BUTTERFLY-HUNTING. II 



We have next to kill the butterfly. No attempt 

 must by any chance be made to touch it till it has 

 ceased fluttering and closed its wings over its back. 

 Then a sharp nip of its body at the insertion of the 

 legs, given by means of the finger and thumb, usually 

 settles the matter, or at least renders the insect quies- 

 cent. This nip can be given through the gauze. The 

 butterfly may now be allowed to fall from the net into 

 the open hand, and a proper entomological pin must be 

 thrust carefully and in a perfectly upright position 

 through the very centre of its thorax. 



If the collector does not mind the trouble of taking a 

 cyanide-bottle to the field, he can kill his captures 

 before handling them at all. To make a cyanide-bottle, 

 a wide-mouthed stoppered bottle, holding about 5oz. or 

 6oz., should be procured, and about Joz. of potassium 

 cyanide (KCN) put into it. Next a somewhat thin 

 paste of plaster of Paris and water should be made, 

 and poured over the potassium cyanide till there is 

 a layer about lin. deep. When this sets, the cyanide- 

 bottle is made. But as one can be purchased for a 

 small sum, and potassium cyanide is exceedingly poison- 

 ous, it is perhaps as well to buy one. The poisonous 

 vapour of the cyanide (smelling somewhat like almonds) 

 penetrating the layer of plaster of Paris stupefies and 

 finally kills the butterfly placed in the bottle.* Insects 

 bred at home had better always be killed by this means. 



Some of our readers might like to make a killing- 

 bottle by folding a piece of cyanide in paper, and 

 securing it by means of sealing-wax or other adhesive 

 to the bottom of a bottle. As, however, in this case, 

 the poison is more readily accessible to inquisitive fingers, 

 care should be taken to keep the bottle out of harm's way. 



* The vapour, being exceedingly poisonous, should not be breathed. 



