At a recent meeting of the St. Louis
Academy of Sciences, Professor Kiley
gave some account of the American
blister beetle. It appears that although
a near relative of this insect, the can-
tharis, or Spanish fly, has long been
used in pharmacy, little is yet known of
its habits in early life. The same mys
tery has hung over tbe American blis-
terer. In certain years these insects
appear in sultieieiit numbers to prove
very destructive to potatoes, tomatoes.
beans, and other garden vegetables.
Professor Riley has discovered that in
the larva state these insects prey upon
the eggs of the Kooky Mountain locust,
and he has raised several specimens
upon such food, and observed their
changes. In lis first shape after hatch
ing, the Insect is adapted to a life above
the ground, but not to burrowii.g; it
attaches itself to bees and sucks their
honey ; and this is also true of it in its
second transformation. In its third
shape it is armed with powerful man
dibles and claws; it loves darkness
better than light, and takes naturally to
an underground existence. Technical
details were given of the insect's anat
omy In the three uinerent forms.
A useful and easily applied test for
salicvlic acid has been submitted by M.
