38 



by means of the small hand-bellows, now obtainable at all chemists. With regard to the 

 danger of using this material, I will quote from an excellent and very complete article 

 upon this subject by Prof. W. Saunders, which appeared in our Ent. Soc'y, of Ont. Eep. 

 for 1871-2, p. 32. 



" It has been urged against hellebore that it is poisonous, and great outcries have 

 been raised against it on this account. It is quite true that hellebore is poisonous when 

 taken internally in quantities, but if used in the manner we have indicated, no fear need 

 be entertained of the slightest injury resulting from it. Examined immediately after a 

 thorough sprinkling with the hellebore mixture, the quantity on any bunch of fruit will be 

 found to be infinitesimal, and the first shower of rain would remove it all. If it be found 

 necessary at any time to apply the mixture to bushes where the fruit is ripe and just 

 ready to be picked, it might then be washed in water before using, which would readily 

 remove every trace of the powder. During the past ten years many thousands of pounds of 

 hellebore have been used in Europe and America for the purpose of destroying this worm, 

 and we know of no case on record where injury has resulted from its use." 



Another insect of the same family, and with very similar habits to the above, is the 

 Larch Saw-fly, Nematus Erichsonii, the larva? of which are now spreading rapidly over 

 the Eastern United States and Canada. I have received inquiries concerning it from 

 several of our members in different provinces of the Dominion, particularly from Nova 

 Scotia and Quebec. The eggs of this species are imbedded in the soft wood of the young 

 shoots of the tamarac when growth first begins in June. The growth is stopped on the 

 side where the eggs are deposited, and the twig becomes distorted and is eventually 

 destroyed. This injury, however, is slight compared with the destruction of the foliage. 

 There are at the present moment in Canada, from the Atlantic coast as far west as 

 Ottawa, thousands of acres of tamarac entirely stripped of their leaves. On another 

 occasion a fuller account of this injurious insect will be given. 



THE TIGER SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY. (Papilio Turnus, L.) 



Just about the time the lilac bushes open their fragrant blossoms the grand insect 

 shown at figure 12 may be seen either hovering over gardens and sipping the nectar of 

 flowers, or sailing majestically down some woodland glade. It generally appears at 



Figure 12. 



Ottawa about the first of June, and may be seen for a month or more. Farther to the 

 north it comes later, not appearing at Xepigon, north of Lake Superior, until the end of 

 June. yThis insect has many characters which make it of interest to the collector. Its 



