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CHAPTER VI. 



INSTRUMENTS, ETC., REQUIRED FOR COLLECTING, 

 MOUNTING, AND PRESERVING COLEOPTERA. 



THE instruments required by the Coleopterist for cap- 

 turing his game are very few, and may be briefly summed 

 up as follows : 



A stout folding " umbrella" net, to fit in a glazed 

 cover. This may be purchased at any of the dealers in 

 objects of natural history, Cooke, of New Oxford Street, 

 being, perhaps, the most trustworthy. A net of this 

 kind is indispensable for beating into ; and, if the side- 

 pieces are made of metal, instead of whalebone, will 

 also serve for sweeping. 



A small round sweeping-net should, however, be ob- 

 tained also. Its frame may be of stout iron wire, and 

 made to screw into a strong stick. As the screw is apt 

 to become worn out before long, it is, perhaps, better to 

 have the ends of the frame soldered together into a plug, 

 which fits into a stout hollow ferule or tube fitted on the 

 stick ; a hole can then be drilled through the ferule and 

 plug, and the net secured by a piece of copper wire being 

 passed through both, the wire having one end twisted 

 into a knob, and the other bent round a little after being 

 passed through. By these means the net can be taken 



