December 29, 1910] 



NATURE 



271 



Amphidasis betularia (Peppered Moth). 

 Amphidasis prodrotnaria (Oak Beauty). 

 Odontoptera bidentata (Scalloped Hazel). 

 Phigalia pilosaria (Pale Brindled Beauty). 

 Boarmia repandata (Mottled Beauty). 

 Roarmia abietaria (Satin Carpet). 

 Boarmia rhomboidaria (Willow Beauty). 

 Gnopbos obscurata (.Annulet). 

 Hybernia progemmaria (Dotted Border). 



^cheme of particulars : — 



,1) State, if possible, the number of specimens of each 

 variety (light or dark, &c.) of the above species that have 

 been observed at rest, together with particulars as to the 

 object upon which they were found, and also say whether 

 they were conspicuous or well protected by their colour. 



(2) State, if possible, whether the species is abundant, 

 fairly common, or rare in the locality to which reference 

 of the observation is made. 



(3) If it is not possible to answer the foregoing ques- 

 tions, any other information concerning observations of 

 a general character will be very acceptable. 



All help received will be fully acknowledged on publica- 

 tion ; and I would like here to express (as it has not yet 

 been possible to publish anything upon the subject) my great 

 indebtedness to those entomologists who have previously- 

 sent valuable information concerning the distribution, &c., 

 of the various forms of A. betularia in their own par- 

 ticular localities in compliance with a former request. 



The University, Manchester. H. S. Leigh. 



Protection from " White Ants " and other Pests. 



In a recent number of Nature there was a note on 

 the subject of ants in general and white ants in particular 

 (they are not ants, but that does not matter, as they 

 are " so called "), in which it is said that the Admiralty 

 has decided in favour of " blue oil." Blue oil is the 

 residue left in the distillation of mineral oils after the 

 isolation of kerosine (called petroleum in England) and 

 paraffin. I therefore venture to give you my experience 

 in regard to the same and as to some other cognate 

 matters. 



Some twent}- years ago I bought a cottage at Mitta- 

 gong, about eighty miles from Sydney ; it was furnished, 

 and when I went there for a night I heard a continual 

 rasping sound whilst in bed, and next morning, on 

 examining the place, I found it was infested with white 

 ants. They had eaten the pine lining in two rooms, as 

 well as the uprights of a door. 



I was then connected with a kerosine company, and 



immediately got a quantity of blue oil, which I had 



sprinkled all round the foundation of the house with a 



watering-can. The result is that the lining is in the 



same condition that it was twenty- jears ago. This is 



j not an isolated instance, because during that time I have 



I had much experience of " white ants," and have always 



^:nd that they cannot work if they are cut ofl from 



nection with the ground, from which they get moisture, 



.. ..ich is necessary for them, and they do not seem able 



I to get through ground saturated with blue oil. 



There is another matter to which I may refer in this 



■"'^r. When I bought my present home, in 1882, I found 



full of weeds and ants. I have got rid of both by 



rmination, and with the latter of aphis and almost 



rely of scale insects. Of the former I have not seen 



for the past fourteen or fifteen years. My first experi- 



e was with black aphis, by which the leaves of a 



rarine tree were all curled up, whilst ants were con- 



ually running up and down the stem. I had read Sir 



n Lubbock's account of ants carrj'ing the eggs of aphis 



rheir nests, and I therefore shaved off the rough bark 



! chalked the stem for a foot or so, and the result was 



-..at the ants soon ceased to visit the tree, and we had a 



I healthy tree and a fair crop of fruit. I may say that, so 



j far as my observation goes, ants cannot climb up a 



chalked stem or post, as the chalk comes off with their 



I feet and they fall down. I am not sure that this is the 



"rrect interpretation, as I have seen that if a broad 



ilk line is drawn round a meat-dish standing on a 



If the ants seldom get arrows it, and if they do it is 



NO, 2148, VOL. 85] 



only by some place being missed in chalking. They seem 

 to leave a trace of formic acid behind them which guides 

 the followers, and, combining with the calcium of the 

 chalk, deprives them of their clue. 



