16 INSECTS IN GENERAL. 



moths it is iudispeusable to Lave a simple apparatus called the stretcher. 

 It consists of two strips of nicely dressed soft pine wood, 18 or 20 inches 

 long, two inches wide, and about three-eighths of an inch thick, ;placed 

 side by side, half an inch apart at one end and a quarter of an inch at the 

 other, so as to accommodate insects of diftVrent sizes, and held so hy a 

 cleet across each end. The space between the strips must be closed on 

 the underside by pieces of sheet cork tacked to the board. The space 

 between the strips is to receive the body of the insect, the pin being 

 passed through the cork so as to bring the wings on a level with the 

 upper side of the stretcher. The wings are spread by catching them 

 just behind the stout front rib with a pin, or, what is better, a needle 

 set into a little handle, and carrying them forward, till the hind margin 

 of the fore-wings are on a straight line with each other. They can be 

 held in this position either by strips of card laid across them and fas- 

 tened with pins, or by inserting a single small pin through the wing, be- 

 hind the rib, and into the side pieces of the stretcher, which on this ac- 

 count should be made of the softest kind of wood. For very small 

 moths th6 stretcher must be constructed upon a smaller scale. 



Insects must be allowed to dry thoroughly before inclosing them in* 

 the cabinet. Beetles which have been permitted to dry with their limbs 

 contracted, can be relaxed by putting them into hot water. 



Boxes for the permanent preservation of insects may be 17 or 18 inches 

 square, two and a half inches deep, outside measurement, and one inch 

 and a half or a trifle more in the clear, made of perfectly seasoned wood, 

 halved together in the middle, so as to have an upper and lower part, 

 the former serving as the cover. The lower part must be lined on the 

 bottom with sheet cork or thin strips of corn-stalk, and the whole cov- 

 ered with soft white paper. The paste with which the paper is attached 

 should have a portion of arsenic stirred in with it, to guard against de- 

 structive vermin. The upper part, or cover, should be cut in arouud 

 the top, like a window sash, so as to receive a plate of glass, which is to 

 be secured in the usual way with putty. 



Every insect drawer should have a lump of gum camphor rolled in a 

 piece of muslin and pinned into one corner, to keep out destructive ver- 

 min. The presence of vermin is detected by little heaps of the dust- 

 like gnawings under the infested specimens. Such specimens should be 

 at once removed, and if the drawer is much infested, a teaspoon ful or 

 two of benzine should be poured upon the bottom, and the drawer or 

 box immediately closed, so as to retain the fumes. 



MAGNIFYING GLASSES. 



A magnifying glass consisting of one, or, what is better, two lenses, 

 so arranged that they can be used either singly or combined, is abso- 

 lutely indispensable in studying insects. This simple instrument, the 



