MOUNTING SPECIMENS. 189 



state, as their enclosure in ordinary quills stopped 

 by plugs of cork, or pellets of bees-wax. The sub- 

 stance of the quill is sufficiently porous to prevent 

 mildew on the one hand, and a rapid evaporation on 

 the other. In this way small insects may be sent 

 through the post, and in a far better condition than 

 can be secured in any tin boxes, even though they be 

 filled with leaves. If a slip of some succulent leaf be 

 rolled round each quill, to retain moisture, a bundle will 

 conveniently pass through the post ; and in such a 

 manner I have received specimens from the north of 

 Scotland and the south of France. Intimate domestic 

 arrangements do not seem to be interfered with during 

 such long journeys, for the family increase often con- 

 tinues in full vigour. Aphides placed in boxes, instinc- 

 tively run to the light, and they commonly escape 

 through any accidental chink. In such boxes they 

 have often arrived at the end of their journey, drowned 

 in their own sweets and exudations. A still more 

 vexatious accident may happen in such consignments. 

 For want of due attention the larva of a Coccinella or 

 Syrphus, perhaps, has been overlooked ; and the inter- 

 loper has become fat on specimens set apart for other 

 purposes. 



9.— THE PRESERVATION OF APHIDES FOR THE 

 MUSEUM. 



The presence of air with its floating germs is now 

 admitted to be necessary for the fermentation and 

 decomposition of both vegetable and animal sub- 

 stances. It thus would appear that insects may be 

 preserved for a time almost unlimited by sealing them 

 from its influence in glass tubes. 



To those accustomed to the use of the blowpipe and 

 lamp this operation will present no difficulty. Small, 

 flattened, glass tubes, partially filled with a suitable 

 liquid, into which the insects have been dropped, may 



