ENTOMOLOGY. 797 



causes of unsatisfactory results obtained in spraying with whale-oil soap. Some- 

 times the insect pests were destroyed and sometimes not. In sonic cases the foliage 

 was uninjured, while in others the foliage was killed and the trees also. A brief 

 account is given of the methods of making commercial soaps, the composition of 

 soaps in general, and definitions of various component elements of soap. Analyses 

 were made of 9 samples of commercial whale-oil soap. In these samples the water 

 content was found to vary from 11.15 to 54.85 percent, the real soap from 14.9 to 

 59.27 per cent, and the free fatty acids from to 17.2 per cent. There was usually 

 no free alkali. It was found that few manufacturers of commercial whale-oil soaps 

 are willing to guarantee the composition of the soap. Horticulturists can not he 

 certain of the commercial soap. On this account, experiments were undertaken in 

 the manufacture of fish-oil soap at home. For this purpose the following formula 

 is suggested: Caustic soda, 6 lbs.; fish oil, 22 lbs., and water, 1.] gal. This quantity 

 will make 40 lbs. of soap. Experiments in the use of homemade snap showed that 

 when used at the rate of 1 lb. in 7 gal. of water, entirely satisfactory results were 

 obtained in destroying plant lice without injury to the foliage of apple, pear, plum, 

 currant, cherry, and peach trees. Soaps were made so as to contain quantities of 

 free alkali varying from 1 to 50 per cent. It was found that injury was done to the 

 foliage when the amount of free alkali reached 10 per cent. Willi the usual market 

 prices for the materials employed in the manufacture of fish-oil soap, it was found 

 possible to make such soap for about 2| cts. per lb. Homemade fish-oil soap, there- 

 fore, possesses the advantages of greater uniformity of composition, greater reliability, 

 and less cost. 



Homemade soap for spraying-, F. H. Hall, L. L. Van Slvke, and F. A. Urner 

 (New YorTc State Sta. /.'»/. 257, popular ed., pp. 6, fig. 1). — A popular edition of Bul- 

 letin 257 of this station noted above. 



Carbon bisulphid, its nature and uses, C. Fuller (Natal Agr. Jour, and Min. 

 Rec, 7 (1904), No. 9, pp. 839-845). — The chemical properties of carbon bisulphid are 

 described in considerable detail. This remedy has been successfully used in the 

 destruction of granary insects, white ants, red ants, tobacco weevils, phylloxera, 

 mole crickets, insects in furs, carpets, etc., moles, rabbits, rats, and land crabs in 

 dams. Directions are given for the application of the remedy under different 

 circumstances. 



Effect of free arsenious oxid on foliage, A. B. Cordley (Oregon sta. Rpt. 1904, 

 pp. 40-47). — A number of samples of Paris green were furnished by the Bureau of 

 Chemistry of this Department and were tested in spraying experiments in Oregon. 

 The results obtained have already been noted from another source (E. S. R., 16, 

 pp. 76, 77). 



In general, the results were very favorable and indicated that it is safe to spray 

 apple, pear, and prune trees with ordinary samples of Paris green. The poison was 

 applied, however, in a fresh condition very soon after being prepared for use. Brief 

 notes are also given on the distribution of San Jose scale and crown gall in Oregon. 



Thelohania legeri and a new species of parasite in the larvae of Anopheles 

 maculipennis, E. Hesse (Compt. Rend. Sac. Biol. [Paris], 57 (1904), No. 36, pp. 

 570-5? ?, figs. 10). — The parasite described as a new species in this article is a micro- 

 sporidial organism of which the life history is not yet thoroughly known. Several 

 stages of the parasite, however, are described by the author. 



Beneficial ladybugs, F. W.Terry (Hawaiian Forester and Agr., 1 (1904), No. 11, 

 pp. 299-302). — Descriptive notes are given on 8 species of ladybugs which have been 

 found more or less beneficial in the Hawaiian Islands. These species are described 

 in their different stages and their beneficial effects are briefly indicated. 



Sericulture in Madagascar in 1903 (Agr. Prat. Pays ChaudS) 5 (1905), No. ..'.', 

 pp. 11-21, fig. 1). — A general account is given of the extent of sericulture in Mada- 

 gascar, together with especial notes on the organization and work of the government 

 sericultural service, the distribution of mulberry trees, etc. 



