APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 167 



The windows oi my study, partly for this purpose, and partly to secure more 

 equable temperature, are double. Each window consists of two pairs of sashes, 

 with a light muUion of wood between the interior pair. To make it more 

 clear I have sketched an horizontal section, wherein a represents part of the 

 thickness of the wall of the apartment; b and c are sections of the outer 

 window-frame; and d and e are sections of the inner window-frame. The 

 outer window opens outwards, and the inner window inwards, as indicated by 

 the arrows near c and e. At f and o two small rings are fixed, and to these 

 are fastened oat-gut strings, marked by the dotted lines which pass through 

 the mullion u, and enable one to open and close these exterior windows 

 without the inconvenience of opening the interior. I ought to explain that 

 when the cat-gut strings are set free, (in the room,) the windows open freely 

 under the influence of a weight and lever, not shewn in the sketch, and in 

 fact concealed in a trunk or box in the thickness of the wall at a. The 

 space between the two windows is about six or seven inches. 



Evening having arrived, the outer windows were allowed to open, as in the 

 sketch Fig. 2, and a lamp l placed on a shelf within the inner window. This 

 lamp was an Argand, and moreover furnished with a powerful Parobolic 

 Reflector, about sixteen inches in diameter. 



The moths usually announced themselves by striking against the interior 

 window, D or e. The cat-gut string at h was theu pulled, (n f, n e,) and 

 the capture being thus enclosed in the space between the windows are readily 

 reduced to a closer captivity either for examination or possession. Only a lew 

 occasions the window had been perfectly besieged by moths, and 'at one haul' 

 I think it was at the beginning of one July, some hundreds of moths were 

 enclosed. 



To efl'ect this second or closer capture it was of course necessary to use 

 only one hand, which was armed therefore with a gauzed forceps, or, which I 

 found more convenient, a large bell wine glass fitted up for the purpose in the 

 following manner: — The glass b having had its loot broken ofl', is cemented to 

 a box-wood handle, a. Opposite to a a slot is made about an inch in length, 

 and wide enough to let the wire frame, presently mentioned, traverse it freely. 

 A wire frame, a, d, c, e, is formed, following the outline of the glass and 

 handle, and bearing at the rectangular end c a disc of card-board, blackened. 

 This disc, which is rather larger in diameter than the mouth of the glass, is 

 attached to the straight pai't of the wire by a sort of continuous staple, 

 formed by glueing over it a strip of pajjer. The disc therefore is moveable 

 about the line c as an axis, whilst the part of the wire moveable in the slot 

 A enables one readily to remove the disc from the mouth of the glass, as in 

 Eig. 3; or. when the glass has been placed o^er the captive, to close it as in 

 Fig. 4. 



If the capture was intended to be retained, the closed glass was removed 

 to a small stand, beneath a hole in which was a bottle containing the very 

 strongest ammonia, or other more effectual vapour destructive of lite. 



The thin cardboard disc being now slipped aside, the insect was exposed 



