Miscellaneous. 237 
the weevils, for after remaining some minutes in the gas or in the 
ammoniacal liquid, they get on their feet again, and run about per- 
fectly when removed from the influence of the caustic alkali. How- 
ever, the prolonged action of this gas, like that of carbonic oxide, car- 
bonic acid, or any other gas not respirable for large animals, kills these 
insects in a shorter or longer time. I know not what arrangement of 
a simple and ceconomical kind, within the reach of all cultivators, large 
and small, rich or poor, would be adopted by M. G. Barruel for the 
application of the carbonic oxide, or by Mr. W. Little for that of am- 
monia; but I must point out a substance, the use of which is much 
more practical and less expensive, namely tar. The efficacy of this 
substance against the weevils is known to many agriculturists and 
corn-merchants. 
I placed, in a half-pint bottle, well closed by a cork, three very 
lively and healthy weevils; at the same time I introduced a small 
open phial containing a little tar; presently the uneasiness of these 
animals was perceptible ; they soon fell on their back, shaking their 
feet without being able to use them to get up again. The smell alone 
of the tar, in a close space, is therefore fatal to these insects. If the 
upper part of the closed vessel in which the weevils are shut up be 
smeared with tar, they die more quickly. 
The efficacy of tar, in driving away these insects and preserving the 
corn, is an incontestable fact. My father had, a long time ago, his 
granaries, barns and the whole house infested by weevils, so much so 
that they penetrated into all the chests and among the linen. He 
placed an open cask impregnated with tar in the barn, and then in 
the granaries ; at the end of some hours, the weevils were seen climb- 
ing along the walls by myriads, and flying in all directions away from 
the cask. On moving this tarred vessel from place to place, the 
house was in a few days completely cleared of these troublesome and 
pernicious guests. 
The agriculturist who wants to get rid of weevils, may, as soon as 
he perceives their presence, impregnate the surface of some old planks 
with tar, and place them as required in his granaries; care must be 
taken to renew the tar from time to time in the course of the year to 
prevent the return of the insects. —Comptes Rendus, Oct. 15, 1849. 
DR. ROBERT BALL. 
We have had much pleasure in noticing and commending the en- 
couragement which the study of Natural History receives in Ireland, 
and to record with great satisfaction that the degree of LL.D. has 
been conferred by the Board of Trinity College, Dublin, upon Robert 
Ball, Esq., who has for some time had the Museum of the College 
under his superintendence, and whose efforts for the advancement of 
Natural History in general, and of Zoology in particular, are univer- 
sally known. With similar feelings of pleasure, as to the interests of 
our favourite pursuit and of other branches of learning, we look upon 
the appointments in the recently established colleges, from which the 
happiest results are to be expected. 