As to ants in general, I may say that after trying 

 various ways to get rid of them 1 have come to an 

 effectual method, that is, to find their nests and pour 

 down each hole two ounces of a solution of cyanide of 

 potassium. Two ounces per gallon is the strength I have 

 used, but it might be weaker. The ants are not all killed 

 by the first dose, for some are out foraging, and one 

 cannot be certain of killing all the queens, but by giving 

 them a dose once a week or a fortnight it is possible to 

 get rid of them. 



There is another matter I may mention. Some thirty- 

 nine or forty years ago I observed an old shingle-roofed 

 cottage at Maitland. It had two dormer windows, the 

 sides of which had been painted white with white lead. 

 The whole of the roof was rotten with fungoid growth 

 except below the dormers, where the paint had been 

 washed down by the rain, leaving a white streak, and 

 there the shingles were nearly as good as they were when 

 put on. It was therefore evident that white lead was 

 inimical to fungoid vegetation. 



When I came to my present home I had outside 

 Venetian blinds, and the " ladders " got quite rotten in 

 three vears, evidently by fungoid growths. In getting new 

 ladders I steeped them in a solution of acetate of lead 

 (6 ounces to the gallon), and they lasted for thirteen years, 

 being by that time worn out by friction in moving them 

 up and down. Acetate of lead is soon converted into white 

 lead by atmospheric carbon dioxide. I have used the 

 same process with a sheet surrounding a shower bath 

 K which in six months was black with " mould," and now 

 \ it is in as good condition as it was ten vears ago. 



Will. A. Dixon. 

 97 Pitt Street, Sydney, October 31. 



January Meteors. 



The most noteworthy of the January meteor showers 

 is that of the Quadrantids. Owing to the great northerly 

 declination of the radiant, these meteors can be observed 

 at any hour of the night, and being long-pathed they may, 

 if fairly numerous, present quite a striking display. In 

 191 1 the maximum will fall on the night of January 3, 

 computed particulars of which and of other subsequent 

 meteor showers are here summarised. 



Epoch January 3, iih. (G.M.T.), fourteenth order of 

 magnitude. Principal maximum Januar>- 3, i2h. 30m. ; 

 secondary maximum January 3, i6h. 30m. 



Epoch January 4, i3h. 30m., seventeenth order of magni- 

 tude. Principal maximum January 3, ''i2h. 40m. ; 

 secondary maximum Januarv' 3, 6h. 30m. 



Epoch January 6, 22h., approximately sixth order of 

 magnitude. Principal maximum January 5, i4h. lom. ; 

 secondary maximum January 5, ah. 45m. 



Epoch January 6, 2h. 30m., fifteenth order of magni- 

 tude. Principal maximum January 7, 9h. 45m. ; secondary 

 maximum January 7, 7h. 



Epoch January 11, 4h. 40m., eighteenth order of magni- 

 tude. Principal maximum Januarv- 12. 23h. ; secondary 

 maxima January 11, 4h. 40m., and January 12, i3h. 15m. 



Epoch January 12, i9h., seventeenth order of magni- 

 tude. Principal maximum January 14, gh. 20m. ; 

 secondar\' maximum January' 14. i6h. 30m. 



Epoch Januan.' 19. i7h., fifth order of magnitude. 

 Principal maximum Januar>' 18, 7h. 30m. ; secondary 

 maximum January 19, 2h. 15m. 



Epoch January 21, 8h. 30m., twelfth order of magnitude. 

 Principal maximum January- 22, 23h. 30m. ; secondary 

 maximum January 22, i8h. 30m. 



The intensity' of a meteoric epoch is inversely as its 

 order of magnitude. Thus the heaviest maximum occurs 

 on January 18, as it belongs to an epoch of the fifth order 

 of magnitude, which is the highest of the month. Owing, 

 however, to the times at which its m.ixima occur, and also 

 to other circumstances, this epoch will not furnish so many 

 meteors as the first two of the month, which have their 

 principal maxima shortly after midnight on Januarv' 3. 



Dublin. John R. Henry. 



