68 



WORK AT HOME AND IN THE FIELD 



thiiif^ for a beginner is to try as many as he can, and then, after 

 some considerable experience of his own, he will be able to decide 

 which apparatus suits himself best. 



I recommend this because it is impossible to say of any one 

 plan that it is the best, for that which gives perfect satisfaction to 

 one individual will often fail to give anything but annoyance in 

 the hands of another. 



To enable my young readers to follow the advice I have just 

 given, I will describe some of the commonly used killing arrange- 

 ments and show how they should be used. 



I will take first the ' cyanide bottle.' This is a wide-mouthed 

 bottle, containing a very poisonous substance called cyanide of 

 potassium. It is fitted with a good sound 

 cork. The ' cyanide ' is a solid substance, and 

 miist be fixed in some way or other at the 

 bottom of the bottle so that it cannot shake 

 about and damage the butterfiies. 



A cyanide bottle can be purchased ready 

 for use at the cost of a shilling or thereabouts ; 

 but if you are old enough to be trusted with 

 deadly poisons, you may buy the ' cv'anide ' of 

 a chemist who knows you well and is satisfied 

 as to your intentions, and then prepare your 

 own. Every entomologist should know how 

 to do this, for the poison loses its power after 

 some time, and it is not always convenient to 

 leave j^our bottle in the hands of a chemist or 

 a ' naturalist ' to have it recharged. This will 

 cost you more than it would to do it 3'ourself, 

 but that is nothing compared with the anno.yance that may result 

 when, the night before an anticipated butterfly hunt, you are calmly 

 told that ' your bottle will be readj' in a few days.' You can charge it 

 yourself in a few minutes if you can manage to keep a small supply 

 of • cyanide ' in stock, and it is ready for use very shortly after. 



Here is the modus operandi. — Purchase an ounce or two of the 

 cyanide of potassium, and immediately put it into a stoppered or 

 well-corked bottle. Label it at once, not only with the name, 

 but also with the word Poison in ver}^ large and conspicuous 

 letters. This dangerous chemical is often sold in sticks that look 

 much like certain ' sugar sticks' I was acquainted with in my 

 younger days ; but whether this is or is not the case witli your 



Fio. 4d:- -The Cya- 

 nide Bottle. 



