COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS. 87 



and various larvae. Its thorough use we would recommend in 

 the low vegetation on mountains and in meadows. The water- 

 net may be either round or of the shape indicated in Fig. 70. 

 The ring should be made of brass, and 

 the shallow net of grass-cloth or coarse 

 millinet. It is used for collecting aqua- 

 tic insects. 



Various sorts of forceps are indispen- Fig. 70. 



sable for handling insects. Small delicate narrow-bladed for- 

 ceps with fine sharp points in use by jewellers, and made 

 either of steel or brass, are excellent for handling minute 

 specimens. For larger ones long curved forceps are very con- 

 venient. For pinning insects into boxes the forceps should be 

 stout, the blades blunt and curved at the end so that the insect 

 can be pinned without slanting the forceps much. The ends 

 need to be broad and finely indented by lines so as to firmly 

 hold the pin. With a little practice the forceps soon take the 

 place of the fingers. They will have to be made to order by 

 a neat workman or surgical-instrument maker. Some persons 

 use the ordinary form of pliers with curved handles, but they 

 should be long and slender. A spring set in to separate the 

 handles when not grasped by the hand is a great convenience. 



Various pill-boxes, vials, and bottles must always be taken, 

 some containing alcohol or whiskey. Many collectors use a 

 wide-mouth bottle, containing a sponge saturated with ether, 

 chloroform, or benzine, or bruised laurel leaves, the latter be- 

 ing pounded with a hammer and then cut with scissors into 

 small pieces, which give out exhalations of prussic acid strong 

 enough to kill most small insects. 



Besides these the collector needs a small box lined with 

 corn-pith, or cork, and small enough to slip into the coat- 

 pocket ; or a larger box carried by a strap. Most moths and 

 small flies can be pinned alive without being pinched (which 

 injures their shape and rubs off the scales and hairs), and then 

 killed by pouring a little benzine into the bottom of the box. 



Killing Insects for the Cabinet. Care in killing affects very 

 sensibly the looks of the cabinet. If hastily killed and dis- 

 torted by being pinched, with the scales rubbed off and other- 

 wise mangled, the value of such a specimen is diminished 



