SETTING AND PEE SERVING 127 



Now introduce a packing of cotton wool, just sufficient in quantity 

 to maintain the natural form of the body as the specimen 

 dries. 



There is another good method of stuffing moths that possesses 

 a decided advantage over the one just described, since it leaves the 

 specimen in such a perfect condition that it shows no appearance 

 of'having been stuffed when viewed from either side. This consists 

 in snipping off the abdomen at the waist, clearing out the contents 

 with a hooked wire, lightly stuffing it with cotton wool pushed in 

 at the waist, and then setting it aside to dry, while the other part 

 of the insect is undergoing the same process on the setting board. 

 When both parts of the moth are thoroughly dry, the stuffed 

 abdomen is easily fixed in its place with a little coaguline ; and this, 

 if neatly done, will not show the slightest sign of the treatment to 

 which the insect has been submitted. 



Even after your insects are finally housed in the cabinet, they 

 are subject to two other dangers, both of which are more de- 

 structive to moths than to butterflies. One is technically known 

 as ' grease,' and the other is the invasion of certain museum pests 

 that feed on the specimens, causing them to fall to pieces. 



Examine the moths that have been for a time in the cabinet, 

 and some are sure to exhibit an oily or greasy appearance, the hairs 

 of the abdomen, and perhaps also of the thorax, being clogged 

 together just as if the specimen had been dipped in oil, the 

 same miserable condition perhaps being shared also by parts of 

 the wings. 



This is due to the gradual oozing out of the fatty matter that 

 is always present to a greater or less extent in the bodies of the 

 insects, and which must necessarily show itself more sparingly in 

 specimens that have been carefully stuffed. 



The old saying, ' Prevention is better than cure,' applies well in 

 the present case ; but as there are times when a knowledge of the 

 1 cure ' is the only means of saving a valuable specimen from 

 destruction, we will study both. 



To deal with the two in the order of the well-worn proverb, we 

 will consider the prevention first. Always carefully clean out and 

 stuff the abdomens of large-bodied insects ; and as a rule, treat them 

 with some substance that will either absorb or dissolve out all oily 

 matter. I think the best plan is to remove the abdomen, clean it 

 out if its si/e permits of such an operation, and then, after labelling 

 it to prevent its future application to the wrong body, either let it 



