BULLETIN OF THE BROOKLYN ENT. SOC. II. 1879. 71 



there is a blotch on the thorax, and the wings stick to the over- 

 lying paper or glass, by which they are pressed ; and when these 

 are removed the wings are torn or disfigured. If however the 

 liquid does exude, it can be largely, if not entirely absorbed, by 

 touching it with the edge of a piece of blotting paper. 



The pin should be thrust through the middle of the thorax. 

 Many specimens are spoiled by having a twisted or lop-sided 

 appearance, on account of carelessness in this. 



Each wing should be exactly even with the opposite one, and 

 not too far forward. The antennae should be in full view, level 

 with the body, and at equal angles with the line of the body. 



The insect must be, or ought to be left in peace on the drying- 

 board for at least two weeks. We are always too much in a 

 hurry to feast our eyes on the beauty of our specimens. 



"We should keep our best specimens for ourselves. And should 

 have our cabinet not for show, but for study, and we should see 

 to it that it is studied 



To many, especially beginners, scientific terms seem useless 

 and pedantic ; in very many cases they are both of these. Where a 

 plain English word means exactly the same thing, as a Greek or 

 Latiu derived polysyllabic, the plain English word should always 

 be used, whether it is a so-called scientific word or not. 



But knowledge ought to be exact, and to that end we must 

 accustom ousel ves to many technical words and names. These are 

 no more dreadful than other words when we get accustomed to 

 them. And we should get used to applying these to what they 

 designate, so when we wish to speak of any special part of an 

 insect, we may not have to go into a long inexact description, but 

 by the technical term can locate what we mean at once. 



And in connection with this, we should by comparrison of our 

 specimens with published descriptions of genera, get the generic 

 distinctions and the names of the parts in which they exist clearly 

 in our minds. 



So we may know the genus of our insect at sight if it is per- 

 fect, and be able to ourselves and so to others, to tell why we put 

 one insect under one generic name, and another under another. 



Knowledge is of very little account, if it is not so definite in our 

 minds that we can put it into exact language. 



In the rearing of Lepidoptera, we should not be discouraged by 



