6 COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS. 



ends need to be broad and finery indented by lines so as to 

 hold the pin firmly. With a little practice the forceps soon 

 take the place of the fingers. They will have to be made to 

 order by a neat workman or surgical instrument maker. Fig. 



Fig. 5. 



6, after Riley, illustrates another form. Some persons use 

 the ordinary form of pliers with curved handles, but they 

 should be long and slender. A spring set in to separate 

 Fig 6 ^ e nancl l es wnen n °t grasped by the hand is a great 

 convenience. 



Various pill-boxes, vials and bottles must always be 

 taken, some containing alcohol or whiskey. Many col- 

 lectors use a wide-mouthed bottle, containing a sponge 

 saturated with ether, chloroform, or benzine, or bruised 

 laurel leaves, the latter being pounded with a hammer 

 and then cut with scissors into small pieces, which give 

 out exhalations of prussic acid strong enough to kill 

 most small insects. 



Besides these the collector needs a small box lined 

 with corn-pith, or cork, and small enough to slip into 

 the coat-pocket ; or a larger box carried by a strap. 

 Most moths and small flics can be pinned alive without 

 being pinched (which injures their shape and rubs off 

 the scales and hairs), and then killed by pouring a little 

 benzine into the bottom of the box. 

 Killing Insects for the Cabinet. Care in killing affects very 

 sensibly the looks of the cabinet. If hastily killed and dis- 

 torted by being pinched, with the scales rubbed off and other- 



