THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 139 
better way is to ask questions, as Mr. A. M. Brown and Mr. 
Kynaston have done, and they will be sure to elicit useful 
replies, and not the less useful because a slight difference of 
opinion may occasionally find expression. I trust I shall 
always be ready to give the best counsel within my reach ; 
and if not in my own personal possession, it is certain to be 
within the reach of one or other of my numerous readers.— 
Edward Newman.) 
Preserving Larve.—Perhaps the alum solution employed 
by Mr. Sharp was not sufficiently strong, for after steeping 
larve in it lL have always found their skins hard enough to 
prevent unnatural distention, when subjected only to very 
slight pressure.—H. dA. Auld. 
Preserving Caterpiliars.—\1 am sure Mr. Auld will pardon 
my suggesting one or two slight improvements which may be 
made in his mode of preserving larvee (Entom. ix. 78, April). 
When I first began to practise this branch of Entomology, 
I did so from Mr. Auld’s instructions, but I soon discovered 
two points on which there appeared a need for improvement. 
The first difficulty was with the two pieces of watch-spring 
affixed to the blowpipe, for, however well they were fastened, 
they were sure very soon to become sufficiently loose to slip 
either too much on one side or the other; or sometimes they 
were so tight that the skin of the last segment was broken ; 
or else they did not fit sufficiently close to keep the distended 
skin air-tight when blown into. To get rid of this difficulty 
a very simple remedy suggested itself to Mr. S. L. Mosley, of 
this town, namely, to use fine cotton or silk instead of watch- 
spring: the cotton is simply wrapped round the blowpipe a 
few times, one fold, then being wound round the very 
smallest bit of the last segment, which is sufficient to hold it 
much more closely and firmly than the watch-spring does. 
The other difficulty I had was with what Mr. Auld terms the 
“oven.” With his plan I found it rather difficult to get a 
sufficient amount of heat inside; but a still greater objection 
arose from the necessity of holding the face quite over it 
when blowing, which made it impossible to work long without 
feeling that one’s eyes would soon be almost burnt out. In 
place of this I dispensed with the “ oven,” and simply placed 
over the tripod-stand a flat piece of fine wire gauze, through 
which, of course, however near the lamp may be placed 
