248 BENJ. PIKE'S, JR., DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



tity of this moss should be procured, put into boxes and 

 afterwards carefully shaken over a sheet of white paper 



Apparatus for collecting Objects. These are simply as fol- 

 lows : A net of wire gauze for taking insects on the wing. 

 It may be held, also, expanded under a tree or bush, whilst 

 the branches are beaten with a stout stick, which will cause 

 a number of curious insects to fall into it ; a landing-net for 

 aquatic insects ; a knife for extracting objects from the roots 

 of trees, bark, &c. ; a strong phial, corked, with a quill 

 passing through it, for water insects ; a tin box, the cover 

 pierced with small holes; a few chip boxes. 



Directions for dissecting Objects. In dissecting minute 

 insects, as the flea, louse, &c., in order to examine their in- 

 ternal structure, it is necessary to observe great care ; they 

 should be placed in a drop of water, and examined instantly, 

 or the parts will shrink up. A delicate lancet, with a pair 

 of the finest scissors and forceps, are generally used for such 

 purposes. 



Method of preparing and applying Objects for the Micro- 

 scope. Most objects require a little management in order to 

 bring them properly before the glasses ; if they are flat and 

 transparent, put them between the talc in the slides the 

 scales of fishes, for instance, &c. In making your collection 

 of objects, if you wish to fill a number of slides, care should 

 be taken to arrange them as near the size of each other as 

 possible in the same slider, in order that they may be ex- 

 amined by the same power. Minute living objects, such as 

 mites in cheese, small insects on vegetables, <fec., should be 

 delicately brushed off into the object-box, and shut up ; 

 flies and small beetles may be held by the forceps. 



To view the circulation of the blood, &c., in aquatic insects, 

 place them in a small portion of water on a piece of flat 

 glass ; two pieces of glass may be made open enough to 

 receive any sized objects of this kind, similar to the animal- 

 cule apparatus. 



Method of viewing Animalcula in Fluids, with the 

 greatest facility. The great difficulty of viewing animacula 

 in fluids must have been felt by all who use microscopes. 

 A drop of water placed on a piece of glass forms a convex 



