326 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
is fairly air-tight, containing also a piece of cotton-wool soaked with 
40 per cent. of formaldehyde. (I use my travelling-case, and plug up 
the perforations at either end with the cotton-wool.) Leave the box 
closed for a week, and the imagines are ready to be transferred. 
Last year I had a lot of imagines that drooped, but this year, since 
using formaldehyde vapour, not one has played me false. To be 
quite certain, last week I took two imagines at haphazard, one a 
butterfly and the other a moth, and placed them in my corked zine 
relaxing-box immediately after I had saturated the cork with boiling 
water, closed the box, and left it for five days. On examination both 
imagines were found to be soaked with moisture, but neither had 
budged in the slightest, and I am certain that I should not have been 
able to reset them in a new position. For those who like to change 
their setting with every new fashion this night prove a disadvantage, 
but for those who know their own minds it would not be a deterrent. 
A friend of mine suggested that the formaldehyde might alter the 
colours, but so far I have not found this to be the case; it is true 
that I have not had a chance to try the process on any of the 
“emeralds,” but I might point out that formaldehyde is used largely 
in making pathological specimens for museums, where it is very 
important to preserve colours. I claim another advantage for my 
process. Inasmuch as formaldehyde is a powerful germicide, one can 
be sure that every insect that goes into the cabinet goes in sterilized. 
There is another point that I am watching with interest, namely, 
whether it will check “grease.’’ This is, I believe, a post-mortem 
change akin to the formation of adipocere in the human subject, so 
that if the insect is thoroughly sterilized it is only reasonable to hope 
that the ‘“grease’’ may be checked.-Winston Sr. A. Sr. Joun, 
M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.; Derwent House, Derby, November 11th, 1914. 
SOCIETIES. 
THe Soura Lonpon Enromotogican anp Narurau History 
Socimty.— October 22nd.—Mr. B. H. Smith, B.A., F.E.S., President, 
in the chair—The evening was set apart for an exhibition and dis- 
cussion of the genus Anthrocera, introduced by Mr. B. 8. Curwen. 
Mr. Curwen exhibited a collection of Palearctic Anthroceride, con- 
sisting of some twenty-six species and forms.-—Dr. HE. A. Cockayne, 
the series of A. hippocrepidis from the late Mr. J. W. Tutt’s collec- 
tion, with various series of A. filipendule, A. trifolu, A. palustris, 
and A. lonicere.—Mr. F. H. Stallman, early and late races of A. 
irifolir, A. fiipendule, &e—Mr. Buckstone, similar series with sug- 
gested hybrid series trifolie x filipendule.—Dr. Chapman, a drawer 
of Kuropean Anthroceride captured during the last few years, in- 
cluding A. anthyllidis, A. contaminei, A. sarpedon, &¢.—Mr. Hy. J. 
Turner, series from many localities, mainly of the five- and six-spotted 
species of the Transalpiniformes group.—Mr. L. W. Newman, series 
of bred Anthroceridee species.—Papers and notes were read and 
communicated by Messrs. Curwen, Cockayne, P. A. Buxton, Turner, 
