72. . 101 



Nets. — This subject may be dismissed iu very few words. An 

 ordinary butterfly ring-net is suflicient for almost every purpose ; for 

 colour I prefer white, and for material ordinary book-muslin, though 

 something stronger is sometimes advisable for sweeping. The ring of 

 the net should be of moderately large size to suit it to the capture of 

 Dragon-flies by giving sufficient spread. 



PiiwiNG AND Setting. — Almost all these insects should be pinned 

 through the thorax between the anterior pair of wings, inclining the 

 head of the pin slightly forward. As I take it to be almost useless 

 to attempt to induce collectors of British insects to adopt other than 

 sJioi't pins, I urge here only that the pin should be run through the 

 body so far that at least one-third of an inch j^i'ojects on the under 

 side, and that the setting board be comparatively flat. By this means 

 the legs, &c., which are most important members in the study of 

 NeuroiDtera, and without which even the generic positions cannot in 

 many cases be ascertained, are left free, and less liable to be broken 

 off, and the wings touch the paper of the draw^er or box in no part. 

 I would earnestly beg all Neuropterists to eschew the plan adopted by 

 many of our Lepidopterists, who so pin and set their insects, tliat 

 when placed in the cabinet they look more like so many permanent 

 rows of postage-stamps neatly gummed in an album, than collections 

 of natural objects intended for purposes of study and hence liable to 

 repeated removals, the legs, &c., being so hidden as to give an idea 

 that these are absolutely of no consequence, and that everything 

 depends upon the pretty colours or markings of the wings. Setting- 

 boards with square grooves I hold to be infinitely preferable to those 

 with the ordinary rounded grooves. My own British collection is set 

 upon short pins, but if I had to re-commence to-morrow (which Heaven 

 forbid!), I would carefully avoid these, use longer ones, and set the 

 wings flat, after the method adopted by almost all except British 

 entomologists. The advantages are infinite. The Insects suffer little, 

 if at all, from mites and other depredators ; and, what is of paramount 

 importance, the notes of the locality, date, &c., can be placed in 

 neatly written labels upon the pin itself, and every specimen may 

 also bear a name-label, a point of much weight in typical collections ; 

 furthermore, the insect is easier to examine under the lens. But 

 some of our continental friends cany the use of lour/ pins to an excess, 

 beyond the bounds of reason or utility. A pin of about I2- inch in 

 length is quite sufficient, and it should be pushed through the insect 

 for fully two-thirds of its length. It should be not too fine (a point 



