1S84.! ■ 173 



of insects, it cau be turned over to beat on to, and, at the same time, 

 you have a net ready to catch anything on the wing (large numbers 

 of Coleoptera and Semiptera are found on the wing in tropical forests) ; 

 the same net will also serve to sweep lightly with. 



For more than three years I constantly used a net of this kind, 

 and preferred it to any other ; by taking out plenty of spare muslin 

 or gauze, a few pieces of the jointed cane, and a Y or two in case of 

 breakages, this kind of net can be used for almost any work. In my 

 expeditions, I usually took a native servant with me, who, after a time, 

 turned out a very good collector ; I gave him a small cane or wire- 

 ring butterfly-net (had a sweeping- and a water-bag also to fit this 

 same ring, so that I could change if required) to carry, 



A small light net on a long stick is sometimes very useful in the 

 dense forest, various species of butterflies {Fierella,lIet(sra,Antirrli(Ba, 

 CaUit(sra, Taygetis, &c.) frequent the dense matted undergrowth, 

 where it is impossible to strike at them with a large net ; this net is 

 very useful for taking Cicadce, butterflies, &c., from the trunks, also 

 for some high-flying Castnice, Nymphalidcs, &c., as a large net on a long 

 stick is often unmanageable. 



An ordinary umbrella (especially a white one) is very useful, not 

 only for the rain or sun, but for beating purposes ; in the early 

 mornings of the rainy season, when the vegetation is still reeking with 

 moisture, lots of Garahidcs, Lampi/ridce, &c., occur by beating ; later 

 in the day, they are more active, and very often fly off instead of 

 dropping into the umbrella. 



For collecting purposes in the forest, I carried then, one or other 

 of the above-mentioned nets, one or two largish corked zinc collecting 

 boxes (damped before starting in the dry season, otherwise the insects 

 will be stiff and dry long before you get home) for Lepidoptera, Hymen- 

 optero, &c., a cyanide and plaster killing-bottle, a few bottles of various 

 sizes, with a little piece of cyanide of potassium (tied up in paper or 

 muslin), and plenty of crumpled paper inside (the paper to be changed 

 daily, I preferred it to sawdust), for Coleoptera and Memiptera, a few 

 test tubes and small tin boxes, and, slung at my side, a tin box or vas- 

 culum, with a division or two inside for butterfly-papers (the papers, of 

 course, folded and ready for use). 



I, myself, seldom put many butterflies, excepting the very large 

 species, in paper at the time of capture, unless my zinc collecting 

 boxes were full ; they cari-y much better till you get home, when 

 you can put them away pi'operly in papers — in the corked boxes, 

 pinned through the side of the body, many species seldom die out- 



