532 ENTOMOLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, &<C. 
which there must be a hole in each rod about six inches 
from the bottom : these must be tied, which will keep the 
net from slipping upwards. When you go after moths 
and other insects that fly in the night, a plan, as I am 
told, of some of the London collectors may be adopted 
with advantage. Cause a lanthorn to be made with a 
concave back, and furnished with a reflector: this must 
be fastened, by means of a strap, upon the stomach. If 
you hold your expanded fly-net before this (as nocturnal 
insects fly to the light), you may thus entrap a considera- 
ble number. In sultry summer nights also, if you place a 
candle on a table in a summer-house, or even in a com- 
mon apartment, and open the windows, you will often 
have excellent sport, and take insects you might other- 
wise never meet with. 
When you use your fly-net, you must take the rods 
one in each hand, so as to keep it extended ; and when 
you have brought it fairly beyond the insect you are pur- 
suing, — to accomplish which you must be upon the alert, 
— you must bring the two sticks together, which, if you 
are commonly dexterous, will capture your prey. This 
net is likewise useful in taking winged insects when at 
rest upon the ground, by simply spreading it over them. 
When you use it to beat into, as above recommended, 
you must take both the sticks in one hand, and ex- 
tend it by crossing them as much as you can. In the 
absence of this, a common umbrella, or even a sheet of 
stiff paper which you may carry folded in your pocket, 
are no bad substitutes. When your object is beating 
the bushes, bring your fly-net, &c. rapidly under the 
branches you mean to operate upon, or the insects will 
fall from them to the ground before you are prepared. 
