347 



euriched in its eiitoniological (l«'])aitinent by the donation of the col- 

 lection of yiv. James Angus, of West Farms, N. Y., containing, it 

 is said, 10,000 specimens of 1,700 species of Lepidoptera and a number 

 of insects of otlier orders. The excellent collection of the late Mr. S. 

 Lowell Elliot has also been donated to this museum by his widow. 

 Mr. Elliot's collection is particularly valuable, for the reason that the 

 specimens (mainly Lepidoptera) were nearly all reared and are in prime 

 condition. The addition of these collections, together with that of the 

 late Henry Edwards, mentioned in our last number, will pla(;e the 

 American JVIuseum on an excellent footing in the order Lei)idoptera. 

 It is to be hoped that the trustees will see that the material receives 

 competent care. 



THE USE OF ELECTRICITY AGAINST MIGRATORY LOCUSTS. 



Mr, Andreas Schmidt, of Bucharest, Roumania, has forwarded to the 

 Secretary of the Interior a description and photographs of a device for 

 the destruction of migratory locusts by electricity. One method of 

 applying the invention consists in the erection of a rampart of earth 35 

 centimeters high, surrounding the infested area, a ditch being left by 

 the removal of the earth to form the said rampart. Along the toi> of 

 this earthen wall and inclining over the ditch, run two conductors, posi- 

 tive and negative, insulated and separated from each other by a thin 

 strip of rubber, which is necessary to i)revent the current trom leaping 

 across. The idea is that, the current being '' on, " the grasshoppers 

 will crawl up the wall, complete the circuit by their own bodies, and 

 instantly drop dead into the ditch. Flags are placed at intervals along 

 the top of the wall to give warning of its presence. In another appli- 

 cation of the same idea, the grasshoppers crawl up the inclined plane 

 formed by a sheet of cloth sloping to the ground. If the positive and 

 negative conductors can be brought so close together that the grass- 

 hopper's body will form a bridge from one to the other every time, death 

 is certain. The inventor claims that the expense of such an installa- 

 tion as he proposes is extremely small, and that the method, for rapidity 

 and certainty, throws all others into the shade, as applied to grass- 

 hoppers, 



ANOTHER IMPORTED SCALE-INSECT. 



The Olive in Europe suffers from the attacks of several destructive 

 scale-insects. Two of these, Lecanium olew and AspUliotus wen'i, have 

 already made their appearance in this country and are also known in 

 other localities where the Olive is cultivated, as in Australia, A third, 

 PoUinia casta', a curious form, the female of which is a degraded, almost 

 amorphous creature, covered with a dirty waxen test, has recently made 

 its appearance in California upon certain Olive trees which were imported 

 direct from Italy live years ago. Specimens ot this insect were sent 

 to us from Los Angeles recently by Mr. Coquillett, and at once specif- 



