WINTER MEETING, 1S79. 



41 



FIS 



ArPARATUS FOR COLLECTING. 



Xothing is more sorvicoablo to the entomological collector 

 tluin the cyanide bottle; for, once in it, all insects soon 

 die, and all except the most delicate moths may be left 

 ill it for some time if care is taken to carry it carefully, 

 so as not to shake the insects. The bottle, Fisf. 1, should 

 have a large mouth, a glass stopple, and is prepared 

 as follows : After placing a lump of cyanide of potassium, 

 the size of a nutmeg, in the bottom, Fig. 1, a, turn in a 

 thin mixture of plaster of paris and water till it reaches at 

 least a lialf inch above the cyanide, Fig. 1, li. This will soon 

 set, and the bottle is ready for use. By having the plaster of 

 ])aris thin we usually secure a smooth bottom to our bottle. If 

 from bubbles or other cause it is not so, we must rub it till it 

 is. Any roughness is sure to injure delicate specimens. Care 

 must be taken in handling the cyanide, as it is a quick and ter- 

 rible poison, alike fatal if eaten or inhaled. The fumes in the 

 * bottle, though quick death to the immersed insect, are harm- 

 less to the collector, if used with even respectable care. The 

 poisoned air of the bottle is as disagreeable as unwholesome, 

 and will not be inhaled for any considerable time, except by 

 him who finds this present life "flat, stale and unprofitable," and 



in this class the entomologist is never to be 



grouped. Every collector will need at least 



two of these bottles, one to receive the speci- 

 mens, after they are killed, or appear to be, 



the other to put over the specimen as it rests 



•on board or ground, or to receive it from the 



hands or net. The insect will move about 



for a minute or two, and had one not removed 



the previously captured insects, it would be 



liable to serious injury, especially if moth or 



butterfly. Several bottles of varying sizes 



will be found very convenient. 



Small bottles containing alcohol, and car- 

 ried in a pocket case, are very convenient and 



desirable. In these may be kept temporarily 



or for a long time, larva?, pupa3 and such ma- 

 ture insects as bees, wasps, beetles, bugs, 



locust, etc., which will not receive injury by 



such submersion. All insects become brittle 



if kept long in alcohol, and may lose their \ 



bright luster. 



Numerous small wooden boxes are ever in 



demand by the collector, for conveying suchj§ 



larv93 and pupag as he may desire to rear, to 



the mature state. 



A small but strong chisel will be found 



very serviceable in loosening the bark of old trees and digging into partially 



decayed stumps and logs, in which positions are often found very minute but 



