INTRODUCTION. 15 



The fiamewoik should be made of four pieces of rattan cane, each piece bent by steaming 

 into a quarter circle, the two end ones fitting, as in the larger net, into a Y-piece. This is a 

 capital net for small insects, and has the great advantage of being easily put together and being 

 " carriable" in an inside pocket. The net itself is a simple bag ; a broad hem made of very 

 coarse cotton cloth is made for the framework to run in, the bag being made of any length 

 thought ad vis.al)le. For the larger net four feet is not too long ; about three feet will suffice 

 for the smaller net, the framework of which should not exceed a yard in circumference. 

 Common mosquito netting is a good material for the net ; green gauze is better, but is more 

 difficult to obtain ; the llimsier the material used, the less is the risk incurred of injuring the 

 insects. 



A collecting box is the next essential. It should be made of zinc, and have pieces of sheet 

 cork fixed to ihe lid and bottom inside by clamps. The box should be made to fit an 

 outside pocket. When starting on a day's collecting, the cork should be well wetted, so that 

 the specimens pinned into it remain limp till they are ready to be set. If the cork 

 is not damped, specimens will get as dry as a chip in an hour or two under the hot sun of 

 India, and require to be relaxed to be set. During a journey, when specimens cannot be set 

 the same day, or when specimens are required to be sent long distances, either for custody 

 or exchange, it is best to put them at once into paper cases. For this purpose a supply of 

 paper should be kept ready, cut into oblongs of various sizes, a little longer than they are 

 broad. Thin Serampore paper, or the thinnest printing paper, answers best ; each paper should 

 be folded diagonally once, with the two ends projecting, so that by folding over the right 

 hand edge to the right, and the left hand edge to the left, a closed triangular pocket is 

 formed, in which the Butterfly can be placed. Great care should be taken that the ends 

 fold over the reverse ways, for then the pocket can be easily opened without damage to the 

 Butterfly inside. Only one Butterfly should be put in each paper, and when putting it in 

 the wings should be folded together over the back, and the antennae put back carefully 

 against the wings. Care should always be taken to prevent injury to the legs and antenna: 

 if the species are to be of any value for scientific purposes. On each paper should be roughly 

 noted the date and place of capture. Specimens thus packed can be safely kept and transported, 

 and can be relaxed at any time. For relaxing two methods are available — first, a zinc box lined 

 with cork well damped inside ; second, an unglazed earthen glmrra fitted with a top, and 

 containing about two inches of well damped sand. The mouth of the ghiirra should be wide. 

 The insects to be relaxed should be laid on the damp cork or sand and then closed up, the 

 ^/5«<r7 a, if one is used, being wrapped with damp cloths. In a few hours the specimens will 

 be found ready for setting. 



Pins are next required. By sending a Post Office Money Order to Messrs. D. F. Taylor 

 & Co., New Hall Works, Birmingham, England, for a sovereign, and specifying the sizes of pins 

 required, a supply will be sent by overland parcel post which will last an ordinary 

 collector for five years. Nos. Ii, (large, for /'«/z7?^j-, &c.). 12 (medium sized, the pin most 

 wanted), and 6 (small size for " Blues," &c.), will be found a good selection. 



Setting boards are required to spread out the insects on when caught and before placing 

 in the collection. They can be easily made out of 6'«w?^/ or other soft wood, and should have a 

 groove for the body, regulated in size according to the size of the bodies of the Butterflies 

 intended to be set on them, and a smaller groove in the centre of the larger one 

 for the reception of the pin. In making these boards great care should be exercised in making 

 the pin groove in all the boards of equal depth, which should be one-third of an inch from 

 the bottom of the body-groove. If this is not attended to it will be found that, when the 

 insects are taken off the boards and placed side by side in the store-box or cabinet, being 

 at different heights on the pin, they present a very irregular appearance, all up and down, 

 no two insects at the same level. Uniformity in setting adds greatly to the beauty of a 

 collection. Boards should be made of all sizes — from half-an-inch broad for the tiniest " Blues" 

 to eight inches for the gigantic Ornit/wptci-as. The boards should also gently slope downwards 

 on each side from the centre groove, not too much, say about 10°, and the slope in all the 

 boards should be the same. 



