Notes and observations. 177 



CoLiAs HELicE IN CORNWALL. — Having seen that your correspondent, 

 Mr. B. Stafford Cbope, writes [ante, p. 135) that he has never heard of 

 Colias edusa var. helice being taken further west than Sidmouth, I 

 thought it might be a matter of interest to state that near Falmouth 

 my cousins and I, in August, 1892, took six of these insects in less than 

 a week, three being taken in one morning ; and we also saw several 

 others that, owing to the nature of the ground, we could not catch. Of 

 these six, all of which are now in my possession, only one is the white 

 form ; the other five are a creamy yellow colour. C. edusa simply 

 swarmed in several fields near where we were staying, but we did not 

 see a single C. hyale. — E. H. Tkenerry; 3, North Koad, ClaphamPark. 



Smerinthus TUiiiE TWO WINTERS IN PupA. — I sliould like to record 

 the emergence, on the 8th of this month (April, 1894), of a female 

 Smerinthus tilm, which has been in the pupa state since July, 1892. It 

 was one of a brood which I reared from the egg in that year, and all of 

 which pupated in the course of July. They all (as I thought) duly 

 emerged in April and May, 1893 ; but on turning out shortly afterwards 

 the earth in which they had been I discovered this one, and as it seemed 

 lively I put it in a box by itself, where it has been ever since until its 

 present emergence. Is this at all an unusual occurrence ? There is no 

 possibility of any mistake about the matter, as I have done no digging 

 since 1892, nor have I had any larvte or pupfe of this species in my 

 possession, and this particular specimen has been kept in the same box 

 in which it emerged, with no other pupa larger than Notodonta dict(Ba 

 to keep it company. I may add that I had not the smallest expectation 

 of rearing it, as 1 never attempted to damp it in any way, and it has 

 been kept in a dry room all the time. — (Rev.) W. Claxton ; Hartley 

 Wintney, Winchfield. 



Chesias rufata two winters in Pupa. — In September, 1892, I took 

 about thirty larv« of Chesias rufata. These produced only about half- 

 a-dozen moths in the following May and June, and one on July 1st, a 

 late date. As sixteen of the remaining pupse appeared healthy, I did 

 not throw them away, but was, nevertheless, surprised to find that an 

 imago had emerged on March 26th last, an early date. Since then two 

 more moths have emerged, proving that this species can pass two 

 winters in the pupal stage, a fact I have not seen stated before. — 

 A. Sigh ; Villa Amalinda, Burlington Lane, Chiswick, April 6th, 1894. 



The Cyanide Bottle. — As bearing on Mr. J. Arkle's remarks on 

 this subject (ante, p. 58), the description of a cyanide bottle from Paris 

 may be of interest. Instead of having the cyanide of potassium at the 

 bottom of the bottle, this has it at the top. The cork, bung, or stopper 

 has a piece scooped out of the top about the size of a florin, and a hole 

 of the circumference of a threepenny-piece is made through this, into 

 which is inserted a little kind of bottle or phial (ampoule), with a flat 

 circular-shaped body and a long neck, filled with a few lumps of 

 cyanide, without the addition of any plaster of Paris. I find it 

 advisable to cover over the mouth of the phial with a bit of fine 

 muslin, however, to prevent the cyanide of potassium, when getting 

 sloppy, from running down the sides of the jar. The only thing now 

 is to get a suitable wide-mouthed bottle for the bung. My cyanide jar, 



