THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 209 



A little improvement, however, maybe made. If the collector, instead 

 of putting in his " Cyanide of Potassium " in " lumps," will pound it to 

 a fine powder, intimately mix it with the necessary amount of Plaster of 

 Paris, and then pour in water till the mixture has by stirring assumed the 

 consistency of cream, he will have a more efficacious, as well as a more 

 lasting box (or botr When lumps, particularly large lumps, are used, 



it is difficult without using too much plaster, to cover the cyanide so that 

 it shall not deliquesce. Of course if it begins to do so more and more 

 of the surface is exposed and the box is always damp, and is liable to act 

 on the colors of the captured insects. 



Mr. id uses bottle. I use a box. For general purposes the box 

 commonly used for putting up Baking Powders will answer all purposes 

 except in the " Ca cala " season. But a box of that size, or as I think 

 of any size, necess tes the making of a larger one on the same plan. 

 That is a " transfer box/ 5 which remains in the house, or remains on the 

 hunting ground, according to circumstances. 



After making r o or three captures from one tree, I never think of 

 injuring the plumage of those by making an addition to them by intro- 

 ducing a lively m th ; but immediately remove these to the " transfer 

 box." By the next morning they are in good setting order. Thus I go 

 through the night, the "transfer box" ultimately containing all the 

 captures. 



Of course it m ers little whether a box or a bottle is used. In fact, 

 it may be well to have a bottle for home service, and a box for the field. 

 A box, as describe ;. is a much better collecting vessel for Coleoptera 

 than any alcohol 1 tie. 



The best " tr< fer box " that I have ever used is a tin one about six 

 inches in diametei and about two and a half inches in depth — used 

 legitimately, I beli • e, for holding coffee samples. 



Now, all these apposed improvements are based on the idea that 

 having two or moi : dead moths in your collecting box, the third one, 

 when introduced, 1 be absurdly lively for a time. This, at any rate, is 

 my experience. ' e little fellows seem to have no idea of the important 

 part they have to in Entomological Science, and dart about in the 



most reckless manner. Mr. Mead seems not to have met with such an 

 inconvenience, b ul my captures have been uniformly obstreporous. 

 Besides, I cannot . ip thinking that to boulverse a box of dead moths, 

 say a hundred times a night, must do some little damage to them. 



