12 NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS. 
wires are attached to strings passing through notches 
in the lid, the nest may be slung at once in the box 
and may be removed, when required, with perfect 
safety both to its own structure and the fingers of the 
operator. 
If we wish to preserve the nest as a specimen, the 
best way is to cut round the top with a sharp knife 
or large pair of scissors, and extract the comb in a 
mass through the aperture. The old dry deserted 
comb at the top of the nest is to be retained in its 
place, and one or two of the lower stages should be 
preserved. The rest may be thrown away. When 
the specimen has been brought home, carefully pick 
out the grubs from the lowest stage of comb, and 
replace this in its proper position so as to show at the 
orifice of the nest; fill up the centre with cotton 
wool; replace the top, and fasten the cut edges 
neatly together. - Then sprinkle the specimen well 
with some preservative solution to destroy earwigs 
or wood-lice, and, after a few days’ quarantine and a 
cautious baking, it will be fit for the cabinet. It will 
need, henceforth, only protection from dust and 
damp, and an occasional sprinkling with a solution 
of phenic acid, mineral naphtha, or some such fluid. 
Hung from a string in its natural position, or turned 
upside down and mounted on a card with a comb by 
_ its side, it will last for years. Nests of only moderate 
size make the best cabinet specimens. 
So much for the preservation of the nests, now for 
the wasps themselves. And, by the way, as it is 
scarcely likely that these investigations can be car- 
ried on without an occasional sting, it may not be 
out of place here to speak of the treatment of this 
