BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [78] 



than quote the explicit directions given by Lord Walsinghain on tin- 

 subject. 



Returning to camp I put a few drops of liquid ammonia on a email piece of sponge 

 and place it in a tin canister with such of the boxes as do not contain the smaller 

 species, and put these and the remainder away until morning in a cool place. In 

 the morning I prepare for work by getting out a pair of scissors, a pair of forceps. 

 my drying-box containing setting-boards, a sheet of white paper, and some pins. 



First, I cut two or three narrow pieces of paper from 3 to 6 lines wide, or rather 

 wider, according to the size of the largest and smallest specimens I have to set. I 

 then double each of these strips and cut it up into braces by a number of oblique 

 cuts. Now I turn out the contents of the canister and damp the sponge with a fe\\ 

 drops of fresh ammonia, refilling with boxes containing live insects. Those which 

 have been taken out will be found to be all dead and in a beautifully relaxed con- 

 dition for setting. Had the smallest specimens been placed in the canister over 

 night there would have been some fear of their drying up, owing to the small amount 

 of moisture in their bodies. 



If the weather is very hot there is some danger of killed insects becoming stift' 

 while others are being set, in which case it is better to pin at once into a dani)> cork 

 box all that have been taken out of the canister, but under ordinary circum>T,-m< . - 

 I prefer to pin them one by one as I set them. 



Taking the lid oft' a box, and taking the box between the finger and thumb of tin- 

 right hand, I roll out the insect on the top of the left thumb, supporting it with the 

 top of the forefinger and so manipulating it as to bring the head pointing toward 

 my right hand and the thorax uppermost. Now I take a pin in the right hand and 

 resting the first joint of the middle finger of the right against the projecting point 

 of the middle finger of the left hand to avoid unsteadiness, I pin the insect oblique! v 

 through the thickest part of the thorax, so that the head of the pin leans very 

 slightly forward over the head of the insect. After passing the pin far enough 

 through to bring about one-fourth of an inch out below,* I pin the insect into the 

 middle of the groove of a setting board so that the edge of the groove will just sup- 

 port the under sides of the wings close up to the body when they are raised upon it. 

 The board should be chosen of such a size as will permit of the extension of the 

 wings nearly to its outer edge. The position of the pin should still be slanting a 

 little forward. The wings should now be raised into the position in which they are 

 intended to rest, with especial care in doing so not to remove any scales from tin- 

 surface or cilia of the wings. 'Each wing should be fastened with a brace long 

 enough to extend across both, the braces being pinned at the thick end. so that tin- 

 head of the pin slopes away from the point of the brace; this causes the braces to 

 press more firmly down on the wing when fixed. The insect should be braced thus : 

 The two braces next the body should have the points upwards, the two outer one-. 

 pointing downwards and slightly inwards towards the body, and covering the main 

 portion of the wings beyond the middle. Antenna- should be carefully laid back 

 above the wings, and braces should lie fiat, exercising an even pressure at all points 

 of their surface. The fore wings should slope slightly forwards so that a line drawn 

 from the point of one to the point of the other will just miss the head and palpi. 

 The hind wings should be close up, leaving no intervening space, but just slm\\ ing 

 the upper angle of the wing evenly on each side. I can give no more precise direc- 

 tions as to how this desirable result may most simply and speedily lie attained; no 

 two people set alike. Speed is an object; for I have often had to set twelve do/en 

 insects before breakfast. A simple process is essential, for a man who is ahva\- 

 pinning and moving pins, and rearranging wings and legs, is sine to remove a cer- 

 tain n iinilicr of scales and spoil the appearance of the insect, besides utterly dcstrox - 



.ipplii-s In tin- MM- ul' short jtiiiK, which .sliniiM Niibseiincnth In- riimiiTiril ilironi.'li strip- "t 

 |iiih nil It Innjjrr pins. I'm sop,, of I In- larger micros ihr lnn^ pins ni:ty lie usril ilhvrtlv iiml ;t ilill'rn-nt 

 inml i mp|n\ >il 



