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you had been with me, I so often saw lovely insects ; but I did not know how to save 

 them for you." From novices the enquiry often comes, " What is the best way to relax 

 specimens after they have become dry." 



Killing and Preserving. Having collected a specimen the first thing, of course, is to 

 kill it. For beetles and hard -bodied insects nothing is simpler than to drop them for a second 

 or two in scalding water ; they must be taken out again at once and dried on blotting 

 paper, or upon a cloth. The easiest way, however, for killing all insects is to make a 

 " cyanide bottle." This may be made either by placing a small quantity of cyanide of 

 potassium in the bottom of a wide-mouthed bottle and pouring in sufficient wet plaster- 

 of-paris to cover it j or a hole can be hollowed out in the cork and a piece of cyanide 

 inserted. This can be kept in a place either with a plug of cotton wool, or a piece of 

 chamois leather or linen may be tied over the cork. It must be remembered that the 

 active principle of cyanide of potassium being prussic acid it is intensely poisonous — any 

 left on hand after the bottle is made should be at once destroyed. 



Insects pat in this bottle will be killed in a few seconds by the poisonous fumes 

 given off by the cyanide of potassium ] they should then be taken out and packed away 

 whilst soft and pliable. After a few days they become dry and are very easily broken. 

 If there are only one or two specimens these may be wrapped in soft paper or cotton wool, 

 and put away in a suitable box. If the collector, however, is likely to get several speci- 

 mens, it will be well to prepare a box or bottle on purpose. Beetles or bugs may be pre- 

 served for a long time in clean saw-dust dampened with alcohol ; gra.sshoppers, ants, 

 wasps, bees, flies, etc., although they are far better preserved by being pinned at once 

 after killing, may be packed away like beetles and bugs in tubes of paper. These are 

 made by winding two or three thicknesses of a strip of paper one and a half inches wide 

 around a lead pencil, leaving about one-quarter inch over the end, which is turned in and 

 pressed flat before taking the case off the pencil. Into this short, hollow tube drop the 

 specimens and turn in the other end with the tip of a pencil, or fill up the mouth with a 

 plug of cotton wool. Several specimens, according to their size, may be placed in each 

 tube, and the date and locality having been written on the outside they are ready 

 to be packed away in a dry place. Being slightly elastic and very light they pack closely, 

 and a large number can be sent by mail at the same time. 



Moths, butterflies and dragon-flies may be killed in the ordinary " cyanide bottle," 

 and then placed in three-cornered envelopes made by taking small squares of paper and 

 folding them across, almost in the middle, so as to make a triangular form with one flap a 

 little smaller than the other ; when the insect is placed between the two flaps, the two 

 edges of the larger one are folded over the lesser, and the specimen is then ready to have 

 the date and locality written on it and to be packed away where it will not be disturbed. 



Relaxing. The easiest way to soften insects is simply to place them in a covered 

 jar upon damp sand for from twelve to fourteen hours. A few drops of camphorated 

 spirits dropped on the sand will prevent mould from forming on the specimens. Pinned 

 specimens can be either placed in the sand jar or pinned upon a piece of cork and floated 

 on water in a closed jar, or in a basin with a damp towel over the top. Butterflies and 

 moths stored in the envelopes mentioned above are best relaxed by putting the envelopes 

 carefully without opening them, between the folds of a damp towel placed between two 

 sheets of glass. The cloth should be wetted and then wrung out as dry as possible with 

 the hands. Fold it smoothly and spread out the envelopes separately between the folds. 

 Small butterflies and moths will relax in twelve hours and the largest in twenty-four 

 hours. Beetles and bugs in paper tubes may be dropped into warm water and will be 

 ready for setting in a few minutes ; wasps, bees and flies should be placed in the sand 

 jar to soften. Mr. W. H. Harrington, who uses these tubes extensively for all kinds of 

 insects, finds that specimens can be conveniently relaxed by putting the tubes on a piece 

 of wet blotting paper in the bottom of one saucer with another inverted over the top. The 

 advantage of this plan is that if specimens should be accidently forgotten, or it should be 

 inconvenient to mount them at once, the small amount of moisture soon evaporates, and 

 there is no danger of mould. 



