192 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



similar appearance ; and so great was the irritation pro- 

 duced that I was seriously indisposed for some days. In 

 December last, while cleaning out the breeding-cage, I found 

 that the dust in it had lost none of its virulent properties ; 

 and after seeking relief in many applications, I found at last 

 that a bruised dock-leaf, well rubbed on the parts affected, 

 wrought a speedy cure. — He7}ry Moncreajf. 



124. Hotc to Rear the lAirva of Bom by x Riibi. — I ven- 

 ture, as a subscriber to the ' Entomologist,' to ask your 

 assistance in my endeavour to rear some larvae of Bombyx 

 Rubi (fox), taken by a friend of mine in October last ; they 

 were found feeding upon bramble, sallow and clover. M}^ 

 friend writes : — " 1 hardly know how to advise for their best 

 management, as this time of the year is the most critical 

 of their lives in captivity. I have never succeeded in bring- 

 ing them safely through." He adds, " All the specimens I 

 have tried in two previous winters have gone off about this 

 time (November) and the following month. Should you meet 

 with any one who has got them safel}' through to the imago 

 state, I would feel much obliged for his method of rearing 

 them." Indepedently of the above, I have no knowledge 

 whatever of the habits of this larva, and know not whether it 

 changes into the pupa state below ground, or whether it 

 spins a cocoon. At present 1 have them in a box with 

 mould in it (into wdiich they penetrate), and, above tliis, moss 

 and bramble ; and they seem to come out in the night, for I 

 have found them more lively then than at any other time. — 

 Richard H. W. Leach ; Oak Hill, Hampstead, February 27. 



[Obtain a tea-chest, or some large useless wooden box 

 without a lid ; fill the bottom with heathy turf cut from 

 a common ; put the larva), with their food, on the turf, and 

 cover the box with wire gauze : thus prepared leave the 

 whole in your garden, exposed to M'ind and rain, and the 

 moths will emerge in due time. The larva spins a large, 

 long, loose, smoke-coloured cocoon among the heath. 1 have 

 written the life-history of this species, but have not found 

 space to publish it. — Edward Newman.^ 



125. Eggs of TrombidAum holosericeum. — I notice with 

 peculiar interest the announced solution (Entom. 143) of the 

 problem regarding the nature of those white specks which 

 occur on stones, like a very minute lichen or fungus. On the 



