EASTERN UNITED STATES. 39 



may be in another waiting to be spread. In excursions 

 for butterflies it is well to have two or more bottles, so 

 that when an insect is killed it may be put into another 

 bottle, and not be beaten by the fluttering wings of the 

 next capture. Even then but few should be kept to- 

 gether in the second bottle, as they soon get rubbed by 

 being carried about. Some means of pinning them in 

 the field as soon as they have been in the poison-bottle 

 long enough to insure their not coming to life again is 

 preferable. To avoid this rubbing, the writer obtained 

 a small tin box with a handle at the top, and the lid 

 fastening with a clasp, made a cyanide-cake in the bot- 

 tom, and put a sheet of cork round the inside, with the 

 edge coming just to the top of the box. This box is 

 eight and a half inches long by six wide, and five high ; 

 but that is rather small to hold a large number of cap- 

 tures. With a box of this kind it is necessary to use 

 only one bottle, as when the insects are pinned on the 

 inside of the box they are still under the influence of the 

 poison, and hence may be pinned as soon as they become 

 quiet in the bottle. This has another advantage over a 

 box without the cyanide, as the specimens need not be 

 spread till the next day after they are captured, or even 

 longer. If allowed to remain long in the box, however, 

 the pins are liable to corrode. 



The subject of using the net may be passed over 

 briefly, as a little practice is of more value than pages of 

 verbal directions. When the insect is in the net, a quick 

 turn of the hand brings the top down with a fold in the 

 bag and prevents its escape. Then by carefully getting 

 its body between the thumb and finger outside the net, 

 with the wings closed back to back, fluttering is pre- 



