Short Papers and Notes. 227 
very desirable to have them prepared for observation. Before 
mounting, render them transparent by soaking the part to be 
mounted for several hours in glacial carbolic acid, made fluid by 
slight heat. When sufficiently clear, the specimen may be mounted 
in Canada Balsam without previously drying, as the acid and 
balsam mix readily. Skilful operators can prepare very interest- 
ing sections of the statoblasts, or the spicules may be entirely 
cleaned of all organic matter and mounted separately. Some use 
glycerine after they have been made perfectly transparent by the 
strong carbolic acid. I find a good way to liquefy the latter is to 
add a little alcohol, as much as will fill the space left at the mouth 
of the bottle (full); cork and invert, when the acid forces its way 
through and dissolves the crystals ina short time. The addition 
of the alcohol is no impediment except in cases where it is not 
required to use it. 
Ants and Butterflies, 
In the last number of the Journal of the Bombay Natural 
History Society, Mr. Lionel de Nicéville describes the manner in 
which the larvee of a species of butterfly (Zavucus theophrastus, 
Fabricius) are cultivated and protected by the large common 
black ants of Indian gardens and houses. As a rule, ants are the 
most deadly and inveterate enemies of butterflies, and ruthlessly 
destroy and eat them whenever they get the chance, but in the 
present case the larvee exude a sweet liquid of some sort, of which 
the ants are inordinately fond, and which they obtain by stroking 
the larve gently with their antenne. Hence the great care which 
is taken of them. The larvee feed on a small thorny bush of the 
jungle, the s7z7phus jujuba, and at the foot of this the ants con- 
struct a temporary nest. About the middle of June, just before 
the rains set in, great activity is observable on the tree. The ants 
are busy all day running along the branches and leaves in search 
of the larve, and guiding and driving them down the stem of the 
tree towards the nest. Each prisoner is guarded until he is got 
safely into his place, when he falls off into a doze and undergoes 
his transformation into a pupa. If the loose earth at the foot of 
the tree is scraped away, hundreds of larvee and pupz in all stages 
of development, arranged in a broad, even band all round the 
trunk, will be seen. The ants object to uncovering them, and 
immediately set to work to put the earth back again; if this is 
taken away again, they will remove all the chrysalids and bury 
them lower down. When the butterfly is ready to emerge in 
about a week, it is tenderly assisted to disengage itself from its 
shell, and, should it be strong and healthy, is left undisturbed to 
spread its wings and fly away. For some time after they have 
gained strength, they remain hovering over their old home. In 
