i8 9 5-] 1 87 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



Published monthly (except July and August), in charge of the joint 

 publication committees of the Entomological Section of the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, and the American Entomological 

 Society. It will contain not less than 300 pages per annum. It will main- 

 tain no free list whatever, but will leave no measure untried to make it a 

 necessity to every student of insect life, so that its very moderate annual 

 subscription may be considered well spent. 



ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $1.00, IN ADVANCE. 



Outside of the United States and Canada $1.2O. 



SS^r All remittances should be addressed to E. T. Cresson, Treasurer, 

 P. O. Box 248, Philadelphia, Pa.; all other communications to the Editors 

 of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS, Academy of Natural Sciences, Logan Square, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



PHILADELPHIA, PA., JUNE, 1895. 

 A NEW DEPARTURE. 



(See page ii of cover.) 



Dr. R. Ottolengui has inaugurated something new in entomology, at 

 least in this country. Auction Sales of insects are quite common in Eng- 

 land because entomologists are more numerous there than here. We 

 think the plan is a good one, and we wish it success; there is no doubt 

 but that Dr. Ottolengui will deal justly with all. Rule second we think 

 is a mistake, and should be modified. We think that all kinds of ma- 

 terial for which there is any sale should be listed. Many people want 

 common material at a low price. Cabinets and apparatus might also be 

 disposed of in the same way. There are also doubtless many small col- 

 lections for sale that could be had at a small figure, and that would be a 

 big aid to the beginner, especially if correctly named. As an example of 

 the latter, the American Entomological Society has a large amount of 

 duplicate Coleoptera that it would sell at almost any price as the space 

 it now occupies is more valuable than the specimens. We will view with 

 much interest the result of this first annual sale. 



THE vesicatory principle of the blister-fly is called Cantharidine , and has 

 been ascertained by experiment to reside more particularly in the wings 

 than in other parts of the body. Our officinal insect is the Cantharis vesi- 

 catoria ; and since the principal supply is from Spain, we call them com- 

 monly Spanish-flies. In Italy, the Rlylabris cichorii, a native of the south 

 of Europe, is used ; and the M. pustulata, a native of China, is used by 

 the Chinese, who also export it to Brazil, where it is the only species em- 

 ployed. In India also a species of Jl/e/oe is used, possessing all the 

 properties of the Spanish-fly. Covan's Curious Facts. 



