254 THE entomologist's record. 



marks or needle holes. Passing by the various methods in use, such 

 as double card braces, double braces on ordinary cork boards, tri- 

 angular pieces of card, from two to six to each specimen, and the 

 wonderful block system of thread and paper combined. I think, if 

 anyone will have the patience to follow the system I hope to explain, 

 they will, with a little practice, find it better than any ; and that the 

 result will show that Lepidoptera may be set as expeditiously and in 

 finer style than by any other way. I am perfectly aware that if a 

 collector has employed any system, however peculiar, for years, he 

 may have acquired a perfection in practice, which would favourably 

 contrast with the style I propose, but my object is not to appeal to 

 these, but to beginners, who find some difficulty in setting their captures 

 as they should be set, either for their own collections or to send to 

 correspondents. Now for the details : — First and foremost are the 

 boards. These should be of the kind we buy at any of our leading 

 naturalists, but the objection to all of them is this — they are nearly all 

 too rounded, with the result that we have a small insect on a large 

 board, and thus a good deal of room is unnecessarily wasted and 

 expense incurred ; for the price of the board is in the ratio of its size. 

 Large species, like Acherontia atropos, the big Sphinges, the larger 

 Bombyces, and also Catocala titip/a and its allies, take good-sized 

 boards, but they need not be so wide as those at present in use, if they 

 were flatter. Our biggest moths, and they are few enough, rarely cover 

 more than 4|- inches. The grooves should be of two widths in all the 

 sizes (from 5 to i| inches expanse), that is to say rather wide and deep 

 for Bombyces, Sphinges, Nocture, etc., and narrower and more shallow 

 for butterflies, Geometree and Micros. The groove, generally speaking, 

 should be only wide enough to easily or loosely hold the thorax of the 

 insect. Boards should never be papered ; defects in the cork are thus 

 covered up and they are incapable of being washed occasionally with 

 dilute carbolic acid, to keep them free from mites. Another objec- 

 tion is, that when the pin is withdrawn, it often leaves a roughness on 

 the surface of the paper. The sizes of boards required are : 5 in. (2), 

 4 in. (2), 3I in. (3), 3 in. (4), 2! in. (6), 2 in. (12), if in. (12), i| in. 

 (12), i^ in. (12), I in. (10), f in. (8), | in. (4). The numbers in 

 brackets show the numbers required of those sizes which are the 

 most useful. These will set anything, from Papilio machaon to the end 

 of the Tortrices and nearly all the Tineina. The first thing is to pin 

 the insect ; and some directions are necessary on this head, for, if 

 pinning is perfectly done a great step is gained. Lepidoptera generally 

 die in one of two attitudes ; the first, most peculiar to butterflies and 

 Geometrae, is with the wings closed above the thorax, and the other is 

 the reverse. The first is the easier to deal with. Take the insect (by 

 the legs) gently between the thumb and first finger of the left hand, 

 and, with the right holding the pin, pierce the thorax in the centre, 

 bringing out the point of the pin between the last pair of legs beneath. 

 This v.'ill be at a sHght angle, the head of the pin rather sloping 

 forwards, the point projecting about one-third of an inch beneath. 

 Now, with the pliers, give the insect a gentle squeeze at the bases of 

 both fore wings simultaneously ; this loosens the muscles in those with 

 wings raised above the thorax, and will cause those which died in the 

 reverse attitude to assume the same position. Insert the pin in the 



