344 



at Cooper's Hill, who ascertained that the insect producing the damage 

 was a Scolytid beetle — Trypodendron signatum—d European species 

 that feeds in oak, birch, beech, and hazel. The borings of the beetle 

 must have been already commenced at the time of the construction of 

 the casks, and the latter were unsound when filled with beer; and fur- 

 ther, the injury received by insects on board ship has nothing whatever 

 to do with it. In other words, had this been a commercial case, the 

 shippers of the beer would have been responsible, and they could have 

 recovered from the makers of the casks. 



COCAINE FOE INSECT STINQS. 



The city of Srinagar, in Garwal, East India, swarms with scorpions, 

 and people often get stung by them. From a note in Hardwicke's 

 Science Gossip for November, 1890, we learn that Assistant Surgeon H. D. 

 Tait, of that city, successfully uses cocaine hydrochlorate as a remedy. 

 A hypodermic injection at or near the woUnd of one-half to one grain 

 of cocaine in ten to fifteen drops of water is said to immediately stop 

 the pain, with no subsequent inflammation. 



DERMESTES VULPINUS DAMAGING WOODWORK. 



Another instance of injury to woodwork by this Derraestid beetle 

 (the natural history of which was given by us in the Agricultural Report 

 for 1885, pp. 258-264) was recently brought to the knowledge of the 

 members of the London Entomological Society by Mr. W. H. F. Bland- 

 ford, at the meeting held October 1, 1890. In this case the insect 

 damaged the roof of certain soap works near London, England, where 

 it had no doubt been introduced with bones and fat. 



BIRDS PREYING UPON THE WALNUT CATERPILLAR. 



In the Journal of the Columbus Horticultural Society, vol. v, No. 3, 

 September, 1890, is published an article by Mr. E. V. Wilcox, read at 

 the August meeting of the Society, upon this subject. He mentions the 

 fact that he observed th«^ Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, the 

 Ked-headed Woodpecker and the Blue Jay feeding upon the larva of 

 Datana angusii. His observations were made in the vicinity of Colum- 

 bus and he noticed that where the Cuckoos destroyed their thousands 

 the Blue Jays destroyed their tens of thousands. He noticed a flock 

 of 20 or 30 of the latter bird feeding upon the caterpillars. He also 

 noticed that they had a peculiar habit of picking the caterpillars from 

 the leaves and dropping them to the ground. 



ATTEMPTED INTRODUCTION OF AN INSECTIVOROUS BIRD INTO ALGERIA. 



There is a common East Indian bird, Acridoiheres tristis, called 

 "Meina" by the natives and "Martin triste " by tlie French. It does 

 not tear man and builds under the roofs of houses. On account of its 



