THE LAUREL-BOTTLE. 27 



required, and they must be killed as soon as they are 

 put into the bottle, or an undisfigured specimen will 

 never be obtained. 



If a bottle can be obtained without any neck, the 

 following is the neatest way of making a laurel- 

 bottle : Cut a flat cork that fits rather tightly in the 

 bottle, but not too tightly to be pushed up and down. 

 Take out a portion of its middle, and insert a piece of 

 fine wire gauze. It will be better to pass a string 

 through each side of the ' plug/ as we will call this 

 cork, and knot them underneath, so that when the 

 plug is to be withdrawn it can be pulled up by the 

 strings. 



Next, procure a handful of the young buds and 

 leaves of laurel, put them into the bottle, and crush 

 them into a paste with the handle of a knife or some 

 such instrument. Now insert the plug, press it down 

 upon the crushed leaves, put in the cork, and the 

 * laurel-bottle ' is complete. The bottle must be kept 

 firmly corked, or the vapour will escape. 



The use of the bottle will be shown as soon as it 

 is employed. Let a Beetle, however large, fierce, or 

 voracious, be put into it, and its fate is at once sealed. 

 It begins to kick and struggle, as if it knew its danger; 

 but in a very few seconds the struggling is evidently 

 over, and the insect turns on its back, with its legs 

 quivering in the poisoned air. The fact is, the laurel 

 contains a large amount of prussic acid, and the 

 interior of the bottle is charged with its vapour. Now, 

 .as has already been mentioned, the breathing appa- 

 ratus of an insect pervades the whole of the body, 

 even to the end of the limbs ; and when the poisonous 



