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FIELD AND FOREST. 



A New Killing Bottle. 



I notice on page 35 of the present volume of Field and Forest an 

 article on collecting Hymenoptera, &c, by E. W. in Science Gossip, 

 in which the writer says " the most convenient collecting bottle is an 

 ordinary two ounce or four ounce wide mouth, with turned back rim 

 and tight fitting cork, &c." I have used glass bottles for some time, 

 and unfortnately have had them broken on several occasions, when 

 several miles away and where no substitute could be procured. You 

 can imagine the feelings of an enthusiastic collector in such a pre- 

 dicament. After having walked four or five miles, and just getting in- 

 terested with Catocala and other 

 moths, on placing his bottle in a side 

 pocket while stooping down to a spring 

 for a drink, the coat flies arotfnd, hit- 

 ting the bottle upon a rock, with the 

 inevitable smash. Such accidents have 

 caused me to think that glass is not 

 the most convenient or best to use. 

 During the last two seasons I have 

 been using a killing bottle of my own 

 invention, which has proved very sat- 

 isfactory ; they have also been used by 

 several gentlemen of our profession in 

 the west, who to the best of my knowl- 

 Fig. 5. edge, are satisfied with them. 



A glance at the accompanying illustration — drawn to a scale of 

 one-fourth — will give a very good idea of the shape of the bottle and 

 style in which it is made, but I append the following descrip- 

 tion : It is oval in form, and convenient for the pocket. The cham 

 ber for holding the killing material is separated from the body by a 

 perforated tin floor, — indicated by dotted lines — so as to prevent the in- 

 sect from coming in contact with the poison. The mouth of the bottle 

 is two inches in diameter, and the sides have a plate of glass an inch and 

 a half square, so that the specimen can be examined without taking 

 out. The smaller end may be stopped with an ordinary cork, though 

 one of rubber will be found much more secure. 



It is designed for ether, chloroform, or cyanide of potassium. If 



