JULY. 
229 
Gibbosa J. I have obtained several new species of Noctzm, 
among which is the Gamma Moth (Plusia Gamma), so 
common in England^ with Geometrce, Tortrices, and Tinece ; 
two of these last^, belonging to that very elegant division 
called Veneer Moths ( Crambus J, and another to a division 
of very minute moths^ ( Microsetia ? J known by their bur- 
nished metallic appearance. 
F, — You have been fortunate in rearing your winter 
pup 86 . 
C. — Yes ; I have scarcely lost one out of a great number 
that I wintered. I pursued a plan that you recommended ; 
late in the fall;, after the JBombyces had all spun their co- 
coons, I buried the breeding-boxes in the earth, very lightly 
covering them. In the spring, as soon as the ground was free 
from frost, I dug them out, and have been rewarded for my 
trouble, by some fine moths. On first opening the boxes, all 
the inside was clothed with a fine white downy mould, 
nearly an inch high, but impalpable. 
F. — I was induced to recommend that plan, on account 
of my own failures : in the preceding winter, I had upwards 
of fifty pupse, chiefly Bombyces, which I kept in their boxes 
in a dry cupboard. — In the spring, I had scarcely a single 
imago out of that number, the pupse being dead and dry. 
I then considered that to be successful, I must adhere more 
closely to their habits in a state of nature : we usually find 
the cocoons of Bombyces in the spring, on the ground beneath 
large stones, boards, &c., where the earth affords them the 
moisture necessary to life, and the snow probably secures them 
from congelation. For this reason, I advised you to bury 
them lightly ; and it seems the result has answered my ex- 
pectations. 
C. — The appearance of the mould struck me as being 
curious. I know it is a vegetable production; but how 
could its seeds have found access into my shut boxes ? 
