BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [62] 



mens, if they are to be kept in alcohol, should be treated with still 

 greater care. Upon the return from the excursion they should also 

 be cleaned in pure alcohol and placed in small vials into which a 

 very few drops of alcohol, just sufficient to keep the contents moist, are 

 poured. The vial shonld be corked as tightly as possible and the spec- 

 imens will keep pretty well for an indefinite time. 



The drawbacks to the use of alcohol are: 1st, that all hairy speci- 

 mens are liable to spoil ; 2ndly, that all Goleoptera with soft integu- 

 ments spread the wing-cases aiDart if kept too long in it. The advan- 

 tage of the alcohol is that it is the simplest and least troublesome fluid 

 for naturalists traveling in distant countries who are not specialists in 

 entomology. Specimens killed in alcohol are also less liable to be 

 attacked by verdigris when pinned than those killed by some other 

 method. Eum, whisky, or similar strong alcoholic liquors may be used 

 as substitutes where no pure alcohol can be obtaiued, but are not 

 especially to be recommended. 



Chloroform and Ether. — Killing with the fumes of chloroform or ether 

 (sulphuric or acetic) or bensme, or some other etheric oil, is often prac- 

 ticed and advocated by those who, for any reason, dislike the use of 

 alcohol or object, on account of its poisonous na- 

 ture, to the use of cyanide of potassium, and they 

 are of especial value in the case of butterflies and 

 moths, Hymenoptera and Diptera. "A small and 

 stout bottle of chloroform or ether, with a brush se- 

 curely inserted into the cork (Fig. 89), will be found 

 very serviceable. A slight moistening through the 

 air net will stupefy most insects caught in it, and 

 facilitate their removal to the cyanide bottle; while 

 a touch or two with the wet brush under the head 

 and thorax, will kill the more delicate specimens 

 outright, without in the least injuring them. An- 

 other way of using chloroform is by means of a small, 

 hollow tube passed through the cork, what is called 

 jeweler's hollow wire answering the purpose. The 

 liquid evaporates more readily in such a bottle, and 

 I altogether prefer the first mentioned. Some large 

 insects, and especially female moths, whose size 

 prevents the use of the ordinary cyanide bottles, are difficult to kill. 

 With these, fluttering may be prevented by the use of chloroform, or they 

 may be killed by puncturing the thorax or piercing the body longitudi- 

 nally, with a needle dipped in liquid cyanide, or oxalic acid. A long 

 bottle with a needle thrust into the cork may be kept for this purpose; 

 but the needle must be of ivory or bone, as those of metal are corroded 

 and eaten by the liquids. * * * 



"For killing small and delicate moths which have been bred, I find 

 nothing more handy than chloroform. They may be caught in turned 



Fig. 89.— Chloroform bet 

 tie with brush. 



