36 COLLECTING AND PEESERVING INSECTS. 



" When pill-boxes are filled keep them cool to prevent the 

 insects from fluttering ; if glass boxes, keep them also in the 

 dark. 



" Many species when first taken will flutter in the boxes and 

 injure themselves ; for these it is well when collecting to carry 

 a small phial of chloroform and a zinc collecting box cork-lined, 

 into which you can at once pin your captures ; the cork should 

 be damped to keep them fresh. Touching a pill-box with a 

 finger moistened with chloroform will kill the insect inside. 

 Too much chloroform is apt to stiffen the nerves of the wings 

 and interfere with setting. 



" By breeding Microlepidoptera, many species not otherwise 

 easily obtainable may be added to a collection, and the habits 

 of others in the larva state may be studied with much interest. 

 For this purpose a few wide-mouthed glass bottles should be 

 obtained with corks to fit, so that the small larva; can be placed 

 in them with fresh food and the food kept fresh by exclusion 

 of air. If mould should appear the cork can be replaced by 

 muslin or net tied over. I would hardly advise a travelling 

 collector to attempt this method although I have adopted it 

 with some success, but in a stationary camp it is most inter- 

 esting and comparatively eas3 r . 



" Cork-lined store boxes are of course required into which to 

 remove the insects when sufficiently dried on the setting boards. 

 These, as well as the pins and setting-boards with drying case 

 to hold them, and the net frames of the folding and umbrella 

 patterns, will be best obtained from some dealer in such 

 things.* 



" To pack Microlepidoptera for travelling, pin them firmly 

 close together into a cork-lined box, so that each specimen just 

 gently holds down the body of the one above it. This cannot 

 be done with very minute species. Put your box into another 

 larger box and let the outer one be sufficiently large to leave a 

 good clear six inches all around the inner one. Pack this in- 



*In London there are several, among whom I would mention T. Cook, New Ox- 

 ford Street, and Thomas Eedle, Maidstone Place, Hackney Row. The manufac- 

 turers of entomological pins, which can, however, be obtained from the above 

 dealers, are Messrs. Eddleston & Williams, Birmingham ; Messrs. Kirby & Beard, 

 Canon Street, London. In America, The Naturalists' Agency, Salem, Mass., and 

 C. G. Brewster & Co., Washington St., Boston, keep on hand insect pins, cork, 

 pill-boxes, and most of the other articles required by the collector. 



