ON MOUNTING. 139 



hours. 1 Again , immerse it in water for from twelve 

 to twenty -four hours ; it is now ready to be laid out 

 upon the slip. Having done this, preserving the 

 natural position of the parts as closely as possible, 

 place a cover over the insect and tie lightly round 

 it with soft cotton, stand the slip on end to drain, 

 plunge the slip into a turpentine bath and leave it 

 until all moisture has been driven out and the insect 

 is thoroughly permeated by the turpentine, drain off: 

 the turpentine, apply blotting paper to remove any 

 excess of turpentine from under the cover, and run 

 in " xylol balsam" by capillary attraction. The 

 cover should never be lifted or allowed to shift its 

 position after the insect has been laid out. 



When it is desired to preserve the brilliant or 

 delicate colours of an insect, it should be placed, 

 immediately after being killed by means of chloro- 

 form, in liq. potass, without any mixture of ammonia, 

 for from two to three days, then soaked in water 

 for twenty-four hours, then placed in water with 

 ten drops of muriatic acid to each ounce of water, 

 for twenty-four hours; it should then be laid out 

 and immersed in turpentine and treated as already 

 described. 



In order to mount insects, or their parts, " with- 

 out pressure," it is generally necessary to adopt 

 only the following simple process : Soak the insect 

 for two days in equal parts of ordinary alcohol and 

 water, after which transfer it to absolute alcohol for 



1 Insects removed from liq. potass., after being soaked in 

 water for twenty-four hours, should be kept in strong or 

 glacial acetic acid and glycerine (half and half) until required 

 for mounting. 



