i8 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [January, 



Note on cychrus elevaius. — The following instance of gregarious- 

 ness in Carabidae may be of interest : A few years ago, while collecting 

 on the south shore of Long Island, I found, on the bank of a fresh-water 

 pond, twenty-two specimens of Cychrus elevatus, all within an area not 

 larger than the palm of my hand. They were crowded together in a 

 small hollow under a board, and were very sluggish, so that I had no 

 difficulty in taking them all. The males were about twice as numerous as 

 tiie females. I have never before or since found more than two speci- 

 mens together. All the Long Island specimens of elevaius which 1 have 

 seen are slightly different from the ordinary type, being smaller and more 

 .slightly built, with shorter legs. The color is a brighter purple and not so 

 metallic, or cupreous, as the average. — W. C. Wood, New York. 



. Surgeon-General Sir William Moore (Medical Mag., July, 1S93) 

 regards the dissemination of disease by flies as a matter looked upon with 

 too much indifference, and instances an epidemic of anthrax which was 

 spread by flies which had covered a carcass of a dog thrown into a ditch 

 in Cortal. He quotes the experiments of Lawtschenks with flies and 

 cholera germs, and observes that it is worth noticing, in that in India it is 

 during the time and season of the greatest prevalence of cholera that flies 

 most abound. The possibility of flies carrying the organisms of typhoid 

 fever and phthisis is suggested, and the belief is expressed that leprosy is 

 often conveyed by flies which appear to be particularly fond of leprous 

 sores, and of investigating in the way- of a sore on a healthy person. 

 There is no doubt that ophthalmia is so spread, and an instance is given 

 of complete destruction of an eye from diphtherial inflammation following 

 the sting (bite) in the eye by a fly which had apparently arisen from a 

 dung-hill. 



The Say Memori.\l Chapter of the Agassiz Association is an organ- 

 ization composed of those interested in Entomology, living in various 

 parts of the United States, and conducting their proceedings by corres- 

 pondence. Its object is "to promote the study of entomology in all its 

 bearings, and to cultivate social and friendly relations between those in 

 any way interested in the science. Each member of the Chapter shall be 

 required to write a bi-monthly letter or report of any special course of 

 study he is pursuing, or in narrative form, recount observations of habits 

 of insects, collecting notes, etc. These letters must contain not less than 

 two hundred words, and will be written on paper furnished by the Sec- 

 retary-Treasurer, to whom they must be forwarded. This officer will 

 keep a record of these letters, and start them on their course around the 

 Chapter, each recipient of a letter forwarding it according to a geographi- 

 cally arranged register." Members are proposed by the Secretary-Treas- 

 urer, two-thirds vote being necessary for election. The officer just named 

 is the only one recognized by the chapter; his duties are indicated by the 

 preceding statement and by his title; he makes a semi-annual report to 

 the President of the Agassiz Association. The entrance fee to the Chap- 

 ter is one dollar, annual dues one dollar. The originator of the Chapter 



