156 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the Burmese forests on a botanical trip, and whilst in the act of detatching 

 a specimen plant of Dendrobium farmerii from the naked branch of a 

 tree, I felt a severe and painful sting on my thumb. On examination I 

 noticed I had seized hold of a large caterpillar, lodged amongst the roots 

 of this orchid. It was about two inches long, clothed with erect hairs ; its 

 colour was a reddish brown, the lower part of the abdomen being darker, 

 with well-developed legs. My thumb continued painful for three days ; it 

 was considerably swollen, the skin having a drawn glazed appearance. 

 The Burmese told me that this kind of caterpillar was exceedingly 

 venemous, and one fellow was particularly consoling by informing me that 

 unless the pain subsided in three days the sting might prove fatal. I am 

 inclined to think that the caterpillar for self-protection has the power of 

 detaching these hairs ; whether any propelling force is present at the time 

 of detachment it would be difficult to prove. I found steeping my hand 

 in Eau de Cologne gave me the greatest relief." 



Mr. Albert Muller communicated the following notes at a meeting 

 of the Ent. Soc. of London, England : — 



i. Arceocerus coffece at Basle. — " On the 29th of September, 1862, 

 while attentively watching the unpacking of some freshly-imported bags 

 of Java coffee, in a warehouse at Basle, a very lively specimen of this 

 beetle came tumbling out of one of the bags. I secured it and kept it 

 alive for some days. In a letter dated the 14th of March, 1873, which I 

 have just received from my lynx-eyed friend Herr H. Knecht, of the 

 same city, he tells me that he can now get this species in any quantity at 

 Basle. It is well known that this species of Anthribidas feeds in the larval 

 state on raw coffee-berries ; hence its introduction and capture in com- 

 mercial emporia on the coasts of different continents need cause little 

 surprise ; but the two facts here recorded illustrate once more the 

 indubitable axiom that insects living on merchandise are spread chiefly 

 along the main trade-route, and become acclimatised along their whole 

 course, Basle being one of the chief markets where Central Europe stores 

 and disposes of the purchases derived from Mediterranean and Atlantic 

 ports." 



2. Tribolium ferrugineum in Ground-nuts. — "In the summer of 1863 

 a cargo of ground-nuts (Arachis hypogcea) arrived in the port of London 

 direct from Sierra Leone. On arrival the usual samples were drawn, when 

 it turned out that the husks were riddled by countless holes, while the 



