102 [October, 



upon which continental entomologists strongly err). Two sizes are 

 enough for all ordinary purposes, and for my re-set foreign insects 

 I use Nos. 2 or 3, and 16, manufactured by D. F. Tayler and Co. 

 A strong j^in renders the specimen much more durable, and I fancy 

 the absurdly fine pins iised on the continent have to some extent dis- 

 gusted English entomologists with the high-setting there adopted : 

 these can only be inserted in the cork by the use of the forceps under 

 the insect, and even then we often see them bent into all sorts of 

 zig-zags, to say nothing of the unavoidable jerking off of bodies, &c. 

 For very minute insects it is always advisable to use shoi"t pins, such 

 as Nos. 19 and 20, adopted by English Micro-Lepidopterists, and if the 

 collection be otherwise set on long pins, then these short pins bearing 

 the insects should each be stuck into a little oblong piece of white 

 pith neatly cut with a very sharp thin knife (a razor will not do 

 owing to its thick back), and this impaled on a long pin. The best 

 kind of pith is that obtained from dead and dry stems of Jerusalem 

 artichoke, which is of extreme whiteness, and does not change colour 

 by age, the latter being an especial defect of elder-pith. In setting, 

 the wings should be spread out with braces exactly as in butterflies 

 and moths ; but it is always desirable to leave a few of each species 

 unset, so that on the pin they retain the natural position in repose. 

 Setting-boards suitable for long pins are kept in stock by many 

 dealers in entomological apparatus, or would readily be made to 

 order ; the groove should be very deep, leaving only enough cork to 

 hold the pin firmly, so that the legs may suffer no injury. But I 

 am always glad to receive these insects unset. When the collector 

 occupies himself with other orders, and catches ISTeuroptera simply 

 to oblige friends, he cannot be expected to waste time in preparing , 

 insects that are useless to him. The gi-eater part relax very readily 

 on ordinary damp sand, or in a zinc relaxing-box : Dragon-flies are 

 especially tractable in this respect, and, when treating on them, I 

 shall take occasion to point out, especially to foreign collectors, that 

 these are even better if sent home not pinned. 



Caedin&. — On this point I shall say little, except to discourage, 

 to the utmost, the adojition of the system. I look upon its applica- 

 tion to almost any order as a modern innovation, which I would fain 

 hope is on the wane, even among those inveterate "carders," the 

 Coleopterists. To aj)ply it to Neuroptera, is to render them almost 

 absolutely useless. Nearly everything here depends upon the neurar 

 tion of the wings ; and this can, in most cases, only be properly traced 



