1736-7.1 TO JOHN BARTRAM. 83 



abated, but inflamed my curiosity to ask the same over again, or 

 any others thou can add ; for as some of these, notwithstanding thy 

 care, are a little torn, I hope in time, with a little practice, we 

 shall have them perfect in all their parts, the horns, part of the 

 wings, and bodies being deficient ; for I must tell thee, I design to 

 bestow some expense on them, and enshrine them between two 

 plates of glass, that we may see both sides. I know they are tick- 

 lish ware to meddle with, and the very touch of one's fingers robs 

 them of their beauty. 



I will a little revive thy memory with our manner of catching 

 them. We put sticks into the handle of the nets, two, three, or 

 four feet long ; for some flies are shyer than others, and will not 

 suffer us to come near them. We always watch till they settle on 

 a leaf, &c, then we apply both nets together, the one close under 

 the leaf, and with agility clap the other over the fly. Thus she is 

 caught between the nets. The next thing is to gently disengage 

 the nets from the leaf, or twig, by gently drawing them ; but be 

 sure keep them close together, lest she escape in this action. 

 Having disengaged the nets, we lay them on the next smooth 

 ground, and whilst the fly is between the nets, we turn it on its 

 wrong side, and give the body a pretty smart squeeze between the 

 finger and thumb, till we hear the ribs crack. This prevents 

 further struggling, or beating their wings, to rub off the fine down. 

 Then, with a pin, run it through the body ; and having a box large 

 enough, we stick it in, with its right side to the box. When we 

 come home, we display the wings with pins run through pieces of 

 cork, which keep them regular and free from fluttering, as thee 

 will find one in a box, for a pattern. 



The two moths are very surprising, the greenish one especially. 

 Our virtuosi cannot enough admire it, for the singularity of its 

 shape, uncommon to moths. These, I know, are more difficult to 

 find, being flies of the night. Our virtuosi either breed them 

 from caterpillars, or else dig for their chrysalis in the ground, and 

 keep them in earth till they change into flies, and then in an 

 hour or two kill them with a hot knitting-needle run into their 

 bodies (for they are much harder than flies to kill) ; and then they 

 stick them up, as above mentioned. If thee has a fancy to breed 

 them, let me know, and we will inform thee in a more particular 

 manner. It is a most entertaining and surprising thing to observe 



