NOTES AND OBSEKVATIONS. 336 



evidently hybernating, in spite of their warm quarters. One by one I 

 examined each member of the first broods, and set it at hberty if 

 typical. The second broods are not so satisfactorily dealt with. They 

 must be killed. To turn them out would be to meet a lingering death. 

 My experience shows tliat the plant theory of producing varieties is an 

 exploded myth, and I intend trying it no more. To those who wish 

 for striking forms I would say — breed, either from exceptionally light- 

 or exceptionally dark-coloured parents. The only difficulty is to get 

 the selections ; and even after the difficulty has been overcome, you 

 are open to discomfiture, any day, by someone showing you a most 

 marvellous form of the insect — captured, and sold for a mere song, by 

 some novice. Experience shows that certain species, including A.caia, 

 vary much more in some localities than in others. The variety olivacea, 

 for instance, of Polia chi, we do not take in Cheshire, but they do in 

 the county of Durham. And if varietal forms of Xeweophila idantaginis 

 are wanted, I should recommend Winchester rather than Doncaster or 

 Witherslack. I have never been able to breed from the forced second 

 brood of A. caia; and I am obliged to conclude that a second brood is 

 not produced in this country naturally. — J. Arkle ; 2, George Street, 

 Chester. 



A Convenient Ammonia-bottle for Field use. — I have found an 

 ammonia-bottle made in the following way of great use : — Take a wide- 

 mouthed bottle, such as is used for cyanide, cut three or four bits of lint 

 to fit the inside, and put them in the bottom ; next get a tapering bit 

 of wood, — a pen-holder does very well, — oil or grease the last inch of 

 it, and put it resting upright on the lint in the bottom of the bottle, 

 steadying it with two bits of cork in the mouth of the bottle, pour in 

 enough plaster of Paris mixed with water to cover the lint an inch 

 deep ; when dry remove the pen-holder, the removal being facilitated 

 by the grease previously applied ; this leaves a hole in the plaster of 

 Paris leading down to the lint. When required for use, with a pipette 

 (I employ the instrument used for filling stylographic pens) introduce 

 a few drops of strong liquid ammonia (liquor ammonife fortior) through 

 the hole in the plaster of Paris so that it soaks into the lint underneath ; 

 when the hole is plugged with a bit of cotton-wool or the plaster covered 

 with a bit of lint, tiie bottle is complete and ready for action. If used 

 often the ammonia will have to be renewed frequently ; about twelve 

 drops are sufficient for an afternoon's work ; a single drop of chloroform 

 in the bottle every half-hour or so when in use increases the efficiency, 

 and curtails the period of the death-struggle ; in fact, small Geometers 

 drop dead almost instantly. When lint and plaster become saturated, 

 all that is required is to put the bottle (with the cork out) in an oven 

 till all is dry again. For day work, especially among Geometers, it is 

 very useful, and also for net work at night. The insects are in a 

 beautiful state of relaxation, and fit to be set at once ; they should be 

 taken out of the bottle as soon as dead, as, if left in many hours, the 

 colour of a good many sufiers. For sugar, of course, it is useless, a 

 single application of the bottle causing a general stampede. N.B. — Care 

 must be taken not to breathe the fumes given off by the ammonia, as 

 the effects of a deep inhalation would be, to say the least, unpleasant. 

 — N. F. Searancke ; Mitcheldean, Nov. 10th, 1895. 



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