4 FIELD AND FOREST. 



have so powerful an anti-malarious effect, that it is asserted that men 

 working in the swamp and drinking the water are entirely exempt 

 from chills and fever. It is known to possess the power of keeping 

 sweet a long time and is used for filling the water-casks of vessels go- 

 ing on a long cruise. 



In the streets of Norfolk, we found noble specimens of trees that in 

 Washington are only half-hardy and will not endure the winters at 

 all. Melia azederach, Celtis occidentalis, nearly two feet in diameter 

 Qnercus virens, Aesculus pavia, Carya olivaeformis , Lagerstroemia in- 

 dica and in waste places Rumex pulcher ? 



An excursion over the plains surrounding the city, and largely de- 

 voted to market and nursery gardening, gave several species of in- 

 terest, Symplocos tinctoria finely in fruit, Gratiola sphaerocarpa, in 

 ditches, Oxydendron arborum, Arnica nudicaulis'va. quantites Oenothera 

 sinuata, and last but not the least a fine locality of Galax aphylla. 



On the beach above Fortress Monroe was found a specimen of 

 Limit Jus polyphemus twenty-three inches in lenght, and a haul of a seine 

 brought in some bushels of crabs, and a specimen of the curious 

 " Toad-fish," or "puffer," Tetraodon turgidus, as elastic as a football. 

 The lack of Zoological knowledge prevented any acquisitions to this 

 direction. 



The trip was, v as will be seen rich in botanical results, and full of 

 interest in every way, and is heartily commended to the naturalists, of 

 our club, and of the country. 



J. W. Chickering, J r - 



Collecting Nets for Insects. 



A good net is a piece of apparatus indispensible to an entomologist 

 in the field; it must be strong enough te stand rough knocking and 

 the hard usage it is liable to receive, and yet it must be light and easy 

 to handle, or it cannot be used dextrously in the pursuit of butterflies 

 and other insecls that fly swiftly or dart about. Of course every col- 

 lector has his own ideas about the construction of this simple matter 

 of a collecting net, and, very likely, is well satisfied with the one he 

 uses. We have in our possession various styles of nets that have been 

 made from time to time as we have met with new forms, and as a brief 



