XI 



THE ENTOMOLOGISTS METHODS 



" The virtuoso thus, at noon, 

 Broiling beneath a July sun, 

 The gilded butterfly pursues 

 O'er hedge and ditch, through gaps and mews ; 

 And, after many a vain essay 

 To captivate the tempting prey, 

 Gives him at length the lucky pat, 

 And has him safe beneath the hat ; 

 Then lifts it gently from the ground ; 

 But, ah ! 'tis lost as soon as found. 

 Culprit his liberty regains, 

 Flits out of sight, and mocks his pains." 



COWPER. 



To capture a butterfly with a net, of even Brobding- 

 nagian proportions, is not always the soft thing it 

 seems to any one who has not attempted the feat. 

 The insect has settled on a tall thistle blossom ; you 

 approach stealthily until, as you judge, you are within 

 striking distance of the object. With a grand sweep 

 the net travels rapidly in the direction of the quarry, 

 but although it has decapitated the thistle it does not 

 enclose the butterfly. It was just that elegant sweep 



