BEETLE-SETTING. 31 



perfectly. Take a fine pin, such as are sold for the 

 purpose, and pass it through the disc of the right 

 elytron, and so fix the Beetle on a board. Now draw 

 out its legs, and place them in their natural position, 

 fixing them, if required, with pins and little bits of 

 card-board. Treat the antennae and palpi in the same 

 way, and nothing more is needed. 



The smaller species should be fixed on strips of 

 white card-board by means of gum tragacanth, of such 

 a consistency that it will scarcely flow over if the 

 bottle containing it be held upside down. Only one 

 Beetle should be set on each piece of card. The legs, 

 antennae, part of the mouth, &c., must be drawn into 

 position by means of the forceps and the setting- 

 needle. At first this operation will be found a matter 

 of considerable difficulty, but practice and patience 

 will soon enable the collector to set his capture with 

 ease and rapidity. When the insects are mounted, an 

 entomological pin should be passed through each 

 strip at the end opposite to that on which the Beetle 

 is placed r and the specimens transferred to the box or 

 cabinet in which they are permanently to remain. 



For examining the details of a Beetle, especially 

 if it be a small one, a pocket lens is required. These 

 instruments are made with either two or three glasses, 

 and are small enough to be suspended to the watch- 

 chain by a ring. In order to examine a Beetle with 

 ease, the pin should be stuck into a cork cemented on 

 a flat piece of lead, so that it cannot be knocked over. 

 My own instrument is made of a champagne cork, 

 cut into a cylindrical form and rounded on the top. 



