ENTOMOLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, &C. 54-7 
a piece of white paper pasted over it ; and of several 
narrow slips of card or braces, tapering gradually to a 
point, of different lengths, from half an inch to two inches 
or more, with a pin fixed in each at the broadest end. 
Thus provided, you may proceed to action. But you must 
first decide whether, like the continental Entomologists, 
you will set your Lepidoptera horizontally ; or, like the 
British, with their wings declining obliquely from the 
body. If you prefer the former method, the body must 
be let into a groove, and the wings expanded as flatly as 
possible, the anterior margin of the primary pair being 
brought forward so as to project beyond the head. But 
as this usually gives the insect an unnatural and formal 
appearance, I apprehend a man of your taste will prefer 
the mode adopted by your compatriots, the collectors of 
Britain, who in setting make the wings form an angle, 
varying according to the size and characters of the insect, 
with the body, and do not bring the anterior wings so 
forward. The wings of butterflies however, in order to 
appear at all natural, should be set more horizontally. 
Which fashion soever you prefer, the mode of operating 
is nearly the same ; only that the English plan, except in 
the case of some large-bodied moths or hawk-moths, re- 
quires no groove in the setting-board. After you have 
stuck the insect upon the cork so as to bring its body 
close to its surface, stretch the anterior wing with a needle 
fixed in a handle, or a camel's-hair pencil, applied to the 
joint at the base, sufficiently forward, and then confine 
it by means of one of your card braces: — next, do the 
same by the opposite wing. Afterwards expand the pos- 
terior wings, which must not be separated from the an- 
terior so as to leave any interval between them, and fix 
2n2 
