110 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



3. At the end of another week place the insect in a third bottle; and 

 if the henzoline refuses to discolour, the moth is clean. Should the henzoline 

 still discolour, which is unlikely, continue the process. 



4. Place a layer, half an inch thick, of powdered plaster of paris, on a 

 piece of board. Make, in the powder, a furrow wide enough to hold the 

 body, and let the powder slope on either side to accommodate the wings. 



5. Take out the insect, and place the body in the furrow. Then cover 

 the moth — wings and all — with an an inch or more of plaster of paris. 

 Leave it for an hour. The powder assists the drying. 



6. Get hold of the pin in the insect, and gently shake and blow off 

 the powder. The insect is clean and dry ; all its colours are restored : no 

 damage has been done to it — not even to the antennae. Complete the 

 cleaning process, if necessary, by using a soft camel-hair brush. 



As henzoline is highly inflammable, keep it locked away. Operate by 

 daylight. A friend told me he was using henzoline one night near a lit 

 gas-jet. He turned his back for a minute, and there was — not an ex- 

 plosion, but "a flare-up," which would certainly have blinded him. 

 Mr. Christy deserves the thanks of many an entomologist for reviving this 

 useful subject; while the name of Mr. Greene, of course, is among 

 entomologists as a household word. My own remarks upon the matter are 

 not intended to be critical but supplemental, and in this spirit I trust they 

 will find their apology. In conclusion, I may add that the passages in 

 italics are tried and valuable additions to the method by a practical 

 chemist. — J. Arkle; Chester, February 6, 1893. 



There is no doubt that grease gives a great deal of trouble to the 

 lepidopterist, and Mr. Christy's article on " the removal of grease from 

 the bodies of moths " (Entom., p. 32), conveys many useful hints to the 

 collector. A greasy butterfly or moth, whilst in that state, is no longer " a 

 thing of beauty," but a positive eyesore, especially to those who, like 

 myself, are particular as to the condition of their specimens, preferring a 

 fine, short series to any number of indifferent examples. Mr. Christy has 

 confined his remarks to grease in the bodies — abdomens — of moths, and 

 bad as this is, so far as my own experience goes, this is not the worst evil. 

 In fact, except for the trouble it gives, there is very little difidculty in 

 removing grease in bodies. Break them off, number them, and soak in 

 benzine or benzole once, twice, or thrice, as the case may require, stick 

 them on, and the thing is done. I always use benzole myself, and find it 

 equally effective as benzine and much cheaper. For fixing bodies I prefer 

 gum for slight bodies, such as the Geometers, and Le Page's liquid glue 

 for bulky bodies like those of the Sphingidse. Karely, except in the case of 

 the latter and Bombyces, is it necessary to remove the contents. Now it 

 seems to me that grease does not always emanate from the abdomen, but at 

 times exudes from the thorax, and spreads through the silky hairs 

 clothing the thorax — oftentimes a part of exceeding beauty — and covers the 

 wings, and then it is that grease is indeed a nuisance. I may be displaying 

 my anatomical ignorance here, and it may be that it is not possible for 

 grease to exude from the thorax. All I can say is then that many insects, 

 inter alia Denias coryli, appear to grease in the thorax before any trace of it 

 is to be seen in the bodies. And there is no way of preventing it that I 

 know of; you cannot cut out the thorax, and you cannot prevent the 

 exudation of grease spreading to the wings. If the bodies grease, the 

 grease in them ought to do no further mischief if the body has been put 



