61 



"Taken in the Crimea, by Lieutenant Thomas Blakiston, of the Royal Artillery, 

 an officer whose exertions in the cause of Natural History are above all praise, and 

 whose admirable papers on the birds of the Crimea are now in course of publication 

 in the ' Zoologist.' Tiie specimens will be placed in the cabinet of the British Mu- 

 seum, with the fine series of Russian Carabi, with which they have been already care- 

 fully compared." 



Mr. Waterhouse hoped this insect had been very carefully compared with closely 

 allied species, to ascertain if really new, before venturing to describe it under a new 

 name. He considered such descriptions no advancement to Science. 



Mr. Wollaston observed that some time since he had discovered, by a mere acci- 

 dent, that black lacquered pins would not corrode when used to pin insects liable to 

 grease, and that Mr. Bond had also used them with an equally satisfactory result. 

 Mr. Baly had received some ants from Vienna impaled with varnished pins; none of 

 these had corroded, although, as was well known, no insects were more likely to cause 

 corrosion than ants. 



Mr. Stainton remarked that lacquered pins had for some time past been in very 

 general use in Germany, and, he believed, were found to answer the desired end. 



Mr. Westwood made some observations on mouldiness in insects, and referred to 

 a communication, read at a Meeting of the Society a few years back, on the difficulty 

 or impossibility of preserving entomological specimens in some parts of North Ame- 

 rica, owing, as was alleged, to everything preserved in closely shut receptacles 

 becoming covered with mould during certain states of the atmosphere. In contradic- 

 tion of this statement Mr. Westwood observed that the North-American insects 

 collected by Dr. Abbott reached this country in most admirable order. 



Mr. Wollaston said he could not keep insects in Madeira shut up in boxes, even 

 for a month, without becoming covered with mould ; nothing would prevent it but 

 constant exposure to the air. He believed this was more likely to occur in small 

 islands than far inland. 



Mr. Walker read a paper entitled ' Characters of undescribed Diptera in the Col- 

 lection of W. W. Saunders, Esq.' 



March 2, 1857. 

 W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., President, in the chair. 



Donations. 



The following donations were announced, and thanks ordered to be given to the 

 donors: — ' The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England,' Vol. xvii. Part2 ; 

 presented by the Society. ' Proceedings of the Royal Society,' Vol. viii. Nos. 23 and 

 24 ; by the Society. ' Entomologische Zeitung,' 17th Annual Part (1856), and Nos. 

 U and 12 for November and December of the same year; 'Linnaea Eutomologica,' 



