22 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



Unless the air is damp, the butterflies will be dry in 

 about a week ; the large ones may take a little longer 

 time, and the small ones a little less, but no harm is 

 ever done by leaving them too long on the setting- 

 board. I have generally found that those set to shew the 

 under-surface are better for being a little longer on the 

 boards. When time is an object, as sometimes on the 

 last day or so of a holiday, I see no reason why 

 butterflies (not moths) should not be dried by heat. I 

 have made use of this method on one or two occasions, 

 and no harm resulted. This should only be resorted to, 

 however, in a case of necessity, and the butterflies 

 should never be put on a board not covered with 

 paper, for resin is apt to exude from the wood and 

 fasten them down. 



Relaxing. 



Many a collector of butterflies and moths, especially if 

 he is a novice at his craft, will no doubt find when he 

 begins to overhaul his captures that many of them are 

 not set as nicely as he would wish, and it may be that 

 in the height of the hunting-season some even were put 

 away without being set at all. The question will arise, 

 what should be done by anyone who happens to 

 find himself in this position, that he may make pre- 

 sentable his Purple Emperors and other rarities which 

 he certainly cannot do without, but which with equal 

 certainty he may not be able to put into the body of 

 his collection in their present condition? ^ 



The first thing to do with a butterfly that requires 

 re-setting is to relax it ; that is, to reduce its wings, 

 antennae, and so on, to the same " lax " condition as 

 they were in when the animal was alive. Drying an 

 insect means getting rid of all moisture from its 



