THE CAXADIAX ENTOMOLOGIST. 107 



THE PRESERVATION OF CATERPILLARS BY INFLATION.* 



r.V SAMUEL H. SCUDDER. 



Many persons are deterred from collecting caterpillars by the difficulty 

 and expense of preserving them in the ordinary way. The easy and 

 inexpensive method of blowing up and mounting the pellicle is so little 

 known in this country, that at the last meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion, only one entomologist besides myself had ever seen the operation ; 

 since then others have tried it, and been delighted with its simplicity. In 

 the hope of inducing all our entomologists to experiment for themselves, 

 the following explanation cf the process has been prepared. 



It should be premised that cateri)illars may be prepared in this way, so 

 as to retain their colors far better than by any other method, and often to 

 to be fit subjects at any subsequent time for the artist's pencil ; the most 

 delicate processes may be preserved uninjured, and the examination of 

 hairy or spiny appendages made even more readily than during life. 

 Specimens taken from spirits, unless absolutely naked, are always difficult 

 to examine from the matting of the hairs ; and the internal organs can 

 seldom be studied, even in the rudest manner, unless the greatest care 

 has been bestowed upon their preservation ; in fact, no specimen can be 

 fitted by any process for the study of both internal and external organiza- 

 tions, and for the latter, no method of preparation compares with that of 

 inflation. 



The instruments necessary for the operation, besides the tools in the 

 hands of every entomologist, area small tin oven, a spirit lamp, a pair of 

 finely pointed scissors, a bit of rag, a little fine wire and a straw. 



T/ie oven \s simply an oblong tin box, about 25^ inches high, 2}^ 

 inches wide, and five inches long ; the cover is of glass, and one end of 

 the box is perforated by a circular hole ij{ inches in diameter. It would 

 be well to have this end of glass, and the opposite end should be mov- 

 able ; the oven rests upon an open standard of twisted wire or riveted tin 

 plates, as in the woodcut (fig. 20.) No soldering should be used upon 

 the oven or standard, as it would soon be melted. Mr. Riley suggests 

 that there would be an advantage in having the front end of the standard 

 higher than the back, as he has shown in the sketch. He also proposes 



*Froin advance sheets of the Aniti'lcan XaiuraUst. 



