THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 319 



toolj Thyatira Batis (E. M. M. v. 284).— iJ. Jenner-Fust, 

 jun. ; Hill Court, Berkeley, May 7, 1871. 



Solution o/ Corrosive Sublimate as a Preservative. — About 

 four years ago Mr. Doubleday told me that if the under side 

 of moths were dressed with a solution of spirits of wine and 

 corrosive sublimate he believed that they would be safe from 

 the attacks of mites and mould, and perhaps grease. I 

 dressed all my insects twice over with this solution, and did 

 not look at the insects again (having relinquished entomolo- 

 gical pursuits for a time) till last March. I then found that 

 several were greasy, that many, especially the Sphingidae and 

 Bombyces, were much injured by mites, and that one moth 

 (A. Atropos) was mouldy. I think this shows that the 

 application is not an infallible remedy for these pests ; 

 though I do think that had 1 not painted my insects with 

 this solution they would have been in a much worse state 

 than they were. The small-bodied insects, such as the 

 Rhopalocera and the Geometrae, were quite uninjured, with 

 the exception of a few antennae. — C E, Holford ; High Oak 

 House, near Ware. 



Mites in Cabinets. — I mentioned that I had a cabinet of 

 insects treated after Mr. Doubleday's process (corrosive sub- 

 limate and spirits of wine) that were left for six years, and 

 they really were very slightly damaged, considering that they 

 were not camphorised or, indeed, looked at, all that time; 

 still mites did attack them. I may mention that during the 

 said six years I had a lot of insects undressed and left 

 in drying-cages: these were altogether consumed by mites 

 and some description of Tinea. — Id. 



Earliness of the Season. — As a further evidence of the 

 earliness of the season, as illustrated by Mr. Raynor in the 

 last number of the 'Entomologist,' I may mention that on the 

 4th of April I captured in my garden two specimens (male 

 and female) of L. Argiolus ; one, fluttering over a yew tree; 

 and the other, resting on its foliage : and in the neighbour- 

 hood of Stonehouse I captured, on April the 25th, a specimen 

 of D, unguicula ; and, on May the 6th, a specimen of 

 N. Lucina. — [i?e?;.] Wm. Farren White; The Vicarage, 

 Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, May 17, 1871. 



Chelonia villica feeding on Blackthorn. — Most authors 

 agree in giving the chick weed [Stellaria media) or other low- 



