GENERAL FEATURES 43 



ary way. If the wings are down, they must be at once righted, or 

 the insect is ruined. Open the bottle and take the insect out, and 

 with a nippers, such as watchmakers use, lay it in your hollowed 

 hand, and with the nippers, open the wings and let them come to- 

 gether again over the back, in the ordinary way, when the wings 

 will then so remain. As soon as the insect is dead for certain, take 

 it out of the bottle and pin it on a long pin, sideways ; you can put 

 five or six small butterflies on one pin ; then place the loaded pin 

 in your collecting box, or in your hat. 



If your butterfly is a large one, while it is yet in the net pinch 

 the thorax under the wings just enough to stun or benumb it, and 

 then it will not flutter and fray its wings when it is put into the 

 bottle. All butterflies should be taken out of the poison bottle as 

 soon as surely dead. If several are in the bottle at the same time, 

 they get rubbed, one against the other, and so damaged or ruined. 



Extra large or vigorous species are best killed while yet in the 

 net, by piercing the thorax with a long pin or needle that has been 

 dipped in a saturated solution of the cyanide ; this kills them, in- 

 stantly and painlessly, and preserves the specimen uninjured. 



Sometimes, as when you are upon the top of a high mountain, 

 and not able to get home at night, it is advisable to place the in- 

 sects, as soon as dead, into separate papers, in which to bring 

 them home. In that case, a tin can, fastened to your belt, or car- 

 ried in your pocket, will receive the papered specimens, and carry 

 them safely, to any distance. If that is your plan (and it is a good 

 one), provide papers already folded, and of different sizes, and 

 have them ready. 



Setting-boards should be made with inclined sides, so that the 

 tips of the wings, when set, will be higher than the bodies. This 

 is the American style. The Ejiglish style is to have the wings lay 

 quite flat, or even a little drooping. But, in most climates, the 

 insects' wings will settle a little, and are sure to do so if the cli- 

 mate is at all damp, so that in a few months, or years, they are 

 likely to look very sad and despondent if set on the English plan. 

 In a very dry climate the wings will remain for years just as they 

 are placed when set. 



In the middle of the setting-board is a channel made to receive 

 the pins ; this channel is to be filled at the bottom with a soft sub- 

 stance placed to receive the pins, and to hold the bodies steady 

 while drying. The pith of cornstalks makes the very best sub- 



