubt not that
the Fabrician genus _Hexapus_, adopted and figured by De Haan, will be
found to agree with it, although it is very remarkable that the
anomalous condition of this part never excited any particular attention
on the part of either of these distinguished naturalists; and De Haan
describes Fabricius's species, _Hexapus sexpes_, as if there were
nothing especial or abnormal in a Decapod having only six pairs of legs
besides the claws. Mr. White made a similar mistake on one occasion,
when he described an anomourous genus allied to _Lithodes_, in which the
fifth pair of legs were not visible; but when, at my suggestion, a more
careful examination was made, they were found, as was anticipated, in a
rudimentary form, concealed under the edge of the carapace. I believe
that I can discover even in De Haan's figure something like a little
tubercle at the base of the fourth leg, which is probably the
rudimentary representative of the fifth.

Death of the Common Hive Bee, supposed to be occasioned by a parasitic
Fungus. By the Rev. HENRY HIGGINS. Communicated by the President.

[Read June 3rd, 1858.]

On the 18th of March last, Timpron Martin, Esq., of Liverpool,
communicated to me some circumstances respecting the death of a hive of
bees in his possession, which induced me to request from him a full
statement of particulars. Mr. Martin