1890.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 63 



bier or other convenient vessel and press into the bottom of it a piece of 

 cork so that it will remain tightly wedged, then pin in your oily specimen 

 and pour in the glass enough gasoline, refined benzine or chloroform, to 

 cover it to the depth of an inch above the wings, and then cover the glass 

 to prevent evaporation. Allow it to remain for three-quarters of an hour, 

 then take out the specimen and put it to dry in a place free from dust. 

 This treatment makes them look fresh and bright, and relieves them of all 

 traces of oil. If afterwards the specimen needs resetting it can be rela.xed 

 as usual. The same gasoline can be used a number of times. 



Dr. A. E. KvNZE writes as follows: " As a suggestion I would offer the 

 desirability of giving stations for insects the same as botanists give locali- 

 ties for all plants inhabiting a certain radius of miles. Botanical catologues 

 of local stations are issued by several societies. Is it not feasible in the 

 field of entomology' ? Why not try- the experiment ? Would it not assist 



working entomologists? Surely many insects are as local as plants." 



This has been done to a certain extent, but not as commonly as in Botany. 

 Careful and accurately made local lists are very useful to the collector, the 

 student of geographical distribution and the economic entomologist, and 

 their value is enhanced if the dates of occurrence are given. 



Doings of Societies. 



Entomological Section Academy Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia, Feb. 27, 1890. — Members present : Messrs. Cresson, Martindale, 

 Smith, Blake, Ridings, G. B. Cresson, Laurent, Skinner, Calvert, Liebeck, 

 Westcott, Castle and Seeber. Dr. Geo H. Horn, Director, in the chair. 

 Mr. Martindale exhibited a living specimen of Belostoma Americatiaf 

 which had cut off a water supply by being wedged in a pipe, and had been 

 found by the aid of a plumber. He stated that he had endeavored to find 

 a description of the species, but had failed, as nearly all authors attributed 

 the description to Leidy in Vol. i, 2d ser. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 

 58, but it is not given there. The poisonous character of the insect, and 

 its habit of preying on shell fish, young trout and other fishes, were dis- 

 cussed at length. Mr. Charles Liebeck exhibited specimens of a new spe- 

 cies of Cenbrimisl which he had first noticed in June, 1886, feeding on 

 Chenopodium album, a plant introduced from Europe. Dr. Horn said the 

 species was indigenous, for the reason that the genus was not found in 

 Europe. He also called attention to the small characters in the Coleoptera, 

 which are often overlooked, and spoke of their importance from a classi- 

 ficatory standpoint, for if they were properly studied it was not unusual to 

 find them develop into larger structures which could be used to advantage 

 in classification. He promised to speak later on in regard to Cercyon and 

 its allies, and their mutual relationship. Mr. Liebeck donated to the 



