Ixxvi 
from the bamboos which form the coverings of the carts and boats, but an examination 
of the insect found in the bamboo in Madras appears to show that, although of the 
same genus, the bamboo-borer is larger than that which attacks the casks. The length 
of time after landing when the insect generally appears varies from a few weeks to 
several months. In the recent case at Secunderabad the casks when landed at 
Masulipatam were in perfect order, so much so that they attracted special notice: 
when they arrived at Secunderabad there was no trace of the insect, but after they had 
been a very short time in store the insects made their appearance, and continue to 
increase. Many causes have been brought forward as predisposing casks to the 
attacks of this insect. The first and most important is the use of unseasoned wood in 
making the casks. Committees were assembled at Calcutta some years ago to inves- 
tigate the cause of the attacks of this insect, and its presence was ascribed by them 
also to the use of unseasoned wood in the casks. The fact that the use of unsuitable 
wood predisposes the casks to the attacks of these insects is not unlikely. It is well 
known in India that, if bambvos are cut at a certain season when the sap is in them, 
they will be assuredly attacked by the borer, whilst bamboos cut from the same spot 
at a proper time will as certainly be free from them. It has also been stated that a 
long inland journey by cart or boat tends much to cause the increase of the insect. It 
is difficult to give any accurate estimate of the damage caused by these insects. At 
times they are not very numerous, and by selecting the worst casks for immediate use 
the wastage is not excessive, but at other times they are so abundant that no amount 
of care or trouble can keep them under, and in a report last received from Tonghoo 
the wastage has risen to fifty per cent. The Assistant Commissary-General at Ran- 
goon states that he has applied a strong infusion of cutch as a remedy to the casks, but 
that on the following day the insects were as active and vigorous as ever; observing 
that some salt-meat casks escaped, a strong brine was next thoroughly applied, but 
with no better success. Boiling water was afterwards tried, and after three applications 
was perfectly successful.” 
Mr. Moore added that Tomicus monographus was figured in Ratzeburg, but had 
not hitherto been found in Britain; the casks in question were made of oak, but 
probably not of British growth. 
Mr. Newman exhibited a stem of Salix capraa, to show the mode in which, under 
the attacks of Sesia bembeciformis, the bark’ divides in three layers, as more fully 
described in the ‘ Entomologist,’ ii. 140. 
Mr. Newman exhibited a specimen of Naclia ancilla, Zinn., a moth new to Britain, 
taken on the Sussex coast by Mr. T. Wildman. 
Mr. Newman exhibited the lock of a door, one of several which in 1866 were found 
at the Kent Waterworks, Deptford, to be completely filled and choked up with nests 
of Osmia bicornis, a portion having been forced out by the insertion of the key; the 
locks were in pretty constant use, so that the whole nest must have been built in the 
course of a few days. 
Mr. Newman also exhibited two specimens of a Formica, resembling F. herculanea, 
» which were supposed to have been found in decayed pine-stumps in Scotland; but he 
hesitated to announce it as a new British ant, in consequence of the doubt entertained 
by Mr. F. Smith. 
Mr. F. Smith thought the specimens in question were distinct from Formica 
——. 
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