THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 155 
to those extraordinary brothers of the (silver) net who seem 
to think it a pleasure to be cheated, and who are willing to 
pay a high price for the doubtful gratification of spoiling their 
collections for all scientific purposes by the introduction of 
German specimens with a false pedigree. ‘Tastes differ, of 
course; but were I infected with this comical phase of the 
*‘amor-habendi” mania, | should prefer manufacturing my 
own “true British specimens” myself, rather than pay some 
enterprising gentleman a premium of nineteen and sixpence 
in the pound for performing so simple an operation for me. 
—B. G. Cole; The Common, Stoke Newington, N., June 7, 
1876. 
Mode of Relaxing Insects.—A correspondent asks (Entom. 
ix. 137) how best to do this. I venture to offer the following 
suggestion, from the experience of an old collector. The 
plan I have adopted for some years, and found very successful, 
is at any rate a very simple one. I Jay fine sand, about an 
inch deep, on the bottom of a common vegetable-dish, and 
saturate it with water. On this wet sand I lay a piece of cork, 
and distribute over it the specimens to be relaxed, always 
taking care that the wings do not touch the sand; and then 
put on the dish-cover to concentrate all the damp air. In 
twenty-four—or at most forty-eight—hours the insects will 
be quite sufficiently relaxed for laying out. TI have in this 
way relaxed hundreds of specimens sent from abroad, chiefly 
from India, which came to me with their wings folded 
together and slipped into envelopes, and thus packed in 
cigar or biscuit boxes. 1 once relaxed above one hundred 
specimens from China, which had laid in their envelopes 
above twelve years. I found the most obstinate of them give 
way after being under the influence of this cold vapour-bath 
a couple of days.—[ Rev.] J. Cave-Browne ; Detling Vicarage, 
Maidstone. 
Mites and Grease (Entom. ix. 140).—The use of corrosive 
sublimate is, in my opinion, always to be avoided: it rarely 
fails to seriously damage the appearance of the specimens to 
which it has been applied ; causing, moreover the subsequent 
corrosion and brittleness of the pins. “ En passant,” it has 
often occurred to me to ask what the supposed advantage may 
be in the extreme pliability of the entomological pins ; rather 
than an advantage, it seems to me a very great defect, as 
