JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. Ivii 



Somersetshire Blaps mortisaga attacked the corks of sweet currant- 

 wine bottles. 



Mr. Sells noticed that the Blatta will also eat the corks in porter- 

 bottles ; and 



Mr. Babington stated that he had found the larva (evidently that 

 of a small Lepidopterous insect,) in the cork of a Port wine bottle, 

 which it had completely eaten so as to cause the wine to escape ; 

 and that it had made a small case for itself of bits of cork. 



Mr. Hope mentioned that in India it was well known that the 

 BlatttB will not attack anything coated with resin anime, and which 

 is accordingly employed as a defence against their attacks in cover- 

 ing the corks of bottles, &c. 



With respect to the suggestions made by M. Passerini in one of 

 his pamphlets, Mr. Sells stated that he had noticed in several in- 

 stances that the farmers in the neighbourhood of Kingston-upon- 

 Thames were in the habit of driving their ducks into the fields at the 

 time of ploughing, the birds finding an acceptable repast in the great 

 numbers of the larvae of the cockchafFer which were turned up by 

 the plough ; and 



Mr. Spence observed, that many years ago he had noticed that the 

 same birds were employed to destroy the slugs in Norfolk in a simi- 

 lar manner. 



With reference to the observations of the Secretary upon the geo- 

 graphical peculiarities exhibited by Mr. Templeton's collection of 

 Mauritius insects, the President stated, that having turned his atten- 

 tion recently to this branch of entomological science, he was sur- 

 prised at the little advance hitherto made therein, and mentioned 

 that he had traced the range of several individual species for between 

 three and four thousand miles. 



The subject of the benefits likely to arise from the charring of 

 hop-poles was again brought forward by the President, who stated 

 that Mr. Eyton had informed him since the last meeting that charr- 

 ing the poles had the effect of making them more durable. Mr. Sells, 

 however, considered that the poles would thereby be rendered brittle, 

 which effect would not be produced by employing the solution of 

 corrosive sublimate, which would moreover tend to their preserva- 

 tion. To which the President replied, that it had been found that 

 the charred lamp-posts in the streets of London were much more 

 durable than those not thus treated. 



Mr. Ingpen noticed that the Aphides occasionally hybernate under 

 ground, a fact of some importance with reference to the subject 

 under discussion. 



The President having exhibited a portion of the stomach of a horse 



