Bottles for Alcoholic Specimens 33 



its head if you could only see it, and it is worse 

 than a crime to kill them. 



I am telling you all this to impress upon your 

 minds the importance of your work and play in 

 collecting and studying insects and because there 

 are a lot of good-hearted, sentimental women who 

 do not use their heads to think, and consequently 

 tell you that it is cruel to collect butterflies, to 

 collect beetles and to kill caterpillars, which is not 

 true; but it is cruel, mean and selfish to destroy 

 the birds. 



If you intend to make a collection of bugs, but- 

 terflies and beetles, begin by first making a col- 

 lection of small bottles such as are used to contain 

 homoeopathic pills (Fig. 16) or the sort sometimes 

 used to hold individual fancy cigars, also any other 

 small wide-mouthed bottles which you can procure. 

 Making this collection in itself will be fun. While 

 you are doing this, it will not be amiss to make a 

 collection of all the corks you can get hold of; they 

 are just the things you want to which to pin in- 

 sects. Then make a collection of small tin boxes 

 used to hold small quantities of tobacco and also 

 those used to contain some kinds of preserved foods 

 sold in the grocery and delicatessen stores, — speak- 



