830 



TAXIDERMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



FIG. 96. Double Mount. 

 C, Long pin ; P, pith ; S, 

 specimen mounted on 

 short pin ; L, label. 



by dealers, and the sole stock in trade of one or two firms of 

 opticians in this country. They are very liable to rust at the 



point and to bend, and are totally unsuited 

 for use in humid, tropical, and semi-tropi- 

 cal climates, or for collections which are to 

 be transported far over the seas. Beetles 

 should always be pinned through the right 

 elytron. Bugs should be pinned through 

 the scutellum, as the small triangular piece 

 between the elytra is called. All other in- 

 sects should be pinned in the middle of the 

 thorax, and care should always be taken to 

 set the pins perpendicularly. 



Having pinned the specimen the next 

 step is to expand it properly. In the case 

 of beetles this is done by simply arranging the feet and the an- 

 tennae in such a way that they can easily be inspected. In 

 doing this it' is well to have a frame seven-eighths of an inch 

 deep, or thereabouts, backed by a thin piece of soft pine, and 

 covered on top by a sheet of paper, which has been first moist- 

 ened and then pasted around the edges, and which w r hen dry 

 expands like a drum-head. (Fig. 97.) Upon this a number of 

 beetles may be pinned, their feet drawn 

 out, and there be left to dry. In the 

 case of lepidopterous insects, and other 

 insects having considerable expanse of 

 wing, setting-boards are required. These 

 are boards provided with a groove in 

 the middle capable of receiving the body 

 of the insect, and permitting of the ex- 

 pansion of their wings laterally. These 

 boards should be of various widths, so 

 as to be adapted to insects having various 

 expanse of wings, and the grooves also 

 should be of various depths, adapted to insects having bodies 

 of various size. The best form of a setting-board, with which 

 the writer is acquainted, is that given in Fig. 98. The narrow 

 slit below the groove, which is intended for the reception of 

 the body of the insect, admits of passing the pin down to a 



FIG. 97. Frame for Mounting 

 Beetles, a, a, Wooden frame; A, 

 B, paper drumhead. 



