The Capture, Preparation, and Preservation of Specimens 
for lessening the labor involved have been devised, some of which 
are to be highly commended. 
“ A comparatively inexpensive arrangement for inflating larvae 
is a modification of that described in the ‘ Entomologische Nach- 
richten ’ (1879, vol. v, p. 7), devised by Mr. Fritz A. Wachtel 
(Fig. 61). It consists of a foot-bellows such as is used by 
chemists in the laboratory, or, better still, of a small cylinder 
such as is used for holding gas in operating the oxyhydrogen 
lamp of a sciopticon. In 
the latter case the com¬ 
pressed air should not 
have a pressure exceed- 
ingtwenty pounds to the 
square inch, and the cock regulating the flow from the cylinder 
should be capable of very fine adjustment. By means of a rubber 
tube the air is conveyed from the cylinder to a couple of flasks, one 
of which contains concentrated sulphuric acid, and the other is in¬ 
tended for the reception of any overflow of the hydrated sulphuric 
acid which may occur. The object of passing the air through 
sulphuric acid is to rob it, so far as possible, of its moisture. It 
is then conveyed into a flask, which is 
heated upon a sand-bath, and thence by a 
piece of flexible tubing to a tip mounted 
on a joint allowing vertical and horizontal 
motion and secured by a standard to the 
working-table. The flow of air through 
the tip is regulated by a cock. Upon the 
tip is fastened a small rubber tube, into the 
1 1 iu, yj } . — lsi y 11 v v^n • 
free extremity of which is inserted a fine- ,4, lamp; B, pin to hold door 
pointed glass tube. This is provided °P en; c > door open; D > 
r r glass cover. 
with an armature consisting of two steel 
springs fastened upon opposite sides, and their ends bent at right 
angles in such a way as to hold the larval skin firmly to the 
extremity of the tube. The skin having been adjusted upon 
the fine point of the tube, the bellows is put into operation, and 
the skin is inflated. A drying apparatus is provided in several 
ways. A copper plate mounted upon four legs, and heated by an 
alcohol-lamp placed below, has been advocated by some. A bet¬ 
ter arrangement, used by the writer, consists of a small oven heated 
by the flame of an alcohol-lamp or by jets of natural gas, and pro- 
46 
Fig. 62.—Tip of inflating-tube, with armature for 
holding larval skin. 
