306 NATURAL HISTORY. [cH. XXIII, 



wards be pinned and set at leisure. The softer- 

 winged insects, such as butterflies, moths, flies, &c., 

 must be pinned as soon as taken ; the two former 

 are disabled by pressing the trunk under the fore 

 wings between the finger and thumb. They are 

 placed, as collected, in a chip or mahogany box, 

 about seven inches long and four or five broad, but 

 the former generally requires the sides to be cut 

 down so as to allow about two inches clear in the 

 inside. The top and bottom of this box are corked 

 with close-grained cork. The entomologist must 

 be provided with a series of small pill-boxes, in each 

 of which he can place separately any very small and 

 tender insects. The inside of the hat, well corked, 

 has become a fashionable repository for the impaled 

 insects. 



Thus provided, the entomological collector sallies 

 forth in quest of his game. Each variety of situa- 

 tion furnishes its peculiar kind. It is indispensable 

 that he should examine the forests and woods, espe- 

 qially their borders and vicinity, which generally 

 contain numerous species of all the orders, and more 

 piarticularly Lepidopterous insects. On the moun- 

 tains and hills on which certain plants are found, 

 and also in the valleys and plains, he will obtain nu- 

 merous kinds, especially if the latter have a sunny 

 exposure. Heaths are not very prolific in minute 

 insects, but still they have their own peculiar inhab- 

 itants ; some prefer those situations where the turf 

 has been peeled, and others the sunny banks of sand- 

 pits. Cultivated lands afford the entomologist as 

 well as the agriculturist a rich harvest. He must 

 not pass over meadows and pastures, as many in- 

 sects lie hidden in the grass. Numerous species 

 feed on certain wild plants, some of which are rarely 

 met with ; the insect-hunter should therefore be par- 

 ticular in examining them, in the hope of discover- 

 ing some scarce insect. Different kind of soils have 

 also their peculiar species ; of these, the lighter ap- 



