NOTES AND OBSEEVATIONS. 347 



Vanessa c-album in Kent, — I have five specimens of this insect, 

 which were said to have been taken by the late Alexander Russell, of 

 this town, about thirty-six years ago, in East Kent. Russell himself 

 did not tell me where he had taken them ; he was reticent about the 

 matter, A single specimen was taken at Godinton, near Ashford, 

 by Mr. W. Young about fifteen years ago. There may be a locality for 

 the species in Kent, and the seemingly sporadic appearance of the 

 insect may be caused by stragglers from its metropolis. The last 

 years of tlie fifties were years of plenty for butterfly-hunters ; many of 

 the Diurni that I have not seen of late years were then common 

 objects of the country in this district, and young collectors, thinking 

 it would be always so, neglected to fill up their series, to their lasting 

 regret. — C. Viggers ; 36, Hardinge Road, A'^hford, Kent, Nov, 15th. 



LiPARis SALicis IN THE LoNDON DisTRicT, — Mr, BaiTett, in his 'Lepi- 

 doptera of the British Islands,' writes concerning Lipan's salicis : — 

 "Now it appears never to be seen around London," , , . . It may 

 therefore be interesting to note that I found one of these moths at 

 Shepherd's Bush in 1887, and in 1892 I found a larva on a poplar-tree 

 growing in our parden. — J. F. Bird ; Rosedale, 162, Calling Road, 

 Hammersmith, W., Nov. 5fch, 1894. 



Larv.e ON Monkshood. — With respect to recent notes (ante, pp. 268, 

 204, 318), it may be of slight interest to mention that during 1892 and 

 1898 I bred some twenty specimens of Polia jiavicincta, from larvfe 

 found feeding on Acnnitwn in my garden. — A. Vincent Mitchell; 

 Crozier Road^Mutley, Plymouth, Oct. 25th, 1894. 



A Suggestion in Anticipation of Next Year's Sugaring. — As the 

 berries of the yew (and perhaps of the ivv) are so very attractive to 

 autumnal species of Lepidoptera, why should they not, if gathered now 

 and bottled in rum for next season, be mixed with sugaring compound 

 and prove equally seductive in summer and early autumn ? — H. G. 

 Knaggs ; Folkestone. 



" Kyanizing " and the "Emeralds." — I do not think that it is 

 generally known, at least it was unknown to me until quite recently, 

 that a weak solution of perchloride of mercury is destructive to the 

 greens of such genera as Geumetm, PJiorodesnui, Nemoria, ?ind lodis ; 

 but I was horrified the other day to find that such was the case, the 

 more so as the mischief had been done by my friend Mr. Hills in 

 carrying out my suggestion of spraying with a five-grain ethereal 

 solution of the perchloride. It is some consolation to know that, with 

 the exception of the insects mentioned, no further damage was done, 

 and the result of the operation was otherwise perfectly satisfactory. 

 Still most of your readers will agree with me, I fancy, that the above 

 warning is very necessary, — H, G. Knaggs; Folkestone, Oct., 1894. 



Ennomos tiliaria. Second Brood ? — Although I am afraid it will 

 not afford an explanation of the appearance of the second brood of 

 Ennomos tiliaria which ;\Ir. Bruce recorded in the November number, 

 yet it may be of interest to note that I beat from a birch in the New 

 Forest, on Aug. 6th this year, a larva of this species, wbich I thought 



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