Q6 I September, 1879 



A superior mode of killing insects. — Dr. J. M. Eder has communicated to the 

 Zool.-botan. Verein at Vienna (Verhandh, 1878, Sitzungsb., p. 59) a mode of killing 

 insects, especially Coleoj^tera, which he has used for many years, and finds superior 

 to all others, inasmuch, as its action is more rapid, and the colour, hair or scales of 

 the insects are not affected as by other agencies. All that is required is a wide- 

 mouthed glass bottle, having a cork fitting tightly ; into the bottle are put some 

 pieces of stout blotting paper, and on these three or four drops of bisulphide of 

 carbon (Sehwefelkohlenstoff) ; of this a supply sufiicient for the service of a day or 

 two may easily be carried in a small bottle in the waistcoat pocket. When an insect 

 is put into the bottle and the cork quickly replaced, death ensues instantly, or, in 

 the case of the largest beetles, within a few seconds ; and the bisulphide, by reason 

 of its volatile nature, being immediately vaporized, the insect is dry and its condition 

 in no way injured. Occasionally, if the bottle be often opened, a drop or two of the 

 bisulphide must be added ; in any case, it is essential that the cork be replaced 

 directly and firmly. The bisulphide is also very effective in exterminating Ptinus 

 fur and Anthrenus, and it is further recommended on account of its being cheap and 

 easily obtained- — J. W. Douglas, 8, Beaufort Gardens, Lewisham : 30th June, 1879. 



Entomological Society of London. — August 6th, 1879. J. W. Dunning, 

 Esq., M.A., F.L.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Mr. Philips exhibited living examples of Spercheus emarginatus from West 

 Ham. 



Mr. Staiuton exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Grrigg, larviE of Roslerstammia Erx- 

 lehella from near Bristol. They fed exposed on leaves of TUia, and, when full- 

 grown, turned down the edge of the leaf and spun their cocoons in between like those 

 of Ornix. 



Miss Ormerod communicated " Notes on Sugar-Cane Borers from British 

 Guiana," and exhibited the insects. The most destructive was a moth, probably 

 identical with that described by Fabricius as PhalcBna saccharalis ; and there were 

 also two beetles, viz., Calandra sacchari and C. palmarum. These had been placed 

 in her hands by the Colonial Company, and she was desirous of obtaining suggestions 

 as to the most likely means of lessening the evil. Mr. Distant said that in Malacca, 

 where borers are destructive, the plan adopted was that of burning those canes that 

 gave indications of being infested. 



Mr. Swinton communicated " Notes on the urticating property of the hairs of 

 the larvae of Liparis aurifua," and maintained that it was not merely mechanical 

 in its origin, but that the hairs were poisoned by a caustic liquid issuing from the 

 scarlet tubercles on the hinder segments. 



Mr. McLachlan communicated a translation of Notes recently read before the 

 Belgian Entomological Society by M. Me'lise, giving the results of direct experiments 

 on the correlation of mutilation in the larva with deformity iia the imago. Ten 

 silkworms were operated upon, the right metathoracic leg being cut off from each of 

 them. Of the ten moths produced, each showed deformity in the corresponding 

 leg, but varying in degree, owing probably to the difficulty of amputating the leg of 

 the larva at precisely the same spot in all cases. The operation caused apparently 

 little inconvenience to the larvae, as they recommenced feeding almost immediately. 



