SETTING AND PRESERVING 



123 



about half an inch in thickness, leaving the whole under a moderate 

 pressure until the glue is quite hard. The sheets of cork for this 

 purpose may be bought at any naturalist's stores ; but slices cut 

 from good large bottle corks may be made to answer equally well 

 if you don't mind the extra time expended in cutting and fixing. 



When the glue has well set, trim off the edges of the cork flush 

 with the sides of the wood, 

 and then cut out a groove 

 down the whole length of 

 the cork, of course in the 

 middle, and of such a size FIG. 60. SECTION OF A SETTING BOARD. 

 that it will just contain 

 the bodies of the insects for which it is intended. 



The satisfactory cutting of this groove is not a very easy matter, 

 but if its position is first carefully marked, a long rat-tail file may 

 be made to plough it out neatly and regularly. As an alternative 

 the following plan is good. First cover the wood with a layer of 

 cork about a quarter of an inch thick, and then glue on the top of 

 this two narrower strips, about as thick as the bodies of the insects 

 for which the board is intended, 

 leaving a space of the required 

 size between them, as shown in 

 fig. 60. In this way you get a 

 groove of square section, that is 

 in some respects preferable to 

 the round one cut out by means 

 of the rat-tail file. 



Now comes a question about 

 which there is a difference in the 

 tastes or fancies of entomologists. 

 Shall the boards be perfectly 

 fiat on the top, or shall the sides 

 slope from the groove, or shall 

 the surface be rounded ? A 

 glance at the three sections of 



setting boards will show clearly what is meant. The rounded board 

 is most commonly used, and the graceful curve thus given to a 

 butterfly or moth set on such is certainly attractive ; but it is not 

 natural. The wings of these insects are rigid, and are never seen 

 bent into such curves in a living specimen. For this reason I 

 much prefer a perfectly plane surface on each side of the groove. 



FIG. 61. SECTIONS OF SETTING 

 BOARDS. 



