18 NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS. 
tity, we should keep them in a broad-necked bottle 
till leisure and sunshine to examine them come to- 
gether. A few strong straws, or light twigs, should 
be crumpled into the bottle for the wasps to cling to. 
They should have a little biscuit or sugar, and plenty 
of water; and be kept in the dark and cool till 
wanted. 
The tools which we want are very few: no more 
than what each microscopist already has. With a 
sharp-pointed pair of scissors, a pair of dissecting 
forceps, two or three mounted needles, a leaded cork 
and a soap-dish full of water, our repertory is com- 
plete. Though the possessor of a bimocular dis- 
secting microscope may perhaps wonder how any 
one could not call this most useful instrument indis- 
pensable. 
Fully believing that pain, as we feel it, is not an 
attribute of insects, I must yet own to a great horror 
of any signs of vitality whatever displaying them- 
selves in a wasp under examination. So, before com- 
mencing the dissection, I like to feel quite satisfied 
that the insect is dead. All these dissections must be 
made under water, as the tissues are too soft to 
retain their figure without some such fluid support. 
It is easier to make the necessary openings in the 
integuments before fastening the specimen to the 
cork. Having done this, and pinned the insect out 
in such a way as to interfere as little with the dis- 
section as possible, we have only to wait till the 
air-bubbles clear away to set to work. We may 
want the scissors occasionally, but the most useful 
instruments are the needles, always working under 
water. 
