34 FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 



Some collectors, with indifferent olfactory sense, moisten the cork 

 of their boxes with kreosote. Its killing power lasts for several days. 

 A few whiffs from a cigar, when nothing else is at hand, will also kill 

 many of the more tender insects. 



Entomotaxy. — Unlike the ornithologist, the entomologist has no 

 one word to express the preparing, setting and preserving of his speci- 

 mens; but that used herewith will very well answer the purpose. In 

 preparing insects for the cabinet, entomological pins, expressly made, 

 should be used. Those manufactured by W. Klasger, of Berlin, are 

 far superior to those of American make, and may be obtained through 

 the agency of several of our Eastern natural history societies. They 

 range, in number, from 00, or extremely fine, to 7, which is coarse and 

 stout. Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are the most useful, and the others may, in 

 reality, be dispensed with. French pins, ranging from 1 to 10, and 

 over, the lower numbers finest, are next best, and may be had of John 

 Akhurst, 19 Prospect street, Brooklyn, New York. All insects should 

 be pinned through the middle of the thorax, where — as is more gen- 

 erally the case — this portion {mesothorax) is largely developed. 

 Beetles {Coleo'ptera) and Bugs {Ilemiptera) should, however, be 

 pinned, the former through the right elytron or wing-cover, (Fig. 17, 

 [Fig. 17.] (I'j^ tiie latter through the scutel or triangular 



piece behind the thorax (Fig. 17, J), the pin 

 issuing between the middle and hind legs. The 

 specimens look verj'- pretty with all the legs 

 ^! *^<;:4^\|^^ neatly spread out; but for practical purposes, 



it is usually as well to let them dry in the 

 F^p— ^ d " naturally folded positions : it is a saving of 



time, a saving of space, and the limbs are not so apt to break. There 

 should always be about half an inch of the pin above the insect, to 

 facilitate handling, and uniformity in this regard will have much to do 

 with the neat appearance of a collection. Most insects which are 

 too small to be pierced by a No. 2 pin may be fastened to card-board, 

 by means of gum tragacanth. A drop of corrosive sublimate, added 

 to the water with which the gum is diluted, will indefinitely prevent 

 its souring, but should not be used where the gum is to come in con- 

 tact with the pin, as it inclines the latter too much to verdigris. In 

 such cases a little spirits of camphor mixed with the tragacanth is 

 best. I have tiled gum arable with white sugar, as used by my late 

 friend Walsh, French varnish, shellac dissolved in alcohol, and other 

 gums ; but much prefer the tragacanth. The card-board or Bristol- 

 board may be cut into points or tags, of shape to suit the fancy. I 

 use, myself, rows of wedge-shaped points (Fig. 18) of three different 

 [Fig. 18.] sizes, according to the insects to be fast- 



ened ; and to facilitate the cutting of these 

 J rows, and to obtain uniformity, I have had 

 three difi'erent sized stamps made, which prick the paper and indicate 



