CURRENT NOTES. 145 



Cuspidia alni sold at about 4d. each, but ( '. stn'i/osa raised two lots to 

 21/- and 20/- respectively, whilst Mr, Farren's tine Wainscots went 

 for 21/-, 9/-, 12/-, 24/-, 22/-, 27/6, 28/-, 20/- per lot respectively. 

 The XoiKu/riti ni'urica were of course very fine. The rest of the 

 Noctuids throughout averaged comparatively high prices, but four 

 A(/r()tis pi/idjj/iila, three A. abscura, one ^N^ i/laiWMi var. .siiJf'Kxa, and 53 

 other insects for 7/-, must be looked upon as almost giving insects 

 away. Bred 7>rt.s7/ca»(7/rt /•»A////»('fl, from Devon, were not considered to be 

 worth more than 1/- each, if of quite that value ; but the Plusias again 

 fetched good prices. Among the Geometers, P/Kinxlesma smaraydana 

 fetched perhaps something under 1/- apiece, for six specimens of this 

 species, and 40 other specimens, including two vars. of E. jium-taria, 

 produced only G/-, whilst Acidalia huiiiiliata and A. contuiuaria found 

 a sale price at about 2/- each. Taken all round the Geometrids did 

 not fetch such good prices as the Noctuids until the Anticleas were 

 reached, when the two lots containing the lovely forms of A. miiiata 

 went at 28/- each ; whilst a series of Cidaria mijittata, containing an 

 aberration in which the band was nearly obsolete, went up to £3 5s. ; 

 ('. iTtirxdata at 10/- apiece can be considered as bought. The 

 Crambids and Pyralides sold much below their value, and the Tortricides 

 also ; but it must be borne in mind that the specimens, with a few 

 important exceptions, were unlabelled and their localities unknown. 

 At the close of the sale, two pairs of Xj/ssia lapponaria, bred by 

 Mr. Christy, were offered for sale and produced £1 15s. per pair, 

 whilst a male and female specimen of Chri/sophamis dispar were 

 bought for £2 and £2 2s. respectively. 



Mr. Sladen, of Dover, recounts (E. M. .V., Nov.) the discovery, on 

 a grassy bank at the edge of his carriage drive, of SpJwcodes nibicuudus, 

 a bee new to Britain. Hitherto no males of the genus SpJwcodes had 

 been observed in England before July or August, but Mr. Sladen 

 found his specimens at the end of May. By a series of careful investiga- 

 tions Mr. Sladen was able to arrive at the conclusion that N. nibiciDtdits 

 was an inquiline of Andrena niiirocwnea and A. labialis, 



Mr. W. H. Nunney deals, in Science (iossip for November, with the 

 interesting question of the preservation of the colours of dragon Hies. 

 He has found Barft"s boro-glyceride, a well-known preparation obtain- 

 able at any chemists, the most satisfactory thing to use. After 

 making the usual longitudinal slit in the underside of the body 

 and withdrawing the contents as far as possible, the cavity is filled up 

 with the boro-glyceride, care being taken not to allow the chemical to 

 soil the outside of the body. In the case of the smaller Aifrionidae the 

 boro-glyceride, slightly weakened by the addition of water, is injected 

 into the body by means of a hypodermic syringe. Mr. Nunney has 

 also applied the method to the delicately-coloured Ejihemeiidae with 

 great success, and suggests its use for the preservation of lepidopterous 

 larvffi and spiders. 



j^CIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Generic names in Apatela. — In reply to Mr. Tutt's instructive 

 observations on this subject {cinte, p. 58), I would say that when writing 

 my note I had not Dr. Chapman's beautiful papers on the subject. 

 Since then I have sent a paper to the Philosophical Society, in which 



