182 
VARIETIES. 
then  scraped  off.  This  product  is  pure  opium.  Any  one  of  the  Southern 
States  in  which  cotton  is  grown,  might  produce  an  opium  crop,  annually, 
for  exportation,  that  would  yield  an  immense  revenue. — Ibid. 
Exploration  of  the  Nile. — The  new  expedition  to  the  head  waters  of  the 
Nile,  under  the  command  of  the  French  Count  d'Escayrac  de  Lauture,  and 
under  the  protection  and  auspices  of  Said  Fasha,  promises  to  exceed  all 
other  similar  projects  hitherto  set  on  foot.  At  Vienna,  twelve  officers  of  the 
Austrian  general  staff  expressed  their  willingness  to  join  the  expedition, 
from  which  number  three  were  selected,  who,  together  with  the  mineralo- 
gist, Mayer,  recently  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  government  in  Borneo, 
make  up  the  complement  of  Germans  in  the  expedition.  The  whole  force 
will  comprise  twelve  Europeans,  besides  the  leader,  and  three  hundred 
soldiers  furnished  by  the  Egyptian  government.  Among  these  latter,  who 
are  principally  natives  of  the  interior  of  Africa,  there  is  supposed  to  be  a 
sufficiency  of  interpreters.  For  the  navigation  of  the  Nile,  the  expedition 
has  thirty  bavks  and  two  small  steamers,  and  one  hundred  men,  besides 
the  necessary  men  and  means  to  continue  the  journey  by  and  beyond 
the  head  of  navigation.  Never  before  was  an  expedition  fitted  out  in  like 
manner. 
Much  is  expected  from  the  medical  gentlemen  in  the  expedition.  They 
were  to  have  left  Europe  on  the  10th  of  September, — and  it  is  therefore  pre- 
sumed they  are  on  the  way — Count  d'Escayrac  with  the  Germans  embarking 
at  Trieste,  and  the  French  expeditionists  at  Marseilles.  The  entire  party 
will  meet  at  Alexandria,  and  expect  to  reach  Chartoum  by  December,  where 
they  will  remain  some  time  to  complete  the  organization. — Ibid,  Oct.,  1856. 
Bookworms. — In  paper,  leather,  and  parchment,  are  found  various  animals, 
popularly  known  as  "  bookworms. "  The  larvae  of  Crambus  pinguinalis 
will  establish  themselves  upon  the  binding  of  a  book,  and,  spinning  a  robe, 
will  do  it  little  injury.  A  mite  [Acarus  eruditus)  eats  the  paste  that  fastens 
the  paper  over  the  edges  of  the  binding,  and  so  loosens  it.  The  caterpillar 
of  another  little  moth  takes  its  station  in  damp  old  books,  between  the 
leaves,  and  there  commits  great  ravages.  The  little  boring  wood  beetle 
also  attacks  books,  and  will  even  bore  through  several  volumes.  An  in- 
stance is  mentioned  of  27  folio  volumes  being  perforated,  in  a  straight  line, 
by  the  same  insect,  in  such  a  manner  that,  by  passing  a  cord  through  the 
perfect  round  hole  made  by  it,  the  27  volumes  could  be  raised  at  once.  The 
wood  beetle  also  destroys  prints  and  drawings,  whether  framed  or  kept  in 
a  portfolio.  The  "  death  watch"  is  likewise  accused  of  being  a  depredate^ 
of  books.  These  details  were  collected  by  the  experienced  keeper  of  the 
Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford,  in  1841. — Ibid. 
t 
