NOTE ON THE SETTING AND MOUNTING 

 OF BEETLES. 



A FINAL word may perhaps be desirable as to the treat- 

 ment of the specimens of beetles which we have 

 brought home, in our laurel bottle or smaller tubes, 

 from the various expeditions in which we have taken 

 part ; for even if the student has no ambition to form 

 a "Collection of British Beetles," he will at least 

 require named and mounted specimens for reference 

 and comparison in the identification of new captures. 



The subject, then, divides itself into two heads : 

 (a) the " setting/' and (b) the " mounting," after they 

 have been " set," of our specimens. It should, however, 

 be understood initially, that the methods here described 

 are merely those of the writer himself, that nearly 

 every coleopterist has his own methods, and that there 

 is no reason to suppose that one of these is any better 

 than any other. 



The processes of death have already been explained ; 

 the fatal bottle half full of crushed laurel leaves or buds 

 into which captured specimens may be dropped and 

 left for an indefinite time, except during hot weather, 

 when a week or two will be found ample time to render 



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