THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 101 



extremity introduced through the incision into the abdomen, up to the spin- 

 ners. The abdomen thus spitted is inserted into a large test-tube held ove r 

 the flame of a candle, the preparation being constantly rotated till dry, avoid- 

 ing the extremes of too much or too little heat — the firmness of the abdomen 

 being tested every now and then with a fine needle, till it is so firm as not to 

 yield to pressure ; the front extremity of the pin is now cut off obliquely, 

 and the point thus made inserted into the cephalo-thorax, the two halves of 

 the body being thus again brought into apposition. The animal may then 

 be mounted as usual. This method is stated by Mr. Thorell to preserve the 

 the appearance of the animals almost entirely unchanged. — Nature. 



Mummied Beetles. — In the year 1835 the late Professor Audouin exhibit- 

 ed before the (French^) Entomological Society a vase of red clay, resembling 

 an orange in size and form, with a short neck, which had been taken from an 

 ancient tomb at Luxor (the Egyptian Thebes). There was a slight fracture 

 where the neck joined the body, and, on examination, the vase was found to 

 be filled with a black lumpy matter, consisting entirely of the bodies of a 

 small ptinoid beetle (Gibbium Scotias). The mass was quite compact, so 

 that the number of beetles must have reached several thousands. How are 

 we to explain the presence of such an enormous quantity of individuals of 

 this species in a vase, into which they could not have themselves penetrated, 

 because, previously to the fracture occurring, it was hermetically sealed ? It 

 is a problem which it is not easy to solve. M. Brulle, who quotes the story 

 in his " Histoire des Coleopteres," believes without doubt that the circum- 

 stance is connected with some superstitious usage of the ancient Egyptians. 

 We leave to archaeologists the task of appraising this theory at its proper 

 value, which, if it be well founded, will go far to settle the difficulty. — (Du- 

 jponchelj "Diet. d'Hist. Nat"~) Science Gossip. 



Spiders and Larvae. — In the April part of Science Gossip is a query 

 with the above heading, which I can answer in the affirmative. If Mr. 

 Roberts wishes to see a spider thoroughly puzzled, let him put a leaf-rolling 

 caterpillar into its web ; the spider (provided the larva be proportionate to 

 its own size) seizes it fearlessly and winds it up ; but as fast as he winds, so 

 fast does the larva slip out of its bonds, until it either escapes from the web 

 altogether or gets weakened by the repeated bites of its adversary. The 

 larva of a JVoctua also astonishes a spider, from the fact that it cannot be 

 made to lie still in the web, though wrapped in ever so many grave-clothes ; 

 when the spider has given it two or three bites, however, its activity decreases, 

 when the spider sucks its juices at pleasure. The larvce of certain species 

 of Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera are distasteful to spiders, as I observed in 

 a short paper read before the Entomological Society in March, 1869. — A. G. 

 Britten, British Museum (Science Gossij)^. 



