The Capture, Preparation, and Preservation of Specimens 



field, and are not pinned, the precaution of surrounding them 

 with packing such as has been described is not necessary, but the 

 box in which they are shipped should always be strong enough 

 to resist breakage. Things forwarded by mail or by express 

 always receive rough treatment, and the writer has lost many fine 

 specimens which have been forwarded to him because the 

 shipper was careless in packing. 



Phis. — In the preceding pages frequent reference has been made 

 to insect-pins. These are pins which are made longer and thinner 

 than is the case with ordinary pins, and are therefore adaptable to 

 the special use to which they are put. There are a number of 

 makers whose pins have come into vogue. What are known as 

 Karlsbader and Klager pins, made in Germany, are the most widely 

 used. They are made of ordinary pin-metal in various sizes. The 

 Karlsbader pins have very fine points, but, owing to the fineness 

 of the points and the softness of the metal, they are very apt to 

 buckle, or turn up at the points. The Klager pins are not exposed 

 to the same objection, as the points are not quite so fine. The best 

 pins, however, which are now made are those which have re- 

 cently been introduced by Messrs. Kirby, Beard, & Co. of England. 

 They are made of soft steel, lacquered, possessing very great 



Fig. 74. — Butterfly-forceps, half-size. 



strength and considerable flexibility. The finest-sized pin of this 

 make has as much strength as the largest pin of the other makes 

 that have been mentioned, and the writer has never known them 

 to buckle at the tip, even when pinned through the hardest insect 

 tissues. While these pins are a little more expensive than others, 

 the writer does not fail to give them an unqualified preference. 



The Forceps. — An instrument which is almost indispensable to 

 the student of entomology is the forceps. There are many forms 

 of forceps, and it is not necessary to speak at length in reference 

 to the various shapes; but for the use of the student of but- 

 terflies the forceps made by the firm of Blake & Co. of Phila- 



56 



