134 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



mouthed lamp, where the heat is not too concentrated (the distance 

 from the mouth of the lamp is soon learned h}' practice), and keep 

 the tube filled with air. There ma}' be some difficulty at first, 

 but I find none, in breathing through the nostrils and keeping up 

 sufficient pressure with my mouth at the same time. With a large 

 larva the process of drying takes much longer, but the pressure 

 of the finger and the thumb on the India-rubber tube keeps the 

 air in the glass tube and the body of the larva. Care must be 

 taken to fill the tube with air again before the finger and thumb 

 are removed, otherwise the larva will partially collapse, and is 

 then likely to be of little value. Great care must be taken to 

 thoroughly dry the larva before removing it from the tube, other- 

 wise the larva will partiallj^ collapse after it is removed, when it 

 is next to useless to attempt to do anything with it. In removing 

 the larva from the spring, it is sometimes necessary to slightly 

 moisten the anal flap, which occasionally adheres to the tube. 



The evisceration of the larva wants a little care. I find the 

 following the best plan : — Insert a fine needle into the anal orifice, 

 then move it from side to side and up and down, so as to break 

 the membrane forming the alimentary canal. Then lay the 

 larva on a pad of soft blotting-paper (to absorb the moisture), 

 and with a small roller — a bone pen-holder will do very well — 

 commence rolling gently towards the anal orifice, beginning a 

 short distance from it. Gradually increase the distance, until at 

 last you roll from the head to the anal segment. If an attempt 

 be made to force the whole of the viscera out at once the pressure 

 will break open the integment, the anal orifice being too small to 

 allow a free passage. 



The above is a rather rough-and-ready method, but it involves 

 little or no outlay, is no trouble to get ready, never gets out of 

 gear, and does the work, as far as I can judge, as well as any 

 other system. If anyone cares to try the plan, I should be 

 pleased to give any explanation, as far as I am able, if there is any 

 difficulty arising from want of clearness in the above remarks. 

 Rayleigh Villa, Westcombe Park, S.E. 



[See also a paper " On the Preservation of Lepidopterous 

 Larvse by Inflation," by C. H. and H. M. Golding-Bird ; with 

 woodcuts (Entom. x. 255). Although Mr. Tutt's remarks are 

 there anticipated, we give them for the use of new readers. — Ed. J 



