200 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 27, 1859. 
the pupa state. This accords with the nature of the grubs ; for, 
after they have ceased feeding, they creep to some nook or 
sheltered wall, on which they spin a little silk and fix themselves, 
where they pass the winter in the chrysalids. Their manner of 
proceeding in this respect differs from that of the Gooseberry 
caterpillars, and also from those that feed on trees— for instance, 
the Oak and Elm. Til ese either descend the trunk of the I 
trees, or let themselves down by suspended spinning threads, j 
like spiders, to the ground, under which they pass the winter in 
the pupa state. I have known entomologists dig up chrysalids 
under old trees, from which they bred most beautiful butterflies 
and moths in the heart of London.— J. Wighton. 
THE SWALLOW-TAILED BUTTERFLY. 
The knowledge of insects being so closely connected with 
horticulture, and books on entomology bring so cheap and mul¬ 
tiplied, gardeners should Study their habits, especially the habits 
of those injurious to cultivated plants. This would greatly assist 
them in finding out the best means of destroying them. Besides, 
the study of entomology is very interesting to those who collect 
and preserve insects. For instance: on the 25th of August I 
caught a very fine specimen of the swallow-tailed butterfly on some 
Phloxes, the first- I ever observed on the wing. I have bred this 
most beautiful butterfly from chrysalids sent me by a friend, who 
observed that the larva? fed on the Willow trees. But I think j 
he -was mistaken; for better authority states that they feed upon 
the wild Carrot and other umbelliferous plants. The one I caught I 
seemed to be newly hatched, and is much larger and beautiful 
than those I bred. It was very active on the wing, but sluggish 
and easily captured when on the flowers. I have heard of two 
more being caught this season near Norwich ; also of one taken 
in a corn field near Ipswich. The proper name of this rather 
rare butterfly is Papilio Machaon, and it belongs to the class of i 
yellow or sulphur butterflies, which are the first to cheer us with i 
primrose-coloured wings early in spring. This does not apply to 
our readers in Scotland, for those early visitants do not inhabit j 
that country. Those who have seen the swallow-tailed butterfly 
in collections, and are unacquainted with its history, might think j 
it a foreign one; and it is so far such that it is found all over 1 
Europe, as also Siberia and India—at least the specimens from 
those countries differ but little from our native ones ; but these 
vary both in size and colour. All of them, however, are readily 
known by the two peaks of their tail, from which they derive 
their name.—J. Wighton. 
smaller gasworks as fuel, by being allowed to run very slowly 
into the furnace-fires. Asphalt, besides being employed for 
coating the exterior of ships’ bottoms, is also used, in a heated 
condition, for saturating timber which is intended for piles in 
I lie construction of breakwaters, river-bridges, and other situations 
where the combined action of the air, water, and minute animals 
would soon render ordinary wood rotten and useless. "Wooden 
houses may be preserved in the same manner by a coating of 
asphalt applied externally ; and ground-flooring placed in damp 
situations is much the better of the spaces between the planks 
being filled up with asphalt. About 1810 asphalt began to be 
generally used for foot-pavements in cities, and also for floors of 
cellars and outhouses. For purposes of this nature it is heated 
in portable boilers, into which, at a certain stage of the pre¬ 
paration, ' there is poured a quantity of thoroughly dried sand, 
gravel, or powdered limestone, which is well mixed with the 
liquid asphalt. The mixture is then spread on the spot prepared 
for it; and when cool, forms a hard kind of pavement. Of this 
method of forming footways high expectations were at first 
formed; hut latterly the process of asphalting has gone out of 
use in England, as it is found not to be so durable as stone, and 
therefore, in ordinary circumstances, more costly. In Paris, 
however, asphalting is still extensively practised in the more 
spacious thoroughfares. The better kinds of asphalt are used in 
the manufacture of the black varnish, which is employed in 
forming the enamel which coats the variety of leather known as 
patent leather. Asphalt is not of itself used in medicine, hut its 
natural solution in naphtha, viz., Petroleum, is a valuable agent 
when applied either externally or internally. The synonymes of 
asphalt are—Native Pitch, Mineral Pitch, Jews’ Pitch, Dead Sea 
Bitumen, Compact Bitumen, Trinidad Bitumen, and Maltha.— 
( C'h ami) era's Pricy el op cedi a.) 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Name of Fungus ( Alethea ).—It is the Nidularia campanulalu, or bell- 
shaped Nidularia. As it is usually found growing on chips and fragments 
of wood, some of these probably are mixed with the gravel in the walks 
where you find the fungus. 
