THE CYANIDE-JAR. 65 



silk veiling ; ask mother to make a bag of it, with 

 a hem around the top wide enough to run a pipe- 

 stem through ; pass a thick wire through this, and 

 bend it into the shape required ; fasten the ends of 

 this wire to a light stick, five or six feet long, and 

 your net is made. A piece of a bamboo fishing-rod 

 makes a good handle. You may also need a stouter 

 net for beating about in the bushes. 



A third method of capturing moths is that of paint- 

 ing trees with a mixture of rum, beer, and sugar. This 

 is done in the early evening, and later, lantern in hand, 

 you go about from tree to tree and tap into your net 

 the insects stupefied by the sweet but fatal sirup. 



A very successful lure may be formed by enclosing 

 a female moth, alive, in a box covered with gauze. 

 Frequently a large number of moths may be taken 

 in a single evening as they hover about the impris- 

 oned insect. 



For the capture and conveyance of beetles, etc., a 

 good supply of pill-boxes and vials of various sizes 

 may be carried in the pockets. Small forceps are 

 convenient for picking up spiders, which, however, 

 are not now classed with true insects. 



These smaller insects may be dropped at once into 

 a bottle of alcohol, and cared for on reaching home. 



Butterflies are easily killed by a sudden and strong 

 compression of the thorax. They are best carried 

 home by folding the wings back and enclosing them 

 in little three-cornered envelopes, not glued, but merely 

 folded over them. 



A vial of chloroform with a camel's-hair brush 

 attached to the inside of its rubber cork, is conve- 

 nient. A drop on the head of an insect will render 

 it insensible, and it may be pinned into your col- 

 lecting-box. But the best means for killing large 

 insects is the cyanide-jar. 



