CHAPTER VIII. 



HOW TO COLLECT, STUDY AND PRESERVE INSECTS. 



Or the members of the Agassiz Association, more 

 have expressed a preference for the study of ento- 

 mology than for almost any other branch. Curiously 

 enough, the girls seem to be quite as fond of insects 

 as the boys are. It is not difficult to account for this 

 preference. The many-hued wings of butterflies flash- 

 ing in the sun, the metallic gleam of beetles, the fea- 

 thery grace and rich coloring of the moths, the dreamy 

 pinions of dragon-flies, the excitement of the chase, 

 and above all, the mysterious and symbolic changes 

 which" attend insect life, shed a bright fascination 

 about insect-study. 



Attracted by this light our boys and girls are flut- 

 tering about the homes of bugs and beetles very 

 much in the same manner that bugs and beetles flutter 

 about the lights in our human habitations. Let me, 

 then, hasten to answer the three questions which 

 are puzzling so many of our correspondents : How 

 catch ? how kill ? how keep ? By far the best way 

 to catch a butterfly is to find a caterpillar ; keep 

 him in a glass box ; feed him with leaves of the 

 plant on which you found him ; and watch him day 

 by day, as he changes his various garments, spins 

 himself up till he bursts or perforates his cerements 

 and unrolls his wings, with every painted shingle in 

 its place, his feathers quite unruffled on his head, and 

 his six legs under him in unmutilated perfection. 



In addition to this method of capture, you will need 

 a light gauze net. Any boy can make one of these 

 in half an hour. Get three-fourths of a yard of 



