COLLECTING BEETLES. 273 



after being well soaked with the alcohol, may be allowed to 

 dry partially, but not so as to become brittle, and then 

 packed in small pasteboard boxes, taking care, by shaking 

 the box well before finally closing it, to pack the specimens 

 so closely that they cannot be broken by moving about ; 

 the box may then be closed by pasting a small strip of 

 paper around it, and the locality, date of collection, etc., 

 written on the top." (LeConte.) 



We copy from a chapter on collecting Coleoptera, by 

 Edward Newman, in Greene's " Insect Hunter's Compan- 

 ion" (London, 1870), an account of Mr. Crotch's plan of 

 killing and preserving beetles, of especial use while on a 

 long journey. 



" The following method has now been in use some time, and hence 

 has been fairly tested. Its advantages are very great, so that I make 

 no apology for introducing it to the notice of your readers. The first 

 idea of the process is due, as far as I know, to M. de Vuille-froi, who 

 used it with me in Spain, some years ago, with great success. The 

 specimens may be collected in two ways, according to the size and 

 the convenience of the collector. The first and best way, for small 

 species, is by putting them into a bottle containing about half an inch 

 of dry pine-sawdust, in which has been previously placed a small 

 piece of cyanide of potassium about as big as a pea; they will then 

 die instantly. Larger species and small species which do not fly read- 

 ily may be put into spirits in the ordinary way, but the StapkylinidcB 

 and others generally open their wings in this process. The sawdust 

 should be pine-wood and sifted free from chips on the one hand and 

 from dust on the other, so -as to be of an uniform size. For storing 

 the species thus collected, a few tin canisters will be found most con- 

 venient; a layer of sawdust is placed at the bottom, and then beetles, 

 and so on alternately to the top. The sawdust used in the tins should 

 be damped (not wetted) with a mixture of spirit and one-twentieth 

 part of carbolic acid, which will effectually prevent mould or mites 

 and will bring the specimens home perfectly fresh and clean. Small 

 species, or specimens from a particular locality, should be wrapped 

 in a piece of rag or tissue-paper, with a little sawdust, and the name 

 of the locality. The specimens collected in spirits should be removed 

 as soon as possible (in a few days at farthest), and transferred to saw 

 dust. When the tins are full, some more spirit and carbolic acid 

 should be poured in and the top soldered down : they will then keep 

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