130 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



' Entomologist,' vol. xvii. p. 235 ; also in the ' Transactions ' of the 

 Entomological Society of London, October, 1886 ; and if lie reads 

 them carefully, 1 think he will come to the conclusion that his dis- 

 paraging "story" [0,5 he calls it) of one of our best practical field 

 entomologists, only so recently passed from ns, is at the present time 

 particularly ill-chosen, and shows, to say the least of it, very bad taste. 

 —Geo. Elisha; 122, Shepherdess Walk, City Road, March 1st, 1895. 



IzAL AND Relaxing Boxes. — Daring last season I made the dis- 

 covery that a small quantity of " Izal " — which is a disinfectant pro- 

 duced from the fumes of coke ovens — poured into a zinc relaxing-box, 

 and allowed to stand for a few hours, admixed with water, entirely 

 prevents the growth of mould. I found I could keep insects in a 

 relaxing-box occasionally treated in this way, in a suitable condition 

 for setting, from five to seven days ; further, that a number of 

 insects which I had left in a relaxing-box so treated, and forgotten for 

 over six weeks, had not a trace of mould about them at the end of 

 that time, but when handled, presented a similar appearance to that 

 produced by squeezing between the lingers a bit of rotten vegetable 

 matter. I confirmed this by subsequent experiments. Perhaps some 

 of your readers, who occasionally find themselves compelled to keep 

 insects relaxed for a few days, might feel inclined to try this, and I 

 should be glad to know if their experience tallies with mine. — 

 W. TuNSTAi.L ; Meltham, near Hudderstield. 



The late Mr. Machin's Sale. — The answer to Juliet's query may 

 possibly be found in the result of the sale of the late Mr. Machin's 

 collection at Stevens's on the 2Gth of last month. It would savour of 

 impertinence on the part of the writer to say that Mr. Machin was a 

 w^ell-known lepidopterist ; few of us, indeed, interested in this group 

 but have had more or less direct personal communication with him. 

 It was therefore with feelings of considerable interest that I went to 

 look over the collection before its dispersal. The first thought that 

 occurred to me was that it had been very much over-catalogued ; and 

 although a subsequent and more careful inspection tended somewhat to 

 modify first impressions, there is little doubt that whoever undertook 

 tliis portion of the work did take a somewhat roseate view of his 

 duties. Notwithstanding this, and the more than perceptible trace of 

 mould exhibited, it must be conceded that the prices obtained were 

 exceedingly stiff, and in many instances reached high-water mark. As 

 far as I am aware, £4 10s. for a single specimen of Nocliia sitbrosca 

 (which doubtless now graces the Tring museum) is a record, any way, 

 for auction prices of this species. Altogether the Macro-Lepidoptera 

 realised between £350 and £300, a result very comforting to the 

 deceased's representatives, especially if it is the fact, as I have been 

 informed, that the whole collection was offered to the Brighton museum 

 for £220. To go into particulars : — Lot 7, which fetched 32/G, as per 

 catalogue, included a pale form of Kuc/doe cardamines, and also a 

 curious variety. The first was a faded male, very old, the colour due 

 only to fading, as the base of the wings exhibited a smoky brown in- 

 stead of the usual clear grey of fresh specimens ; the "curious variety " 

 was a very poor specimen, and apparently the orange had been removed 

 from the right side, as a few orange scales remained. Both this wing 



