212 Psyche [December 



project a little above the cork, place the cyanide in this small vial 

 and stop the mouth of the vial, above the poison, with a cotton 

 plug; or the smallest shell vials, 7 x 25 mm., can be used for the 

 same purpose when sunk in the corks of ordinary 2 dram vials, or 

 similar ones. Such vials are easier to obtain and have greater 

 durability for field collecting than the larger tube vials which so 

 often break without any provocation. In order to catch the eye 

 more readily, the upper surface of these poison-filled corks may 

 be marked with a large ink "P," and there is less chance of them 

 being used for material intended for rearing. Where shell vials 

 are not to be had, it would be easy to cut a short length of glass 

 tubing and seal one end in a lamp, inserting this sealed end in the 

 cork as if it were a small vial. 



When working in the field at a distance from supplies, it is pos- 

 sible to carry two or three corks containing these small vials with- 

 out the poison, or even with the poison, tightly corked. As they 

 are needed, uncork and insert in the killing bottle. I am using the 

 large tube vials for killing and these have corks that are inter- 

 changeable. With such a holder for the poison there is much less 

 annoyance from disagreeable moisture than with other forms of 

 poison-bottles. 



This idea is probablj^ not a new one, indeed Prof. C. T, Brues 

 informs me that he has, for a number of years, used a bottle similar 

 to the one described above. He further adds that if a small amount 

 of crystallized boracic acid be added to the cyanide it causes more 

 rapid decomposition of the cyanide and an increased killing power 

 results. The addition of the boracic acid was suggested to Pro- 

 fessor Brues by Dr. George Bock of St. Louis, years ago. 



LEPTURA EMARGINATA IN NEW ENGLAND. 



Mrs. W. F. Buck of Melrose Highlands, Mass., brought to me 

 a short time since a specimen of this fine longicorn beetle taken 

 by her at Pequaket, N. H., about July 20, 1915. I have placed 

 it, with the donor's sanction, in the New England collection of 

 the Boston Society of Natural History. 



A. P. Morse. 



