THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. ()0 



or sink into the card. A sufficient number of spots of this are ])laced 

 about a quarter of an inch apart, and on eacli sjjot is laid a beetle. t)a( k 

 down, care being taken that ihe head, legs and aiUenn;e are kepi from 

 contact with tlie cement. When the latter has hardened sufficiently to hold 

 the insect in its place, its antenme, palpi, legs, etc., may be adjusted with 

 a very small, short-haired, red sable jjencil. just moistened enough to 

 make the hairs adhere together and form a single j^oint. For the larger 

 and more refractor)- ones, a fine serving needle, set in a wooden handle, 

 and bent at an obtuse angle at the point, may be used. 



When the limbs have been properly adjusted, the insects may l)e laid away 

 to dry, which will require three or four days for the smaller, and twice that 

 time for the larger ones. When dry they rnay be removed from the card 

 by inserting the jjoint of a fine needle imder the shoulder ; if this is care- 

 fully done the insect will generally come clear off without damage to the 

 most deHcate pubescence or the longest bristles. Any portions of the 

 mucilage which may adhere to the elytra, maybe removed with the needle 

 point or the sable pencil moistened as before. Each specimen may then 

 be mounted on a strip of card-board, or fastened in the cell of a micro- 

 scope slide with a minute touch of Canada balsam, and a thin glass cover 

 cemented over it. when it will form an interesting object for examination 

 either by direct or transmitted light. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 



Prof. Bell has kindly sent with the above paper a series of specimens 

 illustrating the families of insects he has referred to, all neatly mounted 

 on microscopic slides, comprising twenty in all. Many of these are 

 extremely interesting, and the mounting is such as would do credit to an 

 expert. We are greatls' indebted to our friend for this liberal donation to 

 our Society's collection. They are valuable not only as beautiful slides 

 for the microscope, l)ut ha\e also been carefully determined and are num- 

 bered to correspond with the numbers under which their names are found 

 in Crotch's Check List, and hence will be very useful for reference. This 

 is the second time we have had the pleasure of calling attention to Prof. 

 .Bell's liberalitv in this direction. — Ed. C. E. 



