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distended till dried over a "stove'' 1 . A tin box with one end 

 out makes a very good impromptu "stove", which must be 

 used in drying the inflated skin. An alcohol flame held 

 under the box (I have used a seltzer-powder box attached 

 moveably to a stand so that it could be removed from or 

 approached to the flame) heats the air within it and the 

 caterpillar, being introduced through the open end, must be 

 kept inflated, by the rubber inhalator until dried. With 

 a common insect pin, introduced through the dried and 

 protruding intestine, the specimen may be pinned in the 

 cabinet. Caterpillars so prepared may be also artificially 

 colored, but as a rule, with care in the preparation, which 

 needs practice, this is not necessary. Pupae killed by heat 

 may be also pinned (after a thorough drying) in the 

 collection. 



As to a cabinet, some collectors prefer one with drawers 

 having a cork lining. I remember that I was astonished 

 when in the Cambridge Museum to find that Dr. Hagen used 

 no lining at all, forcing the pins into the soft pine bottom 

 of the drawer itself. But I think no lepidopterist would 

 avail himself of such a plan. As it was, I noticed that 

 many of the frailer types of Zeller had become broken : the 

 points of the pins blunting or breaking off and the specimens 

 suffering under this treatment. In Germany turf and other 

 cheaper materials are used as a substitute for cork. All 

 this may be left to the choice of the collector. The plan 

 upon which I proceeded, was to make boxes, of a book 

 shape, being a little longer than wide, having a pane of glass 

 for the top and one for the bottom. The glass was fitted 

 in a morticed frame and fastened in position by three-cor- 

 nered bits of tin such as glaziers use. The boxes were 

 about 12 14 inches, but their size is a matter of taste. 

 The frame must be fully 2 1 j-j inches deep clear of the glass, 

 to prevent the heads of the pins touching the same. After 

 fastening in the bottom glass, I arranged small fine cut 

 corks at regular intervals in the box, guiding myself by a 

 sheet of ruled paper beneath, and fixing the corks by means 

 of a cement made of goldsize and red lead. Mr. W. T. Davis 



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