370 General Notices. 



makes a great noise, and tries to fly from its pursuer, but is evidently under 

 the influence of some feeling which it cannot control. Instead of rushing on 

 an enemy so much smaller than itself, and crushing it, or fl\ing away as 

 quickly as possible, it remains obstinately in the place where it has been seeking 

 honey, turning round and round; and, when tired and stationary, the Conops 

 darts upon it, and then flies off*. M. Robincau thinks this to be a proof that 

 fascination exists among insects as well as birds of prey and reptiles. The fifth 

 contains an account of the ^J'silns diadema, which plunges its trunk into the 

 head of a bee, paralyzes it, and then, taking it to its nest in the ground, buries it 

 as nourishment for the larvte there deposited. Some new flies, one of which 

 inhabits the Z/iliaceae, form the subjects of the sixth and seventh memoirs. The 

 same author has also sent a statement to the above-mentioned body concerning 

 some caterpillars which were ejected alive from the stomach of a female by 

 vomiting. She was aged fifty-seven years, and had been attacked with dropsical 

 symptoms, for which six drops of the croton tiglium were administered, at three 

 intervals; after which fourteen living caterpillars were thrown up, belonging to 

 the Pyralis pinguinalis of Linneeus. M. Robinean supposes them to have been 

 swallowed in some greasy substance, in the state of eggs, and to have been 

 hatched in the stomach. (A/Zieuceiim.) 



New Silkworm. — At Maragnan and Rio Janeiro are several species of 

 ^ombyx, the caterpillars of w hich enclose themselves in a cocoon, after hav- 

 ing spun a thicker and stronger silk than that of the ordinary silkworm. It 

 has been tried by Padre Mestre, and forms a very solid material. A species 

 of mulberry, the fruit of which is small and inedible, grows near Rio Janiero, 

 which it is proposed to cultivate for feeding the caterpillars. 



On the Uac of Steam in the economising of Fuel. — There is a most valuable 

 paper on this subject in Jameson^ s Journal for July, p. 173, by Dr. Fyfe of 

 Edinburgh. We have been for some time aware that the waste steam from 

 boilers has been burned in manufactories, for example in that of Mr. Milne, 

 the eminent brassfounder of Edinburgh ; and also that it had been burned 

 under boilers in wash-houses and breweries, in several noblemen's establish- 

 ments in England. It was first introduced into wash-houses and private 

 breweries, we believe, bj^ Mr. Reynolds, late steward to the Marquess of 

 Westminster ; and was found by him so greatly to increase the heat produced, 

 that, in the case of very large fireplaces, he was obliged to have a sort of 

 double or protecting bottom to the boiler. It remained, however, for Dr. 

 Fyfe to prove experimentally the great accession of heat produced by the 

 burning of steam ; so as no lon^^er to leave any doubts as to the great advan- 

 tage attending this practice. For this reason, we would recommend its adop- 

 tion in the case of hot-honses heated by steam ; or even by hot water, where 

 the water is heated to such a temperature as to produce steam. Tlie mode in 

 which the steam is burned in a wash-house or brewhouse is very simple : 

 the boiler is kept closely covered ; but at one side, that next the wall, there 

 is a flue of conununication between the upper edge of the boiler immediately 

 imder the lid, and another flue which conducts air down to the ash-pit. By 

 keeping the ash-pit door shut, no air is admitted to the fire but what is drawn 

 down through this flue; and, of course, it draws down the steam along with 

 it, and both air and steam pass upwards through the fire. By having the 

 upper opening of the air-flue immediately under the ceiling, in the case of 

 wash-houses, breweries, &c , any steam from the washing-tubs, or any vapour 

 which may be floating in the atmosphere, will be drawn down and consumed; 

 and thus the wash-house, which at present is a most unwholesome and dis- 

 greeable place, may be rendered as healthy and agreeable as any other depart- 

 ment of the domestic offices of a house. See what we have said on this 

 the Suburban Gardener, p. 78 — 80. 



The following are the results of a few of numerous experiments made by 

 Dr. Fyfe : — 



" The vessel contained two pints of water. 



