THE BETROSPECT. ' ' 123 



the cabinet of another. Nor does he say what sort of pins should be used 

 for the braces; yet this is a very important "point/' for it will be found 

 that pins strong enough for the purpose are too blunt to go well into the 

 wood, as indeed he shews himself by recommending cork to be put at the 

 bottom of the groove for the pin in the insect, and they therefore are 

 liable to fall out, especially if one is travelling about. The French, more 

 thoughtful, as I saw at Paris, use accordingly needles with heads of beads, 

 made I suppose for the purpose, or of wax. The boards are however best 

 made of cork, and then the common entomological pins can be used. 



One advantage of the boards made in the way Mr. Greene shews, is that 

 they may, if desired, easily be cut up into short lengths for using with 

 the cotton thread, which so will be easier made than by turning. 



I am not aware that the plan of using the turned woods is at all pe- 

 culiar to the London Entomologists. 



As to the superiority of the rounded over the flat method, though I 

 prefer the appearance of the former, yet I am inclined to believe that in 

 process of time it goes off very much, if not entirely, through the subtle 

 influence of the changes of weather, and the natural elasticity of the wings, 

 even in quite dry situations, safe from damp and mould. The form how- 

 ever is, as I have shewn, by no means the only advantage of the use of 

 the turned boards. 



One other remark of Mr. Greene's I must most strongly express my 

 dissent from, namely, his recommendation that the pin should bend slightly 

 forward. I hold on the contrary that it should be all but perfectly straight, 

 and if anything slightly inclining backwards, and for this plain and palpable 

 reason, that whereas the insect would look best without, if it were possible, 

 any pin at all, so the next best thing must be to let it be seen as little 

 as possible, and if it be leaned forward you catch sight of the whole length 

 of the back, so to call it, of it; while if you look down upon it, it is so 

 fore-shortened that you only see the head. 



"Since the above was written," as the saying is, I put a copy of Mr. 

 Greene's figure into the hands of the carpenter, and told him to make me 

 a board according to it. He presently asked, entirely of his own accord, 

 "How deep is it to be?" Let Mr. Greene do the same with any other 

 carpenter, previously uninstructed by himself, and let us see whether he 

 will not afford the same practical commentary on what I have said and 

 on what Mr. Greene left unsaid. 



I agree with Mr. Bree's recommendation of No. 15. Let the numbers 

 stand thus: Nos. 18, 10, 15, 8, 13. 



F. 0. MOERIS. 



Nuriburnholme Rectory, April 5tk., 1858. 



