172 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIS®. 
NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
Tne Serricornta.—Mr. Hedley Coleman, one of our 
members, is desirous of corresponding with country friends 
and collectors 7@ the above, and will be grateful for speci- 
mens of Elateridae and Buprestidae. In exchange he offers. 
dulipcates of the above, or specimens of other families. Cor- 
respondents are requested to carefully localise and date 
specimens forwarded. Mr. Coleman’s address is *‘Halga- 
bor,” Killara Avenue, Killara. 
PRESERVATION OF T?ROGS FOR Musrum Purposes.—In 
view of the increasing interest that is being taken in our 
reptilian fauna a few notes on this subject may not be out 
of place. The preserving outfit is simple, consisting of a 
_ glass syringe and two wide-mouthed jars, one containing 75 
per cent. alcohol for hardening the frogs, while the other is 
a killing bottle. This last has a wad of cotton-wool on the 
bottom, which is saturated with spirit and covered with a 
sheet of blotting paper. This keeps the frogs from coming 
into contact with the spirit, which will act very severely on 
their skin and cause them to contract and so spoil them for 
the next operation. \WVhen dead the frogs should be at once 
removed from the killing bottle, and strong spirit forced 
into the lungs by opening the mouth and inserting the 
syringe into the glottis. If done with care, this will give 
the frog a nice natural shape, and at the same time preserve 
it thoroughly internally. It may then be transferred to the 
preserving jar, or better still, to a shallow dish, and the limbs 
should be placed in convenient positions for the final harden- 
ing. Owing to the great variability of the colour-marking 
and other characters of frogs, as many of each species as 
possible should be preserved, but care must be taken that 
too many are not placed in the one jar of spirit (alcohol is 
far better than formalin) or the lot will soften and decay, 
and thereby waste both time and patience. —DENE FRY. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
{The Publication Committee will be pleased to answer ques- 
asked by country members, in the pages of this 
All communications should be addressed to the 
tions, 
journal. 
Hon. Epiror. | 
H. E. Baker, Public School, Gundy.—Larvae and imago of 
the ‘“‘Weed Weevil,’ Lzxus mastersi, Pascoe. Mr. 
Froggatt, in “‘Australian Insects,’’ says: ‘‘The weed 
weevil is very common in neglected gardens, as it larvae 
feed in the roots of Amaranthus and Chenopodium, 
causing them to swell out with cyclindrical galls.’’ 
24.109 
