\4! [June, 
NOTES ON COLLECTING, MANAGEMENT, &c., (LEPIDOPTEBA). 
BY H. a. KNAGGS, M.D., F.L.S. 
THE CATERPILLAR STATE. 
{Continued from Vol. iii., ipage 41.) 
MANAGEMENT. 
With the exception of those mysterious maladies, muscardiue and cholerine, 
concerning which untold volumes have been written, with the minimum of practical 
result, the ailments of larv^ have been so little studied that, were it not that the 
subject of "Management" seems to demand that attention at least should be 
called to them, I would prefer to omit them altogether from these notes. 
Direct injuries, such as mutilations, wounds, bruises, &c., resulting from 
accidents, bites of other larvae, attacks of enemies, unlucky knocks by the beating 
stick, or otherwise received, are not necessarily fatal, and to the lovers of malfor- 
mations, may even be productive of cherishable abnormities in the future imago. 
We can do little more than leave them to take their chance, placing them out of 
the way of further harm, and stopping the flow of exuding lymph by the application 
of powdered chalk to the wound, but of course the scab formed afterwards will 
interfere with the next moult, so that whenever that event comes about, the larva 
(if worth saving) may be assisted by means of warm moisture and the mechanical 
measures mentioned further on under " moulting sickness." 
Stings of Ichneumons, &c., come next, and when the eggs of the para- 
sites are not too deeply deposited, and of course before they have hatched, it is 
often no difficult job to destroy them either by crushing them with finely pointed 
scissors or pliers, or removing them by the aid of a darning needle, it being some- 
times necessary to steady the larva by holding it gently between the finger and 
thumb of the free hand ; but I see no reason why the subject (especially if it be of 
an irritable temperament) should not be placed under the influence of pure (not 
methylated) chloroform, since larv^ are readily affected by, and readily recover 
from the efiects of, this agent. 
Frost bite. It has been stated that larv^, which have been so stiffly frozen 
that they might have been easily broken, have been known to recover. The chief 
thing to be remembered in the treatment of such cases is that the thawing should 
be effected very gradually — rapid thawing being dangerous ; the best thing I can 
suggest is to cover them up in snow ; we should remember that prevention is better 
than cure, and that the larvae of species which naturally inhabit warm situations 
cannot bear and ought to be protected from any great degree of frost. 
Suflfocation. This of course happens whenever the passage of air through 
the spiracles becomes obstructed, the most common cause being submersion, for 
larvEe have an unaccountable propensity to commit suicide in the water vessels of 
breeding cages whenever they can get a chance ; still after being immersed for 
even ten or twelve hours, their case is not utterly hopeless, for though they may 
appear bloated and stiffened with water, yet if they be dried gently on a piece of 
blotting paper, keeping them in motion the while, and exposing them to the sun, 
the chances are that, if they be not too far gone, they will recover ; and, for aught 
