3468 Entomological Society. 



The President exhibited specimens of Blatta Germanica, sent to him from Kildare, 

 where they had been very troublesome in a house, attacking indiscriminately food and 

 other things to which they could gain access, and living chiefly behind the skirting- 

 boards of the kitchen. The female had her egg-pouch attached, remarkable for being 

 nearly as large as the abdomen. This was the first recorded instance of the species 

 being noxious in houses; in Lapland, B. Lapponica is very destructive to dried fish 

 and other provisions. 



The President also read a letter from Sunderland, inquiring the best mode of de- 

 stroying Blatta orien talis, that common pest in houses every where ; when several mem- 

 bers mentioned as remedies basins baited with bread, and placed where the cock-roaches 

 had easy access to them, from which, on account of their smoothness, the insects could 

 not escape; phosphorus; turpentine sprinkled about the room at night, when they were 

 active, the touch of the least portion proving fatal ; a mixture of oatmeal and plaister 

 of Paris; and keeping a hedge-hog, of which animal the Blattee were a favourite food. 



The President exhibited some specimens of the new cochineal insect called Coccus 

 Fabae, discovered by M. Guerin-Meneville, and described in the 'Comptes Rendus.' 

 The insect fed on the common bean, and rendered an exceedingly brilliant colour. The 

 cultivation thereof on an extended scale had commenced in the South of France, and 

 it was expected would prove a beneficial branch of industry to the peasants. 



Mr. Smith communicated the following extract of a letter addressed to him by Dr. 

 Felkin, of Richmond : — 



" I had some port wine which I rather prized, packed in straw in wooden cases, in 

 which it remained undisturbed for seventeen or eighteen years, but upon opening the 

 cases I perceived some insect had been preying very considerably upon the corks, in a 

 few cases to that degree that leakage and evaporation had completely emptied the bot- 

 tles, in others there was only a little loss, but in most cases the corks were more or less 

 destroyed. This partial destruction seemed as if it were prevented from being com- 

 plete by the wine oozing out in a single drop, and being pernicious to the insect. I 

 cannot form an opinion whether saw-dust may encourage the insect, but I may ob- 

 serve that the cellar is very dry. I believe wine-merchants in corking wine compress 

 the cork with instruments, which leave a depression in the cork, in which the insect 

 seems to burrow ; in some wine bottled at home, in which the cork was only immersed 

 in wine previous to driving it, the ravages of the insect appeared to be less, but I must 

 add that these corks were of the best description. I have not yet employed any means 

 to prevent the evil, but I think of cutting the cork level with the mouth of the bottle, 

 and then dipping it for half an inch at the top into a mixture of yellow bees'-wax, 8 

 oz., and sweet oil, 4 oz., melted together ; or to surround the upper part of the cork 

 with a thin coat of gutta percha ; or, after the bottle has been corked, to immerse the 

 mouth in a solution of alum in vinegar. These are plans which, if effectual, would 

 not injure the wine, or render it less fit for drinking.'' 



Some members suggested that the mixture of resin with the bees'-wax would, by 

 rendering the composition harder, prove effectual in excluding the insect, whatever 

 species it might be, its eggs or larvae. 



Mr. Bedell intimated that he had in progress an experiment with some bottled 

 wine, the corks of which were thus affected, to ascertain with certainty the kind of 



