712 The Zoologist — Ateil, 18G7. 



staves of a cask destroyed by this beetle, and read the following uole respecting its 

 ravages: — 



"An official repmt has lately been received at tlie India Office from the Military 

 Department at Madras, relating to the destruction of the casks containing the malt 

 liquors sent out to India from this country for the use of our Hoops, and which is 

 caused by a small boring-beetle perforating the staves of the casks to such an extent 

 as to entail very considerable loss of the liquor by leakage. From an examination 

 made in India of a large number of the perforated staves, it is there supposed that the 

 insect first effects a lodgment beneath the hoops, which offer it a temporary shelter, 

 and that it then bores into the wood and works its way in all directions. A large 

 proportion of the holes run at right angles to the surface of the staves and reach from 

 one side to the other, thus allowing free exit to ihe liquor, but others again traverse 

 the wood in all directions. In some casks these perforations are literally innumerable, 

 and taking a portion of a stave before me as a guide it is calculated that in the cask to 

 which it belonged there were not less than 134,400 perforations communicating with 

 the outer surface, most of which served as the exit for several of the beetles, as upon 

 cutting the stave lengthwise they were found in Indian-file in all directions. The 

 larva is slated to be of a while colour and armed with a pair of powerful jaws. The 

 beetle is also stated to be very similar in appearance to that which perforates the 

 bamboo, but much smaller and more slender in proportion to its length; and to be 

 precisely similar in outward appearance to the species which attacks the 'shola'of 

 which pith-hats are made. It is unknown when this insect first made its appearance 

 in Iudia. It is extremely probable that at no period since the first importation of 

 malt liquor for the troops has it been entirely absent, but in former years the stock on 

 hand was much less than at present, and the insect was probably less destructive and 

 consequently its presence was not officially reported. As far back, however, as 18o5, 

 when the then Deputy Commissary-General was on a tour of inspection in Burmah, 

 the destructiveness of this beetle was brought prominently to his notice when at 

 Tonghoo. From that dale until the year 18(32 the insects increased in numbers, and 

 still continue to be very destructive; in some seasons the wastage has been less than 

 in others, but the insect has never at any time been entirely unobserved. Up to 1862 

 the ravages of this pest appear chiefly to have been reported from stations in Burmah, 

 but in the same year it was observed at Jaulnah, and probably at other stations also, 

 and it has now broken out again in the last consignment of malt liquor received at 

 Secunderabad. The most difficult and important inquiry connected with this subject 

 is the question as to where the beetle first came from. The generally received opinion 

 in India appears to be that the germ of the insect is already in the wood when the 

 casks are sent from England, and that it becomes developed and makes its appearance 

 after its arrival. To support this theory, however, no satisfactory evidence has been 

 adduced. It is believed that all the staves undergo a process of steaming before being 

 made into casks, and this of itself would be sufficient to destroy the germ of any insect ; 

 moreover, the insect has been found within a very short time after the arrival of the 

 casks in India, and yet it has never on any occasion been detected in casks when first 

 received from the ship. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the insect drops 

 from the bamboos which form the coverings of the carts and boats, but an examination 

 of the insect found in the bamboo in Madras appears to show that, although of the 

 same genus, the bamboo-borer is larger than that which attacks the casks. The length 



