152 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



practice, but proficiency is easily acquired, after which, use 

 becomes second nature, and we henceforth swear by the smeller 

 of grimalkin. 



The action of the spanner is as follows : — Having the speci- 

 men we desire to set in a lissome condition, properly pinned, the 

 thorax and abdomen resting in the groove of the saddle, wdth 

 the legs placed in position, and the shoulders of the wangs, when 

 depressed, all but touching the surface of the cork or cork carpet, 

 the bristle of the spanner is held over the wings of the left side, 

 the point of the pin being steadied in the saddle behind the 

 insect, as near to the groove as possible, the tip of the bristle 

 resting in front, so that the spanner is parallel wdth the body of 

 the insect ; then the finger (at a in the figure), placed lightly on 

 the pin-head, is advanced towards b till the fore wing is pressed 

 nearly but not quite on to the cork, w^hile by gentle leverage and 

 pushing by means of a setting-needle with the point placed under 

 the fore wing (generally a darning-needle stuck eye foremost into 

 an inch or two of penholder), the wing is got up to its proper 

 level ; the finger now advances towards b again, and simultane- 

 ously the pin-point is pressed a little way into the cork of the 

 saddle — this action grips the costa of the fore wing and holds it 

 in position ; lastly, the hind wing is pushed into position, the 

 finger again advanced to b, the point of the pin being driven still 

 more deeply into the cork. Thus, as shown in the figure, the 

 wings are held firmly. Of course, if for any reason w^e require 

 to relax our grip, all that is necessary is to retreat the finger 

 towards a. Operate on the right side of the insect in the same 

 way until the two sides are symmetrical, and the specimen is then 

 ready for the braces, which are merely squarish pieces of tracing- 

 paper of sufficient size to cover the wings and leave a margin for 

 pinning. Transversely ruled paper is of great assistance in 

 getting the wings level, but in the present day most collectors 

 prefer to trust to the eye, having a strong objection to cover 

 their saddles with paper of any kind, believing that it tends to 

 harbour Acariy and to prevent the necessary occasional disinfec- 

 tion of their saddles. If the lines could be printed on the bare 

 cork or cork carpet it would certainly be an improvement. 



The quills, bristles, and whiskers of the animals at the Zoo 

 have for some time engaged my attention in the hope of finding 

 something to go one better than Tom's whisker, but all I can o£fer 

 in the way of advance is that the whisker of the common seal is 

 admirably adapted for setting large things, as also is the stout 

 end of a lion's whisker, the thin end does for smaller things. I 

 have a few lion's and tiger's whiskers by me, and propose to make 

 them up into spanners, a sample of which I shall be happy to 

 forw^ard, so long as my stock lasts, to anyone w^ho will send me a 

 stamped directed envelope within the present month — May. 



London, April 13th, 1896. 



