LABELLING INSECTS. 147 



is asked for or not, informing the receiver of the locality and date 

 of capture of each insect, thus: — Acidalia ochrata, Deal; July, 

 1887. Epione paralellaria, York; July, 1887. In neither case 

 could a bad use bd made of the information, as far as I can see. 

 I own that I cannot find time to label every insect I capture. 

 What I do is to place all the insects captured on a certain day 

 together in my store-boxes until the end of the season, placing 

 the locality, or localities, and date under each day's work. I can 

 then readily add to each the locality and date when I send 

 insects away or place them in my cabinet. I find that the use of 

 a label under the insect necessitates the frequent removal of the 

 specimens when one is frequently referring. Such removal, too, does 

 not tend to improve them. Our wretchedly low style of pinning, 

 too, makes this particular method of labelling more difficult. 

 The high style of continental pinning and flat setting allows a 

 label underneath to be read without touching the insect and pin. 

 In Mr. Stainton's unapproachable collection the specimens are 

 raised, by means of tiny pieces of pith on long pins, to the height 

 of continental- set specimens, and attached to each pin is a label 

 with a written history of the insect thereon. I believe there is 

 not a specimen in the whole of Mr. Stainton's immense collection 

 which is not labelled, and the more important data carefully 

 noted. Mr. Stainton is so far away the best living lepidopterist 

 that I consider his practice would alone be a sufiicient excuse for 

 bringing the matter forward. 



"We have, however, to consider, as most English specimens 

 are set low on the pins, what is the best modification for labelling 

 our insects, so that we can refer to them without injury. The 

 method I adopt is to write the data on a tiny piece of paper, and 

 pin it just below and generally on the right-hand side of the 

 insect, so that it is clearly visible without moving the glass of the 

 cabinet drawers. If more than one or a number of insects, taken 

 in the same locality at the same time, should be in the series, a 

 label after the last one of the batch sufiices for that particular 

 group. It does not detract much from the beauty of a collection, 

 and there is no doubt about the increase in its utilitj'. It used to 

 be a labour to toil through a fairly large collection with a friend; 

 now I find the data attached to the specimens makes the VN^ork 

 infinitely more interesting to everyone who goes through such ; 

 and unqualified approval of all scientific lepidopterists shows that 



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