FORMING COLLECTIONS. 21 



place in a wide-mouthed and tightly -corked jar, and it is 

 then, when firmly set, ready for use. This should be 

 kept out of the way of children. 



A few closely -fitting wooden boxes (cigar boxes will, if 

 cut down the Middle and hinged with linen and made into 

 a "double-box," answer very well); some pins; a few 

 setting-boards, which anyone can make for himself out of 

 a piece of deal and a few strips of cork; forceps (those 

 with bent joints are the best) ; some napthaline, carbolic 

 acid, or camphor will also be required for the purpose of 

 keeping out minute insects, as ants, mites, &c., which, if 

 undisturbed, often play great havoc with such col- 

 lections. 



For the permanent preservation of Insects, both the 

 cork and the insects themselves should be dipped in a 

 solution of corrosive sublimate, and dried before placing 

 in the cabinet or in store boxes. 



Small moths, as the cabbage moth, clothes moth, wheat 

 moth, potato moth, and others belonging to the great 

 group of the Tineina, should be pinned in the box im- 

 mediately after capture, as they soon become brittle and 

 are easily broken. The best method of capturing the 

 micro (small) lepidoptera is to hold a bottle containing 

 the cyanide (which is known to collectors as the killing 

 bottle) under the specimens while in the net, as the insect 

 will then drop into the bottle and be instantly suffocated, 

 without damage to the wings, limbs, &c. 



For the capture of the larger kind of moths, butterflies, 

 &c., the net must also be used, as a specimen should never 

 be handled if it is possible to avoid doing so, as the scales 

 on the wings are very easily rubbed off, to the permanent 

 disfigurement of the specimen, but a little care and practice 

 will soon enable any one to overcome these difficulties. 

 In sending away the larger moths and butterflies, the 

 specimens, after having been killed in the usual manner, 

 should be folded neatly away in papers (old envelopes will 

 do) and packed in boxes; and these specimens can, by 

 damping on blotting-paper, be relaxed and softened, and 

 may then be set out in their natural positions. 



