88 



THE MUSEUM. 



men and applying it to the nicked wing 

 so as to cover the defect, when the 

 glue will speedily cause it to adhere in 

 place. Such a job neatly done will 

 often make a poor specimen nearly 

 lirst class. Many of the rarest insects 

 in large collections have been patched 

 in the above manner. 



I always use an insect pin to apply 

 the glue with, as I can thus get enough 

 to do the work and avoid getting too 

 rhuch. 



If one wishes to catch plenty of cer- 

 tain species of moths in his own gar- 

 den, he has only to set out a bed of 

 sweet rocket plants, another of evening 

 primrose, and in addition have two or 

 three honeysuckle vines. By watching 

 the flowers through the summer even- 

 ings, one can be sure of catching with 

 a hand net many rare insects which 

 come to the sweet scented flowers. 



By watching the electric lights, many 

 species which do not visit flowers can 

 be caught. 



If one smears a little molasses on 

 the trunks of various trees, and then 

 visits them with a light after dark, 

 many moths will be seen feasting on 

 the sugared spots, and can be readily 

 induced to drop into a cyanide bottle 

 suddenly clapped over them. While 

 visiting these sugar spots, I usually use 

 a bulls eye lantern, as it throws the 

 light anywhere desired, and enables one 

 to see much better. 



O. W. Knight, 

 Bangor, Me. 



Natural History Jottings. 



COMPILED BY CHAS. T. WHITING. 



Camphor is obtained by distillation 

 from the wood of Cinnauiovinm cavi- 

 pliora, a tree from Japan and China. 



It grows freely, however, in many 

 parts of Southern Europe, and is suit- 

 able for planting in any warm temper- 

 ate climate. 



The Chinese strawberry bird, so 

 called because of the resemblance of 

 its plumage to a strawberry, is very 

 small, and sings a little piping tune. 

 Its bill and breast feathers are blood 

 red, and the entire plumage is flecked 

 with white spots, like the seeds of a 

 strawberry. 



A specimen of the entomological 

 rarity known as the Lunar May Moth 

 iOphiodcs liinaris), which was cap- 

 tured in Stratton Strawless Wood in 

 1878, has just been sold in London for 

 £6. This insect, which fell to the net 

 of Dr. F. D. Wheeler, the well-known 

 collector in the Pen district, is only 

 the fifth taken in England. Its home 

 is in Hungary and Dalmatia. 



A telegram from Berne says that a 

 plague of field 'mice is reported fronj 

 Trikthal, in the canton of Argovia, 

 and poison, traps, and hunting seem 

 powerless to check it. In certain 

 communes, such as Zemingem, Moch- 

 lin and Wallbach, thousands and 

 thousands a day having been killed 

 without any appreciable results. It 

 is reckoned that in Wallbach 100,000 

 have been killed since the beginning 

 of the month. All the fields and 

 meadows are mined with the winter 

 quarters of these rodents, and there is 

 fear for the spring crops. 



The oyster at the commencement of 

 its career is so small that two millions 



