Introduction: liii 



discolouring even the paper and cork below the insect. If the collector possesses sufficient dexterity, 

 all such moths may be stuffed while fresh, by removing the contents of the abdomen and filling it 

 with cotton-wool. But this is a difficult operation, and almost impracticable with small insects. If 

 this is not done, and any signs of grease show themselves, the greasy specimen must be attended 

 to at once; for the longer the grease is neglected, the more it will spread, and the more difficult will 

 be its removal. If the specimen be small, the greasy portions may be thoroughly soaked with 

 benzole or rectified spirits of turpentine by means of a camel's-hair brush, or may even be sunk in 

 the liquid for several days, and then thickly covered with French chalk or powdered magnesia till 

 they are thoroughly dry, when the powder can easily be blown away or carefully dusted off. If the 

 insect be large, and the abdomen only be attacked, the abdomen should be carefully broken off, and 

 put into a mixture of five parts of highly rectified alcohol and one part of sulphuric ether. It 

 must then be boiled in the fluid on a water-bath. It might be done in a test-tube over a flame, 

 but this is too dangerous a plan to be recommended. The abdomen must then be allowed to dry, 

 covered as before with the white powder, and when thoroughly dry must be put into clean sulphuric 

 ether for a short time, to remove the last traces of grease. Both liquids can be used several times, 

 as directed, before they are rendered unfit for further use. If several bodies are operated on at the 

 same time, it is necessary to attach a number to each, to avoid any mistake in replacing them. 



When verdigris appears on the pins, it may be removed, with care, by the point of a penknife. 

 If the pin becomes otherwise corroded, or breaks, it is better to re-pin the specimen. Some 

 collectors, especially on the Continent, pour liquid mercury into their drawers to destroy mites ; 

 but besides other inconveniences, and the inapplicability of this method to collections set on low 

 pins, the mercury is very liable to corrode the pins themselves. 



When antennie, wings, abdomens, &c., are broken off, they may be replaced with a little gum, 

 which should be thick enough to retain the broken part in its place at once. The wing or 

 abdomen must, if necessary, be supported in its place till it is fixed by means of a prop of card- 

 board, fixed on a pin, and placed at the necessary height. Some collectors re-set a broken 

 specimen, and attach the loose member to it while the whole insect is supported on the setting- 

 board. 



ON PREPARING SPECIMENS OF EGGS, L.VRV.-E, AND PUP.E. 



To preserve the eggs oi Lepidoptera, they should first be killed, by exposing them to heat or 

 by placing them in spirits, and should then be gummed on bits of cardboard stuck on pins. If the 

 eggs are arranged in a particular manner, such as those of the Lackey Moth, which are placed in a 

 ring round a twig, they must be kept in their natural position, and the twig or other object to which 

 they are attached must be preserved. It is more difficult to preserve larvae in such a manner 

 that they shall retain their shape and colour. The simplest though, nevertheless, very defective 

 method is as follows : — The larva must be killed by immersion in spirits of wine, and a small 

 vertical opening must then be made with a fine, sharply-pointed pair of scissors at the anus. 

 The larva must then be laid between two layers of several thicknesses of soft blotting-paper, 

 and the soft contents of the body must then be carefully squeezed from the head of the larva 

 to the tail, and out through the opening that has already been made for the purpose. After 

 the skin is completely emptied, the tube of a small blow-pipe must be inserted in the opening, 

 and the skin tied tightly round it with a thread. The skin must then be gradually inflated by 

 means of the blow-pipe till it has re-assumed the shape of the larva. It must then be dried as 

 quickly as possible before a fire or over a spirit-lamp, continuing to keep it inflated by blowing 

 through the blow-pipe till it is dry. Then the larva must be untied from the blow-pipe, and the 



