24 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



Butterflies in the Cabinet. 



The butterflies being caught and properly set, What is 

 to be done with them ? Shall they be arranged in a 

 glass-topped case to form some elaborate design gorgeous 

 and beautiful, no doubt, to anyone who can forget 

 the waste of life necessary to produce it and leave them 

 there to lose their colours from exposure to the daylight? 

 But such a question need scarcely be asked ; for every true 

 entomologist will be too careful of his captures to treat 

 them thus. He knows that if he wishes to preserve their 

 rich colours he must keep them in darkness. Moreover, 



FIG. 7. STORE-CASE. 



each insect will have to him an individuality which must 

 be preserved not lost amidst a blaze of splendour. 



To attain these two objects preservation of colour 

 and individuality a cabinet or cases of some kind must 

 be provided. A beginner probably will not at first be so 

 ambitious as to think of the former, but will for a time, 

 at least, content himself with the latter. He may perhaps 

 aspire to a properly-constructed cabinet at a later date, 

 when his collection approaches completion; but he need 

 not do so even then, for he can preserve it very well 

 indeed in neat store-cases (Fig. 7), which can be pur- 



