In 1808, having tried many useless experiments to expel living insects from dead ones, and from other preparations in natural history, on opening, one day, an old magazine (I forget now of what denomination) in a planters house in Essequibo, I read the following remark : " Spirit of turpentine is known to be the most fatal poison to insects.

" Taking it for granted that the spirit was fatal through an atmosphere; as I was sure no insect would drink it voluntarily, and I did not see how it could be forced down their throats, I put some spirit of tur- pentine into a trunk of preserved skins of birds, and into which the moth had found its way.

The next morning, I saw that the spirit of turpentine had killed all the moths.

In the course of time, the use of the corrosive sublimate in alcohol succeeded to this, and rendered the spirit of turpen- tine wholly unnecessary, wherever the sublimate could be applied to every part of the preserved specimen.

But as, on some occasions, I only washed the inside of the skins, and, in this case, the feathers themselves, not having received the poison, were still liable to injury from insects, especially in tropical climates, I always took the precaution to have spirit of turpentine in the box.