91 



lu the same uumber as above quoted, it is also stated that at Easton, 

 Pa., ^'butterflies" by the thousands, after flying about the sixty-four 

 electric lights, alighted on the carbons and fell dead inside the globes, 

 two quarts of dead " butterflies " on. an average being afterwards taken 

 from each globe. It is quite possible that in this and the preceding 

 instance the insects were the Tortrix first mentioned. 



The Rural New Yorker for July 7, 1888, states that the Rose Beetle 

 {Macrodactylus subspinosus) suddenly appeared the week previous in 

 swarms at the Rural Grounds, causing a great deal of damage to grapes, 

 roses, and magnolias. They were successfully combated by spraying 

 with a Buhach solution. 



AN INEXPERT DEFENSE. 



The following clipping is from the Manchester (Eng.) Courier for 

 July 7, 1888, and is entitled : "A remarkable charge of homicide:" 



Paris, Tliursdaij Night. 

 The trial begins at Lyons to-morrow of M. de Villenuve, charged with homicide. 

 M. de Villenuve is a wine-grower. Early this year eleven people died at Hyeres and 

 more than four hundred were suddenly taken ill with symptoms of poisoning. The 

 corpses of the victims showed, at the post-mortem examination, poisoning by arsenic. 

 M. de Villenuve, who had furnished them with wine, was charged with falsifying it 

 with arsenic. His defense is that two years ago he employed that chemical to rid his 

 vines of phylloxera. The insects were destroyed, but according to his theory the 

 poison must have been absorbed by the vines, and thus poisoned the wine. 



As a matter of course this defense is utterly' inadmissible, and either 

 the theory of the prosecution is correct, or an arsenical mixture must 

 have been sprayed upon the vines at or near the time of ripening of 

 the fruitj either as a remedy for some leaf-eating insect, or, as is more 

 likely, for the grape- vine mildew, or perhai)s for the black rot. It is 

 not known to our chemists that arsenic is ever used as a falsitier of 

 wine, but certain crude chemicals containing an appreciable quantity 

 of the poison might be so used. 



INSECT DAMAGE TO THE CORKS OF WINE BOTTLES. 



At the monthly meeting of the Entomological Society of Belgium 

 held May 7, 1887, Mr. Preudhomme de Borre presented a communica- 

 tion regarding insects which feed upon the corks of bottles in cellars, 

 especially wine bottles. Different species eat holes through the corks, 

 thereby causing the wines to escape. Two species {Oenophila vflavum 

 and Rhizophagus bipustulatus) were found in corks brought him from 

 Burgundy. As a remedy he recommended the covering of the bottles 

 with a hard and thick wax not subject to breaking or cracking. His 

 closing words were: "For the love of the god Bacchus cover your bot- 

 tles well, then, gentlemen." While advising this remedy he had been 

 disposed to believe that the eggs of the insects do not pre-exist in the 

 corks, but Dr. Tosquinet, who engaged in the discussion, announced 



