436 



PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 



are destitute. Accordingly, a fly without its head will walk 

 about almost as if nothing had happened to it, and a wasp 

 will eat greedily with the head only when it has been 

 separated from the body. We should not like, however, 

 to be considered advocates of any species of cruelty, how- 

 ever slight, and in killing insects for a collection the 

 speediest methods are to be preferred. In the case of but- 

 terflies and some moths, as well as other winged insects, a 

 slight pressure upon the breast will instantly kill them, and 

 exposing them to heat is a still more rapid means, plunging 

 those contained in a phial into boiling water, and holding 



Setting-needles and brush ; with the method of setting insects, a, Swallow-tailed 

 butterfly (,Papilio machaon); b, Wasp; c, Beetle. 



those in pill-boxes near the fire. Suffocating them with 

 sulphur, as some recommend, spoils the colours ; and we 

 remarked in the museums of Brussels, Louvaiu, and Frank- 



