The Beetle. 61 



every 10 potato-beetles he would catch. The boy caught 

 30 beetles. How many cents did the man give him ? How 

 many beetles must he catch to earn 50 cents. 



General Suggestion. i. In catching insects note their 



locality, food, etc. 



2. Study them alive, (a) their form, size, color, etc.; 

 (b) their motions and locomotion ; (c) food and manner of 

 eating ; (d) changes, etc.; (e) draw back, front, side, and 

 end views ; (/) draw various organs enlarged. 



3. Call attention to all these, and encourage the children 

 to talk about them, and write about them. 



4. Make observations the basis of number lessons from 

 i to 6. 



5. Finally, when the life-history is as complete as possible, 

 kill the insect with a drop of naphtha or benzine, and mount 

 him for future use. 



We know far too little about insects, as regards their life- 

 history. Intelligent people often betray the profoundest 

 ignorance of the life-history of the commonest insects. It 

 is time to turn attention into this channel. It will broaden 

 the mind ; it will cultivate the heart ; it will enrich the 

 memory ; it will furnish an exhaustless fund of material for 

 language and number lessons. 



The teacher should have a box prepared to receive a col- 

 lection of insects. This will become a part of the school 

 museum. To kill an insect put a drop of gasoline or naph- 

 tha upon it. It will die at once. This does away with the 

 cruel method of transfixing with a pin. To prepare a bug- 

 case, take any shallow wooden box, one with a sliding 

 top is preferable, line it with paper, and slide a pane of 

 glass into the top instead of the board top which belongs 

 there. As fast as the insects are killed pin them to the bot- 

 tom of the box. A small pill-box full of naphthaline 

 powder or crystals placed, in this box will keep out dust-lice 

 and moths. 



At first all insects may be put into one box, but as the 

 collection grows it is well to have a separate box for each 



