UNIFORMITY IN PINNING AND SETTING LEPIDOPTERA. 301 



interchangeable; and why should not the British Entomological 

 Societies have their own standard pins, and standard or recog- 

 nized styles of setting ? It is only necessary for these standards 

 to be fixed, to be stamped with the authority of our leading Ento- 

 mological Societies, and then be given out to the world through 

 the journals and an authorized exchange list, to make them a 

 matter of common knowledge and common adoption. 



If we have no single Entomological Society with a " stand- 

 ing" or "status" equivalent to that of the Koyal Microscopical 

 Society, and powerful enough to make its authority known and 

 respected, then either let one be formed, or let a joint committee 

 of our expert entomologists be appointed by the leading Ento- 

 mological Societies to work the matter out ; but by all means 

 appoint gentlemen who can and will meet together often for the 

 purpose till the difficulty has been satisfactorily overcome. This 

 committee should also definitely decide whether oval or flat set- 

 ting is or shall be the recognized British style, and further settle 

 the angle at which the wings are to be set. If four or five 

 representative species of Lepidoptera were figured at the top of 

 the authorized exchange list, showing the direction the lines of 

 the wing margins should take or be aimed at, also a figure or 

 two, making plain to all the very explicit instructions which have 

 been given respecting the insertion of the pin through the 

 thorax, these points taken collectively would embrace all the 

 details of pinning and setting necessary to produce something 

 very nearly approaching perfect uniformity. Adopt standards, 

 and you may depend upon it none but standard pins would be 

 asked for, purchased, or made. The text-books would soon give 

 definite instructions. You would soon find a very marked im- 

 provement in setting all round, and ten times more satisfaction 

 in exchanging than can at present possibly be. All collections 

 commenced after the general adoption of fixed standards would 

 be uniform throughout. Beginners (remember these may be 

 persons of vast and ripe experience, but not entomological) 

 would be able to retain much more of their earlier work in after 

 years, by reason of having commenced to work on systematic 

 and proper lines. Some species might even receive some amount 

 of protection through its not becoming necessary to throw away 

 so many samples of early work, which were badly set through 

 lack of proper knowledge at the outset. 



The points I have named could easily be dealt with, and in a 

 short time, by — 1st, comparing the numbers and sizes of different 

 makers' pins, and then selecting the most suitable sizes and 

 numbers as the standards ; 2nd, by comparing insects set at 

 different heights and placed side by side ; 3rd, by going through 

 a typical collection and jotting down on an exchange list the 

 standard number of pin to be used for each species. The pub- 

 lication of an authorized exchange list, giving details and 



