192 



HOW TO PRESERVE. 



CHAP. X. 



them a drop of chloroform to put them to sleep, and 

 prevent them destroying their beautiful plumage. 

 When he met these tender creatures reposing on a 

 flower, he would always, if possible, drop a little 

 chloroform upon them, and thus end their struggles. 

 Then he boxed them. By this means he secured 

 many splendid specimens. 



His hat was also an excellent insect-box, and a 

 convenient receptacle for many things. He had a false 

 crown put in the upper' part of it, well stored with 

 pins. And even when he went out to walk with his 

 wife and children, he would occupy part of his time 

 in looking for and storing up moths and butterflies, so 

 that not an opportunity nor a moment's time was 

 lost. 



He carried his caterpillars in a tin box, with 

 several compartments ; and his snails in a similar 

 box of smaller dimensions. His eggs, after being 

 emptied, were put into a sort of canister, and being 

 well packed with cotton wool, they very seldom broke, 

 although he carried them about with him for days 

 together. 



Whenever he shot a bird or animal, his first busi- 

 ness was to fill up the mouth and nostrils with cotton 

 wadding, and then to search for the wounds and fill 

 them up. By this means he always got his specimens 

 home clean. This he found to be indispensably 

 necessary with sea birds, if he wished to bring them 

 home unsoiled. 



