THE WEEKLY ENTOMOLOGIST. 
2G9 
have been several others taken at 
the same place by various members 
of the Plumstead Entomological 
Society. — G. Purnell, 59, Villa 
Road, Plumstead, S.E. 
PRESERVATION OP INSECTS- 
(Continued from page 26-1.) 
The first and perhaps most impor- 
tant communication I would call 
attention to appears in the “ Zoolo- 
gist,” wherein Mr. Henry Doubledav, 
in a letter to the Rev. Joseph Greene, 
says, “ I am not an advocate for the 
use of camphor. It unquestionably 
tends to make moths greasy” and, 
this, he says, may be easily proved 
by suspending any insect, liable to 
turn greasy, to the cork of a bottle 
containing camphor “ when in a few 
days the grease will liquefy and 
spread all over the insect,” he 
further observes, that, “ when insects 
are carefully touched with a weak 
solution of corrosive sublimate in 
pure alcohol, they will never mould 
or be destroyed with mites,” meaning 
those parts to which the sublimate 
has been applied ; “ but, if the thorax 
and abdomen are poisoned, mites 
will very rarely attack the wings, 
and they never become mouldy. A 
small piece of sublimate about the 
size of a hemp seed is sufficient for 
an ounce of alchohol. It should 
never be strong enough to give 
visible crystals on black ivory for 
instance, when wetted and allowed 
to evaporate. The best method of 
applying it is to take a small camel’s 
hair pencil and dip it in the solution ; 
pass it along the antennoe, and then 
apply it to the under side of the 
thorax and abdomen : it will pene- 
trate these parts in a second or two, 
and then the alcohol evaporates, 
leaving the sublimate in the insect.” 
From this it appears that the very 
agent we have been relying upon 
for the safety of our collections is 
proved, on the authority of Mr. 
Doubleday, worse than useless, and 
with questionable discretion, Ento- 
mologists suppress all allusion to 
this important information. Is an 
explanation to be found in a quota- 
tion from your own words ? — “ there 
is a prevailing tendency amongst 
Entomologists, as amongst all others, 
to cling to old theories, old ideas.” 
I have not time to enter much 
into the other communications I 
wished to have called attention to. 
Subsequent to the one above referred 
to, the Rev. J. G. Wood published a 
process he recommended, which 
mainly differed from Mi - . Double- 
day’s, in totally- immersing the in- 
sects in the solution, and drying them 
quickly in the draught of a slightly 
open window. If I remember right- 
ly, the Rev. gentleman asserted that 
it did not injure the colors of any; 
but rather improved them. 
I will conclude this lengthy com- 
munication with an extract from a 
paper by the same popular writer, 