Paint for Palings {J. IT.). —We know of no paint better for the pur¬ 
pose, though you are intending to train fruit trees against them, than 
common stone-colour paint. We know where three coats of paint were 
given to palings for a similar purpose, the last coat being thickly dusted 
before it was dry with fine, dry sand, it has retained a hard surface for 
several years. 
Sewage (J. >/.).—The proceedings are too local for general circulation. 
We will find room for a part of your communications. 
VARIETIES. 
Asphalt, or Asphaltfm, is the name given to a bituminous 
substance of a solid consistence. It probably owes its origin to 
vegetable matter which has been subjected to a slow process of 
decomposition or decay, resulting in the production of a bi¬ 
tuminous coal, from which, by volcanic agency, the asphalt has 
been distilled and diffused over the neighbouring district. The 
largest natural deposit of asphalt is in the island of Trinidad, 
where the plain known as the Pitch Lake is found. The asphalt 
from Trinidad is largely used for ships’ bottoms, and is reputed 
to kill the teredo, or borer, which proves itself so very destructive 
to the wood of ships in tropical regions. Asphalt is also found 
on the shores of the Dead Sea in large quantity, and is known to 
the Arabs by the name of Hajar Mousa, or Moses’s Stone. It 
likewise occurs in South America, at Coxitambo near Cuenca, in 
Alsace, and other parts of the European continent, in East 
Lothian and Fifeshire (Scotland), in Shropshire, &c. During 
the manufacture of coal-gas, much tarry matter is evolved from ! 
the retort, aud is received in the coolers or condensers. If this 
tar be subjected to partial distillation, naphtha and other volatile 
matters escape, and an artificial asphalt is left ‘behind, which 
possesses the principal properties, and can be employed foy the 
majority of purposes to which native asphalt is applied. The 
various kinds of asphalt have a pitchy odour, are of a black or 
dark-brown colour, but do not soil the fingers; are insoluble in 
water, sparingly soluble in alcohol; hut are in great part 
dissolved by ether, oil of turpentine, and naphtha. Petroleum 
or Rock Oil, is a native liquid bitumen, which largely exudes 
from crevices in rocks in many districts, and is essentially asphalt 
dissolved in naphtha. The specific gravity of asphalt is very 
near that of w r ater, ranging from 1000 to 1100. When set fire 
to, it burns readily with a smoky flame, and is often used in (lie 
Pears for Cheshire (Pi/rus communis).—livurre d'Amanlis, Comte de 
Lamy, Knight's Monarch. For walls:— Passe Colmar, Thompson's, Sold a f 
Ksperen. It is the roots going down into the gravel that induces canker 
and disease. You should therefore practise root-pruning, and bring the 
roots nearer the surface. 
Name of Plant {A. Z?.).—The plant blooming in the open garden is 
Clematis balearica, or Minorca Virgin’s Bower, formerly called Clematis 
calycina. 
POULTRY AND BEE-KEEPER’S CHRONICLE. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
December 28th and 29th. Sheffield and IIallamshire (Fancy 
Pigeons). Sec., Mr. Inman New, Sheffield. Entries close December 12th. 
Decemder 28th and 29th. Poclton-le-Fylde. Sec., Mr. J. S. Butler. 
January 2nd and 3rd, 1860. Paisley. See., Mr. Wm. Houston, 14, Ban- 
Street. Entries close December 2Gth. 
January 4th and 5th, 1860. Preston and North Lancashire. Sec., Mr. 
Henry P. Watson, Old Cock Yard, Preston. Entries close December 
17th, 1859. 
January 7tli, 1860. Bradford. (Single Cock Show.) Sacs., Mr. Hardy, 
Prince of Wales Inn, Bowling Old Lane, and Mr. E. Blackbrough, 
Black Bull Inn, Ive Gate, Bradford. 
jANUARYllth, I860. Devizes and North Wilts. Sec., Mr. G. Saunders 
Sainsburv, Rowde, Devizes. Entries close December 24th. 
January 18, 19, 20. Liverpool. Secs., Messrs. G. W. Moss and W. C. 
Worrall. 
January 31st and February 1st and 2nd. Chesterfield and Scarsdalk. 
Hon. Sees., Mr. J. Charlesworth, and Mr. T. P. Wood, jun. Entries 
close January 11th. l( 
February 11th to 15th, 1860. Crystal Palace (Poultry and Pigeons). 
Sec., Mr. W. Houghton. Entries close Jan. 14th. 
February 29tli, and March 1st, 1860. Ulverstonk. Sec., Mr. T. Robson. 
N.B.— Secretaries will oblige its by sending early copies of their lists. 
THE OLD AND THE NEW YEAR. 
Friends, readers, subscribers, contributors, we wish you all 
the good you can wish yourselves. The time has again come 
round when we have to note the conclusion of one year and the 
