107 
A little later in the month a small colony of gipsy moths was reported 
from Reading. This is probably an offshoot of the colony which was 
suppressed there two years ago, as it is in the same locality. 
None of these “finds” need of themselves cause any great apprehen- 
sion, but they immediately raise the question as to how many more 
infested localities remain as yet unfound. 
The presence of the gipsy moth in Newton is readily explained iin 
the fact that the people on whose estate it first appeared were accus- 
tomed several years since to drive to Franklin Park, Boston, which was 
then considerably infested. 
A resident of Melrose, living in a wooded locality which had been 
very badly infested, was accustomed some years since to drive to 
Georgetown, buying and selling poultry and pigs. He was a frequent 
visitor at the farm where the outbreak of this year occurred. We may 
not yet fully understand the significance of these two outbreaks. It 
seems probable, however, that these two isolated colonies, which we 
know must have increased very slowly at first, have been in existence 
for years, and that they were started when the moth had reached its 
most destructive height in the localities from which the seed cater- 
pillars came. The danger of the distribution of caterpillars in this 
way has now been greatly lessened by the great reduction of their 
number. The exact condition of the infested region can only be deter- 
mined by the fall inspection; but all indications now are that if the 
effective work of the caterpillar season can be followed up by careful 
inspection for eggs during the suitable weather of the fall, winter, and 
spring Porthetria dispar will be a rare insect in the infested region in 
the year 1900. 
Mr. Marlatt spoke of the uniformly valuable results of the entomo- 
logical investigations carried on under the direction of the gipsy-moth 
committee and felt that the improvements in spraying apparatus were 
of especial value. | 
The following paper by Mr. Burgess was read by the secretary : 
A DESTRUCTIVE TAN-BARK BEETLE. 
By A. F. BurGEss, Malden, Mass. 
A striking illustration of the damage that may be caused by an 
inconspicuous insect under favorable conditions has recently come to 
the writer’s attention through the severe injury of hemlock bark at a 
Malden tannery from the attack of a small Ptinid beetle, Dinoderus 
substriatus Payk. It has been the custom of the proprietors of this 
establishment to carry quite a large stock of bark stored in compact 
piles, which are drawn upon from time to time as the needs of the tan- 
nery demand. It thus occurs that some of the piles remain practically 
undisturbed for many months. The present season found the firm with 
