APPENDIX /. 287 



others may be found in openings in the forest where 

 the fire- weed conceals the charred timber beneath its 

 panicles of blue flowers ; one will not look in vain upon 

 the golden-rods and blossomed vines which fringe the 

 roadside or stone walls ; the shrubbery which loves the 

 margin of slender streams or the edge of thickets is a 

 favorite haunt of many ; sheltered valleys with their 

 varying verdure are always a choice resort of the ento- 

 mologist ; but even the tops of rugged mountains or 

 sandy wastes given to sorrel and feeble grasses wilt 

 yield their quota ; the garden too, the vegetable field, 

 and even the roadside puddles must not be neglected. 



One soon learns to capture with a dexterous turn of 

 the net, and no description of the method is worth 

 anything beside a very little experience : when captured 

 the net should be turned to prevent escape and the but- 

 terfly gently seized from outside the net, with the wings 

 back to back to prevent its struggling and so bruising 

 itself ; it should then be removed to the cyanide bottle, 

 where, especially if placed in the dark pocket, it will 

 soon be motionless, and speedily dies ; this is the quick- 

 est and easiest mode of death, besides leaving the in- 

 sect in the most perfect condition. The " cyanide 

 bottle" is simply a phial with a mouth wide enough to 

 readily admit the largest specimens (a smaller size is 

 better for the smaller kinds), into which a little plaster 

 of Paris has been poured over a small lump of cyanide 

 of potassium (a deadly poison be it noted). The cork 

 should be removed only when necessary and for as little 

 time as possible ; a season's use will exhaust its best 

 strength even when the utmost care is taken. Some 

 butterflies, especially those having yellow colors, should 

 be left in the bottle only a short time, for they are in- 

 jured by too long exposure to the vapors, the yellow 

 turning reddish. When removed, on reaching home, 

 or sooner if needed, they should be pinned through the 

 thickest part of the thorax, and in an hour or two, when 

 the fixity of the wings which follows their violent death 

 has passed away, removed to the setting board. 



