188 APPENDIX. 



anal plate and the straw. If a glass tube is used, the anal 

 plate must be fastened to it by winding with silk. 



By this time the oven will be sufficiently heated to begin 

 the drying process, which consists simply in keeping the 

 caterpillar in the oven, extended horizontally by blowing 

 gently and steadily through the straw, as one uses a blow- 

 l^ipe. Too forcible inflation will make the caterpillar 

 unsightly by distending unnaturally any spot that may 

 have been weakened or bruised in the previous operation; 

 the caterpillar should be kept slowly but constantly turn- 

 ing, and no harm will result from withdrawing the crea- 

 ture from the oven and allowing it to collapse, to gain 

 breath or rest; only this relaxation should be very brief. 

 The caterjullar should be first introduced into the oven 

 while inflated by the breath, and so placed that the hinder 

 extremity shall be in the hottest part, directly above the 

 flame, for it is essential that the animal should dry from 

 behind forward; yet not altogether, for as soon as the 

 hinder part has begun to stiffen (which can readily be de- 

 tected by withholding the breath for a moment) the por- 

 tion next in front should receive partial attention, and 

 the caterpillar moved backward and forward, round and 

 round over the flame. During this process any tendency 

 of the caterpillar to assume unnatural positions may be 

 corrected — at least in part — by withdrawing it from the 

 oven and manipulating it; during inflation, the parts about 

 the head should be the last to dry and should be kept 

 over the flame until a rather forcible touch will not cause 

 it to bend. 



To secure the best results, it is essential that the oven 

 should not be too hot; the flame should not be more than 

 an inch high, and its tip should be one or two inches from 

 the bottom of the oven. 



When the skin of the caterpillar will yield at no point, 

 it is ready for mounting. The pin is taken from the straw, 



