NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 345 



paste, upon which latter it has very little effect. The tin, boxes, etc., 

 will always need a good airing after use. When the insects are taken 

 out, they should be left for half an hour or so before pinning, as 

 ammonia renders the pins very brittle. — H. J. Turner. "'January, 1 89 1. 



The notes on this subject have been very interesting to me. Five 

 years ago my difficulty was the " killing " question. I took to cyanide, 

 but I found the insects so stiff as to take a great deal of time in 

 setting. I knew most people used cyanide, and could not find out 

 why I was unsuccessful, when I came across the method of using 

 carbonate of ammonia suggested in Dr. Knagg's booklet. I tried it, 

 with delightful results, and found setting moths a pleasure. I found 

 that to partly open fifty or sixty chip boxes and cover them in 

 airtight, was troublesome, in addition to which the exposure of the 

 ammonia lessened its efficacy, and I found I often wanted to kill 

 my captures in the field, which I could not do by this means ; so I 

 cleared out my cyanide bottles, obtained some strong carbonate of 

 ammonia (at ^^-d. an ounce) and broke it up rather small, placed in the 

 bottle about as much as there was previously of plaster of Paris, and 

 cut out circular pieces of stout white blotting paper a little larger than 

 the inside of the bottle, placing three or four thicknesses into the 

 bottle, and the blotting paper, being a little larger in diameter^ 

 wedged in, and sufficiently kept the ammonia in place. I had then a 

 convenient and satisfactory killing bottle ! I made many and used 

 them for about three years. Its success caused two " old stagers " to 

 give up cyanide and use the same means. After a time came (from 

 one of these) insidious doubts and whispers as to the effect of the 

 ammonia on the insects. I scorned the insinuation, but the canker 

 was there, and in time I came reluctantly to the conclusion that my 

 insects, in many cases, did look dull, and that the green on Hadena 

 protea and Miselia oxyacanthce, etc., was not all I could wish, and I 

 found it spoil Agriopis aprilina and such like green insects. Again 

 in despair I consulted a collector of many years' standing, who, I 

 knew, always used cyanide, as to how he managed so well, The 

 reply was " leave them in the cyanide from thirty-six to forty-eight 

 hours and you will have no difficulty." I ousted the ammonia and 

 again tried its rival. The result is most satisfactory ; now and again 

 I find an insect stiff, but that has been when I have taken a moth 

 out too soon. I have not noticed how either method affects the time 

 required for the setting of the moths, that is quite a new question to 

 me, — J. E. K. Cutts, Bushey. December 27///, 1890. 



Setting Lepidoptera. — I was very pleased to read Mr. C. Fenn's 

 able article on this subject {Record, p. 253). For myself, I have 

 been an advocate of high-'A-x'i setting. Now, by high I do not mean the 

 continental method of setting an insect at the top of a very long pin, 

 but just a sufficient height to keep the wings well off the paper when 

 placed in the cabinet, and which is high compared with many peoples' 

 setting, who prefer to see the wings and bodies of their specimens 

 touching the paper, and consequently much easier of access to mites. 

 The body of an insect should not touch the paper, for if the insect 

 grease, the paper is not then discoloured, and the body is less 

 accessible to mites. I cannot conceive, however, why the curved 

 method should be more natural than the flat, though Mr. Fenn tells 



