64 WORK AT HOME AND IN THE FIELD 



of his cabinet and the demands of his living specimens keep him 

 more or less actively engaged until the flowers of the following 

 spring call both him and the insects he loves once more into the 

 field. And so, season after season, and year after year, he finds 

 himself engrossed in labours so fascinating that idleness the curse 

 of so many of our youths is with him an impossibility. 



I assume that the readers of this book have a desire to take up 

 the study of one branch of entomology that of butterflies and 

 moths in real earnest; that they intend not only to read about 

 these interesting insects, but to know them. And there is only oae 

 way in which one may really get to know living creatures ; that 

 is by searching them out in their haunts, observing their growth 

 and habits, and by an occasional close examination in order to 

 become acquainted with their structure. 



Hence I shall in this, the practical portion of the work, give 

 such information as will assist the beginner in catching, preserving, 

 rearing, breeding, and arranging the specimens that are to form his 

 collection. 



Catching Butterflies 



There was a time when we would try to capture a butterfly at 

 rest on a flower by a quick sweep of the hand, or, more commonly, 

 by a sharp downward stroke of the cap. We were led to this action 

 by a mere childish love of sport, or by a desire to possess an insect 

 simply because it was pretty. When we succeeded in securing our 

 prize, we handled it somewhat carelessly, often passing it from one 

 hand to the other, or boxing it in our closed and perspiring fist till 

 our fingers were dusted with the pretty microscopic scales of the 

 creature's wings, and the wings themselves, stripped of all their 

 beautiful clothing, were merely transparent and veined membranes. 

 Having thus carelessly but unintentionally deprived the creature of 

 its greatest beauty, we set it free, often in such a damaged or 

 exhausted condition that the poor thing could scarcely fly. 



But our childish ideas and inclinations have vanished. Now 

 we would rather watch the insect than catch it, for we find much 

 pleasure and interest in its varied movements. And if for purposes 

 of study we occasionally require to make one captive, we proceed 

 in such a manner as to preserve its beauty unimpaired. The cap 

 now gives place to a well-made and suitable net ; and we are 

 careful to provide ourselves with sufficient and proper accommo- 

 dation for our captives. 



