Feb., '03] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 49 



to several prominent entomologists for information as to the 

 cause of my shellac not dissolving as it should, and in each 

 instance my inquiries were ignored. I concluded that the ento- 

 mologists were as ignorant as I as to the cause of the gum act- 

 ing so contrary. Finally, something told me that the alcohol 

 I was using contained a too great percentage of water, which 

 prevented the dissolving of the gum, so I decided that at the 

 first opportunity I would secure some absolute alcohol to ex- 

 periment with. lyast summer I had the fortune of securing a 

 small quantity of the pure alcohol, and at the first occasion I 

 used it to dissolve some of the gum was happily surprised to 

 see how easily the gum was dissolved into a perfectly liquid 

 mucilage. 



I am sure I am not the only one who has seen the work of 

 years in collecting reduced to a dirty mass of fragments and 

 powder by the ubiquitous larvae of some Dermestid beetle. I 

 had tried many different plans for preserving my specimens — 

 some recommended by older entomologists — such as moth-balls, 

 corrosive sublimate, etc., and some of my own devising, such 

 as lining the edges of my boxes with cotton to prevent the 

 entrance of the pests, but all to no avail, as I often found to 

 my chagrin, that in spite of all I did, the rascals would have 

 the contents of some box which I had not recently opened re- 

 duced to ruins. When the hydrocyanic-gas treatment for scale 

 insects came into vogue, I bethought me, perhaps, this method 

 of exterminating insects might be used to advantage in pre- 

 serving our cabinet specimens, and this summer I have put the 

 method to practical trial and, so far, have found it an almost 

 perfect success. For my specimens in cigar boxes,* I put a 

 number of the boxes in a lard can, such as are used to ship 

 lard from the packing-houses to the retailer, and then get all 

 the ingredients ready, using a teacup to hold the solution, 

 keeping the cyanide in readiness to drop into the solution in 

 one hand and the lid to the can in the other, so as to quickly 

 place it over the can the moment the cyanide is dropped into 

 the sulphuric acid and water. To disinfect cases which are too 

 large to put in the lard cans, I have the bottom of a small bot- 



* The trouble is caused by faulty boxes. — Editors. 



