I04 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



In the report of the U. S. Entomological 

 Commission concerning their efforts to 

 discover a method for destroying the worm 

 or caterpillar which is so destructive of 

 growing cotton plants, there is high credit 

 given to a product which is now being de- 

 veloped by enterprising Californians in the 

 San Joaquin valley. We refer to the Cali- 

 fornia-grown Dalmatian insect powder, or 

 " Buhach," as it is styled by Mr. Milco, of 

 Stockton, who brought the plant from his 

 native country. * * * 



This report of Prof. Riley will doubtless 

 aid in developing the enterprise which 

 Messrs. Milco, Peters and Paulsell now 

 have in hand, and we trust it may be fully 

 successful and profitable to its projectors. 

 It bids fair ere long to shut off the impor- 

 tation of foreign insect powders, and this 

 will gain for it the sympathy of all lovers 

 of home industry. — Pacific Rural Press. 



Regular meetings of the Entomological 

 Section of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History are announced for April 28 and 

 May 26. 



On the transmission of Insects 

 THROUGH THE U. S. Mails. — Entoiiiolo- 

 gists have suffered much annoyance and 

 loss through the action of postmasters who 

 have refused to allow insects to pass through 

 the mails. A very ve.xatious circumstance 

 of this kind which occurred recently, de-, 

 termined me to ascertain what the laws 

 were respecting this matter ; and, if neces- 

 sary, to urge that some change be made so 

 that specimens of insects could be trans- 

 mitted in this manner, provided they were 

 so packed that no injury could result to 

 other mail matter, or to the person of any 

 one engaged in the postal service. The 

 result of a subsequent study of the postal 

 laws and of an interview with the Postmas- 

 ter-General may be of interest to those 

 readers of the American Entomologist 

 who, like the writer, have submitted to hav- 

 ing highly prized property destroyed by 

 postmasters. 



There is nothing whatever in the postal 

 laws that declares dead insects unmailable. 



Section 222 of the Postal Laws and Regu- 

 lations, ed. 1879, expressly states that it is 

 live insects that are unmailable. Neither 

 is there any reason why pinned specimens 

 should not be mailable. Section 223 [l.c], 

 which prescribes how sharp-pointed instru- 

 ments are to be secured so as not to injure 

 the mails, indicates a mode of packing al- 

 most identical with that commonly prac-' 

 ticed by entomologists. Hence there is no 

 reason why entomological specimens should 

 be excluded from the mails, provided they 

 are securely packed and are not alive. 



As to living specimens, the Post Office 

 authorities are unwilling to change the law 

 so as to admit them to the mails as "fourth- 

 class matter," fearing that such a change 

 would result in the admission of very ob- 

 jectionable creatures. It therefore only 

 remains for those who desire to send living 

 insects by mail to seal the package contain- 

 ing them, and to pay postage upon it at letter 

 rates. The following law protects such 

 packages : 



"Sec. 434 [l. C.J. First-class matter not to be 

 held unmailable on mere suspicion. — Postmasters 

 are specially warned that they have no right to 

 detain first-class matter upon the mere suspicion 

 that it contains articles forbidden to be sent in 

 the mails. Neither will they, under any circum- 

 stances, be justified in breaking the seal of any 

 letter or package to ascertain whether or not un- 

 mailable matter is inclosed." 



—J. H C, Washington, D. C. 



The Cambridge Entomological Club at 

 its recent annual meeting re-elected Mr. 

 Burgess as President ; Mr. B. Pickman 

 Mann Secretary, Treasurer and Editor of 

 Psyche. The Club consists now of 16 resi- 

 dent and 56 non-resident members. 



Bran seems to be a popular remedy just 

 now in England for slugs, which are said 

 to be fond of it, being attracted from all di- 

 rections to it. It is placed among the plants 

 in the evening, on pieces of slate, and these 

 traps subsequently emptied with the slugs 

 into a vessel of salt and wuter 



The Entomological Section of the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 

 will hold regular meetings on April 9th, 

 May 14th and June nth, in the building of 

 the Academy. 



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